[Soul Sacrifice] - Out now in stores and on PSN!

vegeta_666

Soul Sacrifice is an action role-playing game with a multiplayer focus. The "Sacrifice" part of the title depicts how magic will be used in the game: in order to cast various kinds of magic, players will need to "make payment" through sacrificing certain objects. Elements such as stones and trees can be used for weaker kinds of magic, however for stronger spells players will need higher sacrifices such as body parts to summon creatures. The more a player uses magic, the more they lose their humanity; coming to resemble more and more as the beasts they slay who also lost their humanity by abusing magic.

http://youtu.be/hIoGoG-7L-c
(Tokyo Game Show Trailer)

Other Trailers:

http://youtu.be/bsrS_zBrUUM
(Japanese Gameplay)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgHgDv9C92I
(Music Teaser)

News/Information:

April 18th - Demo release for NA/EU, first chapter of the game available as well as online play. Saves carry over into the full version of the game. The demo is 1213 MBs.

May 12th - Free DLC revealed:

Limited Use Codes for Offerings:

Spirits’ Storm Pinion: C7DE-37NA-758R
Spirits’ Viviblossom: P5CJ-PNNL-R79C
Spirits’ Blazestone: Q9GJ-BTNL-CEB5
Spirits’ Frostblade: 4R7F-QENE-CD4L

Pre-order bonuses - Two (2) Unique Costumes with which players can customize their character
- Three (3) Magic Items to aid players in battle:
Spirits’ Flamepike – Shards of the spear provided by Fire spirits, unleashing a five hit combo attack with heat effects
Spirits’ Blightstone – Explosive stones with poison effects provided by the spirits
Spirits’ Fulgurwood – Root provided by the Thunder spirits. Tracks enemies on the ground and attacks with thunder spell
- Japanese Audio Tracks

Screenshots/Artwork:

Relevant Links:

Soul Sacrifice on PS US Blog
Soul Sacrifice Guide (it's the only one out there so far I could find, has some demo info)
Soul Sacrifice on PSN - $35.99



Hints/Tips:

- Saving an archfiend (may) reward you with a new ally. - Use down on the D-Pad to enter Mind's Eye. In this vision you can see enemy's health, weak points, soul/life shards, spots to recharge your offerings and weapons/items. - Offerings only have so many casts before they can't be used anymore. If they don't break, they will recharge between missions. If they do, they can be fixed using lacrima, a resource given to you by the book periodically. (Be sure to back out of all the menus to check) - Sparing/saving an enemy will give you Life Essence (LE), earn enough and you will level up your Defense and Recovery. It will also heal you a little. Sacrificing an enemy will give you Soul Essence (SE), earn enough and you will level up your Spell Power/Attack. It will also increase the amount of Offering casts you have left. There is a max combined level of 100 from both sources. (20 in the demo) - Make sure to Fuse and Boost your spells. Fusing will give you access to new spells while Boosting will increase the number of times you can cast a spell. - Sigils are equipped to your right arm for boosts. To equip some sigils a specific amount of LEs or SEs of a certain creature may be required. - Lacrima can also be used to resurrect Allies and "fix" used Black Rites. -Each offering has a different effect, so far we've seen stuff like...

Weapon/Arm offerings, these summon a melee weapon that persists for X amount of time or until you use the charge attack by holding the button down. They have a small number of uses but if you're smart about using them they can be pretty economical because you can attack for a good half minute with one use and then finish it off with a big attack.
Homing offerings, these are the "root" powers that shoot a little thingy across the ground to hit an enemy with an element.
Throw offerings, these conjure up a bunch of projectiles which you can throw or lock on Panzer Dragoon style onto enemies or specific parts of enemies before throwing.
Rising offerings, these take a second to cast, but then a big fist comes out of the ground immediately in front of you doing a bunch of damage and throwing the enemy waaaaay up into the air. Great for when you've frozen an enemy or knocked them over.
Shield offerings, these conjure an elemental shield in front of you that is strong against the opposing element. For example Ice Carving Lid will deflect virtually any attack the Jack O Lantern throws at you.
Evasive offerings, which basically just give you an alternate form of movement.
Heal offerings, these uh... heal!
Morph offerings, these change your form and give you different attacks? I dunno I'll be totally honest here I haven't used these yet.
And then finally your Blood offerings which are your most basic attack and have infinite uses at the cost of a bit of health.

Want to play with fellow PAers? Please post your usernames in this format and I'll put them in the OP!

PSN ID/Forum Username:

noautomobilesgo/vegeta_666
Chace8625/Frei
Darth_Mogs/Darth_Mogs
Dachish/Vamen
Masked_Unit/Maddoc
Donnicton/Donnicton
mxmarks/mxmarks
LetzteUrteil/Sea of Thorns
Vacorsis/Dashui
ConvicNic / Nick T
Bastable/Bastable
Wraithverge/Wraithverge
Dhaval/Wulf
malkoth/malkoth

OP content taken from Giant Bomb Wiki, Playstation Blog and other sources, will be updated with more info as it becomes available. Thanks to @Maddoc for some info in the Hints section!

Frei

Chace8625/Frei

Darth_Mogs

Nice OP! I'll hopefully be able to put some time into the demo tomorrow and get a feel for it. Been looking forward to it for a while.

I'm not usually much of a MP person, but I'm going to try and make an effort for SS, so:

Darth_Mogs/Darth_Mogs

vegeta_666

Darth_Mogs wrote: »

Nice OP! I'll hopefully be able to put some time into the demo tomorrow and get a feel for it. Been looking forward to it for a while.

I'm not usually much of a MP person, but I'm going to try and make an effort for SS, so:

Darth_Mogs/Darth_Mogs

Thanks! My last OP was Fallout 3 (when it was announced) so I'm glad it isn't half bad!

Armoroc

My internet is so slow!!! Wanna try this... Keeps giving me errors and stops downloading so I have to be on it every couple of minutes. Almost there!

vamen

Woot!
Dachish/Vamen

Maddoc

Just played up to the first archfiend and having a lot of fun with it so far.

Masked_Unit/Maddoc

Donnicton

Donnicton/Donnicton

Just finished up with the Harpy, that is a really disturbing amount of detail on that boss.

Maddoc

So I use an offering too much and it breaks

Immediately afterward the game tells me that as long as you don't fully exhaust an offering it will replenish itself without lacrima

Whoops

Maddoc

Oh dang, so there are apparently unlisted quest rewards.

I don't know if it's because it was an archfiend, and what triggered it (of note, I broke a cursed part and also got a score over 400)

But I got an offering called Soldier's Ember, 1 use, 150 power, morph type, seems to suggest that it turns you into a Jack O Lantern. Haven't tried it yet.

mxmarks

I do not understand half of this offering stuff, but hopefully it becomes clearer as I progress (Ive only done the rats fight twice, Im having too much fun just flipping through the book!). I don't really understand the magic vs. life bars thing, but again - I'm super early in.

Love the whole feel of it all though.

So basically - every face button casts a spell, and then within that I get more moves (sometimes)? Like, pressing "O" gives me a huge fist, and then O again, holding O, all variations on that spell until I hit R to get rid of it?

Seems promising....

mxmarks/mxmarks

Adda

Maddoc wrote: »

So I use an offering too much and it breaks

Immediately afterward the game tells me that as long as you don't fully exhaust an offering it will replenish itself without lacrima

Whoops

If you use Mind's Eye then you can see a ghostly white standard/banner that can be used to replenish your offerings mid-level before they break.

Maddoc wrote: »

Oh dang, so there are apparently unlisted quest rewards.

I don't know if it's because it was an archfiend, and what triggered it (of note, I broke a cursed part and also got a score over 400)

But I got an offering called Soldier's Ember, 1 use, 150 power, morph type, seems to suggest that it turns you into a Jack O Lantern. Haven't tried it yet.

Yes I got two of these and Boosted them but I wasn't aware of breaking (I just stopped using them until they replenished) so I may not Boost things in future.

Maddoc

mxmarks wrote: »

I do not understand half of this offering stuff, but hopefully it becomes clearer as I progress (Ive only done the rats fight twice, Im having too much fun just flipping through the book!). I don't really understand the magic vs. life bars thing, but again - I'm super early in.

Love the whole feel of it all though.

So basically - every face button casts a spell, and then within that I get more moves (sometimes)? Like, pressing "O" gives me a huge fist, and then O again, holding O, all variations on that spell until I hit R to get rid of it?

Seems promising....

mxmarks/mxmarks

Okay so lemme try to run it down super simple.

Leveling up your "life" raises your defense and health
Leveling up your "magic" raises your attack
You've got a max level of 100 to share between the two of them (20 in the demo)
As you raise one or the other(or split it evenly), your right arm takes on certain qualities. Basically it will become a "Dark Arm", "Divine Arm", or "Neutral Arm", each which can take advantage of different sigils (basically equipment that you carve into your arm, and alter the stats on certain offerings)

Dark arm is better suited to attacking powers
Divine is better suited to defensive and support powers
Neutral arm gets some neat shit and also I hear is better at using golem stuff? I dunno we're not that far yet

Also your life and magic levels apparently determine which black rites you get access to.

Each offering has a different effect, so far we've seen stuff like...
Weapon/Arm offerings, these summon a melee weapon that persists for X amount of time or until you use the charge attack by holding the button down. They have a small number of uses but if you're smart about using them they can be pretty economical because you can attack for a good half minute with one use and then finish it off with a big attack.
Homing offerings, these are the "root" powers that shoot a little thingy across the ground to hit an enemy with an element.
Throw offerings, these conjure up a bunch of projectiles which you can throw or lock on Panzer Dragoon style onto enemies or specific parts of enemies before throwing.
Rising offerings, these take a second to cast, but then a big fist comes out of the ground immediately in front of you doing a bunch of damage and throwing the enemy waaaaay up into the air. Great for when you've frozen an enemy or knocked them over.
Shield offerings, these conjure an elemental shield in front of you that is strong against the opposing element. For example Ice Carving Lid will deflect virtually any attack the Jack O Lantern throws at you.
Evasive offerings, which basically just give you an alternate form of movement.
Heal offerings, these uh... heal!
Morph offerings, these change your form and give you different attacks? I dunno I'll be totally honest here I haven't used these yet.
And then finally your Blood offerings which are your most basic attack and have infinite uses at the cost of a bit of health.

Each offering has a set number of uses and as long as you don't deplete it fully it'll recharge after each quest, if you do it'll break and you need to repair it for a bit of weepy book tears (this will make more sense shortly), you can slap multiple copies of the same offering together to increase the number of uses. And during battle if it flashes it means it is near running out, and if it flashes red that is your cue to not fucking touch that button unless you super need to because it will break.

EDIT: Okay so I don't know that this was super simple but hopefully it is informative nonetheless.

Sea of Thorns

This is totally scratching my itch for a Monster Hunter type game, but without all the aggravation of the former. Definitely a first-day purchase for me.

LetzteUrteil/Sea of Thorns

Big Classy

The book is pretty damn funny. Also you can move around in there and squish bugs.

mxmarks

That is awesome and will help me enjoy this so much more than I already do. Thanks!

Dashui

I'd like to get on the player list! Vacorsis/Dashui

I haven't started the demo up yet. Does anyone want to join me soon? I wouldn't mind jumping straight into co-op, if it's possible.

And how does communication work? Is there some form of voice chat through the device's microphone?

Nick T

ConvicNic / Nick T

I think you have to get to a certain point in the game to unlock multiplayer. Beat the first chapter and you'll see the network options open up. I haven't been online so I don't know how communication works.

The_Spaniard

I'm wondering if making a paragon tank that's a bit weaker in damage but can take the hits for the team would be a viable strategy here.

Bastable

PSN Bastable

vamen

Big Classy wrote: »

The book is pretty damn funny. Also you can move around in there and squish bugs.

I found that out by accident, but I never managed to actually squish one of the bugs.

Dashui

I can't unhear it. When the book talks, there's a voice underneath. I suppose the intent is to make it sound creepy and ominous, but it has that high-pitched, synthesized squirrel sound.

Wraithverge

Count me in.
Wraithverge/Wraithverge

Only got to play one level last night before I passed out and my Vita hit me in the face but tonight I should get more time. So far, so good. I LOVE the monster design so far.

Big Classy

I died on the Lantern. Did one attack that took off over half my health. I then proceeded to whup his ass. Actually, I went off exploring, picking stuff up on the environment and powering up my an for no reason. Because you know, wasn't actually fighting at that point. Still. We won! GO TEAM!

Wulf

Dhaval/Wulf
Quite fun, interesting.

Dashui

I'm curious if saving or sacrificing a boss changes your alignment. After each battle it lists Arm: Neutral. Or perhaps that's the alignment of the monster/person?

Vi Monks

Played an hour or two of this last night. Lots of fun. I do wish there was more exploration than just boss fights in arenas (I'm thinking this sort of spell system inside a game like Dark Souls), but still, really enjoying this. And I did just get my $20 PSN referral bonus, but I was also thinking of picking up Persona 4.... ugh, decisions!

Dashui

Vi Monks wrote: »

Played an hour or two of this last night. Lots of fun. I do wish there was more exploration than just boss fights in arenas (I'm thinking this sort of spell system inside a game like Dark Souls), but still, really enjoying this. And I did just get my $20 PSN referral bonus, but I was also thinking of picking up Persona 4.... ugh, decisions!

Persona 4 is pretty awesome! That's a tough choice you've got. The right answer, though, is both!

I was hoping there would be some amount of exploration, too. I didn't know quite what this game was until I tried the demo. So many sources kept putting it into the same group as Monster Hunter, and I went in with that kind of expectation. But they really aren't that similar. You don't exactly hunt monsters, either.

I'm definitely going to pick this up, but this feels like its own game and not a Vita version of Monster Hunter.

Edit: Boss battle question! Chapter 6!

Has anyone tried saving her multiple times? I wonder if you can end the fight that way or if you have to sacrifice her eventually.

malkoth

malkoth/malkoth

Played a couple of hours yesterday and this game is definitely the shit. Thanks for the breakdown of how everything works as I was a bit surprised that you only have so many casts per offering. Glad I pre-ordered this, looking forward to killing and sacrificing with you fine gents.

Dashui

I just tried some multiplayer. It's pretty damn hard, and it definitely needs voice chat and friends to get the most out of it. The pubbies I played with would all rush to grab the souls regardless of who killed the monsters or needed them most.

Renzo

I was only able to play the first mission last night.

I'm really not digging the aesthetic, and I'm undecided on the spell/offering system.

I need to play more to get a better idea of what it is.

Donnicton

Maddoc wrote: »

[Snip]

Also, even if you're "level" capped, saving/saccing monsters during fights also provide other benefits. Saving them will heal you slightly, and sacrificing them will(I think) restore a few more offering charges,

vegeta_666

Updated the PSN list and the hints section in the OP! (Thanks @Maddoc!)

There just seems to be text chat in Multiplayer from what I can see. I haven't tried the Cerberus again yet, just been killing the Jack o Lantern and the Harpy some more. What's the Cerberus's weakness? I thought it was Ice but it doesn't seem to be? He uses a lightning attack. I know Jack's is Ice and the Harpy's is fire.

Donnicton

All indications I've read are that it's weak to earth, but ice is useful for freezing it if you have a high enough devil arm.

Maddoc

Cerberus is weak to Earth, but I think the only Earth offering in the demo is that rising fist one.

Donnicton

I believe the suggested tactic from what I've been reading is to smack it with ice attacks until it slows down or freezes, and then jab it in the ass with the earth fist offering(corpse dust or whatever it was called).

But even doing that it's a pretty brutal boss.

Alucard6986

Hrrrmm, is the idea to end the demo on something most people won't beat?

Like, in the final game I'm assuming the Cerberus isn't a barrier to progression, that you could come back and try it later when you're a lot stronger...

...no?

Renzo

Yeah, this isn't doing it for me. The visual style, the combat, the deck building.

I was looking forward to this, too.

Wraithverge

I like it. I hit the wall of the last boss too and can't beat him but I enjoyed it up to then. I like the idea of grinding out spells and combining them but I hope the appeal lasts through the full version. The visual style is right up my alley though, love that part.

Grundlestiltskin

Renzo wrote: »

Yeah, this isn't doing it for me. The visual style, the combat, the deck building.

I was looking forward to this, too.

At least the demo let you figure that out?

I'm sort of on the fence about it. It's fun enough, I want to try multiplayer with a friend.

Big Classy

Nope. Not for me. Was initially enthralled by it but the thing I was most looking forward to was the actual hunting. Genuinely thought it was going to be akin to monster Hunter so it was a bit disappointing there was no actual travelling or searching. Even the combat doesn't really sit well with me. Glad I got to try it though.