Technical Information

Developer: goonswarm
Publisher: Black Tower Entertainment
Release Date: September 5, 2019

Once upon a time, a noble warrior strayed from his path and ended up in an unknown place. Trying to find his way back, he comes across an old church and hears cries nearby. When he goes toward the cries, he encounters two people being attacked by monsters and, without hesitation, helps them defeat the beasts.

Other creatures begin to appear, forcing the heroes to flee and seek shelter in the church. Unexpectedly, the trio is received by a wise man, and then the adventure begins…

Sin Slayers is an RPG that combines roguelike elements, dungeon crawling, and turn-based combat.

Final Thoughts – Analyzing the Work as a Whole

Graphics and UI

The entire game uses pixel art, and despite the animations being simple, they are well-made.
The strongest feature of the game is the parallax effect, which brings a sense of movement to the environments.

The game’s aesthetic has a retro feel, with the UI organized in a way that reminds me of the 90s.

I noticed a strange difference in the coloration between the Mac and Windows versions. In the Mac version, there is much more contrast, and some areas are very dark. In the Windows version, the coloration is much smoother and less tiring. I don’t know why there’s this difference in tones (even though I’m using the same monitor, and this type of issue has never occurred with other games).

At first glance, the game seems confusing… and it is. There are many menus and many options to navigate, and it can be difficult to understand what each one means. However, this information is important for informing the player about their status and progress.

Every time a new item or piece of information is added, it is signaled with an exclamation mark (!) next to the corresponding menu. This will surely annoy players who like to keep their notifications clean, as after every battle the player is rewarded with items and this notification always appears in the inventory.

Soundtrack and Sound Effects

You start the game by listening to a narration about the game’s history. Very cool! It sets a strong medieval fantasy atmosphere right away.

The soundtrack is great, and I found the songs quite memorable. Each area has its own music, and the battle themes alternate between them, which helps prevent the game from becoming tedious.

Gameplay

Essentially, your mission is to choose three characters to form a team (each with a specific class), enter a scenario, and search for the boss — this is the roguelite aspect. However, while exploring the map, you’ll cross paths with enemies (this is where the turn-based combat comes in), items, traps, and new quests. If you die, you’ll lose your progress in that area and have to start again.

There are seven bosses in total, each representing a capital sin.

If you like fully upgrading all characters, this game can be quite exhausting, as character progression is a bit slow. On the positive side, there are plenty of side quests, so you can balance one goal with another.

Some items can be used to speed up character progression. The maximum level each character can reach is level 5.

After a few hours, the game starts to feel repetitive. This is its biggest flaw. :/
At the moment I’m writing this review, I’m in the fourth boss area and have already played for over 12 hours.

Each time you enter an area, the stage is procedurally generated. This helps reduce repetition, but even so, the game still requires patience to complete.

Replayability and Game Retention

I started playing and couldn’t stop, despite the game being quite repetitive. Sin Slayers kept me entertained because it doesn’t require any skills beyond making good decisions in battles and managing your team.

In addition to the story mode, there are side quests and a tower with challenges — it’s an excellent game for keeping you occupied!