A Demonic Detective Story Reborn
From ATLUS and SEGA is a remake of a game that I never played back in the day. Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army is now simply known as Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, and while the original game was released back in 2006 on the PlayStation 2, the new update has promised to keep the spirit of that gaming experience, while changing various things.
Of course, this may be tricky for me to judge, as I missed it first time around, but hopefully I’ll be able to ascertain whether a near two decade old game is still a viable prospect in this day and age. So, let’s pop back to Taisho 20 in Japan (which is 1931 in old money) and see what is happening, shall we?
Persona DNA and Revamped Visuals
We’ll kick off with the improvements that are promised, and most notably that comes in the presentation of Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army. Even in a game from this early, the DNA of the Persona series is on full display, with the demons being recognisable, and the general feel of the game being like those greats. This is a good thing, as I felt immediately at home, and the design of the demons and the various NPC’s we meet is again of very high quality. The “revamped visuals” that are in place certainly work well too, from the large areas we have to explore to the tiny arenas we battle demons in. Everything here looks great and moves nicely, with good animation throughout.
Sound is another area that has had an upgrade, with new voice work. From my ears, they are all very nice indeed. Our cat, Gouto, has quite the most refined voice, full of gravitas, while the rest of the voice performances are all to a high standard. The battle sounds, even the noise that comes from the streetcar we can take to other locations, are all bang on, and the music is nice as well. All in all, nothing to complain about here!
A Devil Summoner’s Double Life
The story of Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is also first rate, and has more twists than a bowl of spaghetti.
We play as the titular Raidou Kuzunoha, the 14th person to carry this title, and as the game opens we are completing our Devil Summoner training. Once out of the way, it’s left to us to take up the role as protector of the Capital, all whilst running a bit of a side hustle as an apprentice detective at the Narumi Detective Agency.
And it is here where the story really gets moving, as we meet a client, a young girl, who asks us to kill her! Before we can say “Okay then!” she is kidnapped by soldiers in red armour, and we are beaten off until they escape. From there, comes the journey into finding our client, figuring out who is kidnapping people, and solving the various side cases that pop up. We’re going to be busy!
Action-Oriented Combat with Elemental Weaknesses
Gameplay wise and there are a couple of differences to the rest of the Devil Summoner and Persona games. First off is the combat, which is not turn based as you might have expected. No, the combat in Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is much more action based, with Raidou under your full control at all times: he can attack with a sword, shoot the demons, or even use special attacks. Dodging and blocking are also under your control, and sometimes you do feel like the physical characteristics of an octopus would be useful!
Luckily, in order to help, you can summon demons (as his title may have revealed), bringing them forth to fight alongside. Each demon – whether that be those you fight or summon – has an element that they identify with, and it is as obvious that you’ll want to go using a fire demon, such as Ukobach, to attack a frost demon and so on and so forth. When an enemy is hit with an element they are weak to, they become stunned, and Raidou can swoop in with his sword to give them a damn good thrashing.
Fussy Captures and Exploration
However, some of the controls are a bit backward, in my humble opinion, but none more so than the capture demon button combination. You have to rush up to a demon, press RT+B together, then rapidly tap B to capture and tame the demon. Now, as I’m sure you know, pressing RT and then pressing B multiple times is not easy, so I was reduced to pressing RT with my left hand in order to tap B fast enough, and the result is a dropped controller, usually. A bit more thought required, I feel.
The rest of the game is the usual kind of fun: running around various 3D parts of the capital, while looking out for either people to help (in the real world) or demons to battle and capture (in the Dark World, where demons live). Tracking down the side missions is a lot of fun, and using the demon powers that you have captured outside of battle can lead to some interesting situations. As an example, the Alp demon has the ability to read minds, which will give a clue as to what to do next. Other demons can inspect places, revealing hidden things, or even fly to get things that are out of reach. It goes without saying that having a mixed bunch of demons is a good idea.
And this doesn’t even touch on fusing demons together to make stronger ones or any of the other features of the game. There is certainly a lot to do and see in Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army.
A Cracking Remaster with a Few Control Hiccups
Control issues aside, Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a great game that deserves to be played. The story is brilliant, the action is compelling and running around battling and exploring never tires. If only capturing demons was a bit easier…
Your Links
The Devil Summoning Detective is Back in RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-devil-summoning-detective-is-back-in-raidou-remastered-the-mystery-of-the-soulless-army/
Buy Raidou Remastered on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/raidou-remastered-the-mystery-of-the-soulless-army/9nx3566l9nh9
Or Grab the Deluxe Edition – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/raidou-remastered-the-mystery-of-the-soulless-army-digital-deluxe-edition/9P284W1H02KW/0017
