Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia is a compact but pleasant action game that has a surprising amount of content for fans of the show to enjoy. Though it feels as though a few corners were cut in the presentation department, Knights of Britannia is a thoroughly enjoyable action game for anyone interested in the series.
Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia
Developer: Bandai Namco
Price: $59.99
Consoles: PS4 (Reviewed)
MonsterVine was provided with a PS4 code for review.
Quite a few games that are based on anime franchises tend to be action-oriented. This makes sense, since most of the most popular anime series involve a lot of punching, flying, and shooting. Seven Deadly Sins is no exception, and neither is its game adaptation Knights of Britannia. Full of colorful characters and destructive fun, Knights of Britannia is everything you could want from an anime game, even if some of the presentation feels phoned-in.
Knights of Britannia follows the basic story of the Seven Deadly Sins anime series’s first season. As Meliodas, players must reunite the Seven Deadly Sins, a powerful group of former knights who were wrongfully accused of trying to overthrow their kingdom. Meliodas and Elizabeth, the Princess of Liones, seek to save the land from Demons. It’s a fairly standard story, but the characters are strong enough to make it appealing. Each Sin has their own distinct look and set of powers, with no two looking anything close to alike. The Sins are a nice contrast to the Holy Knights that serve as the main antagonists of the game, and the rivalry between these two teams makes for a nice dynamic throughout the story. The cast is varied enough to provide any and all players with a favorite character, from the most tsundere of edgelords to the most enthusiastic of protagonists.
There are two primary gameplay modes in Knights of Britannia, Adventure and Duel. Adventure lets you experience the story of Seven Deadly Sins while Duel lets you battle locally or online using any characters you’ve unlocked. Duel is fun with friends and has smooth online, but Adventure is where the meat of the game lies. There are a ton of quests and sidequests to keep players busy, many of which mix up the gameplay in interesting ways. Some sidequests even offer additional story for those who find themselves entrenched in the land of Liones. There’s an equipment/stat upgrade system present as well, though it’s incredibly basic and makes little difference in combat.
It’s a bit tough to describe Knights of Britannia’s combat, but if you were to combine the 3D fighting of the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm series with a few of the horde battles you would see in Dynasty Warriors. Basically, you (and sometimes an A.I. partner) battle either another character or a group of enemies in a contained 3D stage. Buildings and walls are destructible, which complements the hard-hitting large-scale combat well. Mobility is key in battles, which makes jumping and gliding around incredibly satisfying. Both regular attacks and special moves, of which there are plenty, have a tendency to send enemies flying while destroying things all around them, which makes battle far more dynamic. Nothing says “shonen anime” like explosions and punching people through buildings, which Knights of Britannia succeeds in quite well.
The cel-shading in Knights of Britannia is fitting of its anime origins, as the vivid colors and fluid movements give the land of Liones the same amount of life found in its source material. Attack effects are boisterous and incredibly flashy, which makes the environmental destruction even better. Unfortunately story scenes don’t have the same colorful polish, as they feel somewhat lazy. There aren’t really any full motion cutscenes, as the story is primarily told through textboxes and static 3D models. Though there’s full voice-acting, mouths don’t move and character movement is very limited overall. These lifeless scenes really take the wind out of the story, especially in moments that are supposed to be moving.
I was pleasantly surprised with how memorable the soundtrack is. A lot of the songs have a very upbeat joyousness to them, with tones reminiscent of PS2-era RPGs. The battle music is suitably exciting, even if it can become somewhat repetitive. While the voicework (which is entirely Japanese) is exceptional, Knights of Britannia is in desperate need of more voice clips. A lot of characters have only a select few voice clips, meaning you’ll be hearing the same screams over and over. It can get rather grating, especially in horde battles where you’ll hear one scream 55 times consecutively.
The Final Word
Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia is a fun and content-rich anime game that will make fans of the series rather happy. Combat is explosive and enjoyable, while the soundtrack is rather memorable. Though the presentation lacks polish, Knights of Britannia is a worthwhile adventure for any Seven Deadly Sins fans.
– MonsterVine Review Score: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair
