The PlayStation 2 remains the greatest video game system of all time, thanks in no small part to the absolute glut of fantastic RPGs that populated its run. So many of those games have been lost to obscurity, no way to play them unless you somehow have a working PS2 and manage to find an elusive hard copy. But with Raidou Remastered, it feels like Sega has found a winning formula for bringing back classic Shin Megami Tensei games, a blueprint that could be carried forward for so much of the series’ lost history. More a remake than anything, Raidou Remastered breathes new life into one of SMT’s best spinoffs — even if some of the warts are still there. It’s also the perfect RPG to break in a new Nintendo Switch 2.
Raidou takes the gothic storytelling and demon-fighting of Shin Megami Tensei and transposes that against the historical backdrop of Taisho-era Japan (roughly 1931). That historical flavor really helps Raidiou stand apart from not just other SMT games but other RPGs at large, as the game makes liberal use of both the era’s style and topical themes — mainly the political upheaval of the time.
