RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army Review – AN SMT ACTION RPG!
From one remake and remaster to another, Atlus is going ham. RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is up next—and boy, is that a long name or what? Sheesh!
Full-Time Demon Slayer
Thankfully, the shall-we-say, ‘limited’ graphics and camera of the PS2 original have had a major overhaul. This makes it more manageable to actually take stock of what’s happening, especially in the real-time battles. That said, the amount of skills and visual effects poppin’ off during combat can be… overwhelming, to say the least.
Sometimes you’ll be sitting there saying “Where the heck did that come from?”
Most of the skill names flash on screen before they happen, so that protag, Raidou can safely move his two helpful demon buddies away from a big, stuff-you attack. Though sometimes you’ll be sitting there saying “Where the heck did that come from?” And you know what? I really don’t know.
Regardless, fans of Persona, SMT or any other JRPG will be familiar with the elemental system. In this case, hitting an enemy’s weakness will stun them for a few seconds, letting Raidou and co. go to town, as they smack demons with light and heavy attacks, which makes it easier to build Raidou’s stylish limit-breaks with less resistance. Throw in some MP management, demon capturing, dodging, jump attacks, gunshots and Raidou’s own special skills—and that’s the combat system, ladies and gents! Pretty good. And no random encounters! Woohoo! It’s not complicated, but it’s not the most exciting action RPG gameplay from the PS2 era either, even with all the new enhancements.
Part-Time Detective
Another of said enhancements is a fully dubbed VO, where the original was entirely text-based. And they do a fair enough job… often enough. Certain characters can sound a tad goofy at points, though it suits the tone of this detective drama fairly well. Not that Raidou actually does much detective work, but hey.
Outside of sending demons to go fetch and some lite environmental puzzles, the investigation gameplay—if you can call it that—isn’t much different from the usual exploration found in other JRPGs. It’s still enjoyable, yet don’t expect to be Phoenix Wright-ing it up in here. Plus, don’t count on the story about a supernatural kidnapping being that interesting, because it really isn’t. The characters aren’t the most memorable cast Atlus has ever put together as well, with no major standouts found, folks.
The same applies to the music. Shoji Meguro is an absolute beast when it comes to creating killer soundtracks, but I can confidently say that this is not his best work. You’ll find some bouncy tunes here and there with his name written all over them, though nothing that lingers in your mind for too long. The game’s length is on the shorter end as well, since you can gun it to the credits in about 15 hours or so. However, this remaster features new optional content, extra demons to capture and overhauls to the fusion system, navigation and UI which make it a lot more user-friendly. Albeit, players will find a fair amount of fiddly menu-ing and text during gameplay that simply does not need to be there. You’ll be like “Please, can it!” especially during the opening tutorials. Also, the fact that the base PS5 doesn’t hit a smooth 60FPS on the 4K Quality mode is baffling, but it’s not super noticeable most of the time.
Decision
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army brings the trench coat back in black: with smoother controls, quality of life improvements and even more demons to make Lucifer sweat. Nevertheless, even with its flashier combat, cleaner visuals and removed random encounters (thank god), this one still feels like a PS2 relic at heart—quirky charm and all. The action RPG battles have received a remake-level facelift, sure, but the chaos can turn from fun to frustrating in seconds. And while the added voice work helps bring the cast to life, don’t expect Oscar-worthy performances or an edge-of-your-seat detective story. It’s a short and sharp affair, though not of the same calibre as Atlus’ other awesome-tacular games.
By Anthony Culinas – Reviewed on PlayStation 5
Good
RAIDOU Remastered is a stylish and faithful glow-up of a cult classic, yet it’s still very much a product of its time.
This game was reviewed using a download code provided by Sega. The Beta Network uses affiliate partnerships, however, this does not influence reviews or any other content published. The Beta Network may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links that are on the website.
