Folklore

For the past ten years, I don't think I have seen a ‘PlayStation 3 Hidden Gems' list that does not contain Folklore. I'd say it is the quintessential hidden gem for the console. It is a complete PlayStation 3 exclusive, no remaster, no re-release on later consoles, and not even a digital version on the PlayStation 3 store. The only way to play it is with a physical copy, and as such, those demand high prices. It's been a long time coming for me to try this one, and I want to know if it is worth all the hype and cost?

After the initial install and boot-up of Folklore, I have to say I was impressed. For an early PlayStation 3 title (being released in 2007), it is remarkably well polished. It runs well without too much stuttering, loading times are decent, the FMVs are really nice, and the menus and overall design are very charming. I did notice if you navigate the menu, there is an option to install the game data, which reduces loading times even more, so if you pick this up, definitely do that step.

Folklore is a game of two halves. Half detective story/visual novel and half fantasy action. I have always enjoyed games that have such a clear 50/50 split; some of my other favorites are Persona and Catherine, where there are natural break points in the gameplay to swap between fighting and exploring. It really helps to break it up and prevents the gameplay from getting too repetitive or stale.

The game is set in a remote, coastal Irish village called Doolin. Your two characters are brought to this mysterious place, which is said to have connections to the realm of the dead. Whilst in Doolin, the gameplay takes the form of this detective/visual novel style. You walk around, talk to people, look for items, and explore. I quite enjoy these sections; it’s fun to explore the village and begin to try and unravel the mystery about what is going on here.

The story is told through a mixture of a small number of pre-rendered FMV’s, which are voice-acted, comic-book-style images with text, and then really simple text-based dialogue interaction.

The main bulk of the game, however, takes place in the fantasy realm of the dead, the Netherworld, where you fight monsters using… other monsters. It reminds me a lot of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which I played recently, where Zelda can absorb monsters and items and then re-create them at will to solve puzzles and fight other monsters. In Folklore, you fight monsters using monsters that you have previously captured and can summon for later use.

The system works well, and in a lot of ways, navigating the big list of monsters and assigning them to buttons works better than Echoes of Wisdom - released more than 15 years later. You can even save groups of monsters that work well together to let you swap between sets quickly.

The combat is basic, but it is amplified by a weakness mechanic. A lot of enemies are invulnerable to attacks from certain monsters, so you have to learn the weaknesses and use the right type of monsters for each fight. These weaknesses can be learned by trial and error, but they are also discovered through the Faery compendium. As you progress through the game, you collect pages from this book, which show you pictures - not words. The pictures take some interpretation, but they show you enemy weaknesses if you can manage to decipher them. This is such a great design; instead of simply telling you what they are weak to, like many games would, they allow the player to work it out, giving you this extra sense of achievement.

I was quite impressed with the tutorial system. A game of this age is right in that spot where some games really started to put an effort in creating decent tutorials, and some still did not. I’d say Folklore handles it well by making the tutorials optional; you can talk to some Faerys early on who provide you with more information if you need it, and they pop up a lot where you can check in from time to time. But this also prevents the game from being too heavy-handed to get going.

The Netherworld is split up into seven different realms, each with its own unique theme and monsters - it’s quite creative, albeit a bit jarring in places. The first realm is a more typical folky woodland realm, and the next is essentially a modern war battleground.

Folklore has two main characters: Ellen, a university student, and Keats, a journalist, and you get to play through the game as both characters. Each character has their own story, although they criss-cross throughout the game; the game gives you quite a lot of flexibility in deciding which order you wish to do these levels. Do you do all of Ellen’s followed by all of Keats? Or alternate between them? Choices like this really help prolong those play sessions as you don’t get as tired when you have the option to mix it up.

I also have to bring up the wonderful soundtrack. In Japan, the game got a three-CD box set called FolksSouls (the name the game released under in Japan). I really wish I could find a physical copy of it, but the only one I could find was listed on Amazon for £85, so perhaps not at that price.

My biggest problem with the game is the use of the six-axis. As an early, first-party game, you can be assured they had to make use of the six-axis. The monsters don’t let you catch them without a fight. Once weakened, you have to physically jerk the controller up and towards you to capture them, and some of the other monsters also need some other six-axis interactions. It works OK, but personally, I still don’t like it. It just kind of stalls the gameplay a bit for me, and I wish you could turn it off.

Folklore also has a bunch of extra DLC. At the time of writing, a bunch of extra packs can be purchased from the PS Store for free, with a few extras requiring payment. For PlayStation 3 completionists, it’s almost certainly worth going through the effort to acquire these now whilst you still can.

Overall Folklore is a really fun game. It is a unique experience and when collecting for an old console, exclusive titles with unique experiences are usually what it’s all about. I think the game can grow a bit stale as it unfolds and the gameplay doesn’t have too much depth but I personally found it to be very charming.

In the UK at least, the cost isn’t too bad - you can pick up the game for around £40-50 which is steep for an old game but comparable to modern releases at least. If you are a serious PlayStation 3 enthusiast and you like quirky Japanese games I would definitely recommend checking out this title.