So the Shin Megami Tensei franchise is a pretty well known series of games. And I’m not just saying that because it’s really Persona that people care about and Shin Megami Tensei has flown under the radar completely, no I’m not bitter, you’re bitter. Shut up. But this is not about me gushing over how great SMT Nocturne is. There are some people who don’t know about it, or absolute heathens, some of them known as sundaes that are of the plastic variety, that say it’s just bad, which is fine, one is entitled to their opinion no matter how wrong they are. Regardless, Nocturne was a brilliant game with amazing gameplay, art and music, with no other RPG like it at the time. So of course, it was a financial failure. Atlus came to the conclusion that mainline SMT was out and SMT spin-offs were in. Thus began the hellstorm of Persona spin-offs, resulting in the trash fire that is the Persona 5 spin-offs that we currently toil in today. But thanks to cult status, SMT Nocturne has seen a sort of resurgence in popularity. Even the other spin off franchise on the PS2, Digital Devil Saga, is getting some love. But there’s one PS2 title that has gone obscure, even among SMT fans, with only true elitists discussing it. Then there’s me, an asshole who still has a PS2 in 2020. Raidou Kuzunoha Vs. The Soulless Army, or the full title, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha Vs. The Soulless Army… Yeah, that’s a mouthful. This is a game that not a lot of fans talk about for some reason, despite Raidou, the main character, making appearances in other SMT games, including the previously mentioned Nocturne, in Japan only releases, and even got a sequel. Why is this game forgotten? Could it be due to other SMTand Persona games clouding it? Or could it be because of how hard it is to get these days. Raidou Kuzunoha is not just an obscure game, but it’s obscure with a price tag. This game ranges from sixty dollars to a hundred and twenty. I was lucky enough to get a freshly sealed copy for around $50. That's ten dollars less than most modern games, and if Overwatch is any example, better quality then some modern games. But I digress, let’s see why Raidou fell into obscurity and if he should make a grand return or die in the fandom’s flames like Persona 5: Dancing Star Night.
So most SMT games take place in modern day Japan, in one form or another, but Raidou Kuzunoha takes place in 1930s Japan. It wasn’t the first time SMT went into different time periods, with SMT 2 being in a futuristic setting. Hell, Raidou wasn’t even the first Devil Summoner game to do it, with the first one, Soul Hackers, taking place in a cyberpunk Japan… but I’m getting off topic. You play as Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th, from a long line of Kuzunoha, with the responsibility of protecting Japan. With a sword and a gun and the ability to control demons, you take a job at the Narumi Detective Agency and take up a case involving a young girl who is being hunted by a mysterious force of undead soldiers while also finding out the cause of a strange occurrence of demon possession in the city, leading you down a path of demons trying to hustle you, a talking cat, and an android Rasputin that does the cosack dance and attacks you with Russian babushka dolls because Russia… Yeah, this game is weird. The Devil Summoner games were always weird. Hell, Soul Hackers had you fight a guitar wielding rockabilly, a Mary Poppins wannabe with a weaponized umbrella and a talking monkey. And people say that Persona is ruining the serious tone of the SMT games. You get to explore the city to a limited degree at the start, but it slowly opens up to you the more you get further into the case. You have run ins with plenty of demons and in true SMT fashion, the encounter rates are insanely high and obnoxious. But this game does something different. Instead of the usual turn-based RPG strategy, you are now fighting in a movable environment not unlike the Tales games. You have a sword strike, a gun, and the ability to use items. Your moves with the sword is pretty limited. You get a three way strike, a heavy attack and a charge move. The real strategy comes with the use of the gun, where you get a myriad of bullets to switch around with, like Fire, Ice, Lighting, etc. USe the right weapon on the demons weakness and you can stun them for extra damage. But then there’s your demon companion, which you can get from beating up demons in the open world… Your demons are absolutely stupid. The AI on these things is a joke. If you tell them to do their own thing, they will waste all of their mana doing the strongest magic attack they have, so you’ll find yourself going to the menu to change their strategy from time to time. That or stock up on lots of magic regaining items. And if you tell them to heal, they will waste no time using their strongest heal. Even if you take a tiny ounce of damage, they will waste a strong heal on you and waste so much magic in the process. It’s AI like this that makes me honestly prefer the turn based system. Thankfully, I’ve heard they fixed it in the sequel, but it’s still a pain here. I wouldn’t mind so much if the battles weren’t so frequent, which they are and you’ll be doing lots of them. The AI isn’t so bad that their idiocy will get you killed in a fight, but it’s still laughable how dumb they can be.
Now while I have issues with the battle system, it’s not the most boring (Insert FFXIII insult here). But what I do like is exploring the town, having a demon by your side. Oh, also, you can have demons follow alongside you. Yeah, SMT did it years before Pokemon ever did and it was amazing, especially for a fan like myself. But it’s more than a cool visual. You use demons to help you get information. Smaller demons can crawl into small spaces to get items, strong demons can push heavy objects, and some female demons can… persuade demons. It’s weird. They all have their useful tricks in solving parts of the overworld. It’s not all about fights. You gotta use your skills to solve puzzles and find clues, because this is still a mystery story. And on that note, one thing I’m kind of disappointed about is that there weren’t more cases than just the main one you get in the game. This is a nitpick for me, but I would’ve loved it if you could solve other cases involving demons. Maybe due to the PS2’s limitations, they couldn’t add a million cases, but Ace Attorney was on the Gameboy in 2001 originally, and it had multiple cases. I guess I’d just like the concept of solving multiple cases involving demons, finding different culprits and motives and all that. At least some side quests would be nice. Not that the main case is bad. It’s bizarre and interesting enough without feeling too forced, even if the whole Rasputin robot thing is…. Dumb. But shockingly, for a mystery game, it doesn’t take the absurd twists too seriously and manages to have fun with it, unlike another SMT game, hello again Tokyo Mirage Session, you fucking abomination of god.
The music an visuals are typical SMT fair, meaning it’s the absolute best thing in the world and why has no one given credit to these talented folks yet. The style of Kazuma Kaneko still shines in this game and it really fits with the tone so much. Sure, it doesn’t fit too well with the wacky world of Devil Summoner, but man, I just can’t get enough of those black upper lips and detailed eyelashes. As for the music, Shoji Meguro still pumps out the amazing bangers that fit well with the old 1930s style. And I never thought guitars and techno beats would fit well with the 1930s, but hey, it worked for Jojo, so why not Devil Summoner. I just love the style of these SMT games so much. It was kind of a shame that later games would not have these two working on them, but I doubt their darker style would work in Persona 5… maybe is Meguro did do some music for Persona 5 Dancing Star Night, I wouldn’t have been as bored of that game as I was- I’m sorry I’m so hung up on this, I just really didn’t like that game. And speaking of style, can I just say that Raidou is one of the coolest RPG protagonists I’ve ever seen. Sure, he’s not much in personality, but compared to other SMT protagonists, he’s one of the coolest. His design is one of the best, wearing a black clock with a cool detective attire. Not to mention, for every other protagonist, they are usually thrown into the world with no knowledge or training and have to start from the bottom. But not Raidou, he was training every day for this shit. He was a demon slaying badass before you started the game. People like to say the Demi-Fiend was the coolest protagonist and he’s pretty cool, but he was just a little baby when the end of the world happened. Raidou was already more than prepared. Speaking of Demi-Fiend, Raidou only got to tangle with the Demi-Fiend in the Japanese version of Nocturne because he survived the end of the world. Raidou is the best SMT protagonist and you can’t change my mind. But the game has one glaring issue, one thing that intimidates me from wanting to go back to it again. I like a lot about this game, but there is one part I cannot stand.
(SPOILERS FOR DEVIL SUMMONER: RAIDOU KUZUNOHA VS. THE SOULLESS ARMY)
So after you go through the large tower that is the final level, fighting already previously fought bosses again because this game hates you and wants you to suffer, you get to the final boss, a Kuzunoha far in the future that possessed the body of your client and intends to use her to right the failures that this Kuzunoha made. But Raidou tells him to fuck off, and thus begins the final boss. I hate this final boss so much. Never have I been so bored with a boss in my life. The first phase isn’t too bad, it’s actually kind of cool, fighting a giant battle ship. It does drag on a bit, but not too long. But the second phase is where I really get upset. Its attacks hit so much of the arena and you are left with little time to get out of the way. It’s not hard, it’s just boring and long and frustrating and having to use healing and revival items when you can already carry a limited amount is a massive pain in the ass. Oh yeah, you can only carry a limited amount of items, and not up to 99, I mean up to 10 each. That’s stupid and if I wasn’t already focused on the boss, I’d bitch about this too. So after that, it’s the third phase. It’s easy, but it’s also long because of the amount of health the boss has. I didn’t die once, but if I did, I probably wouldn’t have finished the game, because I don’t want to fight this boss again. You know how Nyx was an hour long boss, and yet was the coolest final boss ever? Yeah, this boss has the length, but none of the cool phase changes or the interest in keeping you going if you lose. Thankfully, I beat it on the first try, if just barely, and beat the game. Horrible final boss, but at least it wasn’t as bad as the Okumura boss in Persona 5 (This is just becoming the trashing Persona 5 article, so I’m gonna stop).
(END OF SPOILERS)
So despite some of the issues with this game, some of them bigger than others, do I think Raidou Kuzunoha deserves a second chance… yeah. Sure, the game wasn’t that good, but it must’ve done something right to get a sequel, which I do intend to talk about in the future. Raidou Kuzunoha was a fresh idea that I would like to see be brought back. Sadly, I don’t see that happening. With Atlus only focused on Persona lately with an SMT V announcement being in 2017 with no word since, not to mention the leave of the original creators of Raidou Kuzunoha, Radiou currently sits alongside Devil Survivor and Demikids as those SMT spin offs that Atlus just didn’t care enough about. But with that said, I award Raidou Kuzunoha with Tough Love. It’s got many issues and can be a slog for some people, but I had a blast through it. I love the style and I do enjoy the characters outside of Raidou. I’m glad that it got a sequel that I intend to play some time soon. I wouldn’t say it’s worth going out of your way to get, especially with the absurd price tag for it, but if you can find it for cheap and are a fan of the detective noir setting, than give this game a try.
So most SMT games take place in modern day Japan, in one form or another, but Raidou Kuzunoha takes place in 1930s Japan. It wasn’t the first time SMT went into different time periods, with SMT 2 being in a futuristic setting. Hell, Raidou wasn’t even the first Devil Summoner game to do it, with the first one, Soul Hackers, taking place in a cyberpunk Japan… but I’m getting off topic. You play as Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th, from a long line of Kuzunoha, with the responsibility of protecting Japan. With a sword and a gun and the ability to control demons, you take a job at the Narumi Detective Agency and take up a case involving a young girl who is being hunted by a mysterious force of undead soldiers while also finding out the cause of a strange occurrence of demon possession in the city, leading you down a path of demons trying to hustle you, a talking cat, and an android Rasputin that does the cosack dance and attacks you with Russian babushka dolls because Russia… Yeah, this game is weird. The Devil Summoner games were always weird. Hell, Soul Hackers had you fight a guitar wielding rockabilly, a Mary Poppins wannabe with a weaponized umbrella and a talking monkey. And people say that Persona is ruining the serious tone of the SMT games. You get to explore the city to a limited degree at the start, but it slowly opens up to you the more you get further into the case. You have run ins with plenty of demons and in true SMT fashion, the encounter rates are insanely high and obnoxious. But this game does something different. Instead of the usual turn-based RPG strategy, you are now fighting in a movable environment not unlike the Tales games. You have a sword strike, a gun, and the ability to use items. Your moves with the sword is pretty limited. You get a three way strike, a heavy attack and a charge move. The real strategy comes with the use of the gun, where you get a myriad of bullets to switch around with, like Fire, Ice, Lighting, etc. USe the right weapon on the demons weakness and you can stun them for extra damage. But then there’s your demon companion, which you can get from beating up demons in the open world… Your demons are absolutely stupid. The AI on these things is a joke. If you tell them to do their own thing, they will waste all of their mana doing the strongest magic attack they have, so you’ll find yourself going to the menu to change their strategy from time to time. That or stock up on lots of magic regaining items. And if you tell them to heal, they will waste no time using their strongest heal. Even if you take a tiny ounce of damage, they will waste a strong heal on you and waste so much magic in the process. It’s AI like this that makes me honestly prefer the turn based system. Thankfully, I’ve heard they fixed it in the sequel, but it’s still a pain here. I wouldn’t mind so much if the battles weren’t so frequent, which they are and you’ll be doing lots of them. The AI isn’t so bad that their idiocy will get you killed in a fight, but it’s still laughable how dumb they can be.
Now while I have issues with the battle system, it’s not the most boring (Insert FFXIII insult here). But what I do like is exploring the town, having a demon by your side. Oh, also, you can have demons follow alongside you. Yeah, SMT did it years before Pokemon ever did and it was amazing, especially for a fan like myself. But it’s more than a cool visual. You use demons to help you get information. Smaller demons can crawl into small spaces to get items, strong demons can push heavy objects, and some female demons can… persuade demons. It’s weird. They all have their useful tricks in solving parts of the overworld. It’s not all about fights. You gotta use your skills to solve puzzles and find clues, because this is still a mystery story. And on that note, one thing I’m kind of disappointed about is that there weren’t more cases than just the main one you get in the game. This is a nitpick for me, but I would’ve loved it if you could solve other cases involving demons. Maybe due to the PS2’s limitations, they couldn’t add a million cases, but Ace Attorney was on the Gameboy in 2001 originally, and it had multiple cases. I guess I’d just like the concept of solving multiple cases involving demons, finding different culprits and motives and all that. At least some side quests would be nice. Not that the main case is bad. It’s bizarre and interesting enough without feeling too forced, even if the whole Rasputin robot thing is…. Dumb. But shockingly, for a mystery game, it doesn’t take the absurd twists too seriously and manages to have fun with it, unlike another SMT game, hello again Tokyo Mirage Session, you fucking abomination of god.
The music an visuals are typical SMT fair, meaning it’s the absolute best thing in the world and why has no one given credit to these talented folks yet. The style of Kazuma Kaneko still shines in this game and it really fits with the tone so much. Sure, it doesn’t fit too well with the wacky world of Devil Summoner, but man, I just can’t get enough of those black upper lips and detailed eyelashes. As for the music, Shoji Meguro still pumps out the amazing bangers that fit well with the old 1930s style. And I never thought guitars and techno beats would fit well with the 1930s, but hey, it worked for Jojo, so why not Devil Summoner. I just love the style of these SMT games so much. It was kind of a shame that later games would not have these two working on them, but I doubt their darker style would work in Persona 5… maybe is Meguro did do some music for Persona 5 Dancing Star Night, I wouldn’t have been as bored of that game as I was- I’m sorry I’m so hung up on this, I just really didn’t like that game. And speaking of style, can I just say that Raidou is one of the coolest RPG protagonists I’ve ever seen. Sure, he’s not much in personality, but compared to other SMT protagonists, he’s one of the coolest. His design is one of the best, wearing a black clock with a cool detective attire. Not to mention, for every other protagonist, they are usually thrown into the world with no knowledge or training and have to start from the bottom. But not Raidou, he was training every day for this shit. He was a demon slaying badass before you started the game. People like to say the Demi-Fiend was the coolest protagonist and he’s pretty cool, but he was just a little baby when the end of the world happened. Raidou was already more than prepared. Speaking of Demi-Fiend, Raidou only got to tangle with the Demi-Fiend in the Japanese version of Nocturne because he survived the end of the world. Raidou is the best SMT protagonist and you can’t change my mind. But the game has one glaring issue, one thing that intimidates me from wanting to go back to it again. I like a lot about this game, but there is one part I cannot stand.
(SPOILERS FOR DEVIL SUMMONER: RAIDOU KUZUNOHA VS. THE SOULLESS ARMY)
So after you go through the large tower that is the final level, fighting already previously fought bosses again because this game hates you and wants you to suffer, you get to the final boss, a Kuzunoha far in the future that possessed the body of your client and intends to use her to right the failures that this Kuzunoha made. But Raidou tells him to fuck off, and thus begins the final boss. I hate this final boss so much. Never have I been so bored with a boss in my life. The first phase isn’t too bad, it’s actually kind of cool, fighting a giant battle ship. It does drag on a bit, but not too long. But the second phase is where I really get upset. Its attacks hit so much of the arena and you are left with little time to get out of the way. It’s not hard, it’s just boring and long and frustrating and having to use healing and revival items when you can already carry a limited amount is a massive pain in the ass. Oh yeah, you can only carry a limited amount of items, and not up to 99, I mean up to 10 each. That’s stupid and if I wasn’t already focused on the boss, I’d bitch about this too. So after that, it’s the third phase. It’s easy, but it’s also long because of the amount of health the boss has. I didn’t die once, but if I did, I probably wouldn’t have finished the game, because I don’t want to fight this boss again. You know how Nyx was an hour long boss, and yet was the coolest final boss ever? Yeah, this boss has the length, but none of the cool phase changes or the interest in keeping you going if you lose. Thankfully, I beat it on the first try, if just barely, and beat the game. Horrible final boss, but at least it wasn’t as bad as the Okumura boss in Persona 5 (This is just becoming the trashing Persona 5 article, so I’m gonna stop).
(END OF SPOILERS)
So despite some of the issues with this game, some of them bigger than others, do I think Raidou Kuzunoha deserves a second chance… yeah. Sure, the game wasn’t that good, but it must’ve done something right to get a sequel, which I do intend to talk about in the future. Raidou Kuzunoha was a fresh idea that I would like to see be brought back. Sadly, I don’t see that happening. With Atlus only focused on Persona lately with an SMT V announcement being in 2017 with no word since, not to mention the leave of the original creators of Raidou Kuzunoha, Radiou currently sits alongside Devil Survivor and Demikids as those SMT spin offs that Atlus just didn’t care enough about. But with that said, I award Raidou Kuzunoha with Tough Love. It’s got many issues and can be a slog for some people, but I had a blast through it. I love the style and I do enjoy the characters outside of Raidou. I’m glad that it got a sequel that I intend to play some time soon. I wouldn’t say it’s worth going out of your way to get, especially with the absurd price tag for it, but if you can find it for cheap and are a fan of the detective noir setting, than give this game a try.
