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[fart town usa]

Finally got around to playing this game. I owned the PlayStation Eye back when the PS3 was current but I gave it and Eye Pet away to Goodwill for whatever reason. I kept the Move controller and Navigation controller though.

Always wanted to play this but around the time it released, I had completely stopped gaming for the most part. Well now it's 2024 and there are still brand new copies of Sorcery available on Amazon for $20, and the PlayStation Eye was only $15 on eBay so here we are, playing the first iteration of PlayStation motion control tech that would eventually allow us to play PSVR. Like they say, you gotta learn to waggle before you can learn to virtual reality.

Spoiler: Sorcery: The Magic of the Move - Behind-the-Scenes Video

Spoiler: Sorcery PlayStation Move Demo - E3 2010

Would I have enjoyed this at launch? Probably, it's hard to say though. I was definitely interested in it I know that. Do I enjoy it in 2024? Yea, it's pretty fun. The aiming is definitely awful at times, there is an auto-lock mechanic that you don't have much control over, and the aiming itself isn't always accurate because you have to flick your wrist to shoot. If it was a simple button press it'd be a more accurate experience but come on, it wouldn't be as immersive.

I'm roughly 2 hours into it and some reviews say it's only 6 hours long. The environments look nice, the music is good, combat is fun when it works. The character you play as looks incredibly milquetoast though, they really could have put more effort into the art style, most things simply look bland.

So what say you, Gaf? Did you play Sorcery? Did it seem like the future of gaming for you and blow your damn mind? Or did you accidentally lose your grip on the Move controller, destroy your TV and swear off waggle for all time?

 

[fart town usa]

Browsing old GameFaqs threads always produces gems. Wonder if this guy ended up getting it and playing like a slug , sprawled out on his L-shaped sofa, "with my legs up" lmao. I can hear Chad Warden, "maaan, we ain't talkin' bout no dil-dos..."

 

[bender]

I have so many questions but I think I understand why you've had periods of time where you stopped gaming completely.

 

[Danjin44]

You only need one Sorcery game......

 

[CamHostage]

Sorcery had some very cool ideas and Move implementation, and nice style to its fantasy world. I have a copy, but like the OP didn't get around to it in its time; it's still unplayed in my pile of shame, but my Moves are still on the Charging Station awaiting me to some day clear out space and play a few of these games.

FYI, some of the motion effects that the game used (this and Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest) used motion and light gag ideas that Sony's Richard Marks and his team showed off in the prototype stage of the "PlayStation Motion Controller" when it was revealed at E3 2009. (I can't find the "drinking" mechanic anywhere but I'm sure I saw it at like GDC or somewhere like that?) Lots of original ideas in Sorcery as well, but they were clearly having fun with Move before it ever even came out. (I'm not sure if any blocks puzzle games or some of these other ideas ever came out... but man, Sony sure did fall in love with the idea of videogamers using a bow and arrow back then, and that persists today with their DualSense promotions.)



Also a fun fact, Sorcery was made by The Workshop (assisted by SCE Santa Monica,) a studio put together by former Treyarch staffers. This was the only game officially brought to market by The Workshop in its eight years of existence (they did assist on several other studio's projects like Gears 4 and The Evil Within, but they never had another original and as far as I know there was no canceled spec project they had in the wings to see what they might have been doing for themselves while helping others,) but they were eventually acquired by Skydance for producing VR games. If you appreciate Sorcery, you can probably see some of its roots in the motion combat and interaction of the two The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners games.

 

[fart town usa]

Sorcery had some very cool ideas and Move implementation, and nice style to its fantasy world. I have a copy, but like the OP didn't get around to it in its time; it's still unplayed in my pile of shame, but my Moves are still on the Charging Station awaiting me to some day clear out space and play a few of these games.

FYI, some of the motion effects that the game used (this and Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest) used motion and light gag ideas that Sony's Richard Marks and his team showed off in the prototype stage of the "PlayStation Motion Controller" when it was revealed at E3 2009. (I can't find the "drinking" mechanic anywhere but I'm sure I saw it at like GDC or somewhere like that?) Lots of original ideas in Sorcery as well, but they were clearly having fun with Move before it ever even came out. (I'm not sure if any blocks puzzle games or some of these other ideas ever came out... but man, Sony sure did fall in love with the idea of videogamers using a bow and arrow back then, and that persists today with their DualSense promotions.)



Also a fun fact, Sorcery was made by The Workshop (assisted by SCE Santa Monica,) a studio put together by former Treyarch staffers. This was the only game officially brought to market by The Workshop in its eight years of existence (they did assist on several other studio's projects like Gears 4 and The Evil Within,) but they were eventually acquired by Skydance for producing VR games. If you appreciate Sorcery, you can probably see some of its roots in the motion combat and interaction of the two The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners games.

That's wild and thank you for such an informative post. I wondered if the developers shifted to VR. Skydance is huge, Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is arguably the best VR game out there. Good for them.

 

[CamHostage]

That's wild and thank you for such an informative post. I wondered if the developers shifted to VR. Skydance is huge, Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is arguably the best VR game out there. Good for them.

Thanks!

Speaking of PS Move, Richard Marks (not Richard Marx) was Sony's kooky idea guy for a long time, among other things. He was the EyeToy and Move guy. He finally left Sony after almost 20 years and went over to Google to work on some of its motion ideas (but not necessarily for games, or for VR.) Now he's a professor in North Carolina's UNC.