Sony Japan Studio: 28 Best Games They Helped Create
16. Folklore
Developed by: Game Republic
Linking up with studio Game Republic again - the dev behind the average Japan Studio published Genji franchise ('Giant enemy crabs!') - Folklore was the first big JRPG for Sony's controversial PS3.
On past consoles, a meaty role-player backed by Japan Studio was marked as a console launch event, however, this time it tried to appeal to both Japanese and Western audiences, with neither embracing it.
It also attempted to satisfy, but also, shake up standard tropes of JRPG interface with Western action combat, in a strange mix, that at the time was felt to be off-putting.
In present-day though, all of Folklore's quirks and weird decisions make it stand-out as a much more interesting game than it was given credit for.
The setting in Ireland's mountainous magical realm is lushly appealing, the combat excitingly mixes up strategy (as you essentially manage your folk creatures to fight for you) and tense break-neck action (your constantly a participant in battles), with the addition of DualShock 3 motion controls (for spirit snatching) working surprisingly well.
This overlooked game actually manages to be the stand-out exclusive first-party JRPG of the PS3 era, although most gamers will be hard-pressed to know it existed.