Make no mistake, the Japanese know how to queue. In the bowels of the PlayStation stand at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, countless orderly lines of patient gamers snake neatly through a maze of white chain-link barriers, intersecting each other like the world’s most organised spaghetti junction. At the start of each queue stands an official with a whiteboard and a marker pen, methodically updating the estimated waiting time for each game. Of all the games on show at PlayStation’s booth, which boasted the longest line? PS Vita action title Soul Sacrifice, with show-goers having to wait well over an hour for a chance to try it out.





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It should perhaps come as no surprise that it’s the center of attention. After a series of intriguing trailers, TGS presented the first opportunity to actually go hands-on with Mega Man creator and former Capcom R&D chief Keiji Inafune’s dark fantasy action title.

Those first few teasers hinted at a gritty blend of Dark Souls’ ruthless, bleak aesthetic, and the multiplayer-focused beast battling of Monster Hunter. In reality, that’s not far off the mark. You play as a member of a four-person squad (controlled either by other players or the computer) tasked with progressing through various environments in search of a huge boss character to dispatch.

The twist is that when a squad member falls, the survivors have the option to either sacrifice them in return for a huge power-up, or revive the player and allow them back into the fray. The same mechanic also applies to fallen enemies – sacrifice them and your offensive attributes receive a boost, spare them and your defensive stats ramp up.

It’s a compelling set-up and the brief 15 minute segment I played through offered some pleasingly physical combat, run through with complex, strategic decision-making and delightfully gruesome enemy design. In search of a little more insight into how the full game will play out, I grabbed 10 minutes with Inafune-san backstage. Check out the brand new gameplay trailer below, then read on for more from the man himself.

PlayStation.Blog: Why do you see the PS Vita as such a good fit for a deep, dark action title like Soul Sacrifice?

Keiji Inafune, Creator, Soul Sacrifice: The idea is to have a game that Western audiences will find appealing, while also making sure that it will also sell well here in Japan. The Western audience must feel willing to play this game. PS Vita is not going to benefit if you just have a lot of otaku games on it – you need something like this. It needs dark and deep titles like Soul Sacrifice. PSB: How have you approached the game’s multiplayer component?

Inafune: Soul Sacrifice is intended for the player to really sit down and engage with it, and actually have other people in front of you for the multiplayer with ad hoc as the base. If you can’t gather people physically, you can play online of course, but I think it’s most interesting when you play with your closest friends as you really know about them and it might prove harder to sometimes sacrifice them. I think the most fun in the game comes from playing on both your real and virtual relationships. For example, if you have a friend that’s always hounding you and makes you feel bad the whole time you’ll surely feel like you’re going to sacrifice them! That type of play is what the game is all about.