Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army

Unlike previous Megami Tensei games which used turn-based battle systems, the battle system used in Devil Summoner is real-time. The player character, Raidou Kuzunoha, can attack with either his close range sword or his long range gun. He can also summon a demon from his collection to assist him in battle. Battles themselves take place in small enclosed "arenas" and can generally be escaped from, though this takes a random amount of time. Battles take place against a variety of demons that the player will encounter randomly while exploring the map, with different demons appearing depending on where the player is. The player can capture these demons after weakening them, and then summon them in battle to fight on their side. Devil Summoner also allows fusion between demons. However, the demons must have loyalty towards Raidou; to increase the Loyalty, they must fight together through many battles. A high level of loyalty unlocks also a combined attack with the sword or the gun. Aside from the basic "two-for-one" fusion, a demon can also be fused into Raidou's sword, thus making the weapon more powerful. Outside of combat, the player is free to explore multiple areas of Taishō period Tokyo. Many real-life historical districts are represented here, like Tsukudo-cho, although usually under fictional names. The player can also travel the Shinoda Shrine (actually Hijiri Shrine) at Izumi, Osaka, which features prominently in the Kuzunoha legend of whom Raidou shares a surname. ==Plot==

The game begins by introducing the player character, Raidou Kuzunoha XIV, a Japanese high school-aged detective who is also a 'Devil Summoner'. Raidou and his cat Gouto-Douji work at the Narumi Detective Agency headed by lead detective Shohei Narumi. Raidou is there under the orders of the Yatagarasu, a mysterious organization dedicated to protecting the future of Japan from otherworldly threats. As the assigned protector of the Capital, Tokyo, it is Raidou's job to dispel any demonic or otherworldly threats to the city. During a routine investigation for the Agency, Raidou and Narumi meet with their client, a young high school girl named Kaya Daidōji. She mysteriously requests for the pair to kill her, but before Raidou and Narumi can enquire further, soldiers in red armor and capes appear, kidnap Kaya, and fight off Raidou. Just as quickly as they appeared, the soldiers vanished, along with Kaya, leaving Raidou and Narumi stunned. Narumi believes it is their responsibility to track down Kaya's whereabouts and solve the mystery of her request, as the Agency technically accepted the case and it is obvious to the pair that something strange is afoot. This course of action leads Raidou to search across Tokyo for clues, all while demonic appearances across the city increase in frequency. He investigates several notable locations, including Kaya's family mansion, a strange 'Dark World' version of Tokyo, where no humans reside and demons roam freely, as well as multiple military bases where it is clear the army is planning something big. The case also leads him to meet a variety of people in Tokyo, including Tae Asakura, a local journalist, and friend of Narumi. He helps her get a breakthrough in a case of a demonic murder spree, and frequently helps Raidou by providing him with information. He also meets the historical figure Grigori Rasputin, although he should be dead by this point in time. The two form somewhat of a rivalry throughout the game, as they're both powerful Devil Summoners. He is a recurring character in the story, and also makes appearances in the sequel, Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon. Overall, the story follows Raidou through his investigation as he scours all of Tokyo for clues while meeting various important people in the city and uncovering something greater than either Raidou or Narumi could ever have suspected. ==Development==

Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army is the third entry in the Devil Summoner series, which forms part of the larger Megami Tensei series developed and published by Atlus: as with other entries, its narrative takes the form of a modern-day detective story as opposed to the series' more prevalent post-apocalyptic settings. The concept for Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army began in 2003, coming to producer Kazuyuki Yamai while he was feeling under pressure during the creation of the Maniax edition for Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. After the release and positive reception, the development team decided to move on to a project that would offer new challenges. During these discussions, multiple team members voiced their wish to create a new Devil Summoner. The initial concept was for a small-scale, low-budgeted title for a portable system, which many felt fitted with the themes and gameplay mechanics of Devil Summoner. As the scale of their ideas increased, using a portable gaming device became impractical, and so they expanded the narrative to fit their grander vision. The music was composed by Shoji Meguro, a regular composer and sound director for the Megami Tensei series. Unlike many of his previous compositions, Meguro made heavy use of wind instrumentation and a jazzy accompaniment in tune with the game's setting. For his inspiration, Meguro drew on the soundtracks created for procedural crime dramas on television. For battle themes, he continued to use his signature guitar-heavy "MegaTen sound". Meguro also handled the recording of vocal effects for the demons. Despite being little more than odd sounds and gibberish, the sounds were recorded with professional voice actors. The basic concept for the story as visualized by Yamai was for a modern detective drama, which fitted in with the previous games' detective story style. Pre-rendered backgrounds were used by the developers over real-time ones as they wanted a high amount of detail and ease of experience with gameplay. The game's background graphic designer Masayuki Doi did extensive research into the time period to ensure the city was as faithful as possible, although later he added buildings not present at the time due to the setting's fictionalization. The possible use of the Taishō period as a setting originally came from discussions during the development of Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers. Kazuma Kaneko, the game's character designer, wanted an exhilarating title to counter the general mood of the time, which seemed quite bleak with subjects such as declining birth rates and economy in Japan dominating the news. The main theme of the game is "passion", denoting the main protagonist's drive to protect the city from demon attacks. The summoning tubes used by Kuzunoha were based on legends of the kuda-gitsune, a spirit that lived inside bamboo sticks. Shōhei Narumi, whose profession as private detective was still little-acknowledge at the time, was created to offer an adult perspective on events. Tae Asakura was created as Kaneko felt women of the era were somewhat neglected. Her pen name "Kichō" was inspired by Raicho Hiratsuka, a famous Japanese women's activist. They also wanted a writer-type character who could investigate the city's supernatural phenomena from a writer's perspective equivalent to the noted folklore writer Kunio Yanagita. For the character designs for the game, the team tried to stay as true as possible to clothing of the time: for instance, Kuzunoha's outfit was based on the typical Japanese male high school uniform of the time. Many of the demons used in the game were carried over from previous games for the PlayStation 2 console, but they were given revamped textures so they looked distinct from their earlier counterparts. The game's choice of subtitle styling was so that the Raidou Kuzunoha games could be distinguished from the rest of the Devil Summoner series. It was also a reference to and emulation of the novels of Japanese author Edogawa Ranpo. It was first shown off in the West at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo. The game's localization was handled by Atlus USA, and led by regular project leader Yu Namba. As with previous localization works, the team stayed as close as possible to the original text, although some adjustments needed to be made such as a Japanese song being changed to a more recognisable English one, and the removal of a mahjong minigame due to the total lack of a tutorial and its minor player benefits. Something unique to the localized version was the incorporation of 1920s slang into character dialogue. In Europe, the game was published by Koei. Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army eventually released on PSN on April 1, 2014. Costumes for the Phantom Thieves of Hearts inspired by Raidou are present in Persona 5, but were removed in the 2022 re-release of Persona 5 Royal; the original 2019 PlayStation 4 release retains them. A remaster, Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, was announced in March 2025 and was released for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on June 19, 2025. ==Reception==

Reception towards the game was mixed-to-positive. On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the game holds a score of 74 out of a 100, indicating 'mixed or average' reviews. GameSpot rated it 7.3 out of 10, stating that it "definitely delivers on the unique storyline front, serving up a dark narrative filled with a variety of personable and powerful demons to recruit, control, and fuse" whilst noting that it was "not as polished as previous games in the series.". IGN UK rated it 7.2 out of 10, criticizing the visual, referring to them as "rather unappealing, and the lack of a strong plot to begin with could easily turn some people away;" however, he did praise the use of multiple demons within the historical Japanese setting. ==Notes==