With both of these games in theShin Megami Tenseifamily of titles that see players battling demons by learning to command demons of their own, and Atlus committed to modernizing its classic 2000s JRPGs, plenty of players will see similarities betweenRaidou Remastered: The Mystery Of The Soulless Armyand the colossally popularPersonaseries.
And while you’ll find plenty of familiar beats in the games, don’t expect Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army to be a perfect parallel to Persona. Games in the overall SMT series branched out from one another for a reason, after all!
10Similarity: You’ll Recognize Plenty Of Demons
Your Favorite Persona May Be Waiting For You
While players coming into Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army as fans of the modern Persona games are in for plenty of things that make Raidou’s adventures stand on their own, you’ll definitely recognize some of the demons you’re logging in your Devil Chart along the way.
JRPGs from Atlus, especially in the Shin Megami Tensei family, usually have a logging system of some sort for your supernatural familiars, and there’s plenty of crossover between games. Raidou Remastered has 50 more demons than the original game, and a good chunk of those have hadstints as Personas, too.
9Difference: Devils Are More Based On Yokai
Raidou Focuses More Specifically On Japanese Lore
Though the Persona series calls on demons from folklore and deities from religions the world over throughout history, you’ll find that not all SMT games have this approach. While there are tons of familiar faces in the Devil Chart, there are dozens you’ve not seen yet if you’re not familiar with Yokai.
Prominent supernatural beings from Japanese folklore, Yokai tend to be scarier than the gods and warriors you’ll call on at higher levels in the Persona games. These creatures are often pretty spooky, with tons of skeletal or spectral devils to summon.
8Similarity: Elemental Magic Is Still A Big Factor In Combat
Hitting Weaknesses To Deal More Damage Is A Big Deal
Atlus didn’t invent usingelemental magic in combatwith its illustrious JRPG series, but it sure has managed to make doing so feel fresh. Like in Persona, you’ll find a bevy of elements both natural and supernatural, and you’ll need to use them to strike enemy weaknesses if you’re hoping to deal the most damage.
With standards like fire, ice, wind, and electricity, your affinities are straightforward, but Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army also has a few otherworldly elements with which you’ll need to contend. Mind and Pagan skills can be a doozy if you’re not familiar with how to counter them!
7Difference: Your Familiars Are On The Field With You All At Once
Raidou Remastered Isn’t Turn-Based Like Persona
Hopefully mastering the unique elements in Raidou Remastered is the toughest challenge you face in combat, because those expecting the slow,methodical pacing of turn-based RPGsneed not apply. Here, you’ll be on the battlefield along with two devils you’ve summoned to help fight, and every enemy is coming at all three of you all at once.
Keeping your head above water in combat requires smart configuration of your party, so be sure to keep a slew of demons with different elemental powers and Demon Orders in your tubes at all times – who knows what you’ll be up against around the next corner?
6Similarity: You’ll Teach Devils New Moves
Few Fusion Failures Here
Persona fans have long loved Igor, the suited old man with the long nose who resides in the Velvet Room and helps you fuse new Personas, but fear not – you’ll need to rely heavily on demon fusion here in Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, too.
you’re able to pass all kinds of skills onto demons as you fuse them using different pairing of parent devils, which can result in some very powerful shikigami in your tubes by the end of the game. Not only that, but you can opt into teaching your devils new skills by using items you’ve collected between battles.
5Difference: They Need To Study A Little Before Passing That Skill On
Teach A Demon That Move Multiple Times If You’re Playing With Fusions
Despite fusion being just as important in Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army as it is in most other SMT titles, you’ll find the way demons pass down their skills to be a bit different when you’re doing it with Victor over in the Goumaden.
This is because any demon who learns a new skill through Raidou opting into teaching them with a skill book will need to learn that move a few times over, working hard to master it themselves, before that skill is eligible to be inherited via fusion. The demon can use it normally after the first study session, but the skill can’t be passed on until they’ve gotten a perfect handle on it.
4Similarity: Magic Attacks Consume A Specific Resource
Physical Attacks Are HP-Based As Well
Though we’ve already highlighted some pretty major combat differences between the Persona series and the Devil Summoner series, there’s plenty of crossover between their systems as well. The elemental damage is still a requisite, the skills are often very similar if not entirely the same between the series, and you’ll need to use a special resource to use said magic skills here, too.
This time around, instead of using SP like in the Persona games, Raidou and his demons are casting their magical attacks by using MAG, short for a resource known as Magnetite. Gouto tells you early that it’s a critical resource for devil summoners.
3Difference: You Replenish MAG Very Differently Than SP
Raidou’s Sword Slash And Special Moves Are Your Best Bets
But while there are items that can help replenish your MAG, much like there are for SP replenishment in Persona titles, you’ll have far more opportunities to replenish the team’s MAG asRaidou Kuzunoha XIVin a way that Joker, Yu, and Makoto never got to do – with the power of direct violence.
There were some passive skills in the Persona series that sapped some SP from opposing demons, but it’s up to Raidou himself to use his shorter sword swing to steal some MAG from each enemy he strikes on the field. You’ll still find items to replenish MAG, but between Raidou’s sword and demons occasionally replenishing your MAG when they reach max Loyalty, you won’t need them often.
2Similarity: You’re A High School Kid Exploring Tokyo
Raidou And Ren Could Be Classmates
Thoughthe JRPGs we see from Atlusoften vary in some critical ways from one another to make them stand firmly apart, they really seem to love dropping you into the shoes of a teenager. While not all games in the Persona series take place in Tokyo, the setting for Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, Persona 5 most certainly does.
Both Raidou and Joker, teen boys using supernatural familiars to fight hordes of ghastly foes, explore the cities in their school uniforms, wielding similar weapons like swords and guns throughout the games. Use the public transport system to jump between hub worlds and let loose exploring what Tokyo’s got to offer.
1Difference: It’s An Alternate History Version Of Early 1900s Tokyo
Persona Takes Place Around 2016, While Raidou Remastered Is In A Year That Didn’t Happen
If you’re not familiar with how timekeeping was historically done in Japanese tradition, years were calculated not based on the Julian Calendar like much of the west, but rather on the period of an emperor rule. The era in which Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army takes place, the Taisho era, lasted from July 1912 until December 1926.
The Showa era historically began immediately afterthe Taisho era ended in 1926, with the former having a 14-year run, but this game takes place in Taisho 20, a year that did not happen in real life. Meanwhile, fans presume that Persona 5 takes place in or around 2016, with plenty of in-game evidence to back it up. Hope you’re a fan of alternate history period pieces!
