Folklore
by Sony Computer Entertainment
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List Price: Category: Video Games See more product details |
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Video Game Reviews of Folklore
Customer Review: GENIUS GAME!
Summary: 5 Stars
All GREAT!
Perfect story telling, graphics, sound, design, gameplay... ALL perfect!
==>> This game is reason to buy PS3! <<==
Its not drab game "all looking same", like monotony 3d shooter with hairy hand with gun... No, its very multeity and more cool when deep later level. Amaze from beginning to end.
And its not short, not "one day" game.
You can get big pleasure, and replay can get not less fun than first time.
If you like Japanese designed games, or simply very good game - buy it!
Folklore is brilliance "old school" elaborated game!
Customer Review: Pretty fun
Summary: 4 Stars
Pretty fun game, gets to be pretty repetitive though. Longish download times. I'm usually not an RPG fan, but this game is definitely do-able.Customer Review: Pretty Good
Summary: 3 Stars
Not a bad game. The story line is pretty interesting and the concept of the game makes for a fairly amusing play, but that's pretty much it.
The graphics for the game is something that you would expect to see on a PS2, not a PS3 and it really shows.
But all in all, it's a good play for the price. If you don't mind the graphics too much, you'll have a bit of fun with it.
Customer Review: 3.5; as beautiful as it is divisive
Summary: 4 Stars
While the big heavyweights tend to have legions of fans ready to pick up the game as soon as it's released, or at least till you've heard about it anyway, some games might have a smaller appeal and it becomes a classic case of "it might not be for everyone". One game that I had read about a lot prior to buying a Playstation 3 was Folklore, an RPG with a different battle system than selecting Attack or Item and a great visual style. So it naturally became one of the first few games that I played and while I'll admit the game has some pluses, the game also has its share of flaws that prevented me from being completely immersed into the experience which was disheartening because I wanted to like it but the game did things where I just couldn't.
Story: You play as 2 characters: Ellen, a soft-spoken young woman who receives a letter from her mother who's supposed to be dead and wants her to come to the village of Doolin and Keats, a writer for Unknown Realms, a magazine dealing in the paranormal who receives a strange phone call requesting he come to the village as well. When the 2 meet, they become investigators into the village's past and the many mysteries that lay in its home and roads.
The story is essentially a murder mystery so it's hard to tell whether the limited replay value will be an issue but my biggest concern is that in order to progress through the game, Ellen and Keats both have to finish each chapter separately which basically means going through the same paths, potentially picking up the same abilities (though slight deviations are found) and finishing the same boss fight with a different strategy than the other. On one hand it's fun to see some background into the parts where you don't see the other character or explanations for certain events, it makes the game feel a bit repetitive and also a bit slow since I couldn't bring myself to complete a chapter at a time, if that. It's intriguing sure but I didn't find it a page-turner, mainly due to the gameplay.
Graphics: Folklore is a game similar to the recently-released Valkyria Chronicles or Okami where the graphics look utterly gorgeous on HDTV sets. Mainly this is due to the color palette which is sharp, incredibly vibrant and well-presented with my favorite being the ethereal Faery Forest which has an absolutely beautiful flower field halfway through. Each chapter takes place in a different realm which are also stunning from the hellish Warcadia to the tranquil Undersea Palace. It's not exactly system-pushing but it's still great to look at.
Sound/Music: The music as well is especially pleasing to the hear from big orchestral scores during battles and the end-level boss to the melancholy piano playing during travels around Doolin which sounds similar to a sad freeform jazz playing. There's no real rousing tunes and the atmosphere created by the soundtrack is like a quiet evening at home with maybe some rain outside. There's some voice acting as well which is fine though it's rather infrequent and there's characters that have barely any lines to be said.
Gameplay: Putting the repetitiveness of replaying the same realm twice, Folklore's main draw is the combo system which uses customizable buttons for attacking. Basically your 4 face buttons acts as a way to initiate an ability that you've mapped onto that button. Throughout the realms are what's known as "ids" which when absorbed gain you access to that creature's ability so some create bombing runs, shoot missiles, powerful punches or act as a shield. With plenty to choose from, it's easy to customize your skills for the most effective though there's some that frankly, are kind of useless. You can also upgrade them by either absorbing a certain amount of them, killing a certain amount of ids with them or using items found in the realms.
And how do you absorb them? Well when you attack, a little blue ghost pops up but when it turns pink, you press R1 and jerk the controller upwards to "yank" their souls out of their bodies. They can also be combined with others showing the pink ghost for more exp though it's a little cumbersome to reposition your character so you'll get them all. There's also some enemies with special R1 tactics where one requires you to yank when it turns red, move the controller back and forth like a driving wheel to slam them into the ground while another has you position them exactly straight up for the greatest of damage. It's one of the few Sixaxis features found in PS3 games that actually has use as opposed to Ratchet and Clank's freefall or Heavenly Sword's Aftertouch system where you can use it though using the analog works better. My one problem is that the process is somewhat lengthy and trying to extract an id doesn't pause the enemies and the effect isn't cumulative so should you get hit, you have to start the whole process over from the beginning so it's best to get rid of the pesky ones before attempting it.
Part of me wants to recommend Folklore since it does quite a few things right, namely the graphics and music, but the incredibly linear story progression as well as the slowness of the story itself kind of prevents this. You don't feel like this is a game you wouldn't mind if you never beat it but if you do want to make it to the end, it's kind of a long, patient affair.
Customer Review: A Cut Above the Norm
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this game because I wanted an RPG for my PS3, and this looked like the closest thing that my platform had to offer. I was greatly surprised by the gem this game turned out to be.
Take stunning next-gen graphics, throw in character development unseen in most video games, add a thought-provoking plotline, and blend together with some of the best action I've seen in any adventure game -- and you've got Folklore. Truly a standout game on any platform, one that will be remembered and, no doubt, sequeled due to its originality and seemless balance between intelligent adventuring and non-stop action.
Before I buy a game, I look a bit at the graphics and pictures on the back of the box. This was almost a detraction for me, as the pictures on the back of the PS3 case look grainy and, to me, look far below the standard of what the actual game looks like. Glad I didn't go by those pics alone in making my decision.
Some people have compared this game to The Longest Journey, others to Pokemon (?!). Truly, it is very unique and not like anything I've played up to this point.
Additionally, my girlfriend (not a gamer) became very involved in the storyline. She is actually looking forward to getting involved again if there is a sequel...was with me the whole way through this game, amazing. But the story is that good.
The Sixaxis controller integration makes the battles very physically interactive. Depending on the type of creature you are battling, you will need to shake, pull, twist, etc. the controller as part of the "final kill" move. This feature is outstanding, and is only used to finish off creatures therefore doesn't wear you out either.
Only thing I got a bit tired of was how you have to play the story twice for each character, in each chapter. It was fine at first, just got tiring toward the end of the game when I was ready to move on to further levels!
This game was excellent. Very smart gameplay and innovative in several ways. I am very much looking forward to a sequel.