Monster Detective
Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is the story of an apprentice summoner who recently becomes a detective, he is soon approached by a strange girl who asks him to kill her. Immediately after she is taken away, and as the newly appointed detective you are tasked into her disappearance.
With your new moniker Raidou Kuzunoha XIV although you can pick a custom name you are by no means an ordinary detective as you have the natural ability to summon demons, use the demons to read minds and ignite people spirits and enter the dark realms of Tokyo which is closed off to normal people going about their lives.
If this all sounds too familiar then it probably is. Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a remaster of a PS2 game which is part of the Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner series but this may be a game that passed you by, it certainly did me. This was somewhat of a lesser known saga to me as I was not aware of this game existing even though I owned Shin Megami: Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 during my years playing the PS2.
While Raidou Remastered is part of the Megami Tensei series what makes it different is it does not take place in a post apocalyptic setting. This is closer to the Persona series but does not take place in a modern world but in Japan’s Taisho period as can be depicted by the buildings and peoples attire.
The games beginning is rather simple and not too heavy on dialogue, as you navigate a trial to become the next detective summon you soon find yourself in the Narumi detective agency alongside Narumi and a black cat companion known as Goutu. The agency itself is a base of operations where you can heal up and speak with Narumi about the current events. Outside of the agency is where most field work takes place. You can summon your demons out on the field even in the none demon realm as they possess abilities which will help you complete current events and even some side quests, for example you can use Demons to go into otherwise closed off areas that Raidou cannot reach or certain Demons will get a pet out of the tree that got stuck. It’s quite comical not seeing the later happen in real time especially when the victims owner sees their pet suddenly out of nowhere after being stuck for the best part of ages before you even showed up.
Raidou Kuzunoha XIV is a man of few words, the silent protagonist if you will. Which in it’s own unique way is a pretty unique feature that works in it’s overall setting, especially as the demons he finds have more personalities which really does feel as the demons speak to him and it doesn’t matter how angrily or soft they converse with him, his silence speaks volumes about being the Devil Summoner, the cat companion Goutu certainly has more to say about most situations that Raidou himself.
After doing some investigating and going into the Dark Realm for the first time is when you will get more of a feel for gameplay as you will capture demons you can add to your roster. The Dark Realm is a mirror image of the current world where it appears darker and monsters lurk at every corner. The enemies that appear on the field can be avoided completely and will respawn normally as you defeat them. Unlike First and Third person turn based battles which are quite commonplace in the Megami Tensei series, Raidou adopts an action combat system where you are free to move and attack enemies up close and avoid attacks completely. Attacking while not always the strongest way to get through battles does allow for MAG restoration, MAG is what allows your companions to use Magic freely and while you can set them up to not, it’s advisable to do so. Combat requires careful use of each of Raidous skills, using the Gun to take out flying enemies and then balancing between attacks and Magic to take out stronger enemies, using magic can deplete MAG quickly but normal attacks can also regenerate it quickly also. Hacking and Slashing will only get you through so many battles and while the controls can taking getting used to the game in general on the combat side is really fun and different if you are not used to the none turn based combat. Enemies of course have a weakness so exploiting these weaknesses is a case of using opposing elements to weaken the enemy so you can finish them off easier.
The games AI especially of the monsters you control is somewhat all over the place, the battlefield can get hectic on most occasions and it isn’t possible to move your demons from enemy attacks always so them taking the brunt of a big hit and dying can happen more often that not, this means if you want your demons alive it is worth noting you may need to put the leg work in on survival especially if you’re playing on a higher difficulty, the game does come with easier difficulties though so if you don’t care too much on the combat side of things then this is an option.
I also found healing crystals scattered quite useful and also common meaning if you take a beating, you are never too far from one. The game offers plenty of unique Items that can be both purchased and found. You are able to teach abilities to demons that they may not otherwise be ever able to learn using skill books rom the art of confinement, this is the ability you use to add demons to your roster. Using the same skill books will allow further learning of said skill so that the skill can ultimately be passed on through Demon Fusion. You can also use certain Items to gain a boos of XP for both yourself of your Demons and other stat increases. Raidou can also increase his power by strengthening his weapon through Sword Alchemy and involves fusing his weapon with materials found in the field to forge a new one, alongside this Raidou will bond with his demons increasing his loyalty and overall Demon Rank and a higher Demon Rank means being able to summon more Demons to his roster.
Outside of completing the main objectives and doing side quests, Raidou can also enter Aril rifts that show up on the map from time to time. These rifts are small tears in the world where enemies use to enter the real world and cause havoc, an Aril Rift you will have you partake in a small battle where you will fight demons and doing so will provide far better rewards than battles in the Dark Realm so it is worth doing them.
The overall setting is unique and I enjoyed the gameplay of Raidou Remastered, sound and the general feel off the game is good but being a remaster I do feel that the game does lack in some graphical polish and even being a remaster some aspects really do feel outdated but not all, Character designs are done exceptionally well but at times you can definitely tell it is a port of a PS2 game, however the content that the game offers is enough to warrant a playthrough for any fan of the Shin Megami Tensei series. While it is definitely not my favourite in the series, it definitely is worth the visit so if you haven’t played this but you are even so slightly interested, then it is a game I can definitely recommend.
A PlayStation 5 Review Code was provided by Sega. This This article is featured on OpenCritic