Atlus revitalizes a cult classic with polished combat, faithful visuals, and detective work in Taisho-era Japan, bringing RAIDOU into 2025 with style and substance.
Atlus has long been known for making deep, turn-based RPGs like Persona and Shin Megami Tensei. However, RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is one of their few action-based RPGs, making it stand out. Ryo, which was first released for the PlayStation 2, didn’t get much attention because Atlus had bigger franchises going on at the time.
RAIDOU Remastered is a brave move by Atlus to bring a lesser-known gem into the modern spotlight. The combat and graphics have been changed, but what made the original game special has been kept. The remaster, which came out on all the platforms, including Nintendo Switch 2, shows that Atlus isn’t afraid to try new things outside of turn-based systems. It will appeal to both longtime fans and newcomers who want to try something new.
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army takes place in Japan during the evocative Taishō era (early 1900s), which is distinct from Atlus’s other games, which are typically set in post-apocalyptic or urban settings. You take on the role of Ryo, a Devil Summoner who works for a detective agency. The story revolves around investigating supernatural events and demonic disturbances, a blend of detective work and RPG exploration.
The story stands out because it takes place in the past and has unique characters. It also mixes mystery, the supernatural, and traditional Japanese stories. In addition to the main story, there are side quests and investigations that take you deeper into a world where humans and demons clash. The English dub is very thorough, with voice acting for both the main characters and some surprising NPCs. This gives the experience more depth.
While playing RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, you’ll feel like you’re in a smooth, fast-paced action RPG that still has Atlus’s signature RPG DNA. You play as Ryo and control him as he explores detailed environments, fights different demons, and uses swords, guns, and spells. The combat in RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is very flexible, combining combos, calling in demons, casting spells, and strategic positioning.
When you’re not fighting, the exploration and detective parts really shine. You’ll look into crime scenes, use demon skills like mind-reading to find clues, and complete side quests that require you to talk to other people or find things that are hidden. Mini-maps and fast travel options make it easy to get around without taking away from the detective feel. Demon fusion comes back through the Goma-Den, which lets you change things and try new strategies.
The combat in RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a big improvement over the first game. There are no turns; instead, RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is played in real-time with a lot of different moves and skills.
The controls are easy to understand, and the game’s combos and tactical demon swapping based on enemy weaknesses make it fun to keep pressing. A cool feature is the “perfect dodge,” a move that needs to be timed just right to slow down the game and unleash the powerful Devil’s Bane attack. This perfect dodge mechanic is hard to master without extra help, though, because the timing feedback isn’t very clear.
The charged super move Spirit Sword changes its elemental properties based on the enemy you’re facing. It’s another important part of combat. The energy charge changes based on how many combos you have, which makes you play more aggressively.
The Spirit Sword is balanced at the beginning of the RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, but as the game goes on, upgrades that speed up its charge make it a bit too strong, which could make battles feel easier and less difficult. Even so, some bosses still require careful planning, which keeps the fights interesting.
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army‘s UI is clean and easy to use when it’s not in battle mode. It has smart features like automatic demon swapping for tasks that depend on the current situation, which makes menu navigation less frustrating.
The biggest change in RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army may be the overhaul of the combat. It brings the original game up to date without taking away from its unique feel. The fluid combat and wide range of skills make it a fun challenge, and the demon-swapping system makes it more strategic.
Still, the perfect dodge mechanic’s lack of clear feedback can make it hard for players to get good at it. Also, the Spirit Sword’s ability to be too strong in late games could throw off the balance of some fights, making boss fights less exciting for players who have already played the game.
The detective mode and combat work well together, giving you a break and making the experience more interesting. But side quests aren’t all the same. A lot of them feel like filler tasks—”go here, find that”—while only a few are really interesting. Still, their short length keeps them from being too much, and new features like objective markers and a mini-map make the main story more accessible than the original’s sometimes hard-to-understand navigation.
In RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, you get experience by beating enemies, finishing rift battles, and moving the story along. Rift battles are unique, random fights with waves of enemies in small arenas that give you more experience points and rare items. This makes players want to explore and take risks, and it rewards them when they do.
The rate of XP gain feels fair and steady, which encourages regular combat without making grinding a chore. Focusing on constant action and reward loops in RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army encourages players to keep up the offensive pressure, which is linked to the combo-based combat and Spirit Sword charge system.
This interaction makes sure that getting XP doesn’t feel like a separate grind but rather like a natural part of RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army. RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army replaces the pre-rendered backgrounds of the original with fully 3D environments with the same camera angles.
This gives the game a more modern look while still staying true to the original design. The lighting and demon designs move toward a more modern and realistic MegaTen style, making the graphics more like those in new Atlus games and CG movies.
Although some fans may miss the overall darkness of the PS2 version, especially in dark areas, the brighter and clearer environments now work better with the new hardware and widescreen formats. Being able to control the camera freely in some places makes things more interesting, though switching between fixed and free cameras can feel shaky at times.
Overall, the remaster’s graphics show a lot of care and attention. They are much better than Atlus’s previous attempts at remastering games, like Nocturne HD, with better tone and fidelity. The English voice acting really stands out, and all of the characters, big and small, sound the same.
There are powerful sound effects in battle, like when swords swing, spells are cast, and special moves are charged. The music fits the setting of the Taishō era with moody pieces that add to the mystery and tension, making both detective and combat scenes better. The sound design supports the mood well without being too loud, letting the dialogue and background noises stand out where they need to.
It’s a good idea to bring back an old Atlus game, RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, which changes the gameplay from turn-based battles to action RPGs. Its fast-paced, combo-based battles feel new and rewarding, but some parts, like timing the perfect dodge, could use clearer instructions, and the Spirit Sword can get in the way of other skills sometimes. The detective elements add a nice change of pace and put players in a very realistic Japan during the Taishō period, full of supernatural and mysterious events.
Better quality-of-life features like mini-maps, objective markers, and automatic demon swapping make RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army easier to get into, and the faithful graphical update strikes a good balance between modern polish and retro design. Side quests can be boring or mildly interesting, but they never take away from the main experience too much.
As a way to honor RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army‘s legacy, Atlus has improved the game’s core strengths and fixed any bugs that were present in earlier versions. Even though it’s not perfect, this is a good package for action RPG fans and longtime Atlus fans who want to try something new from the company.
The game runs smoothly on the Nintendo Switch 2, with a 1080p resolution and a steady 60 frames per second, whether docked or played in handheld mode. It’s also a great example of how well modern hardware can work.
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a great chance to play the original if you didn’t because of its combat or technical issues. And for Atlus fans who want something new but still familiar, Ryo Remaster is a unique mix of detective work, summoning demons, and fast-paced combat that is hard to put down.
