PlayStation Hardware & Games

Audio: 4
Video: 5
Gameplay: 4

Role-playing games have been a staple of consoles for years (Final Fantasy franchise, anyone?), but the majority feel like cookie-cutter imitations. Unfortunately, what is lost in the imitations is the most important aspect—the storytelling. After all, role-playing is first and foremost about the story. Folklore attempts to be something more than another role-playing game. It strives to tell an engaging story with its own gameplay twists.

Folklore takes place in modern times, centered around the Irish village of Doolin. (While there is an actual Doolin, located on Ireland’s western coast, it seems to be similar only in name.) The two main characters are called to Doolin—Ellen, a 22-year-old student, by a letter from her thought-to-be-dead mother and Keats, a 27-year-old paranormal reporter, by a strange phone call asking for help. Neither of them has any knowledge of the other. Upon arriving in Doolin at the Cliff of Sidhe, the two meet who they believe contacted them only to find that she is dead. What ensues is a murder mystery that you are driven to solve by controlling both characters through Doolin and into the Netherworld—the Land of the Dead.

Doolin is not just an Irish countryside village. It also happens to be the location of a portal to the Netherworld. And in order to figure out this murder mystery, you’ll have to travel to different parts of the Netherworld, gain fantastic powers, and talk with the dead to find clues. You will travel there as both Ellen and Keats, although not at the same time. One of the differentiating gameplay elements of Folklore is that you play through it as each character. On the surface, this is an interesting storytelling mechanism that allows you to experience different sides to what turns out to be the same story. Each character has a Prologue to their story, as well as a bunch of chapters. Keats’ chapter 1 happens concurrently with Ellen’s chapter 1. It’s an intriguing concept, but the problem is that the storytelling can get repetitive.

While there are benevolent beings there to answer questions and help guide your way, there are also folks—denizens of the Netherworld that you will need to defeat to continue along your way. When you defeat a folk, they release their id, which you can then absorb to learn their power. This involves locking on with the R1 button and utilizing the SIXAXIS control by jerking the controller up. Some ids are more difficult to pull out than others and involve more movement or a timed movement to absorb it. The SIXAXIS implementation is incredibly satisfying to execute, even though some of the tougher id’s can be frustrating to absorb.

Once you absorb the id, and therefore the power of the folk, you can assign it to one of the four action buttons. You can do this at any point in the Netherworld since there are many more than four folk powers. The variety of powers is large. Some do elemental damage, such as fire or earth, while another might do slashing damage. What you’re fighting will dictate which powers you will want assigned to the four buttons.

Each foray into the Netherworld is to find a clue relevant to the mystery unfolding in Doolin. In order to receive the clue, you must defeat the boss of that level—known as a Folklore (and we have a title). Once you conquer the Folklore, the chapter concludes, and you can choose to continue with your current character or switch to the other.

In actuality, Folklore isn’t a role-playing game in the traditional sense. While you can increase you character’s power by gathering folks’ ids, there isn’t a true interactive character development. It’s more of an action-adventure game in the guise of a role-playing game. You run through linear levels as one character at a time, battling to the final boss, which sends you off to the next level.

The level layouts also borrow from the classic action-adventure models. Each area, including Doolin, is sectionalized. The load times between sections can feel a little long sometimes. In a time when levels are getting larger and more fluid, it makes the design feel dated. One of the storytelling mechanisms also feels a little dated. In order to progress the plot at times, a comic-book-type device is used. Mostly static panels are shown with text while a soundtrack plays along. This plays in stark contrast to the cut-scenes that play occasionally throughout. While the comic-book scenes feel stagnant and detached, the fully animated cut-scenes are engaging. They are visually stunning, the voice acting is wonderful, and the pace keeps you interested. They made me wish the comic-book sections were cut-scenes.

The game’s visuals are beautiful. The artistic design, from Doolin to the vastly different levels of the Netherworld, is all visually stunning. Each section of the Netherworld has its own unique feel, one that level, which keeps the game feeling fresh. Character design is also varied and interesting, especially the different Folklore. The music that goes along swells with the action, although at no moment did I feel pulled in because of it. It was there, and it did its job.

Even with its flaws, Folklore is sure to keep you entertained. The SIXAXIS gameplay is satisfying, the graphics are beautiful, but most importantly, the story is interesting. While it can be slow moving at the beginning, I encourage you to stick with it. You will be rewarded.

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