2D action-adventure platforming games, or better described as Story Arcade games where titles like Mega Man might come to mind, have always been a fun challenge, whether it was playing at home or in an arcade, it always comes with the same experience. Developers Bonus Level Entertainment and publishers Just For Games have taken their attempt at bringing their own Story Arcade game to life in Saga of Sins. Excited by its unique artwork and my love for arcade games, I was ready to jump in head first but quickly realized what I had got myself into.

Story

Play as Cecil, the cleric of a town that has recently fallen into a sickly state due to the black plague. The town of Sinwell had to cope and turned to the seven deadly sins. The townsfolk over-indulged welcoming Gluttony, turned a blind eye to those in need bringing Sloth, and even acting out promiscuous behaviors turning to Lust. Being the town cleric, Cecil seeks to bring peace and do all he can to free his home village of the plagues that have cast themselves upon Sinwell.

Cecil enters the minds of town folk, taking the form of a demonic creature such as a Griffin, Werewolf, or Gargoyle. Taking these forms may seem unholy, but it is because he is entering the minds of sinners which have been corrupted by the different demons and he is invading their space to rid them of their forbidden fruit.

The premise caught my attention immediately - monsters versus demons, the seven deadly sins, what’s not to like? There’s dialog with Cecil and another member of the church Ulric that explains to you what has happened to Sinwell and how you got to be in the position you are in, but most of the dialog in the town feels like filler that I just found myself wanting to skim through. It felt dragged out after the first chapter and the story seems to show the direction it’s taking very early on. It also feels like it has a very heavy hand in the religious aspect of the game, which makes sense, but it could be taken in a poor manner by some and that could turn some people away.

Gameplay

You start in the church and after speaking to your Elder, he gives you a glass shard to repair a stained glass mural of a Werewolf. He informs you this is one of the four creatures you can take the form of in sinners’ minds. Each creature comes with its own special ability that allows you to progress to other levels. Then you turn out and head towards the town where you are met by a drunk that is blocking your way to leave the Church. You approach him and are prompted with the option to enter the sinner’s mind. You are then transported into another world in the form of a Werewolf where you fight off demons in a 2D arcade-style shooter. You progress through their mind, dodging traps and obstacles in search of the forbidden fruit corrupting their mind.

The combat system was simple, jump, shoot, dash, repeat, not much diversity in it. Each of the monsters you play as has their own advantage in the levels. For example, the Werewolf shoots three balls of energy and has a howl that you can use to break the cracking glass in the background. The Gargoyle has a continuous fire breath that can burn boxes to get to places that are inaccessible because the boxes are blocking your entry. The Winged Beast has a double shot that shoots up at and angle and has a wall grapple so it can jump on walls that have the grab marker. Each of their abilities can be upgraded using the coins that you get in each level. The Werewolf gets more shots, so from three to four. The Gargoyle gets a stronger fire and the Winged Beast gets a third projectile making it a triple shot. If you take damage, there are hearts in the level you can grab to heal. A lot of the time they’re conveniently placed in spots where it seems like you were supposed to take damage.

There are seven different sins; Pride, Greed, Lust, Gluttony, Wrath, Envy, and Sloth. Each sin comes with three sinners spread throughout the town along with a handful of innocent villagers. The sinners come in two forms; there are two action levels and a boss level per Sin. The innocent villagers are bonus levels that are occupied with puzzles to gain extra rewards like coins or glass shards. The action levels are where the game gets repetitive very quickly. Each of the seven sins has its action levels that have its own stipulations that are supposed to change the level, but it doesn’t do enough to make them different. The enemies in each level are the same with little exception other than aesthetics and the occasional new enemy exclusive to the sin. In the levels, the traps are virtually the same making it feel like you are running on a loop going to the same level repeatedly.

After each mind that you rid of sin, you wake up back in your bedroom at the Church where you have to leave and walk back through town. This gets old quickly as with each villager you complete, you have to go deeper and deeper into the village and there are no teleport points or fast travel, so get used to seeing the same scenery. After completing two action levels you are faced with a boss for the corresponding sin, which unfortunately was entirely too easy. After a while, you return to your Elder and give him the forbidden fruit which he is using in turn to rid the town of its sins and the plague.

Audio and Visual

This game admittedly really does shine in this aspect. The visuals in the game really do mirror what stained glass would look like if it were an arcade game. The bright colors that the game brings into the minds are a really nice complement to the gloomy grays and darkness in the real world. I also liked the fact that the cutscenes and the gameplay had the same artwork and would transition nicely between each other.

The sound effects in the game aren’t anything out of the ordinary, but they do the job just fine, especially saying it is an Arcade-style game. But the score that plays during the action levels and the boss fights is what they did right; if only they matched the tension in the gameplay to the soundtrack.

What It Could Have Done Better

The gameplay itself wasn’t a terrible idea. I like the idea of more 2D arcade platformers. It should have been made to be more challenging and more rewarding when finishing a level. There definitely should have been a faster way to travel especially since you are spending what seems like half the game walking from point A to point B. But most of all they should have made the boss battles way more intense because it seemed that some of the action levels were harder than even the final boss. They also could have added more to the game to give me a reason to return to it. It has almost no replayability other than returning to previous levels to obtain a Rotting fruit or find the rest of the chests.

Verdict

Saga of Sins, sadly, wasn’t what I thought it would be. It was repetitive and it was entirely too easy. I felt satisfied after beating the game, but not for the reason you usually would in an arcade game. I felt glad that I no longer had to walk from my bedroom to the end of the street. I was drawn in by the art style and the premise, but I was let down by the lackluster gameplay. I simply can not recommend this game for the artwork alone.

Saga of Sins will be available on March 30th on PC via Steam and Steam Deck, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.