DISCLAIMERS:
- the reviewer has not finished the game with 100% completion
- the game was played on the Wii U using the Wii version of the game intended for United States audiences through the Wii Menu feature of the Wii U
Nine years after the Japan-only original, Sin and Punishment surprisingly recieved a sequel with Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, in all regions this time (a year after the Japanese version, anyway). How these games are connected isn’t especially obvious but this is a well-earned sequel regardless. This review will judge the game on its own merits.
The gameplay of Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is best described as a bullet hell rail shooter. Players control a character that flies around the screen freely while aiming independently of this movement. The Wii Remote and Nunchuck are the obviously most intended controller choice and work fantastically for moving and aiming independently. The player can also dodge, jump, and use a melee attack against nearby enemies. These mechanics are used masterfully in a huge variety of unique scenarios that keep the game interesting throughout. The boss fights in particular are almost all extremely interestingly designed and more importantly fun. The game is an arcade style game like the original so it is broken up into levels and there is a big focus on the score the player gets during the level. The scoring system is surprisingly in-depth too, rewarding players who stay on the ground, for example. Overall Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is an extremely well-designed and unique experience that has no equal on the Wii or any other console for what it attempts to achieve. It also controls amazingly, making it feel like one of the few games that met the Wii’s full potential, which was almost never fully tapped into.
In terms of sound Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is a bit above average. The sound effects are exactly what one would expect. The voice acting is slightly above average but nothing particularly special. The music is good overall but has little to no staying power. Overall sound doesn’t help or hurt Sin and Punishment: Star Successor much.
Technically Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is extremely good. The whole game runs at a close-to-if-not-60 frames per second, which is especially appreciated with the game’s use of the Wii Remote’s pointer function. The visuals are also impressive with a huge variety of assets that make extremely good use of the Wii’s hardware. Overall this is the best part of the game aside from the gameplay.
The story and world of Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is similar to the original in that it isn’t that fleshed out but doesn’t matter much. The story makes sense this time at least, but it is hardly engaging (relative to the gameplay at least). Overall this aspect of Sin and Punishment: Star Successor has almost no effect on the quality of the game overall.
In terms of value Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is a bit below average. The game is not particularly long for a full price game. There is co-op and trying to get a better score that provide some replay value, but the game itself doesn’t provide much in the way of additional original content. Still, the game still gets an extremely strong recommendation from the reviewer. It is one of the best experiences of its kind and has pretty much no equal anywhere. Pretty much nobody will get the expected value from a full price game from Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, but the game is so good even with just one playthrough that it is worth the purchase just to play once.
Overall the reviewer would give the game a 9.0 out of 10.
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