Folklore Q&A

WATCH ERIC FONG & KYLE SHUBEL FROM THE FOLKLORE™ DEV TEAM ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS!

Good job, G.A.P. members. To get ready for the upcoming PLAYSTATION®3 title Folklore™, a delicious, dark tale of strangers who find themselves teamed up to travel the realms of creatures, spirits, fairies and monsters, we gave you a chance to travel to the realm of the dev team (well, theoretically) and ask some probing questions.

Your reward: You can actually watch Eric Fong & Kyle Shubel from the dev team give you some straight answers in this unprecedented Video Q&A.

Watch the video Q&A

Read the Q&A

Q: What is the basic story?
-Submitted by Trooper4Jesus
A: The two main characters go to a village where it is legend that they can meet the dead. There they wander the Netherworld and search for their pasts and ponder their life and death.

Q: What is the gameplay, turn-base or active?
- Submitted by joelg-gundamon
A: It's active, since it's an action game!

Q: What is the approximate play time (hours) to complete the game?
- Submitted by Caduceus
A: The play time is over 30 hours. As an action game it is a bit long, but you will be able to enjoy it fully.

Q: I just watched the video and the graphics engine looks pretty amazing. Will the environments be interactive in any way?
- Submitted by joelg-gundam
A: We are not sure if the demo you saw was the rendered demo (rendered cinematic) or the real-time puppet version. We developed the game in such a way that all screens (including play screens) match the quality of the demos. We hope you will play it and tell us your opinion.

Q: When fighting bosses or firing a cannon (as shown in the trailer), will there be button commands?
- Submitted by SirMephisto
A: The "cannon" you mention here is a Folk named "Gargantua." Are you surprised? There are aggressive Folks that attack with a cannon like Gargantua and there are also Folks that roll themselves up and attack. There are many Folks in various forms with very unique attacking powers, so we hope you look forward to this.

Q: I do not play the RPG genre extensively. Is this game simple enough for the inexperienced RPG gamer like me, yet complex enough for the hardcore RPG players?
- Submitted by TonicBH
A: As explained before, this is not an RPG but an action game. We believe people who have no RPG experience will enjoy it. For those core RPG fans who don't have much interest in action games, we hope that this game will help to bridge that gap. The story and world are very unique and deep, so we hope you will enjoy that too.

Q: There seems to be multiple character choices, what are the chances of a co-op? On or offline?
- Submitted by KitsuneKun
A: The game is based on a single person offline style, so there is no co-op play.

Q: Traditionally there's some sort of weapon we can use in any RPG, especially Action RPGs. I know [think] using the souls you've captured will play a role in the game and will likely be a key aspect of the battle system, or so it seems. But why do the two main characters not have a sword, a dagger or some type of melee weapon? Was this to focus on and make players use the souls? Will how much you use each soul influence that, or will they level alongside you—even if you don't use particular souls?
- Submitted by Seraphim
A: As you have noticed, we didn't give our characters weapons, so that the user will concentrate on absorbing and using the Folks. If you are interested in swordplay, we encourage you to try Genji. The Folklore characters are regular people in normal society; we believe that it is more real if they don't wield weapons.

As mentioned, if you use the same Folks over and over, they will "evolve." Understanding the peculiarities of each of the Folks and nurturing them is a big part of the game's enjoyment. That said, you ask many questions at once! Thanks for your interest in this game!

Q: Will Folklore have downloadable contents such as new areas to explore and Folks to capture?
- Submitted by Darkiewonder
A: We plan to provide Folks, costumes and quests. There are no additional stages.

Q: Will Folklore support some sort of Editor?
- Submitted by Darkiewonder
A: As an online element, there is a dungeon trial mode. The player creates an original dungeon and others can download that dungeon and play it. When creating a dungeon, you are free to set the start, goal, corridors and rooms. And, once you clear another player's dungeon, you can gain new parts. So the more you play, the more complex and original a dungeon you can create.

Q: After playing the demo (Japanese), I felt the experience was muted by the lack of voice-overs. It has become an industry *I use this term lightly* standard to include voice-overs in games as beautiful as this; are there any plans to add voice-overs?
- Submitted by severe
A: It is true there are not a lot of voice-overs. The speech is limited to the movie parts. We did this in the interest of encouraging the player's own imagination. For instance, the missing arm of Venus de Milo gives the viewer the freedom to imagine what it might have been. The comic demos are the same. By reading the script, the user can imagine the character's voice and tone, and feelings. The visuals for this title are beautiful like a movie, but we felt it would be boring if one was spoon-fed the drama in a movie style. The interesting part of games is that you can participate. You can imagine the details like reading a book, and complete your very own drama and character.