RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army review - A fun supernatural mystery that shows its age

With RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, developer ATLUS brings its forgotten Devil Summoner PS2 title to a modern audience. This remake of the underrated classic aims to refine and rejuvenate the first-ever action-RPG entry in the Megami Tensei franchise. While this rendition succeeds in most parts, it unfortunately cannot escape the arduous test of time.

Find out the why and how in our full review of RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army. Read on to learn why this JRPG is worth checking out, for newcomers as well as those returning to this supernatural thriller nearly two decades later.

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RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a faithful remake

There is something around every corner, even in these small, constrained maps (Image via SEGA)

Originally released as Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs the Soulless Army for the PS2 in 2006, RAIDOU Remastered is a nearly 1:1 recreation of that cult-classic entry. The plot has been kept untouched for this new version, featuring the protagonist Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV (note that this is a title for the titular Devil Summoner and not a name).

As a Devil Summoner governed by the Yatagarasu clan, the hero must seek out the cause behind the appearance of supernatural red-clad soldiers around the Capital. With a talking cat named Gouto in tow, this inadvertently pulls the duo along for a wild chase across several crimes and mysteries that loosely tie into the central plot.

Obvious plot twists aside, the story is fairly straightforward, with threads like tracking down a girl who calls up the detective agency asking to be killed. The most gripping aspect of the game is not just the plotline but the setting; RAIDOU Remastered takes place in a fictionalized version of the Taisho era of real-life Japan.

With the Japanese society embracing Westernization during this time period, players will walk the line between traditional Japanese aesthetics and new-fangled foreign influences, such as the adoption and expansion of telephone technology across the nation. This is in stark contrast to the post-apocalyptic themes of traditional Shin Megami Tensei games, making for a unique experience.

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Gotta catch 'em all

Recruit demons and level them up to make them stronger (Image via SEGA)

Armed with a trusty sword and a gun, Raidou is ready to take on any challenge. However, with the threat of demons lurking around every corner, he must learn to fight fire with fire by using demons of his own who will join him in both battle and investigations. The early tutorial section does a great job of setting up the basic gameplay premise and explaining the core mechanics.

Raidou will explore the sandbox overworld by talking to NPCs, learning about clues, and using his acquired demons' various abilities to overcome challenges. For example, certain demons can fly, allowing players to grab items Raidou cannot normally access. This also ties into the detective aspect of the game, letting players eavesdrop on others or even read their minds.

The game also punctuates its exploration moments with varied set pieces, such as one instance where players must navigate a liminal labyrinthine space to save factory workers who have wandered in. With items to find, side quests to unlock, and secret bosses to defeat, exploration yields fruitful results in this title. That said, combat is still the meat and potatoes of the game.

Weave around enemies and their attacks to strike (Image via SEGA)

In battle, Raidou can unleash sword attacks to defeat foes in hack & slash combat. He can also block and dodge to avoid incoming attacks. Allied demons are AI-controlled, granting players breathing room to focus on the action; however, demons require a resource known as MAG to use Skills, which is built up using light attacks.

Balancing the ally demons' onslaught with Raidou's own kit forms the basis of the action. Enemy demons can also be captured in Tubes, usually after a short negotiation mini-game. This brings us to the most MegaTen aspect of RAIDOU Remastered: Demon Fusion. Players can visit the Goumaden area to allow an eccentric scientist to fuse two demons to create a new one.

Fans of the series will not be surprised one bit here, as it is in line with what we know, including skill inheritance, demon registration, summoning, and more. The pursuit of new, more powerful demons will always be at the back of players' minds, as this allows new opportunities to accrue Loyalty — a mechanic that allows increasing Raidou's rank to unlock new abilities and more Tubes to carry around.

The game can also be paused to issue precise commands to allies (Image via SEGA)

Interestingly, many of these elements are picked up from the sequel game Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon, also for the PS2. This also includes the ability to have two demons out at once instead of one like in the original game. That said, many changes are brand-new.

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What's new, what's hot - and what's not?

Keep track of everything with the handy Journal logbook (Image via SEGA)

RAIDOU Remastered packs in many interesting changes, all of which are for the better. Battles have been spruced up drastically over the original. Raidou can now jump as well as unleash powerful finishers upon dodging at the right time or staggering foes. The gun system also has been simplified, with the elemental bullets gone and instead relegated to cooldown spells usable by Raidou.

Others are game-changing quality-of-life additions. This ranges from general refinements to the title's core difficulty and balancing, such as removing random encounters and allowing heals for free in the Dark Realm area, to the ability to Quicksave anytime, adjustable difficulty for player preferences, a Detective Log to track objectives and tutorials, and more.

The new Safeguard system even allows making ally demons invulnerable by temporarily removing them from combat to avoid having them hit by boss AOE attacks.

That said, for all the praise that the remaster deserves to be showered with, it is unfortunately not a perfect game. Much of this has to do with the remnants of the old game's design; while the combat in RAIDOU Remastered is good, it is shallow, and this is especially noticeable during the game's many boss fights.

Fight powerful bosses across the campaign (Image via SEGA)

These tough and large foes feature a shield gauge that must be depleted using elemental attacks the enemy is weak to, which devolves the game into mindless mashing. This pacing problem can also be felt in the investigative elements of the game, which aren't just simplistic in execution, but can sometimes get annoying, as Raidou must have the right demon Skill at the right time to get past an obstacle.

There is also often only one way to do things, which also contradicts the detective theme of the game. Thankfully, in times like these, RAIDOU Remastered does allow players to find the appropriate demon in the vicinity of the "puzzle". But whenever the game drops the ball in this manner, it shines a bright spotlight on the game's dated design.

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Graphics, performance, and sound

Voice acting also debuts in RAIDOU Remastered (Image via SEGA)

RAIDOU Remastered boasts high-definition visuals that far exceed the simple 3D visuals of its progenitor. While it is by no means winning any awards for graphics, they are clean enough while retaining the constraints of its underlying PS2 skeleton. This means that the performance is solid across the board as well, with triple-digit frames on PC possible at all times.

As for the sound side of things, RAIDOU Remastered features an all-new voice-over for the first time, as the original did not have any voice acting. This makes the supernatural mystery narrative more immersive than ever before. All of this is backed by a catchy soundtrack that fans of the Megami Tensei series will be all too familiar with, as compositions remain unchanged from the original.

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In conclusion

Although simplistic in its execution, the game has a distinct style and appeal (Image via SEGA)

RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a great win for SMT fans as this underrated classic finally breaks free of its PS2 shackles following a modern revival. Its unique setting, interesting plotline, and fun battles are the highlights, ensuring most fans will be entertained for its 20-30 hour campaign.

However, it shows its age with its shallow combat execution and dated design elements that drag down its pacing. Nevertheless, RAIDOU Remastered is still worth checking out for its distinct flavor of weirdness, especially if players are itching for a JRPG experience that's different from what they're used to.

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RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army

Our final verdict (Image via Sportskeeda/SEGA)

Reviewed On: PC (review code provided by SEGA)

Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2

Developer(s): ATLUS

Publisher(s): SEGA

Release Date: June 19, 2025