Atlus recently announced thatSoul Hackers 2will be the next RPG to join its library of games, and so far, it looks both compelling and odd.Soul Hackers 2clearly demonstrates its roots in theShin Megami Tenseispinoff seriesDevil Summoner,thanks to its continued use of characters known as Devil Summoners who collect and command supernatural creatures. However, it’s also a massive deviation from its roots in a few ways. It borrows heavily from thePersonafranchise’s signature mechanics, and it also has a colorful cyberpunk aesthetic that sets it apart from mostShin Megami Tenseititles.
These oddities ought to serve as strengths that makeSoul Hackers 2distinct, but Atlus needs to commit to the game’s deviations to make the changes truly worthwhile. For instance, the characters that players can meet and bond with in the style ofSocial Links and Confidants fromPersonashould reflect the game’s blend of sci-fi and fantasy.Soul Hackers 2has the power to introduce a huge variety of compelling characters for Ringo to befriend, so long as Atlus allows her to. Rather than limiting Ringo to her humanoid Devil Summoner companions, it should give Ringo supporting characters who embody a wide variety of the game’s themes and aesthetic components.
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Soul Hackers 2 Has Major Character Potential
Atlus hasn’t explainedthe total list of characters inSoul Hackers 2,but known details about the setting already point to a lot of possibilities. Much like its predecessor inDevil Summoner: Soul Hackers,Soul Hackers 2takes place in a far-future Japanese city where advanced technology and supernatural events meet. Devil Summoners use special devices called COMPs to summon demons while ordinary humans live apart from demons in a flashy but mysterious city filled with Devil Summoner organizations.
Soul Hackers 2needs to design a variety of supporting characters that embody different parts of this complicated society, especially if Ringo can befriend more characters than the playable Devil Summoners. Naturally she should meet normal humans with complicated ties to demons or Devil Summoners, but Atlus should flex its muscles in world design. It’d be great to see Ringo befriend an escaped demon like a Social Link, or to spend time with a less advanced AI character wholooks up to Ringo. IfSoul Hackers 2is going to build itself on a blend of sci-fi and fantasy, then its supporting characters need to reflect the ways that those two ideas compare and contrast.
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Learning From Persona’s Character Design
Befriending demons and robots inSoul Hackers 2may sound strange, but it wouldn’t be totally out of the question, considering Persona’s established precedent of occasional offbeat Social Links and Confidants. For instance, inPersona 4,the Hermit Social Link is a foxwho guards a shrine in Inaba. A fox seems like a strange character to befriend, but its sacred duties and uncanny interest in helping the people of Inaba reflectPersona 4’s themes of friendship and mystery. If a non-speaking character like a fox can serve as a Social Link, then surelySoul Hackers 2has room for some friendly demons or other sentient AI.
It’s possible thatSoul Hackers 2will have a far less limited social system thanPersona 5’s robust network of Confidants; Atlus may decide to spotlight the main characters and only borrow mildly fromPersona, rather than connect Ringo to a whole list of characters.Soul Hackers 2would be better off with large social elements, though; social interactions will be a great way to help Atlus players connect with this new world, and Ringo could really benefit from it as a stranger to the mortal world.Soul Hackers 2’s release isn’t all too far away, so luckily the wait for more character details won’t be long.
Soul Hackers 2releases July 18, 2025 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
