Back in May, I had the pleasure of previewing RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, a remaster of a cult-classic, PlayStation 2-era Shin Megami Tensei spin-off game called Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army.
It was an interesting action-RPG where you played as a detective moonlighting as a Devil Summoner, solving bizarre mysteries and protecting Japan from demonic threats. As a longtime fan of Atlus JRPGs who shamefully missed out on the original game, I enjoyed playing RAIDOU Remastered and was curious to check out more of it.
Thanks to a review code provided by Atlus, I was able to do just that and review the full game. Will this retro PlayStation 2 title be able to hold up in this modern era of gaming, thanks to its remastered graphics and revamped gameplay systems?
Join me as I solve this mystery in my review for RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army on PC.
Disclaimer: This review was made possible thanks to a review code provided by Atlus. The company did not see the contents of this review before it was published.
RAIDOU Remastered Review – What is it?
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a third-person, action-RPG developed by Atlus and published by SEGA.
It follows the adventures of Raidou Kuzunoha XIV. Raidou is the latest young man of the Kuzunoha family to become a Devil Summoner, a secretive group of magic wielders who summon demons in battle to protect the Capital city of Japan from hostile, evil demons.
Category |
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army |
|---|---|
Release date: |
June 19, 2025 |
Developer: |
Atlus |
Publisher: |
SEGA |
Genre: |
Action-RPG |
Players: |
Single-Player |
Playtime: |
29+ hours (Including side quests and optional bosses) |
Install Size: |
16.17GB |
Platforms: |
Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Windows & Steam) |
Reviewed on: |
PC (Steam) |
MSRP: |
$49.99 |
Xbox Game Pass: |
No |
Raidou also happens to moonlight as an apprentice detective for Narumi Detective Agency so he can catch wind of any demonic activity while also helping the local populace with normal, human problems like solving mysteries and locating missing people.
One day, Raidou’s life takes an extremely strange turn when his latest client, a young girl named Kaya Daidouji, asks him to murder her. Before Raidou can ask her for an explanation, Kaya gets kidnapped by a mysterious group of military soldiers dressed in red armor.
Now it’s up to Raidou and his army of contracted demons to rescue Kaya and uncover the identities of these red soldiers. Little does Raidou know that more evil demons have been showing up at an alarming rate, and that his investigation could lead to a grander conspiracy that could threaten the safety of the Capital as we know it.
RAIDOU Remastered Review – Presentation and performance
RAIDOU Remastered does this by completely remaking the original PlayStation 2 game’s pre-rendered 2D backgrounds with full-blown 3D-model backgrounds, while adding more details to the User Interface and character models.
The results are very pleasing to the eye, with classic Shin Megami Tensei demons rendered in exquisite detail compared to their old PlayStation 2 character models. Plus, the new 3D environments are pleasant to look at, yet faithfully nostalgic as many locales retain the art style and fixed camera angles of the original game.
The remaster also seeks to improve the original’s performance by enhancing the game with 1080p resolution and improved frame rates that can reach over 120fps. I was able to experience these performance upgrades flawlessly without any glitches or crashes, thanks to my PC rig’s Intel Core i5-9400 CPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card.
If your PC rig doesn’t have advanced specs, don’t worry because Raidou Remastered has fairly low PC spec requirements, so you don’t have to rush out to buy the best gaming laptops or the best PC gaming desktops to indulge in these improved visuals for yourself.
RAIDOU Remastered Review – Story
The story of RAIDOU Remastered is completely unchanged from the original game and is frankly insane. It starts off simple, then gradually gets crazier and more bizarre as you solve more cases involving demons and peel back the mystery of why red soldiers kidnapped this young girl who wanted you to murder her.
While it has its intense and dark moments, it's somewhat more light-hearted compared to the mainline Shin Megami Tensei games with epic action set-pieces and over-the-top villains to contend with.
Yet despite its more devil-may-care tone, I enjoyed the story of RAIDOU Remastered. It felt like a 1930s Pulp-era detective/adventure story like The Shadow, Doc Savage, or the Golden Age version of Batman, but with a Shin Megami Tensei twist to it.
Each episode’s mystery was stranger than the last. It kept me hooked, wondering just how much more ridiculous and action-packed it could get, and I was not disappointed.
Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the characters as the majority of the cast are somewhat two-dimensional with flat personalities and motivations, with a couple of exceptions. Without giving spoilers, there are even a couple of characters who do a complete 180° turn on their motivations that left me scratching my head, going “What’s going on? This makes no sense”.
While RAIDOU Remastered’s new voice acting feature does attempt to breathe life into the characters with fine vocal performances, they could only do so much to hide the lackluster characterization.
RAIDOU Remastered Review – Gameplay
The gameplay loop of RAIDOU Remastered falls between exploring towns for clues to help solve cases and battling demons in Hack n’ Slash battles across 12 Episodes of content.
The investigation parts will have you exploring various locations and talking with NPCs to advance the story and solve the case of an Episode. However, sometimes talking will not be enough, and you will have to employ the power of your demons to crack the case.
Depending on what demons you have recruited, demons can be used to read minds or manipulate the emotions of NPCs so they cough up vital information. Demons can also use physical force to bypass barriers, traverse impassable obstacles to retrieve items, and use various other abilities to solve puzzles and explore dungeons.
The investigation segments are simplistic compared to modern RPGs with similar mechanics like The Thaumaturge or Disco Elysium. However, they’re still interesting to interact with and fairly innovative for their time since this game originally came out in 2006.
Not to mention, it’s humorous and cathartic to see giant, horrifying demons and personifications of ancient gods who gave you trouble in other Shin Megami Tensei games be reduced to laborers performing menial tasks for you, giving long-time Atlus RPG fans some satisfying payback.
Eventually, however, your investigations will lead you into battle against demons and other evil forces looking to prevent you from discovering the truth, and this is probably the biggest change the remaster has made to the original game.
Unlike Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army, where you fight enemies on a static 2D background, RAIDOU Remastered has you fight enemies in a 3D arena. Here, you will use an assortment of melee attacks, Super moves, magic spells, and evasive maneuvers to defeat your opponents.
Additionally, you will be summoning demons you have recruited on your adventures to aid you in battle and command them to perform devastating attacks to target an enemy’s elemental weakness or provide helpful stat buffs and debuffs.
Personally, I can’t say if this revamped combat system is better than the original game’s combat system, as I haven’t played Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army when it first came in mid-2000s (I was too busy playing Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and the original Persona 3: FES at the time). What I can say, though, as a newcomer, is that RAIDOU Remastered’s combat system is great fun to play.
The controls feel smooth, there’s a ton of cool special attacks to unlock and play with, and you can customize Raidou’s abilities (both passive and active) any time you want to suit your play style or help keep battles fresh by experimenting with different builds.
While your party members’ AI leaves something to be desired, you can thankfully command them at any point by pausing combat to access their command menu.
You can also use shortcut inputs to make your demon minions preserve magic resources, or simply retreat into your inventory to avoid huge area-of-effect attacks.
Combining your special attacks (some of which can only be activated by dodging at the last second) with that of your demon allies to break an enemy’s shield, leaving them vulnerable to your super moves, was satisfying. It made me feel like I was playing a Pokémon action-RPG, more so than Palworld did.
That being said, there are a couple of problems with the combat system. For one, the enemies and bosses, which are challenging at first, start to become too easy once you master the combat mechanics and obtain end-game level abilities and weapons.
Even on the harder difficulty settings, I just swept through most of the endgame opposition with little trouble thanks to the new, somewhat overpowered Devil’s Bane and Spirit Slash attacks added in the remaster.
Plus, the remaster has given the player the ability to summon two demons instead of just one. With two demons, I was able to quickly shatter enemy’s shields and stun-lock them for a good majority of the fights so I could finish them off with Devil’s Bane and Spirit Slash attacks.
Although, there were some exceptions that caught me off guard and provided me with the best boss fights in the game, but I won’t spoil them here.
RAIDOU Remastered Review – Conclusion
✅You should buy this if ...
- If you’re a die-hard Atlus RPG fan or a connoisseur of PlayStation 2-era action-RPGs.
RAIDOU Remastered was a fun revival of a cult-classic part of Shin Megami Tensei history, which is sure to please fans of the original game, newer fans looking to experience it, or players who like playing old-school action-RPGs.
❌You should not buy this if ...
- If you’re looking for a serious, more complex, character-driven RPG.
If you’re a fan of JRPGs driven by darker stories and characters with in-depth personalities and character development, like Metaphor: ReFantazio or the Persona series, you won’t find one in RAIDOU Remastered. This game is all about the adventure rather than the characters you meet along the way.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with RAIDOU Remastered. The gameplay from investigating to battling demons was fun, and the plot was enjoyably ridiculous. While there were some issues I had with the difficulty at the end of the game, it’s not bad in the grand scheme of things, and it could easily be fixed with a post-launch balance patch.
However, what impressed me most about RAIDOU Remastered is the level of effort Atlus put into completely revamping the original game so it meets the standards of modern gaming, while being faithful to the PlayStation 2 aesthetics of its source material.
It is a huge step-up compared to Atlus’ previous HD remaster effort of bringing Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne to PC, and it makes me hopeful that Atlus will apply this level of revitalization efforts for other PlayStation 2-era Atlus RPGs like the Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga subseries.
So, if you’re a fan of the original Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army, a fan of action-RPGs, or an Atlus fan looking for a game to kill time before the inevitable Persona 4 Remake arrives, I recommend picking up RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army.
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army releases on June 19, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Windows & Steam)
