Slowly draws you in and then rocks you! Don't pass this one up.
I recently purchased Folklore and I am really glad I did. Besides being a showcase of a PS3 exclusive title that is a visual and aural feast, the game actually deepens and becomes more intense shortly after the beginning... and the beginning is deceptively simple.
What you don't see in the demo is that there are full action cutscenes with fantastic animation and voice acting. Keats and Ellen exude tangible personalities and are enjoyable characters. These cutscenes don't happen as often as you'd like, but that's only a small gripe.
For the uninitiated, Folklore is a whimsical tale of two unrelated people (Keats and Ellen) who both receive a mysterious message asking them to visit the small, seaside town of Doolin. Ellen believes that her deceased mother has contacted her, while Keats is a journalist who writes for a magazine about the supernatural. Upon arriving at Doolin, they witness what seems to be a murder and are soon approached by an invisible man named Belgae who convinces them to enter the realm of the dead and find the murder victim. In doing so, Keats and Ellen are required to obtain new powers to aid their survival in the Netherworld.
But getting in touch with the dead isn't simple, and they must fight their way forward against creatures known as "folk", which are the devolved forms of dead spirits. Upon defeating a folk, it's weakened soul, known as the "Id", becomes vulnerable and you can latch onto, snatch up, and absorb the Id by whipping the Sixaxis controller upwards. After obtaining a folk's Id, you can assign the folk to one of four buttons and use the folk's ability in battle. Because the folk come in a vast variety of over 100 creatures ranging from beasts to robots-- each of which can be trained up in power-- you get to have a lot of fun deciding which folks you prefer to use and collect. However, some enemies are immune to certain folk, so there is strategy involved in their use. To help you out, there are "faery lore pages" to be found, which are illustrations drawn by the denizens of the netherworld that depict certain folk being defeated by another folk... which tips you off if you can understand the illustration.
Keats and Ellen can gain exp from absorbing folk Ids and gain levels, which is a simple element that gives them more hitpoints. There is more to their abilities, but I'll leave that for you to enjoy discovering.
Folklore is a blast to play, but the first world had me wondering if the game was going to be too easy. Apparently, it was just luring me in as I actually died three times in the following world. Wow. The story gets more complicated and reveals more information, but leaves so much unveiled to be discovered. Because the story is so unpredictable, the only way to find out what's going on is to press further forward and there is eventually so much mystery that I find myself itching to get home and work on solving the mystery! It's driving me nuts at work!
Last but not least, Folklore has online elements. First, you can download free game add-ons, such as a folk that was conceptualized by a player and won a contest, so the developers put it in the game. Then there are additional quests and character costume packs, which are about $4 each, or $6 for a bundle of two. The other thing people are excited about is the Dungeon Trial mode, which allows you to create your own levels and then share them online! You receive points for creating dungeons, which eventually will unlock extra content in the game.
In all, Folklore is an embraceable PS3 exclusive that is well worth playing.