An Interview with the Producer of Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption

Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption is a challenging boss battler action-RPG deeply rooted in the struggles of human nature and strength in the essence of Dark Souls.

Featuring a small but feisty knight named Adam, you embark on a series of battles against the seven deadly sins as you attempt to atone for them, each as equally unique and as grotesque as the other. With each Sin you battle, your protagonist must sacrifice his stats, amping up the difficulty of the game.

The gameplay is as hardcore as it gets, but the game itself is a sight for sore eyes, with beautiful graphics, a brooding theme, and an original, distinctive undertone. While I haven’t gotten quite to the end of the challenge, we interviewed Wang Chen, the producer from Dark Star Studios, on their impressive debut with Sinner. 

GameSkinny: Apart from other games like Dark Souls, what other media inspired the theme for Sinner?

Wang Chen, Producer at Dark Star Studios: Along with Dark Souls, we were inspired by Japanese anime, in particular, Studio Ghibli. We wanted Sinner to be a fusion of East and West. This is why Adam has a distinct chibi style!

GS: Was it meant to be a particularly challenging game? 

WC: Sinner is a hard game. We made it difficult because we wanted the gameplay to reflect Adam’s personal struggle to atone for his sins. While the game is hard we wanted to make sure it wasn’t gatekept and have made it so that anyone can access the vast majority of the game’s content even if they struggle with the game’s difficulty.

GS: What were some creative obstacles faced during development?

WC: Boss design was tricky. We wanted to make sure that bosses represented their sins correctly. For some bosses this was easy but for some, like Sloth, for example, this was more difficult. Making a lazy boss is tricky in a serious game. It was also tricky to put together a cohesive story that pulled together all the characters, all the sins, and Adam in a cohesive way when the game’s story can be experienced in any order. 

GS: What kind of audience would this game appeal to?

WC: Sinner is a “hardcore” game but I hope it appeals to more than just the most hardcore of gamers. The fact that the majority of the game’s content is open should make it less of a frustrating experience for many gamers who might have gotten stuck in other, similarly difficult games.

GS: What is your favorite aspect of the game? 

WC: Probably the art style. Both the 2D and the 3D art is really meticulously designed and we spent a long time making the game look as beautiful as possible. We hope gamers will appreciate it as much as we do.

GS: What could use some improvement?

WC: At this point, the game is pretty much finished. We’re currently focusing on making it as polished an experience as possible, but as it stands, Sinner is right about where we wanted it to be.

GS: Are there any more projects to be expected from here?

WC: Oh yes! Dark Star has big plans for the future but we aren’t finished with Sinner just yet.

GS: Which Sin was a team favorite to create? Which was the least favorite?

WC: Everyone on the team has a different favorite! It’s really difficult to answer this question. I really, really love Envy and the way she swaps between two styles of combat. But I also love Lust and the way she surprises the player throughout the battle.I don’t think we have a least favorite. We’ve worked so hard on each of them it would feel like a betrayal to name  our least favorite!

If you’re ready for more mind-reeling action and incredibly difficult bosses, Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption will be coming to Xbox One, PC, Mac, and PlayStation 4 on the 25th of April this year.