The PlayStation 2, to this day, is still one of the greatest video game systems ever made — not just because of its sales success, but because of how many revolutionary video games were released on it. In particular, the PS2 was a real wonderland of RPGs, and few franchises flourished there as well as Shin Megami Tensei. And while the likes of Persona tend to get all the attention, a little 2006 game called Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army is one of the most overlooked cult classics of the era. After playing four hours of the upcoming Raidou Remastered, it feels like this gem is finally about to get teh due it deserves. It’s a gorgeous update that isn’t quite a remake, but definitely more than just a remaster.
If you’re familiar with the SMT series, you’ll immediately be familiar with the setup of Raidou. Like many of the games in the franchise, it's all about recruiting demons to your team, powering them up, and then fusing them into increasingly more powerful demons. But Raidou is actually a bit of a fascinating outlier in SMT for two distinct reasons — a unique historical setting and the fact that it’s one of the series’ only action RPGs.
