The battle for console supremacy is taking place among cel-shaded castles and countless experience points. From Microsoft's upcoming slate of fully featured titles to a handful of PlayStation 3 exclusives, whichever platform can entice the rabid role-playing fan base will not only emerge the leader in the genre, but likely among consoles.
With a decided lack of role-playing games in the PlayStation 3 library (and no, Enchanted Arms doesn't count), Sony hopes to make its mark with Folklore. Differing vastly from the more traditional role-playing games coming to Xbox 360 later this year, Folklore aims to innovate with unique gameplay mechanics and a downright bizarre visual style.
The game follows the stories of two characters: Keats, an unhappy journalist on staff at a small occult-themed magazine, and Ellen, a young woman traumatized by her mother's death at an early age. The depressed duo begins their adventure separately, independently making their way to the village of Doolin. It's in this odd village that the two meet and begin a journey across the seven Netherworlds.
Two levels were showcased by the people at Sony—one apiece for Keats and Ellen; we went hands-on only with Ellen in the Fairy Realm. Apparently the area has been harassed as of late by a number of vicious monsters and naturally Ellen volunteers to take care of the problem. We explored a few small areas, encountering enemies and battling them in real-time, all while bolstering our skills with ‘folks’.
Ellen can't take on these monsters, however, without first capturing folks for use in combat. Folks, which are essentially Pokemon-type collectible creatures, wander about waiting to be harvested. For example, the folk Boobrie is a lanky bird that can be instantly summoned for wind elemental, ranged attacks. Other folks focus on defense or status ailments such as Killmantis, a plant-like creature that shields you from attack. The more folks you collect, the greater your range of abilities. Over a hundred different folks are promised for the final game. Yep…Folklore is a different animal, no doubt about it.
Collecting folks requires attacking them to release their ID, another name for their soul. Absorbing this ID enables you to use a folk's abilities. When a folk has been damaged to the point that their red ID appears, you can target it by pressing R1 and then absorb it by tilting the Sixaxis upward. It's a remarkably creative system that succeeded in drawing us into the game.
Boss battles play out a bit differently with an absorption meter popping up at the bottom of the screen. To capture a boss ID, you need to tilt the controller when the ID flickers red. Halfway through the demonstration we came across such a boss, Bargest, that had us attacking it until his ID appeared. From this point, we timed our movements of the Sixaxis so as to fill the gauge up and absorb its ID.
