It was only a few weeks ago that we first learned about Soul Sacrifice . Nebulously teased as a PlayStation Vita exclusive, we were left to speculate about just what this game was. We knew that Sony’s first party was somehow involved with its development and that Sony itself would be publishing it. Did that mean that this game could be a “Souls” game in the spirit of Demon’s Souls? After all, the Demon’s Souls name is owned outright by Sony.

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Then yesterday, a teaser trailer came online (you can watch it below). Only eight seconds of actual gameplay was shown, along with the logo of Sony’s internal developer Studio Japan. Word later leaked that Keiji Inafune of Mega Man fame was working on the project with Japanese developer Marvelous AQL heading up actual development duties. This would obviously relegate Studio Japan to an advisory production role, much as it had with the likes of Demon’s Souls.And now, thanks to Famistu , we have our very first concrete details about just what the game’s about. (A big thank you goes out to IGN’s Meghan Sullivan, who translated Famitsu’s write-up.)“What is the price of power?” That is the general (and vague) concept behind Soul Sacrifice. In other words, what are people willing to do to wield power? During gameplay, this notion quickly comes to the fore. You have to sacrifice something and pay a higher and higher price to become more and more powerful. The “price” ranges from giving up personal belongings to outright giving up a limb. You can even sacrifice people to gain the power necessary to proceed. So Soul Sacrifice sounds quite dark in premise.The story of Soul Sacrifice revolves around some sort of “demonic book” that finds you imprisoned at the beginning of the game, held captive by some sort of evil mage. The book seems to be the conduit by which power is received, and it keeps recorded of epic battles from the past with both magic-using characters and monstrous enemies alike. Reading entries out of the demonic tome launches you into the world being chronicled in the book, essentially acting as the game’s quest structure. Quests will accommodate up to four players at a time, though the exact nature of its multiplayer capabilities remains to be seen.A variety of stages (quests) have been promised, as well as enemies. Most of the monsters you fight are people who turned into creatures after making too many sacrifices in the pursuit of power. Revealed levels include a forest, a lake and a volcano.Additional details can be found at Andriasang . There, a few of the “sacrifices” are outlined. Excalibur magic is unleashed when your character pulls out his own spinal cord to use as a sword. Gleipnir magic requires you to cut off your character’s fingers. Gorgon magic sacrifices your eyeballs, while Gungnir magic requires the use of your own character’s bones as weapons. Strange, strange stuff.Andriasang says that the game is 50% complete and is set to be released in Japan this winter. It’s also noted that in addition to Keiji Inafune being involved with the project, musicians Yasunori Mitsuda and Wataru Hokoyama are also on board. Mitsuda was a long-time Square composer who worked on everything from Chrono Trigger and Xenogears to post-Square projects including Mario Party and Kid Icarus: Uprising. Hokoyama has worked in many areas, including television. Notable games he’s composed music for include Afrika and Resident Evil 5.From the Sony side, Kentaro Motomura and Teruyuki Toriyama are the producers. Motomura worked on the Dark Cloud series and latter Wild Arms games. Toriyama worked on the likes of Folklore and, most interestingly, From Software’s Demon’s Souls.Interested? Check out 35 minutes of Soul Sacrifice in English.