S&S Review: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

Title: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
Format: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: April 16, 2013
Publisher: Atlus
Developer: Atlus
Price: $39.99
ESRB Rating: M

Veteran fans of the Shin Megami Tensei games have been spoiled with great RPG's over the years, and Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers for the 3DS is yet another great dungeon crawler.

Story and Presentation:
If you're not familiar with the series, the original game was released in 1997 for the Sega Saturn exclusively for Japan. So unless you've recently moved from Japan to over here in the west, the story will be a whole new experience for you. The game takes place in the fictional Amami City in Japan, a huge metropolis city that's built internet based technology. You take control of one of Amami City's infamous hackers, as gain access to the city's virtual world. You're then in possession of a demon-summoning computer, and a strange being called Nemissa takes control of your girlfriends body. Have I lost you yet?  Don't worry the story works itself out in the end.  You, Nemissa and your group of friends set out to uncover the many secrets Amami City possesses. If someone was to ask me to define a quintessential Japanese game, I would select Soul Hackers in a heartbeat.  The game's art style has a real cyberspace theme to it.  Just think of early internet themes and designs, and you have Soul Hackers.  The first person perspective highlights of the game's great visuals, but it can also emphasis a lot of rough textures.  Since this is basically a port of game from the late 90's, the some of the graphics may look a little dated.  This a rare occurrence though, the 3DS' two screens really did the game justice.  The music is good in the game, but the voice acting really stood out for me.  There is a lot of voice work in the game, and it caught me by surprise.  I didn't think that an old school dungeon crawler would contain so much dialogue, and that's a definite plus in my book.

Core Gameplay:
Once you wrap your head around the game's quirky story, you'll be spending the bulk of your time excavating dungeons.  Exploring the dungeons in a first person perspective offers up a bit of variety, I haven't played a lot of dungeon crawlers in an FPS format, and it's a whole new experience.  Dungeons start off simple, but they progressively get harder and more complex.  You'll need to solve a lot of puzzles to progress as well, luckily, they're never to frustrating.  While you trying to solve puzzles, you'll have to deal with a lot of random encounters as well.  You can fight off the demons, but you'll want to recruit some as well.  This is one of the elements that seperate this game from other dungeon-crawlers.  You can resolve some enemy encounters by just talking with the demons and answering some of their questions.  Your persuasion really can help you in the long run, gaining new allies and increasing your funds, successfully answering the demons questions will be essential.  Getting the hang of answering riddles correctly will take some time, but as you pick up on the patterns, it will become a lot simpler.  There's a ton of customization and party management in the game, you'll have to manage your demons and allies according, and playing with different layouts is a lot of fun.  If you're looking for a deep game to spend a countless amount of hours in, Soul Hackers is perfect for you.

Final Thoughts:

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers is a great game to get lost in.  The steep learning curve may turn a few people off, but if you stick with it, the game will turn out to be a blast.

S&S Rating: 8/10

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