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PSN Store Update: Soul Sacrifice Delta, Borderlands 2 Vita
It's a quieter week on PSN, with just two new games each for PS3 and Vita. Starting with the portable, Borderlands 2 gets a standalone release ($40) after featuring in last week's Vita 2000 bundle, and Soul Sacrifice Delta has a few freebies in a limited edition bundle ($36). As for the PS3 new releases, there's Episode 3 of The Walking Dead Season 2 ($5, or part of $20 season pass) and the slightly belated Serious Sam 3: BFE ($20, or $15 with Plus). Also, JRPG fans may be tempted by a new Tales bundle that combines Graces f with Xillia ($60). Finally, some bits and bobs to round up: Skullgirls Encore on PS3 is the latest Plus freebie, Dishonored is permanently price reduced to $20, and the PS Blog has all the latest sales and Plus discounts. [Image: Sony Computer Entertainment]
Soul Sacrifice Delta confirmed for North American Vita release
SCE Japan Studio's PlayStation Vita action-RPG Soul Sacrifice Delta is headed stateside in May, Sony announced today. Delta is an enhanced and expanded version of Sony's Monster Hunter-like Soul Sacrifice, adding a number of new quests, explorable areas, and magic spells to the game's core campaign. Delta also boasts overhauled enemy AI and a third faction, giving players options beyond saving or sacrificing defeated creatures for stat boosts and other bonuses. Soul Sacrifice originally launched for the PlayStation Vita in North America last year, and later made its way to the PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection. Soul Sacrifice Delta will launch in North America on May 13. A European release will follow on the 14th. [Video: Sony]
Soul Sacrifice Delta triangulating West, AUS rating suggests
A couple of new clues point towards a Western localization of Soul Sacrifice Delta, and first and foremost of those is a rating from the Australian Classification Board. That's a strong sign the follow-up to last year's Vita game is preparing to journey out of Japan, so a now-deleted listing from Spanish online retailer Xtralife only adds fuel to the fire. Keiji Inafune's Comcept released the beastie-butchering of Soul Sacrifice worldwide last year, but the studio only announced the sequel for Japan - the game hit retail shelves there in March. When Inafune unveiled Delta last year, he described it as more than a "mere update" to the original game: "This is a brand new version with brand new elements and brand new items which gives the unique flavor of Soul Sacrifice." The name Delta refers to the introduction of a third faction in the follow-up, Grimm, as well as a third "Luck" choice that gives you a roulette-like alternative to saving or sacrificing the beasts you defeat. There are also plenty of new monsters to take down, including ones inspired by Brothers Grimm' takes on fairy-tales like Red Riding Hood and Snow White. [Image: Sony Computer Entertainment Japan]
Toukiden nabs free Soul Sacrifice crossover armor, mission DLC
If you're running out of beasts to slay in Toukiden: The Age of Demons, this week brought new DLC missions featuring Soul Sacrifice's three-headed dog, Cerberus. Of course, you can't just go slaying monsters from other games without dressing the part, so the collaborative DLC includes a new set of armor inspired by gear found in Soul Sacrifice. If you're waiting on a price to scare you off, don't worry - both the missions and the armor are free to download. The new content can be accessed using the Portal Stone and multiplayer lobbies, but the related press release warns that the missions are meant for "groups of great level and skill, with highly upgraded equipment." Considering the lack of a price tag, Toukiden players should probably take this chance to slash up Cerberus. Besides, we can't imagine that Toukiden's residents are much more fond of the triple-headed beast than any of the Oni you've already saved them from. [Image: Tecmo Koei]
Best of the Rest: Ludwig's picks of 2013
Team Joystiq has concluded its selection of last year's best games. Click here to see the complete assembly of ingenious indies and triple-A triumphs - until next year! The Wonderful 101 The boundless, ALL-CAPS exuberance of The Wonderful 101 may have been misread by its intended audience. Overseen by Mr. Devil May Cry himself, Hideki Kimaya, this vibrant action game conveys cuteness in its army of stout superheroes, but poses creative and razor-sharp challenges without taking a breath. The game's cartoonish antics and enormous bosses are beyond ridiculous, dwarfing the mechanical cleverness that lies beneath it all. The real novelty lies in drawing shapes and having your heroes congeal into corresponding mega-swords and huge hammers (also: puddings). It becomes a practiced analogue shorthand, not unlike your maneuvers in a fighting game, and the hard-earned rewards satisfy in much the same way.
PS Plus Europe in December: Borderlands 2, DmC, Soul Sacrifice
Europe's seasonal batch of PlayStation Plus freebies comprises Borderlands 2, DmC: Devil May Cry, Soul Sacrifice, and BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend, and in what's very much a case of Christmas coming a day early, they'll all arrive on December 24. PlayStation 4 owners have to wait a bit longer for their next Plus-wrapped pressie, because Klei's survival forager Don't Starve is due on January 8 - it'll probably hit North America the day before, but a release date hasn't been confirmed. It's a cracking line-up of games to dig into on Christmas Eve - forget all that quality time with family nonsense, amirite? However, Christmas isn't just a time of giving, but also a time of taking, in this case games removed from the Plus service: Grid 2, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, and Sonic and Allstars Racing Transformed head off on December 24, while PS4 platformer Contrast exits stage left on January 8. One final bit of PlayStation Europe news: The 12 Deals of Christmas continues to chuck discounts at continentals, with Battlefield 4 bombing to £25 (€35/AU$45) and The Walking Dead on Vita sliced to £7 (€10/AU$15) - with a further 10 percent off the latter for PS Plus members. If those deals take your fancy, you have until the end of tomorrow to grab them.
Soul Sacrifice goes free on PS Plus tomorrow
Come November 26, the Vita-exclusive Soul Sacrifice joins the free games on offer to PlayStation Plus subscribers, and they won't even have to trade a limb for it. For those who missed Soul Sacrifice, think of it as a game of choices. You play a prisoner turned sorcerer in a world where magic requires sacrifices. Some of these are largely benign, but there are the massively damaging spells that ask you to literally give up an arm in exchange for that kind of power. The game's difficulty level is slightly less intense than that seen in Dark Souls, but it still makes a very worthwhile contender for anyone looking for a game that will mercilessly punish mistakes - and unlike Dark Souls, since Soul Sacrifice is a Vita game, you can get your fix on the go. As with all new PS Plus additions, the introduction of Soul Sacrifice means that something must be bumped off of the roster. In this case, the PS Plus Instant Game Collection is losing Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen. If you want to pick up Capcom's endearing attempt at a Western-style, open-world role-playing game, today marks your last chance to do so via PlayStation Plus.
PS Plus delivers Dragon's Dogma, Soul Sacrifice, free PS4 games in November
Sony unveiled next month's PlayStation Plus lineup, announcing that subscribers will receive a slate of free games for the PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and PlayStation 4 in time for International Turkey Day. Sony's subscription service hosts its first batch of PlayStation 4 freebies in November, as early adopters will receive free downloadable copies of Compulsion Games' shadowy puzzle-platformer Contrast and Housemarque's Defender-like shoot-'em-up Resogun. Contrast serves as a last-minute replacement for Driveclub, which was originally scheduled to take part in next month's PlayStation Plus lineup before its recent delay. Capcom's Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen and Sega's Binary Domain headline November's PlayStation 3 offerings, joining Sparpweed's co-op action game Ibb and Obb. PlayStation Vita owners can expect to see Sony's Monster Hunter-inspired action-RPG Soul Sacrifice, along with an upgraded HD version of Just Add Water's Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath. PlayStation Plus members in Europe receive Konami's Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance in next month's package, along with Remember Me, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD, and MotorStorm RC.
Final Soul Sacrifice update adds 16 new (and tough!) quests
The Marvelous AQL and Japan Studio-developed Vita-exclusive Soul Sacrifice has been given its final update, SCEA producer Kumi Yuasa revealed in a post on the PlayStation Blog. Update 1.30 adds "16 challenging new quests" to the game, for free. Unlike previous updates, unlock keys from the PlayStation Store are not required to enjoy the content. Yuasa says the game's final bonus quests are all at level ten difficulty. "You'll be tasked with facing challenging boss characters you may have come across before," Yuasa adds. Soul Sacrifice launched for the PlayStation Vita in North America on April 30. The Joystiq review noted that playing it could exact an "unexpected toll on your thoughts." Spooky!
Soul Sacrifice Delta due out in March 2014 for Vita
Soul Sacrifice Delta is due out on Vita in Japan in March 2014, Keiji Inafune revelaed at the Sony Japan conference. Soul Sacrifice Delta is a new version of Soul Sacrifice, and it's more than a "mere update," Inafune said: "This is a brand new version with brand new elements and brand new items which gives the unique flavor of Soul Sacrifice." Soul Sacrifice Delta will be playable at Tokyo Game Show.
Vita PSN sale celebrates games from Japan
From the Land of the Rising Sun comes Vita Games of the Falling Prices. Sony's running a two-week PSN sale on Japanese-developed entries for its gaming portable, and, like the toppings on an okonomiyaki, there are a variety of tasty-looking morsels on offer. The highlights of the first week are Keiji Inafune's action-RPG Soul Sacrifice and Team Ninja port-of-a-port Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus, down to $25 and $28, respectively. The discounts are much more appealing with a PS Plus subscription; Soul Sacrifice is just $17.49 and Sigma 2 Plus $19.59. Those prices and the other first week offers are available starting today, through to Monday, August 19. A couple of fighters top the second week's bill, which runs August 20-26. During that time you can pick up Dead or Alive 5 Plus for $20, but here's an even more attractive equation: Dead or Alive 5 Plus plus PlayStation Plus equals just $10. Similarly, Street Fighter X Tekken looks good at the lowered price of $28, but the PS Plus price of $19.59 is even better. There are 18 Japanese games in total in the Vita sale; check out the PlayStation Blog for the full list of whens and how muches.
Free quests and bosses arrive on Soul Sacrifice
As has become a trend with Soul Sacrifice, the game has another set of free additional content available now via PSN. Players that download the DLC's unlock key will receive eight new quests and two bosses, Cat Sith and Beelzebub. In true fashion for the game, the bosses are pretty creepy. PlayStation Blog notes that more content for Soul Sacrifice is on the way, with The Cobbler Triplets and the Old Master arriving on August 20, The Iron Lady's Tears of Red coming September 3 and The Fall of the Gods landing on September 17, though each release date may change.
Soul Sacrifice gets more free DLC next week, includes ... this thing
One round of free DLC just isn't enough for Soul Sacrifice, it seems. Come June 11 (the first day of E3!), fresh DLC will add eight new quests and two new bosses, including an ogre and the thing seen above. It's labeled "dwarf," as you can see, but that can't be right. Just like last time, the DLC will be free, requiring you to sacrifice nothing but your spare time.
Soul Sacrifice serves up free DLC in update 1.10 today
Soul Sacrifice saved up a bunch of free DLC for update 1.10, live on Vita today. Update 1.10 adds eight new quests, a new Black Rite, two new bosses, and a new map called Caverns of Goliath, which takes place inside the body of a soldier-turned-giant. His digestive fluids constantly drain players' HP, and it only gets more gruesome from there. The two new bosses are Dullahan and Behemoth. Dullahan is a masochistic former knight who, according to his character art, lost his head along with his mind. Behemoth is a giant chicken that makes Battleblock Theater and – oh, not that Behemoth. Sorry. Soul Sacrifice's Behemoth is an obese boy with a particular penchant for apples, which is fitting for the branches of fruit growing out of his bulbous back. The update also adds Berserker as a new Black Rite, support for posting to Facebook and Twitter, and the Discovery Pact AR mini-game. Check out the full details on the European PlayStation Blog.
Dead Island Riptide stays afloat of this week's UK Charts
A 32 percent drop in sales isn't enough to keep Dead Island Riptide from surviving as the UK's No. 1. A quiet week bereft of major new releases means it's a largely familiar line-up; this week's top ten features nine of the entries from last week. Injustice: Gods Among Us makes it three weeks in the top two, while Tomb Raider climbs back up to number 3 as one of the few games to hold steady sales. As ever, when FIFA and Call of Duty are on the up, chances are there's a new releases lull. One game that was released last week was Soul Sacrifice, with the time ripe for it to make a strong impression on the charts. Keiji Inafune's Vita game only debuted in 26th.
Super Joystiq Podcast 048 Live: Grand Theft Auto 5, Soul Sacrifice, Ace Patrol
As the ever looming presence of E3 draws closer, we gather to discuss a few of this week's recent and upcoming games on the Super Joystiq Podcast live. Join us as we chat about Grand Theft Auto 5, Thomas Was Alone, which recently made the (double) jump to PSN, Keiji Inafune's Soul Sacrifice for the Vita and Sid Meier's new iOS jam, Ace Patrol. As usual, we'll have some goodies to giveaway, so stay tuned to learn how you can win. Be here for the live broadcast at 3:55 Eastern!
Soul Sacrifice review: Escapism encapsulated
Soul Sacrifice is a steady ascent to superiority over your captor, a mad sorcerer named Magusar. You can provoke and challenge him from within your fetid cage at any time, but ultimate victory requires toil, repetition and mastery of the same magic that imprisons you. You'll have to play the game to get out, which makes you wonder what the real trap is. Freedom through power is your goal in the game's fiction and function, with progression framed in a living, speaking journal covered by a contorted face. The cheeky diary, named Librom, recalls the inner turmoil and exploits of Magusar's former partner, from whom you acquire magic and memories packaged as short, perfect-for-portable quests. Discovering the author's identity and exploits is an intriguing, incremental accompaniment to your own gestation as a powerful conjurer. Soul Sacrifice is a game you play more for the beach than for the sand. Like other sagas that spin around the aggressive acquisition of beastie bits, there is less reward in the act of fighting than the result – and in the case of bigger battles, "epicness" is often conflated with "duration." Soul Sacrifice has no pretense of exploration or towns, just a distilled drip-feed of enclosed arenas and creature extermination that enables new spells, augmented magical prowess or a greater life expectancy for the next challenge.%Gallery-177521%
PSN Tuesday: Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Soul Sacrifice
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon lights up this week's hefty PlayStation content dump, available as a PS3 download alongside Poker Night 2, Deadly Premonition: Director's Cut, Zombie Tycoon 2 (PS Vita cross-buy; free on PS Plus) and Ninja Sigma 2. On the PS Vita side, Keiji Inafune's Soul Sacrifice sets out for role-playing adventure. This week concludes the Spring Fever sale on PSN, highlighting games featured in Sony's mascot brawler, PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale. Deals on BioShock, Metal Gear, Ratchet & Clank and many more are up for grabs. The full list is available over on the PlayStation Blog.
Soul Sacrifice sequel already pitched to Sony, says Inafune
Talks of a Soul Sacrifice sequel are already "ongoing" between Sony and Comcept's Keiji Inafune, just a month after the action-RPG hit Japan. In an interview with IGN, Inafune said he'd love to make the follow-up and "drive Vita sales even more.""Soul Sacrifice is something I specifically designed for Vita using [the] hardware's specific features," Inafune told IGN. "To drive Vita sales even more, I have an idea for a Soul Sacrifice sequel. I'm actually approaching [Sony Computer Entertainment] regarding this project.""Let's say the talks are ongoing and I'd love to make it happen," he added.The likelihood of a sequel can only be boosted by SCE Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida retweeting IGN's story earlier this morning.According to IGN, Soul Sacrifice shifted 150,000 units at retail since being released in Japan on March 7 - that figure excludes digital sales. Of course, Japan is always a bit fond of a monster hunt, so it'll be interesting to see how the Vita game does in the west - and we should find out soon enough. Soul Sacrifice comes out next week in North America and Europe, on April 30 and May 3 respectively.
Soul Sacrifice demo progress transfers to the full game
TheA Soul Sacrifice demo out on PSN today gives you an early look at the first chapter of the game. Progress made in the demo will transfer over to the main game, the PlayStation Blog revealed, allowing you to fully commit to the demo without sacrificing your free time on repeats. You even get an exclusive item, the "Spirits' Heart," for transferring data.The demo also includes multiplayer co-op for up to four locally or online, just like the final game. Soul Sacrifice will be available in North America on April 30.
