RAIDOU Remastered was provided by SEGA for review. Thank you!
There are a few companies that I can name off the top of my head that find a way to continuously make great games in short spans of time because of the way they masterfully re-use assets and mechanics, and ATLUS is at the top of the list. Their games all have very similar mechanics and monsters, but they still manage to differ enough with their themes, story, and overall atmosphere to make each experience feel unique and enjoyable. RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is one of those games, and just like ATLUS' other titles, it is awesome.
For some context, this is a remaster of the game Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army, which was released in 2005 on the PS2. However, unlike a traditional remaster, there are a ton of changes, to the point where I may even consider this closer to a remake. On top of the graphical updates, the combat system has been largely overhauled, more monsters are available to find and recruit, there are new mechanics and systems, the existing mechanics have been enhanced, full voice acting has been added in, and so much more. Listing all the changes would take up too much space on this page, but it's enough to make it feel more like a remake.
Story is very important in a lot of ATLUS games, and RAIDOU doesn't disappoint. You play as a young devil summoner who has been assigned to watch over the capital, defeat devils, and work as a detective. However, as more devils are popping up, you will take on a case that leads you down a mysterious path, filled with twists and turns that lead down some insane paths that I never would have expected. I won't go deeper into these, but it definitely got to a point where I didn't know what to expect next.
While the narrative isn't perfect, it delivers a great tale that I was captivated by. The darker tale and themes are executed well without feeling too depressing, while taking place in an interesting setting and Taisho era time period. That leads to an interesting merging of older Japanese and Western influence, and can lead to some interesting issues, like someone being upset about Taxis becoming more common instead of Rickshaws. The voiceovers are pretty solid, too, and with the great-looking character models and settings, I was having a blast.
Compared to ATLUS’ other releases, RAIDOU is part of the Devil Summoner series, and shares a lot of common elements with Shin Megami Tensei, but there are some key differences that are unique to this game. One of the biggest is the real-time combat system, which encompasses the core gameplay loop. You’ll have a weak and strong attack, as well as multiple special abilities, and use these with two devil partners to defeat other devils.
The combat is somewhat like a tug of war with your devil partners. Their abilities rely on how much Magic (MAG) you have, and it depletes pretty quickly. Weak attacks replenish MAG to fuel your partner's abilities, while your strong attack deals significantly more damage to them, but doesn't replenish any MAG. You and your partners can also use elemental abilities that could weaken the enemy, which enhances how much MAG your weak attacks replenish or how much damage your strong attacks do. We also have special attacks that can deal great damage and regenerate a lot of MAG, so utilizing those will be important in battle as well.
I wasn't a huge fan of the combat in the very beginning. I felt the weak attacks were way too weak, and there wasn't enough variety, but as soon as more mechanics and the Shin Megami Tensei's signature devil fusion system were unlocked, it started getting significantly more fun. The frantic tug-of-war to keep my devils supplied with MAG, using abilities to weaken enemies, and strike them is a great loop that kept me engaged and only got better over time.
I also want to take a moment and appreciate some of the other quality of life changes in battle. We have the ability to swap out our two devil partners and our own skills at any time during the fight, and since we can only have three at a time, this gives a chance to make sure the most effective abilities are equipped at all times.
As for getting new devils, capturing them is relatively easy and is done during battle. With each finished battle, you get EXP that levels you and all your devils up, but there is a cap to the stats they can have. To increase them, we will be heading to the Goumaden and taking part in fusing. This brings two different devils together to create a new one, which usually has higher stats and more abilities to utilize in combat. They can also inherit past active and passive skills, and if there's a certain monster you like, you can register it to resummon for a cost. The Goumaden also houses a way to enhance our own weapon with materials we find to give it extra stats or more damage.
The system is wonderful, and as a fan of it in previous ATLUS games, I can say that it still holds up even after using it so many times. Finding time to get new demons, level them up, and fuse them for a better combination was great to go back and do, and it gave me a chance to round out my team with all the elemental and healing skills I wanted. It took some time, but it was well worth it. Weapon strengthening is quite helpful too, and with three different weapon types to evolve into, I found the one that best fit the way I want to play.
Outside of combat, we will be walking around multiple different cities and environments, and completing our missions. Some of these are for the main quest, while there are other easy cases to complete. There are also some hidden objects that can be found with the help of the devil partners and rifts to get some extra EXP and money with slightly tougher battles. Being able to fast travel with the Express Streetcar made navigating the overworld easier, but I would have much rather spent more time in battles.
However, I will say there are still some areas that make the game feel dated. Having to go through multiple different windows to the Goumaden to fuse or upgrade weapons, then get taken back to the main menu to do it again, just felt tedious, and the set camera angles when running around in the overworld sometimes got in my way. It was little issues like that which reminded me that this was originally a 2005 release. They are small things that I was happy to deal with, but still aspects I wish were improved.
However, while it is playable on the Steam Deck, it can also be a little bit odd.
In the overworld, RAIDOU Remastered performs wonderfully, and can hit 90 FPS with high battery drain, but for whatever reason, some battles tend to drop significantly. I saw this primarily in the opening tutorial and in some fights in different areas across the story. It reminded me a lot of Persona 3 Reload's issues before Valve patched SteamOS to help it run better, so it's very possible it could be having a similar problem.
Still, I preferred how the game looks and didn't want to decrease the visual quality for better performance, which still ended up struggling in some fights, so I kept everything the way it was and opted for a 45 FPS lock. It still had those drops, but it didn't feel as impactful or happen as often, which made them bearable.
With the defaults being the highest quality settings, I can comfortably say this is the best way to play. Could you go down to 30 FPS for even more stability or lower quality settings for better battery life? Yes of course. But the sacrifices don't justify the changes, and I would say it's better to deal with the issues here and there over trying to fix 2-3 problem spots.
The game does have multiple settings that allow you to change different aspects of the experience. You can change difficulty whenever you want, toggle autosave and inverted controls, change control sensitivity and preset layouts, change Art of Confinement controls, change audio settings, and toggle the HUD display.
The game doesn't support 16:10 resolutions, but it does have cloud saves and controller support. There are no HDR settings.
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a wonderful time that I found myself enjoying, despite some aspects that make it feel a little dated. The tug-of-war combat mixed with ATLUS' established mechanics and great story make this a worthwhile experience to see through to the end. I enjoyed the fictional time period that it takes place in, and while some of the menus and fixed camera angles make the game feel dated, it still succeeds in what it sets out to do, with great quality of life features that enhance the gameplay in necessary ways.
On top of that, it does run on the Steam Deck, but it isn't perfect. It's still very playable, and I would recommend playing it on the go, but just be prepared for some odd framerate issues here and there. I believe these will be fixed sooner or later, but for now, they are infrequent enough to just push through them.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
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Despite some aspects feeling dated, RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a great experience that is playable on the Steam Deck.
