Free-to-play anime open-world RPG The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin is available to play now on PlayStation 5 and Steam, giving you an early chance to dive into a new adventure before it launches on mobile on March 23.
The game is set in the same world as The Seven Deadly Sins manga and anime, and for those of you familiar with the massively popular series, it’s set between The Seven Deadly Sins and its sequel, Four Knights of the Apocalypse. It focuses on Tristan, the son of main characters Meliodas and Elizabeth from the original series, and it’s built in Unreal Engine 5 to deliver quality visuals that make you feel like you’ve stepped directly into the anime.
But if you don’t know the series and don’t recognize any of those names we just threw at you, that’s not a problem. The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin tells an original story that’s kicked off by Tristan finding the Book of Stars, a powerful artifact that can twist time and space. That begins a multiversal narrative where anything is possible, so knowledge of prior events isn’t necessary. There are characters from The Seven Deadly Sins, Four Knights of the Apocalypse, and completely new characters unique to the game, all joined together in one place.
The story is set on the massive open-world continent of Britannia, which has several diverse biomes and is full of puzzles to solve and treasure chests to open. There are open fields, towns, forests, canyons, deserts, caves, and lakes, all of which are fully explorable. That includes being able to dive underwater in lakes, where you’ll have to keep an eye on your breath meter to avoid drowning.
You’ll always have a party of four characters, and combat is real-time and action-focused. You’ll control one character at a time but can swap between them with one button press, and switching characters triggers tag skills that can be used strategically. So you’re incentivized to switch characters often and make use of their unique abilities, which can change depending on what weapon they’re using.
Every character can equip three different weapon types, each of which has its own moveset and big cinematic Ultimate Moves. So if Tristan is using dual swords, his regular attacks are very fast and his Ultimate Move drops a meteor from the sky. But if he uses a greatsword, his attacks are more powerful but slow and his Ultimate Move can knock enemies backward.
Characters also have unique abilities that can be used outside of combat, called Adventure Skills, that can help you during exploration. For instance, King can fly quickly to a specific point, while Howzer can generate an updraft to lift himself into the air.
Certain combinations of characters can unlock Combined Attacks if they’re both in your party and use certain Ultimate Moves. For example, Howzer has an ability that creates a tornado and Tristan can fire flames. If you use them one after the other, they combine to form a more powerful fire tornado. You can discover several different Combined Attacks, which incentivizes using different combinations of characters and weapons to discover new ones.
You’ll need these abilities to take on the countless enemies you’ll face, some of which are pulled from The Seven Deadly Sins series and others that are brand new. That includes powerful bosses, some of which are so huge you need to climb up them in order to fight them properly. They’ll often have super abilities that will be telegraphed by colored markers on the ground, so you’ll need to pay attention and respond quickly to stay alive.
When you want to take a break from fighting, there are also leisure activities you can take part in. You can fish in bodies of water throughout the continent, use the crafting system to create new weapons and gear, and combine various items you gather across the map (including fish you catch) to cook meals.
The game can be played solo or in co-op mode with up to five total people. If you want to play co-op, you can group up to tackle bosses, dungeons, or just to explore the world, with the state of the open world based on the progress of the party leader. The game is out now on PS5 and Steam and is coming to iOS and Android on March 23, and your character’s progression will carry over between all platforms.
To learn more about The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin, you can check out the official website. To stay up to date with the latest news, you can follow the game on its official Discord, Twitter, and YouTube channels.
