The Therapist Gamer

Soul Sacrifice is an action RPG that has been compared to Monster Hunter.

You begin the game locked in cage in a destroyed world. You see a man, Magusar, come and suck the life out of someone in an adjacent cage, and then leave. Things are not looking good.

In your cage you stumble upon a talking book with a face. The book tells you that he is a journal, and that by re-living the memories of the journal's author you can eventually gain the power necessary to defeat Magusar. Each level is based off of reading another page of the journal. Thus, even though your character is technically in a cage the entire game, you play as the person who wrote the journal.

You start out the game by trying to become a sorcerer. In the world of Soul Sacrifice, sorcerers are tasked with defeating monsters and sacrificing their souls. You go through a series of trials with another potential sorcerer, which ultimately ends in the requirement that one of you sacrifice the other and absorbing their power. 

Being a sorcerer has it's cool parts, like being able to use magic, but also has some significant downsides. With each monster you sacrifice, you also absorb all of their memories. And with each sacrifice, you are driven closer and closer into becoming a monster yourself - for what else comes from frequent murder? And thus the cycle continues - sorcerers sacrificing monsters only to gradually become monsters themselves.

So what if you decide you no longer want to be in the business of hunting down and sacrificing monsters, but instead choose to save their souls to give them another chance? Well, such action is forbidden by the Sorcerers of Avalon and will prompt other sorcerers to hunt you down.

After you become a sorcerer you team up with a man named Magusar. He seems to be a good sorcerer and a loyal friend. He even opts to save a number of monsters. However, he seems to get extremely weak from time to time.

Well, it turns out that Magusar has a big problem. He has been a sorcerer for so long and sacrificed so many people that he doesn't even know which memories are his anymore. Was something his own memory, or that of one of his victims? Or one of his victim's victim's? The great number of people he has sacrificed also means he is almost constantly on the brink of becoming a monster himself. The only way he can stave off insanity is to sacrifice someone every couple of days. Even though he is miserable doing so, he knows that if he becomes a monster he will be far too powerful for any other sorcerer to defeat. And even if he was to somehow be defeated, whoever sacrificed him would simply absorb his plight. How long can this last? What is he to do about it? Is there anything you can do to help him?

Well, you already know the answers to this question. If you remember, you are already locked in a cage in a destroyed world where Magusar sacrifices a new soul regularly. But will reading the journal of the unknown sorcerer reveal the secret to ending this struggle?

I know it might seem like I have given away too much of the story, but actually there are many, many other things that happen and many mysteries to be revealed. I thought the story in Soul Sacrifice was engaging and caused me to reflect upon some interesting issues.

The concept of sacrificing or saving is not merely a story mechanic, but a core gameplay mechanic as well. For each monster you defeat, big or small, you can choose to Save the monster and set it free, or Sacrifice the monster and absorb it's power. There are two main ways making these decisions matter:
1. If you Save many creatures then you will gain an experience level, and receive a bonus to your maximum health. If you Sacrifice many creatures then you will also gain an experience level, but you will gain a bonus to the damage you deal.
2. During each mission, you will fight a variety of monsters and will probably run out of health unless you have a way to refill it. You also have a limited number of times you can use each attack, and will need to find a way to refill your uses of these attacks. If you choose to Save a monster, it will refill your health somewhat. If you choose to Sacrifice a monster, you will gain additional uses of all of your attacks.

This Save/Sacrifice dynamic might sound confusing, but it is actually very straightforward once you play the game. I thought it added a very interesting strategic side to the game, and it kept the gameplay interesting as there were constantly tactical decisions to make. 

In addition to these mechanics, there are also major sacrifices that you can make. However, these sacrifices involve sacrificing your own body. For example, you can choose to sacrifice your eyes to do a massive amount of damage to all monsters, but you will then hardly be able to see. You can sacrifice your arm to ensnare the monster in chains, but you will then deal much less damage. The effects of these sacrifices can be reversed, but at an increasingly high price.

In addition to smaller enemies, Soul Sacrifice also has dozens of boss monsters. These monsters take a lot of effort to take down, and also provide a huge bonus to your Save or Sacrifice gauge. 

You have the option of playing the game with up to three AI companions. Many of the bosses will be extremely difficult if you do not fight them as a team. The game also features online (and local) multiplayer, which I thought was actually really fun. Each time one of your companions runs out of health, you can either choose to give up half of your health to save them, or sacrifice them for the greater good. People almost always save each other, but it's pretty fun to sacrifice others and surprising to be sacrificed yourself. Should you be sacrificed, don't worry - you can still help defeat the monsters from beyond the grave.

Overall, I really liked Soul Sacrifice. I thought the story and gameplay were very well thought-out, and the game was clearly made by passionate, competent professionals. I think it would be awesome to have a PS4 sequel, but I doubt this will happen as the game really is designed for the Vita and portable play. If you can get your hands on this game then I would highly recommend getting involved.