3.5/5 ★ – Groovy's review of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers.

I had fun with this interesting cyberpunk classic SMT. There are quite a few dated and frustrating systems with the combat and not having the press turn system can take getting used to, and it also felt like the game would flip flop from being extremely easy to randomly throwing huge waves of BS at you. As long as you can reflect attacks and buff/debuff like any other Megaten game you'll be fine. The story was fine but nothing very crazy, but the cyberpunk setting is what really makes it stand out. I think a remake of this game would really help Amami City and its dungeons come to life a bit more. Paradigm X, the hip new digital cyberyropolis, could especially look amazing but instead it gave me Silent Hill vibes with its grey skies and barren feel. I could see this being intentional because the program is in beta and not many people have access to it according to the story, and making it more unnerving could be a stylistic choice based on some of the secrets behind it, but this is never made clear. The characters are cool even if I wished we spent just a little more time with the rest of the Spookies (maybe through guest party slots like SMT IV) but of course Nemissa is the show stealer here. She can be pretty entertaining and has become a pretty iconic Megaten character from what I've heard. Apparently this game has several returning characters from other Devil Summoner games and I had no clue so it clearly doesn't impact the experience for new players. Overall, it scratches the 90s cyberpunk vibe and I thought it was neat, excited for the new one.