Deadly Sin Review

Once more, an RPG-maker game is under the microscope here at Gametunnel. Deadly Sin is much like every other old-school-style RPG out there, so if you're a rabid fan of the genre, this review probably won't sway your opinion much. The game is a decent specimen, but it's got some glaring problems holding it back.

As with every other RPG of this sort, motivation comes from the story. Deadly Sin tells the tale of Lorelai, an orphan (of course) who is sent to deliver a letter for her master. Long story short, she gets some party members, fights some Hellspawn, and then finds out that she's the rightful heir to the empire's throne so she joins the resistance against the current empress. The plot thickens, twists, and gets pretty epic; as is expected. It's a fine story that flows well, except for some awkward dialogue (which isn't frequent).

Now, the battles are where the game tries to separate itself, and ends up stumbling over its well-intentioned ambition. The graphics are great and full of detail; the battles are conducted from a more dynamic camera position (behind the party members), and they introduce a unique "threat" system, which adds another layer of strategy to battles. On top of that, character growth can be customized with the "skill tree" that is introduced; which turned out to be a very clever touch.

So, why don't the battles cut it? What could possibly be wrong? The main reason the combat doesn't quite do the job is because they're TEDIOUS. They take far longer than they should because your party members deal low amounts of damage, while the basic enemies can waste one of your buddies in about four turns. To add to the frustration, status effects are unreasonably devastating: if a character is afflicted with "blind", they cant hit anything, EVER, and they're sitting ducks, especially if they're characters who have a high "threat". On top of that, because of the threat system (which is an idea that means well but is shaky in its implementation), the strongest characters are ganged up on immediately, leaving your weakest characters to fend for themselves once the powerhouses get decimated.

It's unfortunate about the gameplay, because Deadly Sin looks absolutely great. The battles are very pretty (as I said above, before the rant), the environments are gorgeous and full of life, and so on and so forth. It looks great; as good as I've ever seen in an RPG-maker game. The music is great to listen to, as well. The melodies are suitably epic, and are well orchestrated. Something that was odd to me was the lack of battle music. Sometimes there was, but usually there was no change from the environment music to any kind of fight theme. This felt a little awkward, and it made the battles seem almost lazy without an upbeat song to kill baddies to. All in all, Deadly Sin is a game of good intentions, but poor execution. This doesn't mean it's bad by any means: it has its strong points, and it is still perfectly enjoyable if you're in the RPG fan demographic. For the rest of the world, it will probably seem too ambitious, and too haphazardly put-together, to be accessible.

Graphics: Deadly Sin has, as previously mentioned, as good of graphics as I've ever seen in an RPG maker game. The hand-drawn enemies and environments are the standouts.

Sound/Music: The music is grand in every way except one: where's my battle tunes? Not even a little victory fanfare after the carnage... I got gypped.

Gameplay: In an RPG, the battles are half of the game. So, it's a little surprising when the battles feel as clunky and frustrating as they do in Deadly Sin. This is the game's major flaw, and it's an unfortunate one.

Concept: It's an RPG maker RPG. That's about all that needs saying. The formula is alive and well.

Value: At fifteen green ones, it's a standard price to pay for a downloadable game. It's also a reasonable fee for an RPG of this length.

Fun: Deadly Sin is a hit or miss. When it's fun, it's a great, epic, RPG. When it's not, it's unfortunately frustrating and unfulfilling.

Overall: Deadly Sin is a game for anyone willing to overlook the gameplay bugs. It's a game for the elite RPG fan. It's hard to recommend and hard to condemn. Try it, because truly, the game will be a coin toss.