I've been a long time fan of the SMT series since first playing Devil Summoner on PS2 (since it had just come out and I couldn't find a copy of Nocturne). I've been eyeing Soul Hackers 2 for a while and heard some mixed things. Mostly that the combat is overly simplified and that the dungeon crawling isn't very interesting. I'm about 20 hours into it, however, and I think completely disagree with those statements. It might be one of my favorite SMT games of recent years. (Though admittedly, I have not played 5 or any of the Persona Q games)
So what do I like about it?
First I really like the Sabbath system. It drastically speeds up encounters and relives some of the stricter resource management. SMT games are always or often about the long game. You want to make sure encounters are over as quickly as possible while using as little resources as possible so that you can survive for longer between restore points. The Sabbath system just deals unblockable damage to all enemies. Even if you didn't hit their weakness. This really speeds up the turn economy over the Press Turn system as you are no long using extra turns to cast more spells and thus using more of your precious MP. This means you can stay in the dungeons longer without having to leave and rest.
Now the dungeons themselves have been a bit uninspired so far. I've only really encountered a shipyard, multiple abandoned subways, and the super computer place Ringo is from. They are starting to do teleporter mazes and opening/closing door puzzles, which is fine, but the wacky dream palaces of Persona 4 and 5, these are not. I suspect that will change somewhat as I get further and ultimately it is not that big of a deal since the story has justified the locations well enough. Still, it was very funny when I asked to go to a 3rd abandoned subway line.
Secondly, I really like the characters! This is a rare SMT game where there ISN'T a silent protagonist and it's a better game for it! Ringo is a brat and that's great. I love when an all-present supercomputer creates life and it's a brat. The other characters are pretty good to, even if they very obviously fill the "order", "chaos", and "neutral" tropes of SMT. It's nice to play a game about 20-somethings instead of teens. Their conflicts are much more relatable and adult.
The writing has been acceptable. It's no Disco Elysium, but that's not what I would expect (though... could you imagine? oh man). The tone is largely light and fun despite the context of the events but it still knows how to create melodrama (which is largely what I come to Japanese made media for in the first place).
All and all I'm enjoying my time with Soul Hackers 2 thus far and will likely see it to the end. I'm not a 100% completionist kind of person but my current mood about the game is that I'll do as much as I can.