Folklore

[KnackChap]

Folklore

 

Developer: Game Republic

Publisher: Sony

Genre: Role Playing Game

Players: 1

Platform:PS3

Release Date: OCT2007

 

An action/adventure game by Kouji Okada (the father of the Shin Megami Tensei series) that takes you through seven mysterious and yet Earth-like worlds. The game features two main characters. Ellen, a shy college student who's studying comparative civilizations, receives a letter from her mom, who died when she was a child. The letter says "I want to meet you," and suggests that Ellen go to the town of Lemrick. There, she meets Keats, a journalist who handles the occult corner of a magazine. He receives a phone call from an unknown girl asking for help. When he gets to Remrick, he finds that the girl has already been killed, and decides to start up an investigation.

 

IGN Preview

In a breathtakingly beautiful cinema, the game opens with a seafaring Ellen approaching the small Irish town of Doolin in the midst of a massive rainstorm. Years ago, Ellen's mother died, but recently a letter showed up begging the young blonde to come meet her thought-dead mother in Doolin. Now -- as the boat rocks from side to side, the wind swirls and Ellen stares out into the darkness -- the boat's captain refuses to take Ellen to shore, and the headstrong teen leaps into the water.

 

Suddenly, we're in Keats's office. He reminisces about his job, his stories and his life -- but the overwhelming feature is the level of detail surrounding Keats. There are different textures and shadows on his phone, his fingers clang away at an old typewriter in the most realistic of ways, and as Keats leans back in his chair and the sun reflects off his glasses, particles of dust dance in the air.

 

The phone rings, Keats picks it up, and a voice tells him to come to Doolin. Keats gets there and runs into Ellen, who is approaching a cloaked woman she thinks to be her mom. The mysterious figure collapses, a rush of wind goes by and Ellen ends up face down in the sand.

 

The first time gamers get to control Keats, they'll use a small radar in the top left corner of the screen to navigate the worn streets of Doolin and find Ellen. The in-game graphics can't match the cutscenes, but that's not to say they look bad. The dilapidated buildings and mossy walls immerse you in a quaint village.

 

Eventually, a voice tells Keats to seek the pub -- advice that is never bad -- and our hero meets up with a bunch of halflives -- creatures caught between our world and the next -- who let him in on a secret -- Doolin really is the entrance to the Netherworld.

 

Why do they do this, well, it turns out that Keats and Ellen are Netherworld Travelers, folks who can walk between worlds and wield incredible powers. Usually this is a good thing, but in Ellen's case, some evil spirit is using the girl's desire to find her mom to take Ellen's power. Thus, Ellen thinks she's helping her mom, but in reality she's on pace to end the world as everyone knows it.

 

Luckily, four-eyed Keats won't have to only use Gollum-looking spirits to save the world. As our hero continues his quest to stop Ellen from bringing about the end of existence, he'll be able to change into a white haired, bulked-up badass with an intense tattoo on the left side of his face and body when his Mind Capacity meter is full -- get it full by capturing ids. While in suped-up form, Keats will be able to deal out big time damage such as thunderous, folk-killing ground pounds while crazy purple energy pours from his eyes.

 

It might not sound like much, but after our first taste of Folklore left us thinking this game was just tearing ids from crippled bodies, this action-laden option turned our perception of this game on its head. Toss in a graphic novel story-telling flare between cutscenes and more than 100 folks, and this title gets even more attractive.

 

Oh. Did we mention this sucker is going to take advantage of the PlayStation network?

 

Folklore players can create maps in Dungeon Trial, stock the levels with the ids they've colleted, upload the arenas to the PSN and then other users can download the places and try'em out. It's like a supernatural LittleBigPlanet!

 

Folklore will also release six downloadable packs that each include an additional quest, folk and costume. In short, it looks like Folklore's time of being under the radar has come to a close.

 

Screens

 

Reviews

IGN-

Gamespot-

1UP-

CVg-8/10

[CarbonCore]

Played Folklore today and enjoyed it. Don't know why it got such low scores.

[Snake]

got the demo..was very very good...nice sixaxis errr....action,the scores dont do this game justice

[KnackChap]

low scores??

CVG gave it 8

only eurogamer gave it 5 and they played a jap version,without knowing what the story was,playing an rpg without knowing the story,how smart

[CarbonCore]

Well then this one goes in the shopping list too....sh*t, gotta start selling the furniture too.

[Chaztin]

Well then this one goes in the shopping list too....sh*t, gotta start selling the furniture too.

 

 

^^

 

Sell old games first!

[KnackChap]

^^

 

Sell old games first!

why do u think i sold you crackdown and oblivion

[CarbonCore]

Time to put the 360 games on sale I guess....

[KnackChap]

played the demo

visually its a stunner,and has some of the best sixaxis implementation till date.not quiet sold on the gameplay,need to play a couple of times before making up a decision.

 

p.s-is it just me or does keats look like otacon

[KnackChap]

its hard to explain but ill try

folklore is a semi rpg semi action game like DMC,the whole battle system is pretty interesting you are given souls of different folks which you have to map to the face buttons.like soul of a melee gremlin to X and a cannon crature to O.you get to play 2 characters and once you'r done with the exploration you enter a netherworld and start capturing souls of different creatures which raises you exp.

once you lock on to an enemy you can press any 4 button to do a corresponding attack,once they are weakened their soul will start floating right over them,when this happens you need to press L1 and whip the controller towards you,like is catching a fish,youll get the soul,bosses have different way of being captured.

its sounds pretty complicated but is immensly simple and more importantly fun.

[KnackChap]

story is pretty cool from what i heard,its not a jrpg story.the game has a very tim burton's flicks feel to it

[CarbonCore]

IGN Reviews it... http://ps3.ign.com/articles/824/824614p1.html

 

9.5 Presentation

Incredible. Everything from the cutscenes to the falling leaves in the menus work together to create a very enthralling experience.

 

9.0 Graphics

While not superb in a technical sense, the artistic direction and execution of what's there are top notch.

 

8.5 Sound

Solid voice acting and a vividly atmospheric score demand you to turn the volume up.

 

8.5 Gameplay

Very fun combat with great motion controls, but a few key issues end up doing a bit of damage to the experience.

 

9.0 Lasting Appeal

A haunting adventure (that will take fifteen hours at least) worth coming back to.

 

9.0 Outstanding OVERALL

 

Anyone's getting it? Going for 50$ on PA right now.

[KnackChap]

whoa! sleeper hit,very nice.

playasia has the asian one with full eng voice and subtitles for 2k,was about to buy it but ordered another m3.

will get this game for sure,dunno when.

[CarbonCore]

I'm downloading the demo from HK store again, to see if the Asian version is full english in the menu as well. If confirmed, I'll order it today itself.

 

Btw, HK store already has Go! Sports Ski

[CarbonCore]

OK comfirmed the HK demo is completely English as well, so the Asian version must have full english in game. Off to buy it

[KnackChap]

nice review....looks like a must buy (for RPG fans)

 

 

 

peace

 

its not an rpg to be honest,the combat is nothing like oblivion(west rpg) or FF/DQ(jrpg),its something like a cross between zelda and DMC games.the game is like action adventure TBH

[CarbonCore]

A nice trailer GDC

 

[gt]19626[/gt]

[CarbonCore]

Got it today. The game has a 1GB installation but it is not mandatory, gives you an option to install it like Sigma.

[Daedalus]

i fail to understand the disparity in so many games rated by gs

[CarbonCore]

Screw Gamespot, they seems to be on secret agenda of turning down every PS3 exclusive.

 

Btw, PSX Extreme reviewed it..

 

Graphics: 8.9

Gameplay: 8.8

Sound: 8.9

Control: 8.2

Replay Value: 9.0

 

Overall Rating: 8.8

http://www.psxextreme.com/ps3-reviews/64.html

 

I find it fairly unusual to see Sony bringing out some of the most unique looking titles for their consoles. Generally, the really quirky and un-Western software tends to stem from the much smaller, independent publishers and developers. But over the years, Sony has been responsible for a lot of very unique games, such as Ico, Shadow of Colossus, the lesser known Okage, and now Folklore. Sony's managed to quickly emerge as the premier developer of a genre that Nintendo once held a grasp over.

 

It only takes one quick glance at their line-up of action/adventure games to realize what we've already been treated to. And thanks to Game Republic, Sony has brought us yet another splendid piece of entertainment. Folklore is the game formerly known as Unknown Realms: Monster Kingdom, so in case you're wondering where Folklore popped out from, here's your answer. After a lackluster showing with Genji: Days of the Blade, Game Republic has come back to bring us a terrific journey, and I'm impressed.

 

Folklore is impressive largely because it's unlike any action/adventure game you've played before. It has an engrossing and captivating feel to it that is unusually addictive. While the action isn't as lightning fast as Devil May Cry, the overall gameplay is still equally engaging. Your combat revolves around controlling the souls of creatures that you've absorbed. Your face buttons (X, O, Square, Triangle) represent which monster's powers you can use in an action (be it attack or defense). There is a wide variety of the kind of monsters you will come across and absorb. You'll have a total of 100 Folks to collect in the game, with more featured in add-on packs.

 

There'll be monsters that'll allow you to perform quick melee attacks, gigantic boss-like monsters that'll pulverize everything in their path, monsters that'll give you the ability of shielding yourself, and so on. There's a different type of beast for whatever the occasion or objective may require. There are no drawn-out sequences for when you summon a monster, it's absolutely instantaneous. Basically, think of these monsters as battle equipment that no different than having a sword, gun, or shield in Devil May Cry.

 

Absorbing a monster means you have to fight and stun the enemy so that it's soul is weakened and briefly detaches itself. When you're close to defeating an enemy/monster, you can choose to finish him off for good or absorb its soul. But you're not limited to the tedium of absorbing souls one-by-one; you can actually absorb a multitude of souls all at once. If the enemies are all within your sight/on the screen, you'll be able to absorb them all. I've managed to capture six simultaneously, so far, but I know more can be done. Absorbing gives you EXP, which in turn will grant you further powers. And how does absorbing work? A quick jolt downwards of the SixAxis will take care of most enemies. Meanwhile, for larger boss-like monsters, timed downward jolts, side-to-side slamming motions, and such will be required.

 

Slamming motions, you ask? Certain bosses will require you to slam their soul onto the ground, from one side to the other. So you'll turn the controller left, then right, then left, then right, slamming the soul to the ground with every turn. And it works so well. Folklore features one of the best implementations of the SixAxis' motion sensing capabilities. Bravo. During combat, Keats and Ellen will have the ability to also gather energy scattered from the perishing of monsters, and unleash it, raising their strength and speed ten-fold, as well as changing their aesthetic appearance to that of a more possessed appearance.

 

Folklore takes you through two interwoven storylines through seven different realms of the Netherworld. The decisions you make during one story will directly affect the way the parallel story unfolds. One character is Ellen, and the second character is Keats. Ellen's storyline starts out with her receiving a letter from her long-dead mother. The writing on the letter states that Ellen's mother wants to see her, and instructs Ellen to go to the town of Lemrick, where she meets Keats.

 

Keats is the editor for Unknown Realms magazine, thus the game's original title. His storyline begins when he receives a phone call from a woman asking for his help, that the fairies would kill her, and to also visit Lemrick. When he gets to the town, he discovers the death of a girl - could this girl have spoken to Keats from the beyond? Both characters will eventually journey into a realm filled with spirits and souls, in which they'll be granted with the abilities to capture these souls. With that, the game begins and the fantastic story-telling is well underway.

 

What's pretty nifty is the ability to create your own custom rooms, or dungeons, if you will, and allow other Folklore gamers to play them. The share system is quite reminiscent of how LittleBigPlanet will eventually work, albeit without the multiplayer aspect of it all. So those who complete Folklore will still have something to come back to frequently. In addition to user created content, downloadable game-packs will also be posted on the PlayStation Network, and they will range between 3-4 hours of length each pack, as well as featuring a new Folk to capture and use. Very cool.

 

Folklore's visual style is unlike any other game you've ever seen. The world is mixed with the most vibrant colors you can imagine coupled with a very broodish color palette. The results are awe-inspiring, and truly define what the high-definition era is all about. Folklore is a virtual book unraveling on your screen. And just like a book, the game's visuals are so wild that it's almost as if you're imagination is bringing a novel to fruition right in front of you.

 

Yes, it may sound a little overly poetic, but that's precisely how you can describe Folklore's aesthetic style. To put it into perspective, imagine Pan's Labyrinth with a spice of Tim Burton - though that still doesn't capture the game's beauty. The game utilizes a great graphics engine, with the final product running at 30 frames at a resolution of 720p. What I especially love about Folklore is how smooth and silky everything looks on screen.

 

Almost anywhere you look, you'll see very sharp texture detail, be it on the walls or the floor, it's all wonderful. Character detail, as well as art, really makes this game stand out among anything else out there. You've never seen a game with monsters and characters that look like this. Moreover, you've never seen environments as lush as the ones in Folklore, either. Add up the entire package, and it's pretty obvious that Folklore is nothing but a high-definition, artistic masterpiece.

 

Lastly, as with any game that has an intricate plot, Folklore features the appropriate voice acting to help unravel the story during each one of the cutscenes. The voice actors do a great job of delivering their lines, as they exchange dialogue with near perfection. Now when you feature the type of atmosphere that Folklore has, you simply can't expect a soundtrack to be anything but beautiful. And such is the case with Folklore, as it's got all the right noise to backup its atmospheric genius. Bravo, Game Republic.

 

Would you be shocked to hear that the creator of Folklore, and the founder of Game Republic, is also the creator of Street Fighter II? It's a little unusual to hear, but it is the truth. Yoshiki Okamoto is his name, and if Folklore is any kind of indication of what we can expect from him and his team at Game Republic (barring Genji 2), then we've certainly got a lot to look forward to. Folklore is the epitome of imaginative videogaming, it reminds me of what I felt when I first played ICO 6 years ago on, and it's a shame that yet another game may go largely unnoticed by most gamers. Hopefully, word of mouth spreads quickly, because Folklore is definitely not something that should be missed out on.