Soul Sacrifice: PS Vita Review

Soul Sacrifice: PS Vita Review

Released by Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: PS Vita

It's been a wee bit quiet on the VITA front for a little bit, but it looks like that's about to change as winter rolls in.

A Vita version of the Jak and Daxter trilogy's coming soon and I'm sure there'll be some reveals at E3 2013 - but for now, it's time to content yourself with a game of sorcery and really nasty looking creatures. Plus a talking book, called Librom, with some funny looking eyes.

As the game begins, you find yourself in a cell, and are potentially about to be consumed by an evil sorcerer named Magusar. When your cellmate is consumed, it looks as if all is lost - until a book ends up in your cell and begins talking to you offering you a shot at salvation and giving you the powers you need to take down Magusar.

The shot includes taking part in a series of mini combats with one other sorcerer within the pages of the book and building up your repertoire of armour and weapons. But you also face choices - you can sacrifice the creatures you combat to boost either your magic (dark sacrifice) or your life force (light sacrifice).

Soul Sacrifice is another of those bite size games, whose episodic feel makes it suitable to the portable environment. Each level takes a few minutes to complete as you play through the challenges of the journal and fight your way to the knowledge needed to save the day. Through combat and reward, you build up what you need and learn as you go.

Graphically, it's fine, nothing sensational for the OLED screen but it certainly looks slick and is playable enough without sacrificing game play time for loading up the different levels. A constant ability to save means that you won't find yourself battling for ages with no chance of retaking up the fight afterwards.

The Librom character is quite fun - an ominous voiceover adds to the level of menace from a talking book - and the short nature of Soul Sacrifice renders it relatively playable. It's nothing fabulously new for the VITA - there's hardly any use of the VITA's extra features, but it's good fun for a few hours here and there.


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