We’ve been looking forward to Folklore ever since we first got our hands on it at last year’s Tokyo Game Show, when it was known as Monster Kingdom: Unknown Realms. Folklore is headed to territories outside of Japan at some point, but with no release date confirmed, we could wait no longer and decided to import the finished Japanese game, which, after a few title changes, was ultimately released as Folk’s Soul. The game has too much Japanese text to be considered import-friendly, but while we’re still none the wiser where the storyline is concerned, we still had plenty of fun playing through the combat-oriented action sequences.

What we do know of Folklore’s story comes from the few prerendered cutscenes we’ve encountered, which, unlike other areas of the game, are voiced in English with Japanese subtitles. The playable characters Ellen and Keats meet when Ellen, visiting the remote village of Lemrick after receiving what appears to be a letter from her long-dead mother, gets spooked and calls Keats for help. Keats works as a reporter for an occult magazine called Unknown Realms, so when Ellen tells him that she’s being killed by some kind of spirit, his curiosity is piqued and he travels there. The pair meets atop a nearby cliff, where they witness what appears to be an elderly woman–possibly Ellen’s mother–toppling off the cliff to her death. Things are rarely what they seem in “the village of the deceased,” though, which becomes apparent shortly after you choose which character you want to start the game as and set about exploring the area.

The English shoreline that you get to explore en route to Lemrick is quite picturesque, which makes it a little frustrating that you’re only able to explore within the confines of predetermined paths and such. When you reach the village you’ll find that it’s more or less deserted until you wander into the local tavern, The Little Neighbors. Inside you’ll meet a number of bizarre patrons who are more than happy to engage with you in Japanese text-driven conversation. An anthropomorphic rat, two blue-skinned women who float in midair, and a barman who looks like a googly-eyed version of The Addams Family’s Cousin Itt are among the more memorable characters and, upon leaving the tavern, you’ll meet an equally strange fellow who acts as your guide through the early portion of the game. When playing as Keats our guide was a well-dressed invisible man named Belgae, but when playing as Ellen we were accompanied for a time by a dancing scarecrow in a union-flag shirt and a jester’s cap.

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