JRPG Soul Hackers 2 is an eerie parable about the surveillance state

A familiar face is the most fearsome sight in an unimaginable world of demons.

Protagonist Ringo and her band of Devil Summoners were near the finish line — they had finally unmasked the identity of their nemesis and were ready to take them down. As they made their way through narrow alleyways, endless rows of shipping containers and other obstacles, one demon stood out. Their appearance was identical to Ringo’s: the same clothes, their hair and even the exact same weapons. They only had one difference: a shadow was cast on their heads that covered their eyes and a grin they made as they prepared for battle.

The first time I saw a Doppelganger was in JRPG Soul Hackers 2. This demon was present in multiple games. Shin Megami Tensei series (of which Soul Hackers, like Devil Summoner and Persona, is a spinoff), has the ability to mimic someone’s appearance. As if finding a reflection of yourself wasn’t eerie enough, the universe’s description adds to its unsettling presence. You can find it here. Soul Hackers 2, the Doppelganger is considered a “phantom copy of a living being.” The demon is usually regarded as an omen of bad luck — while it’s common for others to spot them from afar, it’s said that “one may see their own Doppelganger in the moments before they die.”

Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

Ringo made it through the encounter. But I felt uneasy. Later on, as is common in developer Atlus’ suite of games, I had the chance to recruit the demon, and they greeted the group with mockery: “I’m Doppelganger… or maybe you’re the fake, and I’m the real one.” The mimic was not only uncanny, but proud of re-creating the protagonist so easily. This is the context of Soul Hackers 2The prospect of a world in which society lives under surveillance, and Aion, an AI that predicts the end, is more frightening. If Ringo, who is an incarnation of the universe’s vast sea of information, can be so easily mimicked, is there any privacy left at all?

Motherboard’s August story on Facebook and private conversations between 17-year old girl and mother led to details being shared with law enforcement about an investigation into an apparent abortion at the Nebraska family home. Since that time, Roe v. WadeIt was overturned and denied the right to legal, safe abortion in some U.S. state. However, renewed concerns have been raised about data collection especially regarding period tracking apps. What’s more, in an NPR report, Evan Greer, director of the digital rights advocacy group Fight for the Future, pointed out that using apps that collect data in a clinic that offers abortion services can also leave a record of the location. “Any app that is collecting sensitive information about your health or your body should be given an additional level of scrutiny,” Greer told NPR.

Identity theft is increasing in frequency as companies collect personal data through apps and Roombas, now owned by Amazon. DALL-E is an AI imaging tool which can accurately re-create works of artists. It also allows you to win competitions. Deepfakes still exist. Cyberattacks, impersonators, data breaches — the list goes on.

Soul Hackers 2The story is set in the fictional 21st century, where privacy has little or no importance. Ringo is asked by someone if Aion could read their minds. This conversation makes it clear that this reality exists. While literal “mind reading” can’t technically be achieved, the amount of data gathered from each person can easily lead to a similar result, allowing the AI to guess the answers in certain conversations before the words even leave the person’s mouth. It sounds dystopian — but with the current state of the world, it’s not wholly unbelievable.

Image: Atlus/Sega

These futures are already beginning to take shape in everyday life on many different levels. While I was working on this article, I was struck by a TikTok. Breaking Bad’s Heisenberg dancing to “Despechá” by Rosalía being shared on Twitter and Instagram. For the trained eye, one can easily discern that this is a random person using a deepfake of Bryan Cranston’s character. But of the thousands of comments across the profile, which has millions of views and followers, not everyone is able to notice that it’s fake.

Ringo’s Doppelganger wasn’t a perfect match either, but it was enough to trick some people. During a side mission called “Girl’s Night Out,” a detective confronts Ringo to say that she was spotted shoplifting at two separate stores. Before the detective realizes that Ringo had been spotted in a subway line just moments before, the managers ask for the money she owes. It turns out that the thief had been a Doppelganger.

Soul Hackers 2A Doppelganger can be a sign of bad fortune. In our case, it’s an eerie reminder of the constantly surveilled dystopia we inch closer to every day. We don’t need an AI to predict our grim future — there’s living proof around us already.