Folklore really seems to bridge any and all cultural gaps. Not only do the characters appeal to all audiences, but the themes of death, love, and redemption are about as universal as it gets. So far, anyone that has played Folklore immediately connects with it. The sound and graphics grab the player's attention, then the combat system and story line draws them into the experience.

Here are the top ten for the week of June 18th to the 24th.

01. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) - 303,000 / NEW
02. Itadaki Street DS (DS) - 149,000 / NEW
03. DS Observation Training (DS) - 44,000 / 265,000
04. Wii Sports (Wii) - 34,000 / 1,756,000
05. Growlanser VI: Precarious World (PS2) - 27,000 / NEW
06. Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting Revolution (Wii) - 25,000 / NEW
07. Wii Play (Wii) - 22,000 / 1,421,000
08. Mana-Khemia: Gakuen no Renkinjutsu Shitachi (PS2) - 21,000 / NEW
09. More Brain Age (DS) - 20,000 / 4,395,000
10. New Super Mario Bros. (DS) - 18,000 / 4,557,000

Another new entry this week is the PLAYSTATION 3 RPG FolksSoul, a game that obviously didn't debut as high as Zelda. Find it after the jump.

11. FolksSoul (PS3)
12. Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 (DS)
13. More English Training (DS)
14. Mario Kart DS (DS)
15. Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village (DS)
16. Brain Age (DS)
17. Animal Crossing Wild World (DS)
18. NANA Live Staff Daiboshuu! Shoshinsha Kangei (DS)
19. Ninja Gaiden Sigma (PS3)
20. Junior High School English Vocabulary Target 1800 DS (DS)
21. English Training (DS)
22. Momotarou Dentetsu DS: Tokyo & Japan (DS)
23. Yoshi's Island DS (DS)
24. Super Paper Mario (Wii)
25. Saints Row (Xbox 360)
26. Kanji Brain Test 2M (DS)
27. Pokémon Diamond (DS)
28. Kekkaishi: Karasumori Ayakashi Kidan (DS)
29. Shaberu! DS Oryouri Navi: Marugoto Teikoku Hotel (DS)
30. Common Knowledge Training (DS)

Hey look! Saints Row! Michael McWhertor

Over a game site Next Generation, Tim Rogers has the rundown of this week's Famitsu scores. For the unfamiliar, magazine Famitsu has four editors rate games on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best. Here are the noteworthy mentions:

• Saints Row: 9, 8, 8, 9 Comments include "Gives the player a good sense of freedom" and "It's like GTA, with awesome graphics!"
• Folkssoul AKA (Folk Lore): 8, 9, 8, 8 Comments include that the game handles atmosphere and game play excellently.
• Shadowrun: 7, 7, 7, 7 Comments include "Sense of cooperation in the online mode is excellent".

This Week In Japan [Next-Gen]

PS3 title Lair is getting a newfangled name for Japan: Rise From Lair. It's not unusual for titles to get localized for release — for example, take FolksSouls which was retitled Folk Lore for the West. No word whether the game will be retitled for the West, but geez, we hope not! Rise From Lair sounds like a poorly titled sequel to Lair. Brian Ashcraft

Rise From New Title [IGN via Joystiq]

Irritating thing about MotorStorm in Japan? No online. Irritating thing about Resistance online? The games were server based. So living in Japan meant that I'd only play with Japanese folks — Which is fine. But, you know, sometimes you want the death matches to have an international flavor. Sony just sent out an email saying that Resistance will be on region-less servers now, meaning Japanese people can play online with North Americans and Europeans. Other details? Sony also mentioned that a FolksSoul (Folk Lore) will be getting a playable demo starting June 1st, and the Japanese version of MotorStorm will *finally* be getting online. Guess I shouldn't have sold back Resistance. Guess I should buy MotorStorm! Brian Ashcraft

Thanks, Riyu!

Today it looks like they may have a new one. Sony Computer Entertainment America has trademarked the name Folklore, a potentially duller, but easier-to-read rebranding for the North American market. The game ships next month in Japan but North American release dates are all over the place.

Western retailers are still referring to the game's original name, Monster Kingdom, on their web sites but that information may be outdated. No response from Sony about our titular speculation as of publish.

We've got our fingers crossed, hoping that no one we know will ever have to say FolksSoul aloud. Ever! Michael McWhertor

Once upon a time, upcoming PS3 game FolksSoul was called Monster Kingdom: Unknown Realms. Then somebody (dunno who) probably decided that that title was too generic. So, they decided to change it to something different and stupid — Hence, the current moniker FolksSoul. Not only is it annoying in its own right, just look at that kooky spacing!

If you live in Japan and are far less superficial than I (hopefully you are!), perhaps you can move past the game's ridiculous title and get excited about the FolksSoul demo that should be hitting the PlayStation Network either next month or sometime in June when the game goes on sale.

And if that goofy title wasn't enough, T.M. Revolution's side project, abingdon boys school (above), is lending a new song to the game. Who is T.M. Revolution? He's a big time Japanese popstar who used to be married to Yumi from J-pop duo Puffy AmiYumi. And "T.M. Revolution" stands for "Takanori Makes Revolution." Silly names all around! Brian Ashcraft

FolksSoul Demo Coming [IGN]
T.M. Revolution Has Also Done Many Gundam Songs [Famitsu]

Worst. Title. Ever. Originally, dev Game Republic's PS3 title was Monster Kingdom (meh). Then it was dubbed Unknown Realms (vague, but decent). This week's Famitsu unveiled the game's new and final name, Folks Soul: The Lost Folklore. Just look at how awful it looks in print! And say it out loud: I just bought Folks Soul. What do you think of Folks Soul? You digging Folks Soul? It sounds like a bad compilation CD. A really bad one — Like one with Donovan, but without Dylan because they couldn't afford for the rights to his music. It sounds that bad. For those not familiar with Folks Soul (ungh), the game follows young Ellen as she goes to a mysterious town to meet her dead mom. The biggest mystery, though, is why Game Republic couldn't give this game a decent name. Brian Ashcraft