Folklore Review
Uwee Hee Hee Uwee Hee Hee Uwee Hee Hee.
Posted by Chris Buffa on Thursday, October 04, 2007
Of all of Sony's first party games, we embraced Folklore the most, not because of its popular mascots or innovative controls, but because it brought us back to the original PlayStation, a time when some bizarre adventure became a hit. Plus, with the buzz surrounding it, we expected Sony to deliver one hell of a game. Well crack open an egg and dump it onto our faces, because Folklore's awful.
We love the concept of playing two different characters and exploring a haunted town, traveling to other worlds and encountering a host of imaginative creatures. The opening full motion cut scene, as with all the rest, is quite stellar, showcasing crisp visuals that look wonderful splashed across an HDTV. But then we started to play and immediately realized how linear and boring the game is. You just wander around talking to people, and when you encounter bad guys, simply mash buttons to defeat them. The game's big draw comes from capturing monsters' ids (souls) by locking on and then physically jerking the SIXAXIS controller with the option to map up to four on the controller's face buttons (press Triangle to use one, Circle to use another and so on). But that got old fast when we realized most of the attacks operate the same way.
Folklore's presentation drives us nutty, thanks to ridiculous dialogue. The game's creatures utter the most irritating phrases, in particular, the scarecrow that goes "Uwee Hee Hee" every few lines. At least Sony didn't spend any money hiring voice actors.
The comic book cut scenes annoy us even more. Instead of creating more full motion video, Sony elected a more "stylish" approach in which scenes play out through semi-animated storyboards that don't fit well. You can't give us a gorgeous intro with voice acting and all these special effects and then expect us to read something.
These numerous issues notwithstanding, the game thrives on its graphics, a collection of vibrant and dark colors, imaginative creatures and superb particle effects. Just with that, we know certain people will embrace Folklore since it feels like a stereotypical Japanese action RPG with corny characters and traditional game design. So if you're one of these gamers, enjoy.
We, on the other hand, can't stand Folklore and want to body slam Sony for ruining what could have been one of the PlayStation 3's best games. Instead, it pumped out a derivative snooze fest that might look more appealing if someone slashes the price from $59.99 to $19.99. Until that happens, leave this one alone.
Final Score: 4/10
