Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army preview - A solid upgrade to an underrated classic

Ahead of its launch next month, we had the opportunity to go hands-on with Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army. This enhanced rendition of the PlayStation 2 game, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs The Soulless Army, brings the beloved supernatural action-RPG to an all-new audience. With new visuals and updated mechanics, this return trip to a Taisho-era Japan is exciting, to say the least.

While longtime fans will know what to expect, newcomers will surely be delighted. Read on to know what's in store with Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army before its arrival on PC and consoles next month.

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Raidou Remastered is a shining revitalization of a lesser-known SMT game

Investigate eerie occurrences across Tokyo in both the normal world and a twisted dark realm (Image via SEGA)

For the uninitiated, Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a Devil Summoner title, which is a sub-series of SEGA and ATLUS' popular Megami Tensei franchise, to which the Persona series also belongs. This spin-off series is an outlier, however; unlike those turn-based JRPG titles, it features real-time action combat.

As such, this experience will be a breath of fresh air even for relatively new MegaTen fans looking to pick it up. The story stars the titular protagonist, designated the honorific of Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV. Employed at a detective agency at the behest of the Yatagarasu group, he also comes from a lineage of Devil Summoners who use supernatural creatures to fight threats and keep the Capital safe from harm.

Therefore, players must join Raidou on a journey through the unknown as they take on mysterious investigations across Tokyo, many of which concern an organization of powerful red-clad demonic soldiers who have been wreaking havoc across the country. This is followed by exploring sandbox areas, talking to people, and, of course, fighting demons by initiating fights in real-time.

Engage in real-time combat against powerful foes in Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army (Image via SEGA)

As a Devil Summoner, Raidou fights fire with fire using his own array of recruited demons to fight supernatural beings, all of which arrive from different mythologies and folklore around the world in typical MegaTen fashion. This involves engaging in action combat as Raidou can jump, dodge, block, and damage foes using melee strikes, a firearm, and magic spells.

Allies, meanwhile, will auto-attack, though some layer of strategy is introduced by having to manage both the human and demons' HP alongside avoiding enemy attacks, and countering with effective elemental moves to gain the upper hand. Some boss fights can be tough due to the small arena sizes and multiple foe spawns, but it is a welcome challenge.

As fans of the series have come to expect now, new allies can be both captured and recruited during battle, as well as fused to create new, more powerful demons. The challenge ramps up as the narrative progresses, so levelling up both Raidou and his demon pals to gain new powers is key to winning, though players also have access to consumables to make things easier, and they can also adjust difficulty.

Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army will feature over 120 demons to fight and recruit (Image via SEGA)

As a remaster, much of the original game's vision and design has been maintained intact, but it boasts a new coat of paint, thanks to remastered visuals with overhauled assets. Despite that, the core here is very much that of a two-decade-old PS2 title. Still, returning fans will be delighted to know that many new changes are in place, all of which are for the better.

For starters, this includes an all-new voiceover cast bringing the mystical world of Raidou Remastered to life as well as a new objectives screen to keep track of things. For gameplay, there's the new MAG system to help manage allied demons better, coupled with enhanced performance allowing for triple-digit framerates on PC like never before.

All in all, Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is the definitive way to relive this classic yet quirky JRPG. The Raidou side of the Devil Summoner franchise has been neglected for far too long now, but that is set to change soon. We can't wait to experience the full game, which is set to launch on June 19, 2025, on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. A Nintendo Switch 2 version is also planned for launch in the future.