Raidou Remastered Preview – Raidou Kuzunoha Ace Attourney

Admittedly, I’ve never touched a mainline Shin Megami Tensei game, but Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore didn’t click, and every single Persona 5 spin-off has been as dull as dishwater.

So, when Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, a remaster of the first PS2 Devil Summoner, was revealed during the recent Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, I was intrigued. It seemed to have the hallmarks of my beloved Persona games: funky music, a compelling narrative, and weird little guys running around, but with real-time combat and detective undertones.

I recently went hands-on with the first section of the game, and it seems my intrigue was justified, as I’m now itching to dive back into its overarching, typically-Atlus mysteries.

A Real Atlus-like Detective Thriller

Raidou Remastered wastes no time throwing you into the action. Following a brief tutorial in which titular protagonist Raidou tames his first demon, you are introduced to a detective agency specializing in otherworldly goings on. Shortly after, the agency receives a call from a distressed woman, and the game’s first case begins.

At risk of sounding like that one Boss Baby tweet, from the get-go, you can see that both the Persona series and Devil Summoner series share a lot of DNA, both having been spun off from Shin Megami Tensei.

As I left my detective agency for the first time, I stepped into an interpretation of Tokyo from 1931 and instantly found my head bobbing along to the upbeat tunes. But I couldn’t dilly-dally for long; I had to investigate where this girl had disappeared to.

It all felt very Ace Attorney, except with a lot more combat.

After roaming the game’s interconnected streets, questioning those standing around idly, I was directed towards my first point of interest. It was here that I was able to make the first use of my demon in the game’s overworld. A fiery little chap, Ukobach, was able to ignite the feelings of those around him, which ultimately convinced an NPC to reveal a significant clue as to where I needed to go next. This was to be the theme of the opening moments.

Dipping from marked location to marked location, investigating as I went, I was forced into a parallel, darker version of the streets I’d just been wandering (it’s just like Persona, see). It was here that I got my first real taste of combat, which I’ll touch on shortly.

While a little hand-holdy, Raidou Remastered really puts the emphasis on its detective work. I spent time building my case by questioning potential witnesses, visiting key locations, and finding items pivotal to my cause. It all felt very Ace Attorney, except with a lot more combat.

Deep Yet Frustrating Battles

For the first few battles in Raidou Remastered, I really enjoyed how fresh it felt. I’m a fan of turn-based combat, but it was cool to be in an Atlus world with different mechanics, and there were a lot of interesting wrinkles.

You have no party in Raidou Remastered. Instead, you have a pair of demons fighting by your side, which you set to auto-attack. You can swap them mid-combat, having them use standard physical attacks or mana-draining magical attacks, which deal more damage, and have the opportunity to deal super–effective damage to your enemy.

You yourself follow a similar pattern in battle, with a fast attack which recharges MP, a strong attack, and an arsenal of spells, all of which are used in a real-time environment. There’s then a dodge roll, a break meter, and your usual array of items to manage, too.

Despite the bold attempts it makes to differentiate itself from Atlus’ other titles, I’d have just preferred it if Raidou Remastered had the tried and true turn-based combat.

At first, it felt like a nice balancing act, and I tried to approach each battle as its own entity. Halfway through my demo, though, I realised that as long as I had demons that were effective against my opposition, it was just a slug fest, which resulted in me mashing the two attack buttons as fast as I could, dodging occasionally.

It put a dampener on the other side of the game, and made the pacing feel a little off, going from serene detective work to fast-paced button-mashing combat. I think, despite the bold attempts it makes to differentiate itself from Atlus’ other titles, I’d have just preferred it if Raidou Remastered had the tried and true turn-based combat.

From what I played, Raidou Remastered does a lot right. There’s a fair bit of backtracking, and the absence of a real party to bond with hurts it, but its detective drama storyline and clever use of demons in the overworld really work. It’s the combat that, so far, lets it down.

The game does definitely feel like it was made in the PS2 era, and sometimes, that makes it a bit of a slog, but with its Persona-adjacent DNA and its detective power-fantasy narrative, I’m excited to see where it goes.