Dare I say that the holiday season is around the corner? There is no doubt that game developers have been preparing for this moment as they do every year. I'm no weatherman, but I can guarantee a freakin' hailstorm of games from now until the beginning of December. Stores will be filled with eager kids looking for cool new games, overly eager fanboys looking to buy the new versions of games they already have, and oblivious parents who can't remember what the hell their kids want.

I already have my wish list ready. Sit back and let ol' Pete give you guys a list of games that will put a twinkle in your eye and give you a reason to be thankful this Turkey Day. Don't forget, all of the big-three systems have been out for a year or more and there should be no excuse at all for any of them not to have an impressive library of games by now. I expect nothing but the best from the greatest industry in the world and neither should you, so let's see what the game industry has in store for us!

The graphics in Folklore are simply awesome. The character designs are outstanding, while the environments in the living world are very realistic. All Folklore images courtesy of SCEA.

Folklore for the PlayStation 3; Publisher: SCEA; Developer: Game Republic; Release Date: October 9, 2007; ESRB Rating: T for teen; Genre: action / RPG; Players: 1; Support: N/A; Online: level sharing.

What the heck happened? When the hell did video games start having even greater production values than movies? It seems like only yesterday that games were comprised of beeps and whistles for music and pixels the size of Zippo lighters for graphics. Sure the games back then were great and are now considered classics, but they never had a presence or created an atmosphere like they do today. Case in point, Folklore!

Folklore is an action/RPG that is set in modern-day Europe. A legend surrounds a small village called Doolin, where people can actually travel to the land of the dead to visit the dearly departed. Players can choose to control either Ellen or Keats, who are perfect strangers, but are both drawn to the small village. Ellen receives a mysterious letter, supposedly from her dead mother, and sets out for Doolin to find her. Keats is a reporter for an occult magazine who receives an equally mysterious phone call, which also leads him to Doolin.

Let's talk a little about the graphics. Simply put... they're awesome. You'll notice some outstanding character designs, from the costumes of the main characters to the design of the many enemies, or "Folk" as they are called in the game. All of the gameplay takes place in either the living realm or the Netherworld. The environments in the living world are very realistic and have a desolate and pale atmosphere with very subtle grey and earth-tone colors. The Netherworld is very stylized, with bright colors and abstract-looking terrain, but it still has that dark feel to it.

According to the story, people can only enter the land of the dead one day out of the year, but, if someone wants to visit on any other day, they must offer up a memento to enter the Netherworld. The gameplay is traditional action-adventure in the Netherworld; players must attack enemies and absorb their spirits to learn new attacks. Absorbing the spirits of enemies that you have already absorbed will allow you to learn even stronger versions of already learned attacks. The enemies you will encounter range from "damn that thing is annoying" to ", that's huge!"

The game makes good use of the motion-sensitive Sixaxis controller. After softening up an enemy, a quick jerk of the controller pulls the enemy's spirit into your character, which is gratifying.

In the living world, players venture through Doolin looking for answers to their mysteries. You will have to talk to different characters and search different areas, not only to unravel the story, but also to find more mementos to allow you to re-enter the Netherworld. The cinematics are gorgeous in Folklore. Every once in a while the game will treat you to a nice one, but most of the time you exchange dialogue through word bubbles and comic book-style still images. The images actually aren't completely still; in fact, they are essentially the in-game 3D models, which are portrayed in a breathing loop or a slightly animated looping pose, with some very despairing music playing in the background.