Taking to the stage during the Sony TGS press conference earlier this week, esteemed developer Keiji Inafune detailed a continuation to last year’s Vita exclusive hack-n’-slash game entitled Soul Sacrifice Delta. Featuring all-new demonic monsters and expansive maps, the quasi-sequel will debut exclusively in Japan on March, 2014.
While details remain scarce at this time, Inafune has stressed that Soul Sacrifice Delta is much more than an iterative stop-gap for the franchise – bearing in mind that a Soul Sacrifice 2 has been tentatively planned for 2015. For example, the game will implement a new, neutral force alongside the ‘save’ and ‘sacrifice’ staples that will bestow players with a third option during combat.
Here’s a snippet from Inafune’s speech about the forthcoming RPG.
“This is a brand new version with brand new elements and brand new items which gives the unique flavor of Soul Sacrifice.”
Though it didn’t receive unanimous approval from critics and fans, the clout of the franchise can’t be understated. Given that the original Soul Sacrifice enabled the PlayStation Vita to top its 3DS counterpart on the Japanese sales chart upon release – shipping just under 100,000 units in the region – it’s evident that Sony’s Japan Studio want to cultivate the series as the handheld’s answer to the popular Monster Hunter series.
The dark aesthetic coupled with the four player co-op mode clearly struck a chord with its native demographic, and it’ll be interesting to see which direction the studio take the series in the future. Nevertheless, Soul Sacrifice Delta is currently tethered with a Japanese release and the studio is remaining mum on the possibility of localising the game for other regions.
Mind you, Soul Sacrifice Delta has been confirmed as a playable demo on the show floor at Tokyo Game Show, which will take place from September 19th-22nd. Until then, though, give us your thoughts about Inafune’s continuation in the comments below.
