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

  • oh and thank you Keiji Inafune for the wonderful game :)

  • Thank you for the free DLC. Hopefully future Vita games are just as compelling and involved as this!

  • This is fantastic! Loving the game and the community =D! This game has only been out less than a month and already free goodies! Love it!

  • Was able to redeem all codes. Thanks again Sony. And thank you Keiji Inafune! Really loving this game. Having a blast with my PS Vita and cheating on my PS3, yay~

  • I really love this game.

    I’m so happy with Inafune’s and the rest of Comcept’s work!

    The story line, game play, and multiplayer are ALL phenomenal!

    Also, the codes worked for me.

    Great job guys!

  • Yay I just Claimed mine !! ^_^

  • Nice… got all of them… thanks… this kinda makes up for having to wait forever to get the demo…. JK…. LOL

  • I can’t believe how amazing this game is along with the free DLC given from the Blog and the upcoming free DLC coming out later on this game is so epic this is how a game release should be :D

  • I still need to get this game. ;[

  • Great interview and thanks the DLC codes worked great. :)

  • Just got the other two codes this morning, thanks again, loving soul sacrifice!!

  • Do the codes work with the demo? I’m just waiting to get the full game, and I know you can transfer your progress from the demo into the full game.

  • Nice gesture, but this items are only useful if you have started a new game. If you have already play for some time they are not that good. But still thanks a lot for the gesture.

  • Awesome. These codes worked for me. Now I just have to get some time to be able to play the game!!

    Thanks a bunch for a great game!

    #161 – Redeem the codes, then they should work when you have the full game.

  • #163 – Thanks!

  • Thanks for the code!!!
    All works as a charm!!!
    Can’t waiting for all the free DLC’s coming!!!

  • Thank you Mr. Inafune and Sony for a WONDERFUL game =D Thank you guys for this free DLC as well =D Im having so much fun with this game, also really looking forward to the future dlc. i normally dont care about that kind of stuff but this game has got me thinking differently =) Keep it coming till Soul Sacrifice 2 comes out =)))) Thanks again for the DLC!

  • Thanks for the wonderful game and redeem code!!!

    As far as I know, there‘re already 4 free DLC for Japanese version and 3 of their DLC English version’s release day has been announced::
    1st, 5.28
    2nd, 6.11
    3th, 6.25
    Anyone has the news for the 4th English version?

  • Proud owner of Soul Sacrifice! I had to start over for the 3rd time due to some technical difficulties, but now I know what I’m doing so battles are much more intense! can’t wait to try it out online soon… this game is SO much better than MH imo. The mechanics are tight, controls are responsive( reminds me a little of PSO2), voice acting is top notch, the story is really good so far(though i do wish that guy spoke a little faster sometimes =/), and the boss battles are epic!

    The only criticism I have of this game is that I wish the arenas(while well designed) were overall 2-3x larger and a more robust roster of enemies, but those grips are overall minor. Besides, there is always SS2!!!

    Overall Score: A Solid 8.5 out of 10!

  • Thanks for the 4 exclusive limited offerings and this game. I was able to redeem all 4. I was just going to check out the drop for this week, good timing for me. Just thought I’d drop a comment to let everyone know, you should be able to redeem all 4, if you haven’t already done so by now. Very generous indeed.

  • Just want to say, thanks a ton for the vouchers. I guess they all worked, I’ll find out when I actually get the game.

    I am curious about the social aspects and cycle of consoles that Inafune is envisioning for the future of consoles.

  • Only the second code it´s not working for me, the others are MINE jejeje. Thanks a LOT guys, and the game it´s really AMAZING!!!!! the best of Vita(in my opinion)

  • Definitely one of my games of the year. Love it.

  • there a Chance for the german community too get stuff like this too?!

    mfg
    Olli

  • Glad I checked the blog. All 4 codes worked. Loving Soul Sacrifice

  • I wonder whether sony has fixed the copy bug in this build
    Before Jap Version 1.10, there was a copy bug that can just make your magic staff more than you can use

    You can try this step to see if it will work:

    1-In the magic setting section, put one magic which has only 1 left to one of the upper three slots, and do not put any in the lower row
    2- press select to enter the magic testing section
    3-press start to open the menu, and just change the magic to the lower row, e.g. row 1 line 1 change to row 2 line 2, etc…

    4- then press select to exit the section, and do remember NOT to save the new position

    5-OK, then if this bug hasn’t been fixed, you’ll find that the magic turns into 2 instead of 1

  • I redeemed all the code. Nice DLC. Let us all Enjoy the game!

  • May 21st – still able to get all 4 DLC items. Thanks for a great game and extra offerings!

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