What doesn't work quite so well is the two character system used here. Ellen and Keats are investigating the same things at roughly the same times. In the village they come across each other, talk and interact. The decisions you make during some of these can affect the other characters story. However in the Netherworld you almost never come across each other but yet you are both investigating the same place, at the same time and supposedly beating the same Folklore, the boss monsters of each Netherworld.

This is only exacerbated by how often you will repeat these levels. In the first few hours of gameplay you can find yourself going through the first Netherworld, the Faery realm, at least four but possibly six times if you do the optional quests. It gets harsh replaying the same level so many times and it can be grating since each area really only has about twelve to twenty screens to it. If each of the characters had investigated areas of the realm that at least looked different this problem would be mitigated greatly. But they don't and since you both use some of the same folk this basically means playing through an area twice and doing most of the same things over.

The repetition works out to a degree due to the way the Folk you collect level up. By completing certain requirements you can “unleash your Folks Karma” and enhance it. Sometimes this comes up as an attack power increase while others will grant you extra attacks to your Folks combo. Usually this requires you to absorb the souls of particular Folk over and over or defeating a number of Folk using a particular employee Folk without absorbing their Id.

As mentioned previously the voice acting is rather good in this game but it is rather sparse. For the most part you will only hear your characters yelling during combat and in the occasional cutscene leaving you with only the music as your company. The theme to the game and first Netherworld sound almost like they ripped off Danny Elfman, composer of most Tim Burton movies and the Simpsons, as best they could but the later levels are much more original and interesting to listen to. Overall the music is rather good and is a strong point to the game.

For all of its repetition problems and sometimes bland comic style cutscenes this is still a rather solid game. It has all of the hallmarks of a great game but it doesn't exactly have the broadest appeal to it due to these problems. Many will be put off by the odd style that the game has to it but it is their loss. If you can put up with a slightly quirky but still entertaining game then Folklore is for you. Clocking in at a good twenty hours Folklore is a breath of fresh air in a time of derivative games with annoying short gameplay times.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 80%. If you can put up with the constant level repetition you will find yourself with a great game. A definite sleeper if there ever was one.

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