February 2016 Community Playthough - Folklore

[singlebanana]

I'll be honest, I didn't see the plot twist coming. I'm usually pretty perceptive of these things, but I think the writers did a pretty good job here.

I will agree in part that I think this feels like a PS2 game. My reluctance stems from not having played a lot of PS3 games since I have only  had my system for little over a year. I think you're probably on it in regards to this being an early PS3 game. However, this certainly doesn't look like a PS2 game, super gorgeous!

[Disposed Hero]

I'm not one to look for plot twists, plot holes, etc., so I usually don't see them coming, but I totally called this one.  There should be another plot twist coming up, and I'll be curious to see if you guys see that one coming...

This game is definitely an early PS3 game, and most early 7th gen games tend not to age well in my experience.  Fortunately, Folklore seems to have a unique art style that really works to its advantage and has aged exceptionally well.  While maybe not as technically impressive as games we see coming out today, I still find Folklore more appealing to look at than many recent releases.

I always attributed the flaws in the game's presentation (lack of cutscenes, over abundance of dialog boxes, recycled levels/environments) to be due to budget or time constraints, but I hadn't considered that it may just be a product of its time and maybe this sort of design was just the norm for this type of game during that era.  Overall, Folklore definitely feels more advanced than a PS2 game, but perhaps some of these elements were leftover from the previous generation.

[singlebanana]

From what we have read and discussed, the game was under time constraints and I agree, some things suffer from it, including an awkward balance of bubble text and voice acting. Product of its time, I think so, and what leads me to that conclusion is that I feel like they tried to do way too much with this game. There are so many great things about this game in terms of gameplay and construction, but there so many things that could have been better had they not been used at all or dialed back quite a bit. For instance, collecting the gems and seeds is trite and creates an overabundant menu. I would have like to have seen folk level up with simply use, or have no leveling system at all. It's aggravating to have a combination of collecting "gems" (which there are not enough of and require farming), absorbing folk, and also destroying folk.  I dislike having to track things and flip back and forth constantly throughout the menu, for which this upgrade system it the root of the problem.

I think Game Republic thought they had to hit it out of the park with this one and swung so hard that they hit a really high pop-up that didn't quite make it over the fence (clever baseball reference FTW).

[Fleach]

Those are some really good points. My thoughts on the level system for the folks is that a progression system for them may have been too much to implement. This is just speculation though, maybe the developers wanted the folks to level up from the use of gems and the methods you listed. In fact, the use of folks reminds me a lot of Ni No Kuni which I played last year. That game used monster to battle for the characters and they would gain XP as well as get status boosts from special items. But now I'm comparing two games from either end of the PS3 life span and of course the new hardware could have stumped the Folklore devs.

I think Rich's analogy pretty much sums it up. There are so many great things about Folklore and just as many aspects that seem out of place. That being said, I really like this game now that's figured out its quirks and mechanics. Glad to be playing this with you guys.

[Pam]

I'm currently on chapter 3 with Ellen and, I have to say, I'm struggling. I like the story okay so far, but don't really like any of the mechanics. I really don't enjoy the combat or the 'gotta catch 'em all' thing with the Folks. I didn't even know they could be leveled up with items, so I'll have to look into that. I really wish there were a zone-wide map of the different Netherworld areas, or that they were linear. I also find myself yelling at the characters "Why don't you two travel together so I don't have to go everywhere twice?!"

It's getting pretty tough to chose to play this over anything else. Or XCOM.

[singlebanana]

I agree, having to play areas twice is a real drag and leveling up with items is quite a choir.  I don't mind the mechanics so much in terms of the general gameplay, but there are a few of the Sixaxis uses for folk capture that I could really do without (i.e. the balancing & shaking).  I can understand how having something waiting in the background that you are excited about playing could make you want to stray from this game. Thanks for joining us Pam.

[Disposed Hero]

I really wish there were a zone-wide map of the different Netherworld areas

If I remember correctly, you can press the Select button to bring up a screen that shows a map of the current area, as well as some other information.  I didn't figure this out myself until pretty late in the game.

[singlebanana]

I really wish there were a zone-wide map of the different Netherworld areas

If I remember correctly, you can press the Select button to bring up a screen that shows a map of the current area, as well as some other information.  I didn't figure this out myself until pretty late in the game.

That is correct, select pulls up the map. I learned this accidentally when trying to pull up the start menu.

[Pam]

I finally beat that underwater snake boss. I was one more failed attempt away from throwing my game disc into a busy intersection.

[Fleach]

Congrats! That's a tough boss. Definitely one of the hardest in the game, maybe even THE hardest. The rest is pretty much smooth sailing.

I finished the game last night. Glad to play this one with everyone. I really enjoyed it flaws and all.

[singlebanana]

I finally beat that underwater snake boss. I was one more failed attempt away from throwing my game disc into a busy intersection.

Ha ha! Yeah, that one pissed all of us off. Definitely gets easier from there until you get to the final boss. So I hear.

[Fleach]

Just curious, have you guys been doing side quests? The only one I did was the one that gives you the Battlefield Cloak (resists Destroy and Slash elements). I didn't find them very significant or valuable, however I really liked the look of the Battlefield Cloak so I wore it throughout the rest of the game.

On a similar note, I didn't really bother upgrading my folks very much at all.

[douglie007]

I just cant get in to the combat in this game.  I have not even reached to checkpoint... I think its because I've been sick the entire month of February, and shaking the controller is not very good for me right now  

[Pam]

Just curious, have you guys been doing side quests? The only one I did was the one that gives you the Battlefield Cloak (resists Destroy and Slash elements). I didn't find them very significant or valuable, however I really liked the look of the Battlefield Cloak so I wore it throughout the rest of the game.

On a similar note, I didn't really bother upgrading my folks very much at all.

I haven't done a single sidequest. It seems like you need to go out of your way to pick them up and I'm just trying to power through the game. I found one cloak, in level 3. I backtracked a bit and it was in one of those stone things. Since I was having so much trouble with the chapter 3 boss, I leveled up Boobrie and Fraxinus a bit by killing or absorbing other folk but I didn't have enough items to upgrade them that way.

[singlebanana]

Yeah, again, like other things in this game, the side quests feel a little forced and unnecessary. However, I've done several of them and have to admit that there are additional plot lines concerning the villagers and even things that add to the main story that are drawn out. There is also a quest for a rare, ranged folk that is very helpful IMO. Other than that, the quests have varying degrees of difficulty and some only provide power up items that can be more easily farmed in specific areas.