Thought I'd post up a review of Soul Sacrifice based on the demo, since it contains a good portion of the game which is out later this week. There are a lot of parallels between this and Monster Hunter, but it's different enough to potentially draw in anyone put off the former. Best way to think of this is MH with less complex grinding that takes you straight to the action.
The game takes place with you in prison to a mad sorcerer, Magusar, awaiting your death. A strange animated book comes to you in your time of need and promises that reading it's contents may present a way out of your predicament. This is actually presented quite well, each quest is a relieving of the book's tale with some background narrated before and after. The story and it's lore are compelling enough to make the single player worth engaging with so far.
To kick off the main difference between Soul Sacrifice and Monster Hunter is combat. Fighting in SS makes use of spells generated by sacrificing offerings, upto six which are bound to square, triangle and circle with R shoulder to switch between two sets. Key point is offerings are picked before a quest after which you're stuck with them till the mission ends. They have a limited number of uses so choose wisely. To use a spell just hit the relevant button, there's a variety to choose from with a range of uses and effects. Broadly they break down into offensive, defensive and healing types with varying attributes. Use one up and you'll need to recharge it before it breaks which leads to...
Sacrifice. The name of the game. Every enemy killed can be saved or sacrificed by holding down the relevant shoulder button next to a defeated enemy. Saving creatures, in the long term levels up your holy side increasing your defense but not your HP, during a quest it recovers some health. Sacrificing creatures, levels your Devil side, this increases your attack in the long term, but also renews your offerings while on a quest. The trick is to strike a balance that works for your play-style, Holy tends towards tanking and support, Devil towards offense with all out Devil being a bit of a glass cannon.
The grind in SS orientates around your spells and arm sigils, which boost your attributes. Each quest has a number of offerings available as rewards upon completion. Quests are scored, resulting in a rank from lowest Third Rate Sorcerer up to Legendary Sorcerer. A high rank score increases your chance of getting the best offerings. Offerings can then be either leveled up by combining identical items repeatedly or new offerings can be created by fusing together those in your inventory. Sigils are written on your arm by drawing upon essences collected from saving or sacrificing creatures and shards found out in the field. This is where you'll be returning to quests, to collect spells, shards and essences.
There's further depth behind the spells, elements inflict different ailments. These can lead to powerful combo's. So for example a frozen enemy can be struck with lightning for immense damage. There are also Black Rites, only one may be equipped at a time, they become available on a quest once criteria are met and result in a huge amount of damage but at a price. Your first forbidden spell will halve your defense, not just during the quest you are on, but every quest after until the effect is removed.
Allies can be recruited to your cause as the game goes on each with their own holy/devil bias and preferred offerings, the AI won't blow you away but they are useful enough to justify taking them on the tougher quests. They can also be saved / sacrificed when killed. Saving them keeps them in the game, sacrificing them unleashes a stupidly powerful spell at the cost of losing an ally. Even though the game states they are lost, the recurring theme of the book is that it can be rewritten, dead allies, curses from the Forbidden Spells and broken offerings can be renewed using Lacrima tears that the book itself dishes out on a regular basis.
Multiplayer is unlocked after the first chapter is complete, this is deliberate as you'll need the offerings and experience to stay alive long enough against the tougher enemies and avoid being berated by the rest of your team. Overall it works well enough, even if the structure is a little bare bones. Players jump straight into a lobby where they can choose their loadouts and send short messages to each other before the quest begins. Gameplay is much the same with downed players able to be either sacrificed or saved, and you will want to sacrifice members of your team. Using sacrifices and Black Rites at the right time is key to taking down the Archfiends faster and achieving a better score.
All in all it plays really well. It's pretty much what you'd expect from a Monster Hunter derivative with plenty of unique points differentiate between the two. The game looks great on the Vita and the music is appropriately dramatic for the creatures you face. I've found the demo quite compelling so far, enough to spend a good 10 hours on it if not more.
So that's Soul Sacrifice, the demo is worth a download if you're interested in this type of game, even if MH didn't take your fancy. You can take your progress from the demo into the full game which is an added incentive to give it a go.
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