Folklore demo

The Folklore demo was put up on the PS Store this week, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

I've not read much about Folklore, so I went into the demo a bit blind, so to speak. But, it's pretty darn good. It's a good length demo, too. It's not cut ultra-short like the Heavenly Sword demo (despite being only a little larger).

First, the bad parts. No voice overs at all. It's all text. Also, the red text they use to highlight certain words can be difficult to see, especially against some of the backgrounds they use. And while there is some form of tutorial, it doesn't cover everything. Like the objects that appear as yellow dots on your mini-map. There is no mention of them, but I found you can destroy them to get items or health.

The good part? Well, the game plays well. The camera is a bit iffy, but otherwise it's a good game. It seems like a traditional Japanese Action-RPG, with a Pokemon twist. You start with three Folks. Once you're outside of a village area, you can use the face buttons to "summon" these folks for a single attack. They each have their own, obviously. And they each have a set of things you have to do in order to unlock their Karma, which are enhancements to their performance. It can be stronger attack, less MC energy used to summon them, or other things.

The areas aren't too large. It's basically linear, with a few branching paths that were blocked off when I found them. It doesn't sound very interesting, but it is at least worth playing.

Folklore uses the Sixaxis motion controls well, I think. When an enemy Folk is weakened, you'll see a red (or sometimes green) spirit, of sorts, above it. At that point, you hold R1, and flick the controller upward to capture the Folk. For stronger Folk, their spirit thing will be green. Then you have to hold R1, and wait until the spirit thing turns red, then flick the controller upward. You have to do that a few times before you can fully capture it. The motion control actually makes sense, and isn't tagged on as a gimmick, a technical demonstration, or a useless extra control option. It feels like an essential part of the game, as it should be.

I didn't play to the end of the demo (all the blocked paths started getting frustrating), and I only played as one character (the demo gives you the option of two characters), but I still played for at least 15 minutes, I think. But, of course, being an Action RPG, it falls prey to one of my least favorite things (which is why I refused to play Kingdom Hearts after the first twenty minutes). That being, enemies that respawn in the same locations once you re-enter an area, no matter how many times you beat them. Even the boss-like Folk respawn. That's just not fair.

Overall, it's pretty good. I'd like to see how the full version turns out.