Using a soul to beat someone up sounds like sort of a strange hook for a game, but the quirky title Folklore from Game Republic offers exactly that. While it may appear to be sort of an RPG/action hybrid a more apt description would be a beat-em-up with a deep story, a brawler with some avatar advancement. Combining elements of such disparate titles as Silent Hill, Pokemon, and Final Fight, with a dash of PS3 motion-control (that actually works!) on top, the title’s pitch stands out in a year already filled with unique offerings. The gameplay depth you experience in the first hour of play, unfortunately, is more or less the depth you’ll experience throughout the game. Despite that, there’s a lot to like here – especially for fans of things that go bump in the night. Read on for my impressions of this dark fantasy given form. Title:Folklore Developer/Publisher: Game Republic/SCEA System: PS3 Genre: Fantasy Beat-em-up Score: 3/5: This game is flawed, but offers the feeling of something new. Any gamer might enjoy renting it, but this title likely won’t go down as a classic. Folklore starts off very dark. A young woman’s supposedly dead mother sends her a letter, some 17 years later. A man writing for a paranormal rumor magazine is haunted by a mysterious phone call. Both of our protagonists, the lovely Ellen and the cynical Keats, are drawn to a rambling village on an island in the middle of nowhere. There they encounter a breach between the world of the dead, of spirits and legends, and the real world. Both are saddled with mystical importance, as they become Messengers for those who have already passed away. The game lays on the spooky early on, and actually manages to summon up some of the eerie qualities that make for a great horror game … before squandering them on cute-looking faerie creatures. As mean-spirited as some of the Faerie Folk are, it’s hard to truly fear something that looks like a cross between a teddy bear and a cutlery drawer.
Just the same, Folklore’s plot maintains a fairly dour, mysterious quality to it all the way to the end. You can choose between either Ellen or Keats to play through the game, and can switch back and forth between the characters after completing chapters in the story. Both protagonists face essentially the same challenges, but the game’s tone is entirely different depending on who you’re playing. Ellen is looking desperately for her mother, and there is a lot of emotion and angst tied up in her interactions with the characters (human and otherwise) you encounter throughout the game. Keats dons the cynical shielding of a reporter, and interacts with the woeful townspeople in a more detached manner. Over the course of both paths you unravel mysteries about the town’s past, the history of its citizens, and hints about what led Ellen and Keats to their current predicament in the first place. It’s got the same sort of ‘strange-for-the-sake-of-strangeness’ feel that a lot of fantasy titles do, but manages to never veer off into the incomprehensible. Folklore’s story is rooted in the human experience, making it a great handhold as you work your way through increasingly fantastic environments and scenarios.
Gameplay itself is very simple. Enemies, called simply Folk, require nothing more from you than a vigorous beat down. Once a Folk is knocked about sufficiently, it’s soul or Id appears as a floating red aura above its body. By holding down the R1 button, you reach out with a lance of light and grab hold of the Id. Flicking the PS3 controller back towards you results in acquiring the Id and, if it’s the first time you’ve defeated that Folk, allows you access to a new power. Ids are assigned to the four face buttons via a handy menu, allowing you several different options for combating future Folk. At its core, the game is essentially just a beat-em-up, but there are a number of subtleties that make the simple gameplay shine a bit.
The Id catching mechanic, for example, is far and away the most natural use of the PS3