Soul Sacrifice: A Sacrificial Q&A With Keiji Inafune

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Soul Sacrifice: A Sacrificial Q&A With Keiji Inafune

Soul Sacrifice on PS Vita

It’s been just over a week since Soul Sacrifice graced PS Vita in North America, so we tracked down celebrated creator Keiji Inafune to get his thoughts on the game’s launch — and how PS Vita players are adapting to the game’s morally murky gameplay choices.

But there’s more!

In Soul Sacrifice, you can unleash a breadth of special attacks and abilities by sacrificing various Offerings. Exclusively for the PS.Blog community, we’ve listed four vouchers below, which can be redeemed to obtain otherwise inaccessible Offerings (you can’t get them any other way).

NOTE: If you were unable to redeem the last two codes earlier, try the new ones listed below. Enjoy!

Spirits’ Storm Pinion

Soul Sacrifice: Spirits Storm Pinion

Bird feather provided by the Thunder spirits (Attributes: Volt)

C7DE-37NA-758R



Spirits’ Viviblossom

Soul Sacrifice: Spirits Viviblossom

Flower of Healing provided by the Spirits (Attributes: Renew)

P5CJ-PNNL-R79C



Spirits’ Blazestone

Soul Sacrifice: Spirits Blazestone

Ball provided by the Fire Spirits (Attributes: Heat)

Q9GJ-BTNL-CEB5



Spirits’ Frostblade

Soul Sacrifice: Spirits Frostblade

Ice blade provided by the Ice spirits (Attributes: Frost)

4R7F-QENE-CD4L

IMPORTANT: Story progress to certain areas may be required before these Offerings can be used.

These universal PSN voucher codes are only valid in North America. They can be received in-game by going to “Librom” > ”Network” > ”Peddler” > “Claim Gift” AFTER the product code has been redeemed. Please note: these vouchers, once depleted, are gone forever.


Soul Sacrifice: A Sacrificial Q&A With Keiji Inafune

PlayStation.Blog: Have you been watching how players interact with Soul Sacrifice now that it’s in the wild? Are they playing it the way you expected?

Keiji Inafune: I see users are playing the game the way I wanted them to, so I’m pleased. Users are enjoying the decision-making process of sacrificing and the consequences associated with it, which is what I intended and for that I’m grateful.

PSB: Are you hearing feedback about a particular moment or boss battle in the game?
KI: There are various things users are talking about, and many users seem to be talking about multiplayer. But I also hear users are complementing the storyline and that it unfolds in unexpected ways and that came as a surprise. They’re saying the story is in-depth and touching — that feedback is something I was hoping to hear, so I’m happy!

PSB: The game features some spectacularly grotesque monster designs — is there one you’re particularly proud of?

KI: We tried to have each monster make a big impression and I feel our designers did fantastic jobs. If I was asked what my favorite monster would be, I wouldn’t be able to pick one because I’m proud of all of them. However, I have a special place in my heart for Librom, the book character who is strongly tied to the storyline. I specifically like its personality and the design, so when I give autographs to fans I tend to draw Librom next to my autographs. I think Librom represents Soul Sacrifice very well.

Soul Sacrifice on PS VitaSoul Sacrifice: Giant's Bones

PSB: Where did the idea for the Black Rites come from? Do you have a favorite?

KI: I learned that in life, you must sacrifice something big in order to gain a bigger outcome. If you want to become rich, you need to work hard; when you’re gambling, you may win big only if you bet big and risk losing a lot of money. So the idea of sacrificing and the consequence associated with it came to me first.

The biggest sacrifice, I thought, would be the limbs of your body. Or your own life or even your friends’ lives. This is how I came up with the idea of Black Rites. They are very powerful, but the cost is huge. For example, one of the Black Rites called “Gorgon” requires you to take your eyeballs out, which makes your vision very narrow afterwards. Using “Infernus” will cut your defence in half, but it’s an easy one to use because it can attack enemies without you targeting them precisely.

PSB: Mass Effect 3 and Telltale’s The Walking Dead have elevated impossible choices into a near-art form. Why do players seem to enjoy making excruciating decisions?

KI: Those types of choices heavily involve emotional aspects and the decision making process isn’t automatic. In the old days, the decision making process for players was a reflex: stepping right or left in order to avoid a bullet. That doesn’t involve your emotions. But let’s say you have two choices and either decision will cause a different character to die. Then you would have to question yourself and also consider the consequences you will live with. This has a stronger tie to your emotions.

I’ve been in the game industry for a long time and gaming in general seems to be headed towards emotion. I think we’re in the era of incorporating feelings and emotions in video games and it’s about how to design these. Soul Sacrifice, for example, asks you who to sacrifice be it yourself or your friends. You could make a decision not to sacrifice anything and let it be, too. You can’t make these decisions without being emotionally involved. I think future games need to incorporate emotional elements.

Soul Sacrifice: Plant Sword

PSB: You’ve had a long history in game development – where do you see games going next?

KI: If I was asked what trend would come next in gaming, I wouldn’t be able to put a finger on it to be honest. But I believe console games will evolve dramatically. I think social aspects will be incorporated in its best way with console games. When I say “social”, I don’t mean the social element in social games these days. I think the true social aspects, not just connecting via online will be implemented to console games in the best way ever. The cycle of console games up till now was to buy a game and play it for several hours and then buy a new game. I think the cycle will change and something other than this cycle will become the next trend. A new console such as PS4 needs to incorporate this aspect well to maximize its potential.

Note from the Soul Sacrifice team: Soul Sacrifice players: Thank you for supporting the game! While most are enjoying the game without issue, we’ve had a few people get in touch with us regarding issues redeeming the game’s Online Pass and/or accessing bonus launch content. We apologize for any frustration caused!

In order to get to the bottom of these issues as quickly as possible, we’ve created a detailed walkthrough (with screens) on the official PlayStation community forums to help address what some folks are encountering.

Comments are closed.

184 Comments

  • Stoked on the voucher codes, but like everyone above – the last 2 didn’t work for me

  • I want Spirits’ frostblade the screen shot looks bad ass

  • last two didn’t work

    • [RECYCLED FROM PAGE ONE] #green

      All four codes should have easily been redeemed by early viewers of the post; they are not infinite, but they’re decidedly generous in their finite-ness (or should have been, anyways).

      Our apologies! We’re looking into the issue and will update ASAP.

  • I got the codes the moment I got the twitter post on my phone and the last 2 weren’t working then so I think it might be the codes

  • Just came to say that the last 2 don’t work, but the first 2 worked like a charm.

    Thanks for holding these “events”, but maybe you should send an e-mail with codes to the people that actually own the game so the ones that support the game get the DLC and can actually play it? :P

    Thanks!

  • @ Aram Jabbari Last two wasn’t working from the start, please check them out.

  • @Aram Jabbari
    I tried the last two before there were any comments on the blog. If they were depleted, they must’ve had a very, very small pool of uses. ;-)

    • We’re afraid we prematurely shot our vouchers on what was supposed to be a dry run, if you will, so we’re afraid we have something of a mess on our hands.

      Jest aside, we’re sorry for the hassle and we’re looking into it intently. All four codes were tested before they went out; two of them, apparently, weren’t built for longevity. Stay tuned for an update!

  • last two codes didnt work

  • camp here till its resolved, there is no reports of succeeded redeem for the last 2.

  • who do I have to sacrifice to get the last to codes to work

  • First code worked! Thank you! The last two codes though didn’t work.

    Thoroughly enjoying Soul Sacrifice! If you are reading the comments, Inafune-san, thank you for letting this game get localized in North America!

  • AAAAH Arrested development reference. Thank you Aram.

  • my refresh button is crying refreshing page waiting for more updates

  • @63: You and everyone else xD

  • I wish that I could stick around and redeem the last two codes when they do get updated, however some of us need to head to work for Afternoon/Night shifts! Hope the rest of you in the PS Blog get to download some sweet offerings!

    See you online!

  • brilliant Inafune, next game should be human hunter. we play as monster, like kut ku, hunting humans.

  • Thanks for the codes = )
    i’m really enjoying Soul Sacrifice, too bad is the last “AAA” Vita game until September.

  • @67 Jax and Daxter collection next month on vita :D

  • Thanks Mr. Inafune, I am loving the game! Definitely one of the best Vita games by far.

  • says check back later how much later :o

  • thanks for the free stuff!

  • even if we only get the first two working, thanks for the free content anyway, some is better than none.

    That being said I’ll stay tuned in case the last two are available again :)

  • yeah loving storm pinion its off the chain… get it cuz its a chain attack :p

  • Aww, I think I may have been too late on the first code.

  • Also managed to grab the first two!

    I would like to express my appreciation for not blasting these out by email this time. At least if i miss out this time its due to my own inactivity ;)

    Managed to get a voucher code for the “spirits falcon feather” from a very generous random PSN user, its not every day that one gets so lucky but im eternally grateful!

  • Can I claim the gift for 2 different save data? (still in 1 id & vita)

  • How about this …. make it free for everybody for a limited time only and then charge it later …. you know like PS Allstars did with Kat and Emmett …. free for 2 weeks

    I think you can pull that off …. cuz i cant even redeem the first code lol

  • for future reference follow @playstation on twitter get thier updates sent to your phone and you will know when stuff like this happens and they tweet when store updates so you don’t have to constantly check on Tuesday. I love getting their tweets

  • I got the second one …. I put the first one in again and it says i got it ….. but none of them are on my download list…. great

    The Playstation Store needs to go back to what it used to look like seriously this new store is terrible

    Issues:
    1. My Downloads sometimes appearing empty… I have to back out and come back in for it to load my stuff
    2. Stuff you buy doesnt download when you hit the download button …. you have to press it a lot for the download to start….
    3. And this new one… you buy stuff and its not on your download list….

    these things need to be fixed this stuff didnt used to happen on the old PS Store….

  • oh and

    4. IT TAKES FOR EVER TO LOAD THE STORE LOL !!!! it shouldnt be a hassle to get stuff from the store …..

    Thank you very much for making the Web Store though …. because that store is very good I like that one …. maybe copy paste that into the PS3 PS Store? :)

  • @79 they don’t go to yur download list your suppose to go on the game then go to Peddler and claim gift

  • Got the platinum this morning, but will definitely keep playing. The game is super fun and we definitely need Soul Sacrifice 2. Just as we need Gravity Rush 2 (which is a lot btw).

  • @80 :

    Or, you could read the OP:

    “These universal PSN voucher codes are only valid in North America. They can be received in-game by going to “Librom” > ”Network” > ”Peddler” > “Claim Gift” AFTER the product code has been redeemed.”

    Never intended to be in your download list.

  • @ItaChu

    You need to goto the network (pettler) option and check claim gift.

    aka follow directions in the post :D

  • Just to add what others have said to ItaChu:

    The DLC shows up in your Services List for the game, same as the Online pass does and any other redeemed vouchers (besides the VO pack since it ‘s an actual 500mb DL). No download is required for these offerings as they’re just being unlocked in-game.

  • ok cool thanks

  • I’m really enjoying the game, especially the music. I saw that it was done at Skywalker sound in the video that was done, very impressive.

    Thanks for bringing the game overseas, you’re one of the developers I admire the most.

    INAFUNE-SAN BANZAI BANZAI

  • Can we please get more AAA games like SS on Vita? As fun as Indies are, we need AAA support as well!

  • Jax and Daxter collection next month thats AAA

  • Thanks

  • this is an awesome game thanks for the 1st 2 codes, hopefully you get the others working soon

  • Is there a forum for Soul Sacrifice

  • Well for me that actually owns the game check my trophies, glad to get some free DLC for the game it’s superb!!!!!!!

  • Aside from the DLC issue…

    why are the items weak? (offering wise)?

  • I love the game and have been playing it non stop. Thanks for the free codes! Well, the first 2 at least :P

    I added the first 2 to my account from the SEN internet store at work, I’ll keep an eye out for the other 2 to be straightened out, hopefully I do not miss them while driving home!

  • Forgetfulhearer

    Couldnt get them all but still you guys rock. Thanks for the free stuff.

  • Just got the game today and finally beat Cerberus solo on the demo.
    Thanks for the codes, i hope you fix the other 2 codes too =)
    Thank you!
    All the other noobs add me so we can play online heheheh.

  • Can’t wait for the other 2 codes, do we have an ETA on them? :(

  • I added the first two on my account on the SEN store and now I can’t access them, what is going on?

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