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Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (Saturn title but w/ full voice) announced for 3DS

I know that lots of people don't really like Persona, but I do. :(
But you're right, either way. Soul Hackers is on another level completely from any Persona game.

I do too, but I also recognize that we are in the minority. :(
I'm going with Strange Journey on Persona 2's setting to describe it.
 

randomkid

Member
yeah I might be one of the only other people on this board for whom "like persona 1" is a huge draw.

I was just thinking, this is like the ninth game internal Atlus has announced since Strange Journey. I really wonder what Kaneko's been doing, since I'm pretty sure he ain't working on Persona 5 PS360. Are there any Atlus teams or staff members that are even unaccounted for between the ports and remakes and Devil Survivors and Radiant/Catherine/Etrian games?
 

Aeana

Member
yeah I might be one of the only other people on this board for whom "like persona 1" is a huge draw.

I was just thinking, this is like the ninth game internal Atlus has announced since Strange Journey. I really wonder what Kaneko's been doing, since I'm pretty sure he ain't working on Persona 5 PS360. Are there any Atlus teams or staff members that are even unaccounted for between the ports and remakes and Devil Survivors and Radiant/Catherine/Etrian games?

Yes. And hopefully something will be announced soon~
 
I sure hope he didn't draw the in-game portraits for the characters, because they looked like cheap knockoffs.

The portraits in the PSP versions of Persona 2 use the same art as the portraits in the PS1 versions, except they're longer and at a higher resolution. Except, I think all the new stuff in EPortable is drawn by the person that drew the artwork for the Trauma Team.
 
Wooooooooo! Super excited about this.
I haven't given his IS a shot, personally, but Atlus' localizations are amongst the very best in the industry.

Hated his localization. For some reason the guy used different spell names like Jio/Meghidoraon instead of Zio and Megidolaon. I mean c'mon, use the established spell names ffs.
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
After SMT4, duh.

SMTStrangeJourneyJPcover.jpg


Came out already and way before Catherine. :p
 

B.K.

Member
Couple scans are out. There's only one gameplay screen. It doesn't look much improved over the Saturn/PS1 versions. It looks like the character has been redone though.
 

bubnbob

Banned
I haven't given his IS a shot, personally, but Atlus' localizations are amongst the very best in the industry.

I meant more on the overall quality. Read some of his blog posts, or the readmes involved, he talks about all the technical stuff involved, and when you play the finished product you are amazed at what he pulls off. For free, too.
 

Sophia

Member
Couple scans are out. There's only one gameplay screen. It doesn't look much improved over the Saturn/PS1 versions. It looks like the character has been redone though.

I'm guessing they improved the world map at least like they did for Persona 1?
 

Aeana

Member
Couple scans are out. There's only one gameplay screen. It doesn't look much improved over the Saturn/PS1 versions. It looks like the character has been redone though.

The background is the same. I'm not surprised. I expect some 3D dungeon improvements, though.
 

B.K.

Member
I'm guessing they improved the world map at least like they did for Persona 1?

Don't know. The only screen is this one:

8Nwo0.jpg


Graphically, the 3DS version looks pretty much the same as that one, except that it's widescreen, has new character art, has a new transparent text box, and the text is a higher resolution.

The background is the same. I'm not surprised. I expect some 3D dungeon improvements, though.

I'll admit I'm a bit disappointed. I was hoping for a full remake.
 

Nairume

Banned
At the least, they are definitely going to be using SJ's animated sprites, which I guess would be a hilarious reversal.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
SMTStrangeJourneyJPcover.jpg


Came out already and way before Catherine. :p

Freakin' Strange Journey. I've had the game since it came out, and the only reason I haven't played it is because the soundtrack is abysmal, from the tracks I've sampled. I really hate the direction Meguro took for this one.
 

Aeana

Member
At the least, they are definitely going to be using SJ's animated sprites, which I guess would be a hilarious reversal.

I don't know if that's a given, although they definitely could since most of Soul Hackers's demons are in SJ.
 

randomkid

Member
Don't know. The only screen is this one:

8Nwo0.jpg


Graphically, the 3DS version looks pretty much the same as that one, except that it's widescreen, has new character art, has a new transparent text box, and the text is a higher resolution.

I'll admit I'm a bit disappointed. I was hoping for a full remake.

That doesn't really look like new character art to me in the scan, looks rather identical.

And ha, I wonder if they WILL try to finally repurpose all those Strange Journey sprites. Cracks me up that the kings of asset re-use make hundreds of animated demons, leading everyone to expect multiple DS Megaten games, but then never used em anywhere except possibly that Devil Hunter mobile game.
 
That doesn't really look like new character art to me in the scan, looks rather identical.

And ha, I wonder if they WILL try to finally repurpose all those Strange Journey sprites. Cracks me up that the kings of asset re-use make hundreds of animated demons, leading everyone to expect multiple DS Megaten games, but then never used em anywhere except possibly that Devil Hunter mobile game.

It is.
 

Nairume

Banned
That doesn't really look like new character art to me in the scan, looks rather identical.
The portrait itself looks much cleaner than the original and takes up more of the screen, so there are definitely improvements being made.

I'm expecting them to rehash their old prerendered backgrounds, so I'll wait until seeing dungeon screens before making any judgements about the game's visuals. Not that it really matters, since I'm buying it either way.
 

Sophia

Member
That doesn't really look like new character art to me in the scan, looks rather identical.

Just saw the scans. The ingame art is identical, if bigger/cleaner (it was Soejima originally). but all the Kazuma Kaneko art has been replaced by new art by Soejima.

Same thing they did for Persona 2, basically. I don't really mind, I prefer Soejima's art. Kaneko's demon art is great, but his human art tends to be a hit or miss.
 

Aeana

Member
I don't necessarily expect any massive visual upgrades at all. Even the dungeons will probably look similar, but without the warped textures that the original has. And most likely it'll have the walking speed enhancement from Persona PSP as well. That's the kind of thing I'm looking for, personally. I don't think it needs a visual overhaul. Upgrade the UI, add map stuff to the bottom screen, speed stuff up, add the animated monsters from SJ, and we're good.
 

Sophia

Member
A lot of the 32-bit era Megaten games only really need minor adjustments and UI improvements as is. And Soul Hackers is arguably the best installment of the era.
 

Sophia

Member
Exactly. Soul Hackers is in my top 5 SMT games. And none of the Personas are, but I guess Persona isn't really SMT in Japan anyway.

Well, Persona 1 and Persona 2 are really dated. Even with the UI improvements they made, Persona 1 PSP still feels extremely dated. Soul Hackers has held up far better.

I kinda wish the first Persona had been given a full blown remake, and not merely the enhanced port it was given.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Well, Persona 1 and Persona 2 are really dated. Even with the UI improvements they made, Persona 1 PSP still feels extremely dated. Soul Hackers has held up far better.

I kinda wish the first Persona had been given a full blown remake, and not merely the enhanced port it was given.

I remember really hating Persona 1 when I finally got around to playing it on PSP... man. Literally nothing about the game was interesting. That said, I do think that the P2 games aged a lot better.
 
I've been playing this on the Saturn, so the timing is quite a coincidence. Maybe ATLUS will go the extra mile and replace the demons with animated sprites? Maybe even 3D models?

Well, Persona 1 and Persona 2 are really dated. Even with the UI improvements they made, Persona 1 PSP still feels extremely dated. Soul Hackers has held up far better.

I kinda wish the first Persona had been given a full blown remake, and not merely the enhanced port it was given.

How on earth did Soul Hackers hold up better than Persona 2?
 

Sophia

Member
How on earth did Soul Hackers hold up better than Persona 2?

Soul Hackers was always the better game. Persona 2's got a rather unorthodox battle system by MegaTen standards. I don't think any other game in the franchise uses such a system off the top of my head?

Don't get me wrong, I love Persona 2, but I refuse to play it nowadays. If/when I get a Vita, I'll check out the remakes there, they look like they fixed my biggest complaints about the game.
 

An-Det

Member
Awesome news. It may not a legitimately new game, but I'll have never played it before, so it'll do. Might need to speed up my 3DS purchase for whenever it releases, though.
 
Soul Hackers was always the better game. Persona 2's got a rather unorthodox battle system by MegaTen standards.

Don't get me wrong, I love Persona 2, but I refuse to play it nowadays. If/when I get a Vita, I'll check out the remakes there, they look like they fixed my biggest complaints about the game.

Unorthodox in what way? I don't see how collecting demon cards is any more or less relevant than conversing with and combining demons.

Fixed what? For me, the biggest problem with Persona 2 is the game freeze that can occur upon loading the save menu. Talk about a terrible glitch. But the trade off for the PSP version is the censorship.
(no more nazis, in name at least

I remember really hating Persona 1 when I finally got around to playing it on PSP... man. Literally nothing about the game was interesting. That said, I do think that the P2 games aged a lot better.

Soul Hackers is closer to P1, except the dungeon environments are more interesting despite being in the first person. However, as a trade off, monsters are just still images and you can't see anything that's in your party.
 

Sophia

Member
Unorthodox in what way? I don't see how collecting demon cards is any more or less relevant than conversing with and combining demons.

I was actually referring to the turn-based system itself, which is some awkward hybrid of SMT2 and Final Fantasy X. But now that you mention it, I'm not fond of collecting tarot cards either. =P

And the UI is a mess in the original PS1 release.

Soul Hackers is closer to P1, except the dungeon environments are more interesting despite being in the first person. However, as a trade off, monsters are just still images and you can't see anything that's in your party.

Like I said above, I actually think a better comparison would be Strange Journey. Much of the demon art in Strange Journey came from Soul Hackers, and the COMP system is very similar to the Demonica as Aeana noted above.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Soul Hackers is closer to P1, except the dungeon environments are more interesting despite being in the first person. However, as a trade off, monsters are just still images and you can't see anything that's in your party.

Don't get me wrong - I'm fine with first person dungeon crawling and old-school RPGs in general... I just thought that as a game, Persona was terrible.

I stopped when you had to fight that like... robotic mouse or whatever it was at the school. Too goddamned stupid. And the entire game up to that point was pure drudgery.
 
I was actually refering to the turn-based system itself, which is some awkward hybrid of SMT2 and Final Fantasy X. But now that you mention it, I'm not fond of collecting tarot cards either. =P

And the UI is a mess.

I can't speak for SMT2, but I wouldn't really know how it's like FFX. It's not that different from SOUL HACKERS, except you have more control over your party (at least SOUL HACKERS isn't as bad as the original DEVIL SUMMONER was in terms of punishing you for attempting to select your own moves). You pick the moves for your entire party, and then stats determine who goes first.
 
Don't get me wrong - I'm fine with first person dungeon crawling and old-school RPGs in general... I just thought that as a game, Persona was terrible.

I stopped when you had to fight that like... robotic mouse or whatever it was at the school. Too goddamned stupid. And the entire game up to that point was pure drudgery.

I forced myself to beat it, but I found the dungeons so horribly bland that it often felt like a chore. The fact that their Sega Saturn game released the same year (I think) had more sophisticated graphics says a lot about the effort that went into Persona.
 
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