The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia Review - A classic 3D fighting game

Before we take this review some background information is required. In The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia Princess Elizabeth is looking for the Seven Deadly Sins to save her kingdom. These supernatural fighters once served her empire, but became victims of a conspiracy plot. They have since been considered criminals. On the other side of public opinion are the Holy Knights, who oppress the empire and the entire region of Britannia with their evil habits. Inspired by the desire for justice, we aim to unite the rebels and put an end to this regime. This is where our story starts.

The new game from Bandai Namco and Natsume Atari succeeds in communicating the basis of this unadulterated entanglement fairly well. It combines the successful design of the manga and animé with quick fighting gameplay and is reminiscent of the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series. The story of The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia bounces back and forth between different characters and locations, while it largely tries to follow a chronological sequence. The main missions are based on the fight from the original story, so if someone is fighting then you are quite sure that you will gain control - regardless of who, when and why there is fighting.

The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia is a classic 3D fighting game that seems cluttered at first glance, but only shows depth later on. In Story mode we regularly fight hordes of the same enemies, while we occasionally duel with the many different heroes and villains from the story. Later we even fight against colossal enemies. The fact that the combat system allows all these challenges should imply that it has an incredibly strong backbone, but unfortunately that is not always the case.

Light and strong attacks keep space free for us, approaching enemies from a distance with long-range attacks. An important part of this part of the fighting is the use of spells, which can be used with the right shoulder button and the corresponding action button. These devour a part of the magic bar, which after a while adds very slowly and is needed for the more advanced tactics. Just as important is the aiming system that helps our attacks find their target (because verticality plays a key role in the fighting). There is also a specific skill per character that causes a lot of damage and introduces a small atmospheric video. The steering is in its entirety nicely finished,

In Adventure mode we often play as our hero Meliodas, the Dragon Sin or Wrath. This childish blond young is the leader of the mighty Deadly Sin rebels and shares agreements with straw hat captain Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece, mainly thanks to his funny chat. Developer Natsume has only focused on copying the important fights. This can be seen, for example, in the narrative aspects of the game, where between the button parts we have to read whole text blocks that do not hit the edges to convey the details and identity of the manga. The game tries to summarize the most important details, but it does not excell in any specific area and we doubt that this simplification adds any value to fans of the series.

Side stories are separated from the main story and take place in different locations that can be found on the world map. If you want to play a certain confrontation, you must first unlock the mission, then use the world map to use your pub pig avatar to travel to that location. However, moving around the world map is a frustrating part of Seven Deadly Sins. You will immediately understand what we mean when you have traveled between two areas on Britannia's map with your slow Boar Hat (the name of the mobile bar that Melodias calls his home).

Progress in The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia is made by collecting and investigating local rumors (which unlock new side missions). Natsume Atari has come up with a gameplay 'loop' that rewards you with steady progression of your character, by completing new rumors. These play new missions and eventually objects. Each side quest rewards you with specific objects that can be used for your magical abilities. This increases the strength of your talents in the upcoming fights. However, this does not always lead to the completion of different side stories, as they can also lead to challenging encounters.

Unfortunately, that transition does not feel natural. Although some of the passive bonuses of the skills are pretty strong, everything can be completed without them. Skills with a higher level are fixed behind a simple 'skill tree'. However, this is not a great reward as the side missions are not unlocked in the correct order and can even block your progress if you miss a certain mission at the beginning. It teaches you the hard way which missions you have to complete to get required items, even if it does get the 'flow' from the game.

The worst missions in Knights of Britannia are the 'fetch' quests in which you control Elizabeth. Her goal is to make herself usable and therefore she enters dangerous environments to collect luminous objects from the ground with the help of a computer-controlled teammate. The problem here is that you can not defend yourself and have to rely fully on the computer to make the environment safe. If you are hit a few times, you will die and you will have to start the mission again. These fetch quests are optional, but as mentioned earlier, linked to the progress in the upgrade menu. Obviously, the feeling that you have to complete it to make progress, ensures that this is extra frustrating.

The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britanniaalso includes an Arcade mode to fight against the computer or other players. Although characters, stages and outfits must first be unlocked in the story. Although this provides some variation, it does not take away that the game fails in many ways. A confusingly fragmented story with emotional dolls does not succeed at all in achieving the quality and warmth of the manga / animé. Nevertheless, the title managed to grab us a few times, which is mainly due to the strength of the franchise itself. The obvious problems in storytelling and production could have been overlooked if they had known the game itself to some love. Bandai Namco, however, is going to break the necessary hearts of hardcore fans who still get this title.

➕ Story mode contains important scenes from the universe; you can send a pig into battle; basic setup is okay.

➖ Fetch quests, moving on the world map is frustrating; poor processing of the universe; upgrade system does not work pleasantly.

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