Sin Slayers: Enhanced Edition Review

Sin Slayers is a turn-based RPG dungeon crawler with rogue-lite elements. In this dark fantasy RPG, you play as sinners that are determined to rid the world of the 7 sins; Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sorrow, Greed, Gluttony, and Lust. The game has elements that are inspired by games like the Darkest Dungeon. Is Sin Slayers: Enhanced Edition a must-buy for fans of games like the Darkest Dungeon? Let’s dive in!

STORY

The story of Sin Slayers is by far the weakest element of the game. I found that the game lacked a lot of depth whenever it came to world-building, lore, and character development.

At the beginning of the game, you go through a very short cutscene that explains why you must rid the world of the 7 sins, and then you are set on your journey to enter the unique dungeon specific to that Sinlord. Throughout the game, however, you will find books that will give you a bit of insight into the world, but it does very little in giving me details on why I should care about slaying monsters and Sinlords.

These books, however, I found were few and far between. It seems that the characters that you play as were very generic and weren’t even given names. They had no character development, lacked personality, and I just found them as tools as a means to defeat Sinlords. 

GAMEPLAY

The combat is something that really remains much of the same during the game. It is turn-based and felt like any other turn-based game, yet it was different because of the use of weaknesses that different enemies had. Although, I think that down the line this also what made the game easier in difficulty, because some of the monsters would be used in the same zones. Once you know the weaknesses, you could easily get through the dungeons.

As you begin to advance throughout the game, you begin to gain access to new heroes and abilities. Although the number of party members did not raise, I accessed more heroes as I went through the story. Each hero has their own unique abilities, and it was difficult to choose who I wanted in my party because I felt that each hero added something unique to the party.

I do want to say, however, that I did find it hard switching out my party members at times, because every time you get a new hero they start at level 1. It discouraged me from putting them into my party, because then I would have to either grind them to the level I needed them to be at or make items that would instantly level them off. However, I found that to be expensive in materials.

Asides from the level of customization you have with your party, the game has an interesting sin level mechanic. Whenever you are crawling through the randomly generated dungeon, you will come across various interactions such as bodies that you can choose to bury or leave to rot, if you were to choose to bury it then that would increase your sin level. Other interactions include going through a portal and rummaging through sacks that could have potential loot, all will increase your sin level. And the higher the sin level, the tougher the enemies. Eventually, some of them even being set at a higher level with the highest amount of sin.

The game also offers a crafting system through the blacksmith. Throughout the game, the blacksmith is able to craft your items for battle, armor, weapons, and accessories to help you throughout your journey and help you take the fight to the Sinlords. As you continue through the story, he will give you side quests that you can complete to unlock the option to have him craft better armor, weapons, and accessories for you. 

AUDIO

I found that the music helped immerse me in the dark fantasy world that is Sin Slayers. The Sin Slayers battle music had a rock tone to it and hyped me up for the fights that I was in, including the Sinlord boss battles.

I felt the sound effects that were in the game were really crisp, such as the clanking of swords and a shield blocking from an attack. Something that I really wish there was more of would be the voice-acting. Voice acted cutscenes only occur at the beginning of the game and after boss fights. 

VISUALS & PERFORMANCE

The sprite visuals I found were stunning, although the heroes you begin with look really basic. I found that the sorceress and the northerner to be the most unique, specifically the northerner hero with a large wolf pelt wrapped around his neck.

The animations for abilities were nicely animated, such as the priestess’ resurrection ability to show an angel resurrect a fallen hero. I loved how each boss and enemy look unique from one another. Making it seem that not every enemy was just a new model of the enemy you just fought in another dungeon.

Finally, what looked the most visually pleasing were the cutscenes. The cutscenes accompanied by narration and sound effects helped me feel like I myself was on a journey to defeat the 7 sins, and further helped me feel immersed. 

VALUE

Sin Slayers: Enhanced Edition is $19.99 for the US and £17.99 for the UK. I find it difficult to recommend Sin Slayers because of the steep price. There are a total of 14 randomly generated dungeons, and depending on how long it takes you to find the boss in the dungeon, it will determine how long it’ll take you to beat the game.

I find that the game lacks in end-game content, with only an optional DLC boss, that provides a new dungeon. This game I feel is only worth picking up if there is a sale going on or if you are looking for a game similar to the Darkest Dungeon.

Slayers: Enhanced Edition Review provided by SwitchWatch.co.uk
Developer: goonswarm
Publisher: Black Tower Entertainment
Price: $19.99, £17.99, €19.99
Game Size: 1.1 GB