Sony Computer Entertainment America had an English build of Soul Sacrifice on display at E3. Soul Sacrifice is a Monster Hunter style game with a macabre twist. If you want to cast powerful spells you have to sacrifice your body parts and forbidden sorcery takes your character’s life. I only got to try single player mode so using Excalibur, a spell where you rip out your spine and turn it into a sword probably wouldn’t have been a good idea.
Before I jumped into the game, I watched an event scene shown from the eyes of my character. He was marked for death and with the last of his strength he crawled towards a fleshy book. After opening the sorcerer’s diary, the book sucked him in to a monster filled world.
Soul Sacrifice lets players select up to six spells before the game begins. You can toggle between attacks by pressing the R button. My sorcerer had Blood Bullets and since you can create new blood cells this was considered a light sacrifice. I also had an area of effect attack called Thunder Beast Maw, which made an aura of lightning around my sorcerer. Mammoth Tree Root created a tree and damaged any enemy in front of me.
My mission was to kill Jack O’ Lantern and as you might expect this monster has a giant pumpkin head. Soul Sacrifice has other monsters to fight before you reach the boss and I blasted fodder with Blood Bullets. After defeating a monster two hands popped up on the screen – the left hand asks players to save the creature’s soul and the right sacrifices it. Since these monsters were once human, I decided to save the creature’s soul and was rewarded with some consumable items. A representative from SCEA explained you get items either way, but the type of items you get depends if you sacrifice monsters or save them. Your character’s appearance also changes and becomes more menacing if you go the sacrifice route.
While Soul Sacrifice is designed primarily as a multiplayer game, you can play through the game solo. Some missions, like the Jack O’ Lantern, give players a computer controller partner. My AI companion didn’t seem to do much when I reached Jack O’ Lantern, but I didn’t need his (or was it her?) help. I managed to beat the boss by using Thunder Beast Maw and then dodge rolling out of the way. My sorcerer was low on life, but hey at least I didn’t have to rip out my eye or anything.
Soul Sacrifice also has… a tiny bit of Katamari Damacy in it. One of the spells turns the sorcerer into a giant boulder and you can roll over enemies.
Check back later on for our Soul Sacrifice interview with Comcept founder Keiji Inafune.
