Soul Sacrifice: macabre, magic-infused, monster-hunting console game


Macabre, magic-infused, monster-hunting console game comes from the creator of Mega Man
What you need to know: Fantasy action video game Soul Sacrifice has been released in the UK. The game was designed for Sony consoles by Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune and developed by Marvelous AQL and Japan Studio. The macabre premise of Soul Sacrifice is that an imprisoned slave, who is about to be sacrificed by an evil sorcerer, encounters a demonic book called Librom that offers to teach him the magic to defend himself. The player is then transported inside the book's pages where they must play out a series of battles to develop their powers. The game is mainly played from a solo third-person perspective, but a four-person co-operative mode is available for some quests.

What the critics like: The action takes place in a series of spectacular arenas, with backdrops that are artworks in themselves, says Nick Gillett in The Guardian. There are richly imagined monsters, elaborate back stories and amusingly macabre lore. It's "a work of unhinged brilliance". This is one of Sony's "most ambitious and enjoyable games", says David Jenkins in Metro. The emphasis is on using magic rather than melee weapons and there's an impressively bizarre range of enemies. "There's a lot to love about Soul Sacrifice," says Erik Kain for Forbes. This dark, magic-infused monster hunting game is gripping, the combat is fast and ferocious, and the monsters are awesome.

What they don't like: Like a similar game Monster Hunter, this game can occasionally bog down in sheer repetition and the rampant overuse of monsters, says Colin Moriaty on IGN. But there's still "something inherently and undeniably addicting about Soul Sacrifice". Source: The Week UK