RPGs are a common thing nowadays, but Folklore has taken basic RPG elements mixed them with a strange gothic background and is finally something different and original. Using the Genji: Days of the Blade engine at Game Republic Folklore has stunningly beautiful and unusual environments, but certainly isn’t a graphics showcase of Playstation 3. Lots of people fell in love with Foklore after playing the demo when it exploded onto the Japanese Playstation Store, but does the love stay, or was the demo merely a hump and dump?

Graphics

As was the case with Genji: Days of the Blade, the environments in Folklore are beautiful. From the field of flowers to the destroyed battleground, Folklore’s 7 different worlds will certainly impress, but the character models do not match everything else on screen. During cut scenes it looks like throwing Gabe Logan’s PS1 model from Syphon Filter into Killzone 2. After doing some research on exactly why Ellen looks like a PS2 game, I found that production originally began on the Playstation 2, and it looks as though they didn’t do much to update the characters. Saying that, again like Genji 2 the CG is outstanding but sadly the much wanted CG cutscenes are very rare and instead are replaced by moving comic-book style cutscenes which fail to impress. I can’t think of a reason that they couldn’t have been voiced at the very least; translation took half a year which is often about the average so you start to wonder what they were doing. In any case the story these cutscenes tell is… okay.

Gameplay

Other than for driving, flying or shaking Vanessa Felts off your face, the SIXAXIS controller hasn’t been used in a very original way yet. Not to say it doesn’t work well in Warhawk, coos it really does, but no other games have really tried to use it in a different way, except Folklore. The SIXAXIS controller is used brilliantly in Folklore and is perhaps the most original use of it so far. Once you have beaten a monster to near-death with your army of fairies and puffer fish they’re “ID” or soul flickers pink which means it can be captured by holding down the R1 button and pulling the controller towards you, as if you were physically sucking this monster’s soul out. What a RUSH.

Other than that, there are different ways to steal tougher monsters souls which involves tilting the controller to make their soul stand upright or shaking it side to side to beat them into the ground. Very satisfying. However, while the ID sucking is all well and good, as sucking often is, the actual getting down it in the relationship you have with this monster is (i.e. beating it to death) as in real life, a chore and takes a whole lot of effort. The first few hours of randomly mashing the face buttons are fun, you soon realise that 4 hours into the game the Fairy thing with the spear from the first level is really still the best monster. After getting the huge spiky monster from the Fairy realm, I was expecting to devastate anything that crossed by path but in reality it was roughly the same strength as the one that had been set to my square button by default from the begging, and that one is much quicker. The idea of the realms is to absorb all the IDs and become ever stronger, but levelling up doesn’t seem to do much for your new monsters, are some are just utterly useless in a normal situation unless it is a specific one you need to get to then get another new ID. In the end, there are plenty of different ID’s with different strengths and weaknesses but I found that using the first monster can finish the most part of the game unless you have to use a specific one for a specific task.

When you start the game you get to choose between Ellen and Keats. The differences are minimal and the only time I ever went to play as Keats (Coos I chose Ellen first) is when I was stuck on a boss, and then I realised that it is exactly the same in terms of worlds and the general way of playing the game. Keats has some cool new additions though, like more powerful ID’s and the ability to turn into the incredible hulk when you absorb enough IDs which is actually really good and devastating to the surrounding defensive monsters which like to play pranks if they get bored of grinding flour, as the game describes. The storyline is also slightly different and the invisible man talks to you instead of an Irish Scarecrow.

Sound

The score is pretty average for this type of game. In a nutshell, it fitted where it was used but I would never listen to it while im not playing the game, which is something I often do with games like Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid and of course Silent Hill. As well as not being all that amazing but working when its used, some tracks will really drive you mad, like the music in the first world the Fairy Realm. Play that level for more than an hour and you’ll go crazy like that Banana Phone flash. Saying that, the main theme has a pretty good bit apart from the rest which sounds like it should have been in Harry Potter but seeing as the game is about magic and strange monsters they got the music right for what it was meant to be, it just isn’t worth listening to outside the game.

Music aside though, sound effects, voices and other noises are all done quite well and displayed in excellent quality. Even though Ellen’s voice is somewhat irritating at first, it’s a good Irish accent. Voices are rare as the CG which is the only time you’ll hear anyone speak so if you hate her voice, you wont have to hear it much, but if you love it its a nice little treat for you when you get so far in the game. Everyone’s happy.

AI

To be honest, there isn’t much other than enemy behaviour which is only so-so. Repetitive chains of attacks and in bosses they just have looped sequences which reveal their weak point so you can attack it and kill them. The AI isn’t bad, but it’s not amazing, however for this kind of game it doesn’t need to be so it’s not as concern. Monsters rarely stand there looking at you doing nothing; they often attack you at first sight which is good from an AI point of view.

Replay Value

Folklore has a pretty long story which makes you want to know more and more about the murder mystery as you play it. However, once done with one character and you know the ending there is little incentive to play it again as the other one, or again as the same person. To solve this there is an online option in which you can create and play in other people’s dungeons. (And people say the internet is full of pedos, psh)

Graphics: 7

Gameplay: 6.5

Sound: 7

AI: N/A

Replay Value: 7

[This game has been reviewed and rated by Furin. The setup on which this review was played is a 32″ Sony Bravia TV running at 720p, connected to a Playstation 3 via Component Cable.]