Sinless Review

In this futuristic city, everything is provided by an entity called Omni Care, and laws are upheld by their own enforcers – the Kyon’Cha. When one citizen inadvertently breaks routine, his perfect life spirals out of control. In his rush to survive, he learns what secrets lurk in the shadows of the world he once thought of as a utopia. Unraveling the dark tale of Sinless will only take you a few short hours, but if you give it your full attention, it’s sure to be a memorable ride. 

The most striking aspect of this game is its art style. Each environment is complete eye candy, from the weather effects to the lovingly hand-drawn backgrounds. Sharp lighting from buildings and neon signs moves with you as you pan around with the joystick or touchscreen, and nearly every scene features a lot of blurring; these effects in particular may seem a bit “overdone,” but the game eventually explains why your character sees the world this way. Plus, it makes for some killer wallpapers.

Everyone in this sci-fi city lives by pre-ordained routines called Progs, and deviating from that path means being “prosecuted.” After what seems like a trippy dream at the start of the game, you’ll wake up on a casual Prog day. You start off by getting familiar with your new PearPod – essentially a smartphone that contains your schedule, contacts, news, and even a minigame that the Kyon’Cha use to find new recruits. The mission? Find your girlfriend, Jenny, who seems to have gone missing.

Scanning each scene is simple enough: press ‘A‘ or tap on people or objects, and select from a few options. In the menu, you can thankfully speed up the sluggish joystick cursor, and also toggle hints, which will cause the cursor to open up when it’s hovering over an interactable item. Genre veterans who want a steeper challenge can turn hints off and enjoy tapping away, pixel-hunting for interactables – of which there are relatively few. The objects that you put in your inventory are largely useless, as well. Aside from your clothes. Better put those on.

Looking at objects is vital in learning the lore of Sinless. Observing a certain elderly man, for example, reveals how science has evolved to where people can extend their lives massively – at great cost. Sure, you can rush through the game without getting much exposition, but doing so will cause the already-open ending to be a lot more confusing. There are also several funny easter eggs to uncover. It’s a pleasure to stop and smell the roses when you’re being serenaded all the while by quality punk-rock tracks – some wonderfully voiced – which range in mood from ominous to intense.

The grungy characters and their robotic body-mods are drawn up in a bold, Telltale-esque style, and animated in low framerates, giving every conversation a disjointed vibe. While there isn’t enough time to care about anyone, and there are no meaningful decisions to make, there are some silly dead-end conversations to be had. And heck – why not propose marriage to a Kyon’Cha robot? The game autosaves, so while you can’t save-scum, that accursed “Game Over” screen is no biggie: you’re automatically warped back to just moments before you made the decision that led to your dea- er- prosecution.

Although short and sweet, Sinless serves up humor, intrigue, and fear – but only to those who fully explore the utterly stunning world.