SiNiSistar 2 Review

Arsezon is being overrun by an evil cult, bringing forth all sorts of demons to overrule the lands. Taking control of Lelia, a member of the Purifying Sisters who can exorcise evil, players are tasked with the role of purging the lands and saving them.

Uu and Eroge Japan have shared the sequel to SiNiSistar, showing off the team's growth since the launch of the original five years ago. This new entry follows in the footsteps of the first, being a dark metroidvania title with grotesque themes... and an 18+ patch, but more on that later.

Taking on the role of Lelia, players begin their journey from inside the corruption of Arsezon, as the protagonist and her sister, Hanya (or Hanjaa, depending on whether we’re going off of the Steam version or the in-game one), begin their quest to save the land from within the town. Everywhere, everything has turned into monsters — unassuming trees, creatures, and more have shifted into hideous monstrosities that partake in the destruction of the land.

With this, it's the player's job to head off through Arsezon and beyond to find the source of the corruption and liberate it. Starting off from the cathedral and working our way out, combat works as a simple 2D fighter with just a few attack options: normal hits, enchanted wand blows, and a bow-and-arrow attack that expends MP.

Essentially, what players do throughout SiNiSistar 2 is fight through various waves of foes as they make their way to the several monsters sprawled throughout. Every new area introduces a slew of foes, most of which have a grab attack that requires button-mashing to free from.

While Lelia controls relatively heavily, it's surprising how well she plays overall. Jumps are snappy, attacks are easy to connect, and using the various spell-augmented attacks feels brisk, even though they work as your quintessential "heavy attack".

Though melee combat plays quite enjoyably, aiming the bow and arrow can feel a bit difficult in a pinch. Lelia can shoot in three directions (forward, upwards, and downwards), but holding the button down unlocks seven total directions to shoot with, offering more control over where the enchanted arrows go.

It's one of the most important mechanics in SiNiSistar 2, as every enemy has a weak point that can be hit with the ranged attack, dealing the most damage of all. While it can take a while to get comfortable with, the heaviness feels intended in the gameplay design, and once I got used to it, it felt smooth, even in the midst of boss battles.

Each major area has a final foe that Lelia must battle against, usually mixing in various elements from the world design as a whole. It's honestly my favourite form of world development, as learning to fight the grunts around each environment taught me how to battle against the big boss, mixing in a few of the mechanics throughout.

I was pleasantly surprised with the combat of SiNiSistar 2, which although I came in with my expectations low, far surpassed what I expected. After being hands-on with the combat for a while, it felt comfortable to the point in which I genuinely enjoyed encountering new bosses.

Combat aside, the true highlight of SiNiSistar 2 is in its graphical style. Characters are elaborately built in pixel-art looks that stun, even with nice animations that felt comfortable and fluid despite their size.

Though I couldn't sing my praises enough about the world design and overall ambience, SiNiSistar 2 knocks it out of the park with every new area introduced, whether it was a fog-filled plain, a town, or even the hideous innards of a monstrosity. The detail is awe-inspiring, and I took my time traversing each environment thoroughly. Though it doesn't look like it from even the Steam images themselves, I have to admit that SiNiSistar 2 has to be one of the most graphically stunning titles I've experienced in a while.

It all culminates in a pretty great experience that I enjoyed through and through, despite my initial expectations. Combat complexity remains interesting enough, with simple foes that made traversal fair between resting points, and tough bosses with generous autosaves that were mechanically complex enough to offer a slight challenge without falling into frustrating.

That all said, I do wish that there was more oomph to the narrative and some of the building mechanics. The story is serviceable for what it's doing, helping propel the player forward, which can sometimes feel uninspired and like a long line of fetch quests.

Paired with that, build identity is non-existent, as everyone will play the same Lelia without much diversion from one another. Players are able to use experience (called Relics) to buff up Attack, HP, and MP for different styles up to level five, but that's where player agency ends in terms of builds.

Weapons leave a bit to be desired, as Lelia uses a short-range wand to whack unholy foes. Even upon encountering a "holy sword", it was a wand... short-range... to whack unholy foes. Worst of all is that every new weapon is a straight-up "upgrade", so it felt like it was unnecessary to have different armaments to begin with.

Then, there are the harder themes to swallow — SiNiSistar 2 is not for the faint of heart, as it includes some gore scenes that were, honestly, retch-inducing at times. Lelia can die in a slew of grotesque ways that were shocking, though the rawness of the experience was something I welcomed, despite the fact that I tend to be a squeamish gal.

The 18+ patch pairs these up with sexual scenes from each of the grabs monsters do. It's honestly impressive how many different ways the team scrounged up to have Lelia be touched or molested, with most characters having more than one scene depending on numbers, life, and more.

The bosses were particularly extensive with their encounters, offering various stages of sex scenes that impressed. There are tons of fetish bait here, alongside tamer elements, and everything can be replayed via the gallery that shows each scene with slow-down options. It was honestly pretty in-depth and a great way to handle the gallery.

Unfortunately, SiNiSistar 2’s biggest downside is the fact that little propelled me to continue going forward. The narrative doesn't inspire any mystery or exciting reveals to look forward to, and after a while of combat, you'vekind of seen it all.

New attacks are far and few between, and they mostly consist of upgrades the existing arsenal rather than anything exciting. So although SiNiSistar 2 has a short runtime, and it's the better for it, every time I put the game down, I didn't feel inspired to return.

SiNiSistar 2, at its core, is just a NSFW game through and through, for better and worse. Mixing gore and sexual content is an odd concoction that made it stand out from the others, and although it didn't work for arousal purposes often, it made the experience feel raw. Uu went far and beyond with every element that made Arsezon a dangerous, grotesque land to fight through, and I enjoyed battling for my life.