ULTIMATE GUIDE SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI DEVIL SUMMONER
RAIDOU KUZUNOHA VS THE SOULLESS ARMY
OF THE MANY SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI SPINOFFS THAT ATLUS HAS RELEASED, DEVIL SUMMONER: RAIDOU KUZUNOHA VS THE SOULLESS ARMY IS SOMETHING OF A HIDDEN GEM. WITH A NEW REMASTER ON THE WAY, WE REPLAY THE CULT CLASSIC ACTION RPG AND SPEAK WITH DIRECTOR KAZUYUKI YAMAI ABOUT RAIDOU’S ENDURING APPEAL
WORDS BY JAMES TOCCHIO
» [PlayStation 2] Legally distinct Pokébal-errr… Kuda Tubes are used for capturing Raidou’s demon allies.
In the early Noughties, Atlus had reached a tipping point. Though critically successful, its games had not found enough of a mainstream audience to ensure the company’s survival. By 2003, the financial situation had become so dire that Atlus game director Kazuyuki Yamai said the company, “Was on the verge of being shut down.”
Yet historical inflection points such as these are naturally unpredictable. Atlus may have been on the brink of collapse, but it also stood on the threshold of success. The 2003 PlayStation 2 release of Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne found greater mainstream appeal than previous titles and gave the company a new lease on life. It also marked the unofficial beginning of many of the core game design sensibilities that define the modern Atlus we know today.
But Atlus was not quite out of the woods. In another interview, game director Katsura Hashino recalled that if 2006’s Persona 3 had failed commercially, it would have been the final Atlus game. But Persona 3 succeeded in the market and established what would become the tonal and stylistic blueprint for the next two decades worth of Atlus’ most popular games.
» [PlayStation 2] Choose your name wisely and begin your quest as the Devil Summoner, Raidou Kuzunoha XIV.
“ATLUS WEAVES AN EPISODIC STORY INVOLVING A KIDNAPPED HEIRESS, NOBLE FAMILIES POSSESSED BY DEMONS, THE EXPLOITATION OF POLITICAL POWER AND THE DANGERS OF HYPER-MILITARISATION”
For the second time in a three-year period, the “Atlus spirit” had saved the company. Released between these two tent pole games, was a lesser-known spinoff title in the Shin Megami Tensei (SMT) series. Part supernatural Pokémon, part Thirties detective noir story, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha Vs The Soulless Army for the PlayStation 2 didn’t garner as much attention as the games that came just before and after it, but it introduced into the Atlus playbook a number of unusual and interesting game mechanics, told an intricate and mature story, and for a certain segment of the RPG community, it became a beloved classic. Now, nearly 20 years later, RAIDOU Remastered intends to update the game for a modern audience and introduce newer Atlus fans to this distinct entry in the sprawling SMT universe.
In some ways, Raidou Kuzunoha is a typical Atlus protagonist. Designed by Kazuma Kaneko, who created most of the company’s iconic characters over the last 30 years, Raidou certainly looks the part. And true to type, he’s a high school student and silent protagonist, being a stand-in for the player’s own thoughts and personality.