The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin, a new anime action RPG based on the anime The Seven Deadly Sins, was recently released on Steam (technically ahead of the official worldwide release scheduled for March 23rd). Those who are keeping a close eye on the game or are fans of the IP have probably formed an opinion about it by now, but since there are so many games released on a regular basis, there’s a pretty good bet that some of you haven’t gotten around to checking it out yet. Here’s a little look at the free gacha game.
Before we begin, I have to admit that I have neither read the manga nor seen the series, so the universe is completely new to me. I played through the first chapter of the game, which means I didn’t see any of the endgame content. But my goal was simply to find out if the game was even worth investing time in. After all, you have to get past the initial gameplay to get to all of these things. (Note that except for the image above, everything else in this article are screenshots of a pre-release version of the game and some things may differ.)
In general, the game offers what you would expect from an action-adventure offering. It begins with the main characters, Prince Tristan of Liones and Tioreh, a fairy, exploring. It’s not long before the two get into trouble and stumble upon a big secret, only to find out that something much bigger and scarier is happening.
They decide to investigate and eventually report to Tristan’s kingdom, where they explain what happened to them and that they have discovered a mysterious artifact that refuses to leave Tristan’s possession. There’s a little debate about what should happen next, and eventually the kids are allowed to go on an adventure under the supervision of an adult and the shape-shifting pig Hawk. Of course, since this is a gacha game, there is a somewhat inhuman mascot companion.
The visual design of the world is beautiful. Liones really feels like a medieval town, and the surrounding area is fun to explore and not bad to navigate. In fact, in some ways it’s simpler than some other open-world gacha games. Yes, there are the standards, walk around or slide. But the game also offers players the opportunity to tame creatures and use them in various ways, including as ground- and flight-based mounts. And in some cases, players can simply rent a mount to take them where they need to go. I’m not sure if this is story specific yet. But even if this is the case, it makes it easier to move forward with the search.
While exploring, I noticed that mobs respawn almost immediately after being eliminated. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing depends on the type of player you are. Personally, I prefer them to stay away for a while so I can explore the area without having to stop to fight as often. However, if they respawn quickly, collecting drops is easier.
As for dungeons and bosses, some of them were unlocked after I got far enough in the first chapter. The ones I tried can be accessed from the game’s menu. I have to admit that the descriptions seem a bit backwards to me. The one labeled “Dungeon” sends you straight into a room where you fight a boss, while the one labeled “Boss” takes you into a dungeon-like environment with mobs for you to explore before making your way to the boss. In any case, make sure your characters are as equipped as possible when you go in. It would probably be unwise to only build part of your team as they all have the same health bar.
As far as combat goes, things should be pretty familiar to anyone who plays this type of game. Players form a team of four characters, which are either given to them throughout the game or unlocked via the game’s gacha system. As always, when you get a character through the game’s narrative, you still have to try to get additional versions of it to make it stronger. That is, unless you’re like me and acquire characters based on mood.
The battle pits one character at a time, switching between them and doing their best to use their different abilities to achieve victory. But as I mentioned, the team’s health is divided. So you can’t just switch to a character when another’s health is low and then do the whole thing with brute force. This is another point that can be good or bad depending on the type of player.
Obviously, there’s probably a good part that I haven’t covered here, such as the gacha mechanics. Honestly, since I played it before the game was released on Steam, I really didn’t play with it all that much. I rolled enough dice to add a character to my team and that was it.
Other than that, the gaming experience wasn’t bad. I didn’t want to quit straight away and enjoyed the overall world and story structure. There is a lot to discover. The fight went more or less normally, so that was fine. However, I don’t really think I’ll add it to my game collection.
At this point I have so many games in my rotation that adding another requires some thought. While everything else was fine, including the puzzles and other exploration themes I encountered, the fact is that I just didn’t particularly like the characters that were presented to me at the start. This is of course a personal matter. But it’s enough for me to put the game on hold. But for those who like the IP and want to know what’s next, it’s worth a try. From there you can decide.