Some days it seems like the Nintendo Switch was made for role-playing games (RPGs) “on-the-go”. Developers Goonswarm and publisher Black Tower Games hope that you’ll consider their ported turn-based RPG, Sin Slayers Enhanced Edition to be one of your picks. Released last September on Steam PC, Mac and Linux, Sin Slayers is an RPG with roguelike elements set in a dark fantasy world. In this RPG your choices determine how challenging the battles and enemies will be. We spent some hands-on time with the game and thought we’d share our thoughts. Read on for the Nintendo Switch Quick Hit Review of Sin Slayers Enhanced Edition!
Herculian Feats!
To start off, for what it’s worth, Goonswarm is a five-person development company from Russia. We mention this only because Sin Slayers seems a bit retro at first glance. Considering the depth of the game, ported to the Nintendo Switch, this small development company has achieved quite a bit. So much so that it really does bear witness to check out this game.
Story Isn’t Everything
Your base of operations
Sin Slayers is based on a dark fantasy foundation which is more typical than not nowadays for these type of RPGs. The game’s story is nothing groundbreaking. Sin Slayer‘s world is overrun by the seven deadly sins. You start with three player characters; a knight, a ranger and a sorceress, who seems to be a healer. You all take refuge in a church which will act as the hub, or main base of operations, for the story in between missions. This is where you’ll get your quest objectives, where you can craft and change your wardrobe (skins).
The game is party turn-based which is nothing new. There was some welcome relief in that heroes and enemies have strengths and weaknesses. As you get deeper in the game you’ll learn how to tackle most of these mobs.
Dungeons In The Making
So many ways to travel
You’ll find several characters along the way but you’ll always control a party of three. Quests take place on procedurally-generated tile-based dungeons presented in an isometric view. Initially, all the tiles are greyed out. You can choose which way to go and how many tiles to uncover per turn. Doing so can land you on traps, secret chests, trigger mobs to fight or pop-up a scenario.
Interesting Decision Twists
Search for riches or avoid temptation?
As you travel around the tile-based dungeon board you’re likely to uncover scenarios, i.e. decisions. Choosing one option over another affects your “sin” factor or “Sin-O-Meter”. If your sin factor gets too high this will cause more, and maybe tougher, enemies to spawn. This adds in a risk factor to quests. Following through might lead to some valuable treasure at the cost of increasing your monster encounter odds.
Sin-O-Meter basics
Battles In Ernest
Typically the main quest objective is to face a specific boss. Seeing as you have to find him on the board first there is no avoiding the occasional monster party encounter, i.e. battle. Battles play out from the side-view perspective. This interface should hold no surprises for anyone who has played a modern, turn-based RPG.
Always monsters to fight
Weakness and strength icons can be seen over party members heads. The above shows our warrior has a good chance against that frontline mob. As rage points build up your party member can access more advanced abilities to use.
Parting Words
Given that the development team is quite small I think they’ve managed to put forth a strong offering in Sin Slayers. In the undocked mode, the game plays quite well and does make for a nice RPG game on-the-go. Graphically speaking the Nintendo Switch version seems to be a little more pixeled, mostly in the edges, than the Steam PC offering. The graphics also seem to be less vivid and deep in colour. This was more of a letdown versus a show stopper after previewing the Steam PC version. The Nintendo Switch also includes all of the previously released expansions, hence the “Enhanced Edition” tag.
Some might believe that the price of $19.99 is a bit steep since the duration of the game hinges on how fast you uncover boss mobs in a dungeon.
Bottom line, if you’re looking for a game similar to Darkest Dungeon then Sin Slayers Enhanced Edition appears to be a solid choice.
Compare To: Darkest Dungeon, Mistover
Note: A Nintendo Switch eShop code was provided for the purpose of this review.
