With its grungy and extraordinary art style paired with the timeless melee hack-and-slash gameplay mechanics, Mortal Sin offers an interesting take on the roguelike game subgenre. Brought to life by developer Nikola Todorovic, this action game generates random dungeons in which the player has to solve puzzles and kill monsters.

In Mortal Sin, simply stabbing an enemy doesn’t kill it — the player has to dismember its limbs fully, and only then it will die. Reminiscent of games like Dead Space in that department, this game is not for a younger audience as it has moments of severe violence and gore.

Tear each enemy from limb to limb

Mortal Sin opens with a text crawl depicting an eerie message, saying that you, the player, have been granted immortality and are now cursed for it. You then get dropped into the middle of a chapel ruin, with a statue telling you the objective of the game — which is to clear the Dungeon, Cave, and Forest levels in a single run. It sounds easy to do, but it’s definitely not.

Right off the bat, you will notice the grungy art style and unconventional coloring of the graphics. While this aspect elevates the tension and further sets the game apart from others in the same subgenre, it also can be the main deterrent for some players. At the same time, you can’t save your progress mid-dungeon, and when you die, you have to start all over again.

Another challenging factor is the durability meter — in this game, you have to keep an eye on both your health and your weapons’ durability meters that are displayed on-screen. Each attack degrades your weapons, and while there are potions that can extend their use, they disappear when the meter is emptied. Since the game also requires fully dismembering enemies, do expect gory animations and body parts flung around.

Not for a younger audience

Overall, Mortal Sin is a fine addition to the dungeon crawler or roguelike game subgenre. With its randomized dungeon levels and enemies to beat, it’s ensured that each run is different from the rest. To up the ante further, the game also employs factors like durability levels for weapons that limit their use and the inability to save mid-game. However, its heavily violent and gory gameplay isn’t suited for younger players.