Folklore

Console: Playstation 3 (Exclusive)

Genre: Action RPG

ESRB: T for Teen

Multiplayer: No

Price: 29.99 (Walmart) / 59.99

Trophy Support: No


Actual Review

Game introduction:

Good:
+ Superb Story, with likable characters
+ Beautiful environments
+ Folk system is great, where every enemy you encounter yields an ability you can use.
+ Both characters have unique Folk’ to capture, and have extra costumes to obtain.
+ Installation uses up barely 3 megabytes.

Bad:
- Various Folk are useless, others are a pain to level up.
- Both characters play through the same stages, and fight the same bosses.
- No Trophy Support

Review Score: 8.5/10

*A demo of this game is available on the Playstation Network, before you decide to buy the game, I recommend you try the “Folklore Trial Demo” to see if you even like the gameplay at all.*

Folklore is a Playstation 3 exclusive game, which was most likely the first RPG-like game to be released on the USA Playstation 3 console. Dating back to late 2007, it’s a real wonder why the game is almost unheard of these days. The name of the game "Folklore" is named after the boss characters in the game who unlock the next region of the Netherworld's so you can progress.

The game consists of playing between two different characters, Ellen, and Keats, as you run through Netherworld's to talk to the dead to find out more about what happened 17 years ago in the town of Doolin. However both main characters are in this town for different reasons. Ellen recieved a letter claiming that her mother (who is apparently deceased), is in the town of Doolin, awaiting to see her. The other character Keats runs a going out of business editorial department for a magazine called "Unknown Realms", and receives an emergency call of some woman who is in danger in the town of Doolin. Both characters depart for the island of Doolin, and meet one another, only to be treated right away to a woman who falls to her death, thus beginning the strange set of murders in the town of Doolin.

From there on in, Ellen was convinced that the woman who died was her mother, so she enters one of the netherworlds, a unique personification of how the dead think the afterlife would look like. While Ellen pursues her ambition, Keats is met by a strange invisible man called Belgae who claims he could get a phenomenal story for his magazine if he does exactly what he says. The two characters intertwine, as they solve various murder mysteries, as well as find out significant things about the Netherworld, and both character's pasts.

In terms of gameplay, Ellen plays as more of a projectile orientated character with significantly lower defense, but can use attacks from a good distance. Keats on the other hand is mostly a melee type character, with higher hp, and has a power form to use. Unfortunately for those who favor one Melee, or range but not the other, you will have to play equally between Keats and Ellen throughout the entire game. There are eight Netherworlds to explore, and you will have to play through each one individually with both Keats and Ellen, and fight the same bosses with both characters.

Luckily the experience changes for each character due to each character having unique folk (monsters) to fight and capture, as well as different narrative that should almost forgive this repetition. Folklore's main feature is the ability to capture "id's", or memories of the Folk (monster's) you suck the souls out of. Every single enemy, excluding bosses will have an id to collect, and use to your will. While most id's are very creative, fun to use, and easy to level up, every now and again you will find a useless id soul that is incredibly annoying, and redundant to level up. It's almost as if it would of been better if these useless Folk weren't even in the game. With that aside, most Folk's in the game are just plain awesome, and you will have lot's of fun leveling up your favorite ones to deal a lot of damage.

Last comments about Folklore are good. The installation of the game practically takes up nothing, with a less than 3 megabyte install, you'll never have to worry about deleting the installation data for more room on your hard drive. Bonus costumes offer different abilities, and are a nice addition to the game. The environments in Folklore are gorgeous, and creative, while one level in particular get's lazy from repeated room use, you should forgive it since all the other levels are outstandingly done. If you want a great action RPG to kill at least 20 hours of your life, even more if you decide to level up all the Folk in the game, then you need to check out Folklore.