• Publisher: SCEA
  • Release Date: Apr 30, 2013
Metascore
77 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 58 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 58
  2. Negative: 1 out of 58
  1. 90
    Soul Sacrifice is one of the most unique and most charismatic games on the PlayStation Vita to this date.
  2. May 5, 2013
    90
    Soul Sacrifice is a solid project with a great design and an interesting gameplay. Both single player and multiplayer are fun and addictive. After Persona 4 Golden this is the game you will play the most on your PS Vita.
  3. Apr 30, 2013
    90
    Soul Sacrifice is a truly excellent game, very playable and accurate in every detail. It inherits from its genre some degree of repetitiveness at times, it is a little slow at the start, but keep playing it to unveil one of the best experiences you can live... not only on a PS Vita.
  4. Apr 30, 2013
    90
    Soul Sacrifice is not a kind of chimera born simply from Monster Hunter and Demon's Souls influences, because Keiji Inafune breathed a real soul into it by integrating the concept of sacrifice with the narrative, the gameplay system and the multiplayer philosophy.
  5. Apr 30, 2013
    90
    Even though it's not perfect, it's one of the most addictive games on the handheld. The game mechanics works very well, but keep in mind that those looking for a Monster Hunter on PS Vita probably won't find that.
  6. Apr 30, 2013
    88
    Soul Sacrifice is as rewarding as it is twisted. It is very similar to Monster Hunter but with a much better framework to the experience and gameplay that rivals some of the most popular action games on the market. There is a ton to do and love here, but you have to work for it, which may turn some people away.
  7. Apr 30, 2013
    88
    Soul Sacrifice is that great game that PlayStation Vita needed. Keiji Inafune's new game offers a rich universe, an exciting story, entertaining gameplay and an epic soundtrack.
  8. Apr 30, 2013
    86
    It’s an original and moody action-RPG with fast-paced, energetic combat and layers upon layers of depth to explore.
  9. May 15, 2013
    85
    All in all, Soul Sacrifice has great graphics, decent sound and some really enjoyable gameplay that is perfect for the PS Vita.
  10. May 8, 2013
    85
    Anyone who enjoys Monster Hunter, and even folks who don’t, will find a game that offers up a lot of fun both off and online.
  11. May 6, 2013
    85
    Soul Sacrifice did not fall short of expectations, proving to be an Action-RPG absolutely addictive, with a good strategic depth and enlivened by a very successful plot.
  12. May 3, 2013
    85
    Some really good gameplay ideas, a good storytelling and a fast paced combat.
  13. May 3, 2013
    85
    Soul Sacrifice is a fantastic game for the PlayStation Vita. The title comes with great gameplay variety, even if you're required to grind a lot in order to keep going. It's a hard game, but never unfairly so, and you can be sure to spend many hours in this bleak world. Both graphics and audio are strong for a handheld title and the story is, on top of everything else, highly intriguing. You won't regret buying this.
  14. Apr 30, 2013
    85
    Soul Sacrifice is what you'd get if you smashed Phantom Dust and Monster Hunter together and added a meaningful plot, and it does what it sets out to do with aplomb.
  15. Apr 30, 2013
    85
    Diverse, stuffed with content and challenging, Soul Sacrifice might not be the game to save PS Vita but its attention to detail and stellar execution means it is one of handheld's best.
  16. Apr 30, 2013
    84
    Easily targeted as a Monster Hunter clone for the PS Vita, the new creation of Keiji Inafune emerges with a defined personality that shines throughout the whole experience. With a deep combat, customization and even crafting system, and one of the best artistic styles of the entire Vita library, Soul Sacrifice challenges us to a series of close, Arena-style fights against nightmarish creatures, which we can liberate or sacrifice, that advances in terms of its epic nature and visual scale. Maybe it feels repetitive playing solo, but to the fun multiplayer, the narrative piece of the Librom diary and the depth of the weapons ans Skills make it a one of a kind. One that will take us more than hours merely in its offline Campaign mode.
  17. Apr 30, 2013
    82
    Soul Sacrifice will not appeal to every PS Vita fan and it doesn't take advantage of the console's capabilities as much as we would have liked, but an innovative approach to the action RPG core mechanic turns it into a challenging and addictive experience.
  18. May 7, 2013
    81
    Soul Sacrifice gives you a huge amount of content while constantly confronting you with decisions. It is hard not to get lost in the easy to control, yet challenging and frantic battles, even though the core mechanics get repetitive too soon.
  19. May 16, 2013
    80
    Players looking for a unique grinding experience on Sony’s portable platform should look no further. Soul Sacrifice blends the best aspects of several titles together to create one completely unlike anything else on the market.
  20. May 13, 2013
    80
    Soul Sacrifice could have stood to have a bit more direction, but it’s undoubtedly one of the best games on the Vita right now. Inafune had a great idea, ran with it, and backed it up with a solid combat system to boot.
  21. 80
    Solid brawler with interesting spells, nice customization features and a story that keeps surprising you with its depth and characters.
  22. May 10, 2013
    80
    Soul Sacrifice looks a little bit like Monster Hunter, but leans on completely different game mechanics. Being able to sacrifice you companions, your enemies and yourself make this a special, but estranging experience. Especially online it gets tense with the people in your team, because they have the ability to sacrifice you for a magical attack as well.
  23. May 9, 2013
    80
    Keiji Inafune produces a great action RPG for PS Vita that mixes magic with huge battles against big bosses.
  24. May 6, 2013
    80
    Still, Soul Sacrifice has me itching to buy a Vita (I borrowed the one I played the review code on), which is an accomplishment since my 3DS has been more than adequate for my handheld needs. Having completed the main story at 40 hours, there are still a ton of optional missions and upcoming DLC with new stories and new monsters to play.
  25. May 6, 2013
    80
    Soul Sacrifice delivers a rich, deep and solid survival action experience, packed with some stunning visuals and sounds. The combat is often frustrating for various reasons, just like Monster Hunter, but overall it's no doubt one of the best PS Vita games around.
  26. May 5, 2013
    80
    Soul Sacrifice is as ingenious as it is insane. The setting is a bizarre mix of Greek and Medieval legends, but that's nothing compared to how smartly the gameplay elements work together. Every isolated aspect has a problem, but when these aspects come together, the downsides are a thing of the past. Soul Sacrifice isn't perfect and a little more variation in enemies and environments would have gone a long way, but it will provide you with dozens upon dozens of hours of fun and will have you sacrifice many lives and Vita battery cycles.
  27. May 3, 2013
    80
    Epic from start to finish, weird and attractive at the same time, Soul Sacrifice is an original game that takes its time to reveal it's potential. The universe is carefully crafted and the ambiance mixing uneasiness and sadness make a vault that fits the PS Vita tailored gameplay. A direct competitor of Monster Hunter, Soul Sacrifice does not match the list of monsters but sheds light on the obsolete game mechanics of Capcom's game while renewing the concept. Too bad that this game still suffers from it's youth as some mistakes are present, but we hope those will disappear in an upcoming sequel.
  28. May 3, 2013
    80
    This role playing game feels fresh and is exactly what the PS Vita needs at this moment. Soul Sacrifice doesn't give players a sword, but the whole game leans on using magic.
  29. May 3, 2013
    80
    Like any great action RPG, the game is about tuning a character build, and shepherding it through increasingly difficult variations of the same things you’ve been doing all along, with friends, strangers, or an AI along for the ride. But unlike many such games, it’s got one hell of a story, insidiously barbed gameplay hooks, and the sort of infinite lifespan that makes your Vita worth the money you spent.
  30. May 1, 2013
    80
    Soul Sacrifice is undoubtedly one of the deepest and most interesting games available for Sony's handheld. The dark fantasy style and slightly repetitive missions might put some people off, but if you're looking to invest a lot of time into a game and don't mind sacrificing your social life, Keiji Inafune's latest is just the game for you.
  31. Apr 30, 2013
    80
    While the game is a little limited by the platform, the underlying mechanics will capture a certain style of player.
  32. Apr 30, 2013
    80
    Deeper than the Grand Canyon and just as expansive, Soul Sacrifice will keep you and a bunch of friends going for some time.
  33. 80
    Soul Sacrifice is a dark, addictive and brutal action-RPG that excels in aesthetics and rewarding combat. Poor A.I., repetitive foes and steep learning curve prevent it from reaching triple-A heights, however.
  34. Apr 30, 2013
    80
    A unique and refreshing hack´n slash made from scratch exclusively for PS Vita. It may become repetitive in the long run, but meanwhile you´re going to discover a rich and distinct world with a weird cast of characters.
  35. Apr 30, 2013
    80
    Offers a consuming fantasy adventure set in a desperately dark world. It may succumb to repetition in places, but its underlying moral mechanic brings a warped twist to a genre that’s becoming increasingly crowded in the wake of Monster Hunter’s success. The presentation isn’t always as polished as you’d expect from a first-party release, but the perverse art direction makes up for it.
  36. 80
    Its quest structure makes it perfectly suited for a portable, yet its addictive nature will have a lot of players never wanting to put it down.
  37. It’s a brilliantly well-structured handheld game, both offline and on, and despite the lack of a traditional hub world it never sacrifices depth for the sake of portability. Familiar ideas are wound up with fresh ones, resulting in one of the strongest games of its kind to hit the system so far.
  38. Apr 30, 2013
    80
    There's a staggering wealth of content, but it can be tiring in its repetition. Battles are frantic and fun, but can be exhaustingly annoying if you choose the wrong friends. Very much like the game's Lacrima system, however, many of the sacrifices one must make to enjoy the game are negligible in the long run, and there's nothing that should stop one having a damn good laugh and getting utterly hooked on an adventure that really can be played until the Vita's batteries run dry.
  39. 77
    At the end of the day Soul Sacrifice has great content to play with some friends, but if you’re on the look out for a story driven RPG you may, and I stress may, want to look elsewhere.
  40. Apr 30, 2013
    77
    Soul Sacrifice straddles the line between delivering the depth typically found on console and the on-off-on-again routine of handheld gaming, and the result is something that will likely please Vita owners hungry for a quality, grind-heavy RPG.
  41. May 13, 2013
    76
    Soul Sacrifice pulls you in with an interesting premise; retelling the exploits of a dead sorcerer. The levels are short and brutal, making it ideal for a lunch break brawl. As far as action RPGs go, this is the best Vita has to offer thus far, but it’s far from perfect.
  42. May 13, 2013
    76
    Some nagging problems with Soul Sacrifice keep my excitement tempered, but Vita owners would be remiss if they didn't try it out.
  43. May 7, 2013
    76
    Your patience is tested perhaps too often in Soul Sacrifice. The pacing feels too slow through most of the early goings and it's not until you've offered several hours and no small quantity of blood that the storytelling finally awakens to move with some purpose.
  44. May 3, 2013
    75
    It's not without its problems, but Soul Sacrifice's strong identity and rewarding commitment to the decision-making process are reason enough to try your hand at ridding the land of foul archfiends.
  45. May 1, 2013
    73
    Soul Sacrifice has some shining components, and should hold its head high. The depth of weapon customization, strategic layer of combat, and robust multiplayer offerings kept me invested and having fun – even in the face of frustration.
  46. May 2, 2013
    71
    Looks like Sony will have to wait a little longer before the Vita gets its killer app, but I can think of worse ways than Soul Sacrifice to eat up that time.
  47. May 13, 2013
    70
    The dark fantasy world of Soul Sacrifice has a wonderful tension to it and the game has a wonderful narrative, however it’s core mechanics are not what they should be. For a game that focuses so much on fighting it’s also kind of disappointing that only the boss fights are worthwhile.
  48. May 13, 2013
    70
    A unique RPG with charming art direction and very interesting combat and story that suffers from intense repetition of its missions.
  49. May 3, 2013
    70
    There's a good experience to be had but it's hard to shake the fact that this is a bit of a niche title.
  50. May 1, 2013
    70
    I think Soul Sacrifice is worth the asking price, but playing it may exact an unexpected toll on your thoughts. To enjoy it is to engage with its unvarnished contract, and to recognize your adventure as a sequence of repetitive harvests that culminate in some kind of relief and freedom.
  51. Apr 30, 2013
    70
    Soul Sacrifice is a noble first effort from Inafune and company to fill the Monster Hunter void, but it can't quite match the addictive depth of that series.
  52. Apr 30, 2013
    70
    There’s a strong element of cooperative play with an excellent twist that will surely be the death of many a friendships, and plenty of character customization to build up your own magic-wielding badass. The game’s got plenty of great content, especially if you can convince a few others to take that step with you, but if you’re holding your breath for a great story, you’re almost certainly going to be disappointed.
  53. Apr 30, 2013
    70
    There are some important flaws but this is still one of the most ambitious and enjoyable games on the PS Vita, even if it still doesn’t feel like a killer app.
  54. Apr 30, 2013
    70
    While Capcom's colossal safari [Monster Hunter] is a master-class in intelligent enemy design and rewarding, consistently challenging combat, Soul Sacrifice throws caution to the wind by giving the player a vast array of options. The result is that it feels mechanically chaotic rather than refined.
  55. Apr 30, 2013
    65
    Whether unlocking the mysteries of its story or plumbing the depths of its magic systems, the experience is weighed down by a reliance on dull combat mechanics. Its complex, interlocking systems and the draw of cooperative multiplayer can't save Soul Sacrifice from its greatest sin: tedious gameplay.
  56. Apr 30, 2013
    60
    Soul Sacrifice is a decent action-RPG for fans familiar with this type of game, but for newcomers, there’s very little that will impress or feel particularly interesting. It’s the very definition of “fine.”
  57. Apr 30, 2013
    60
    It’s a brave game that dares to weaken players in one way as it empowers them in another. Comcept may be wrong in thinking Monster Hunter would be better if it was just about hunting monsters, but Soul Sacrifice is courageous and thematically bold enough to distinguish itself from the clones that have followed in the wake of Capcom’s phenomenon. As with Inafune’s recurring criticisms of Japan, however, it proves repetition isn’t always the best way to make a point.
  58. May 5, 2013
    40
    Although there are some interesting ideas here and the Vita could benefit from a title like Soul Sacrifice, everything rides on how good the core game is, and to me, it just doesn't hold up.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 143 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 39
  2. Negative: 2 out of 39
  1. Absolutely blow my mind, awesome itemization, you get ways to play instead of irons to wear and only see it moving, 400+ skills to customizate your toon whith your own style, great longevity with the magics level up system, and a wonderful online! also the difficulty of the game is really challenging! Full Review »
  2. 10
    In my opinion is a zillion times better than monster hunter, not that it is the same or similar, but many think it would be a "copy" of the MH. Only the story is worth more than all the MH all together. Best game vita today and one of the best of the year. Full Review »
  3. The game is fantastic! I have been waiting for this game to release for awhile now, and I can say with confidence I am not dissapointed. The graphics are amazing, the combat is smooth and enjoyable, the story keeps you interested, and the lore section fills in all the details. The online portion is very entertaining, and has a good amount of depth.

    I don't review games very often, but since "professional" reviewers are giving this game a hard time, I felt I should give my opinion on the game. This game is a must buy IMO, and it ranks up there with Persona 4 Golden, and Gravity Rush.

    TLDR version= Buy this game.
    Full Review »