Sinisistar is a 2D Action title in which we play as Raniane, a sister of the cloth sent to deal with a monstrous incursion. Whether they knew just what they were sending her into is questionable. This threat is far beyond demons, orcs, or any other of your conventional fantasy threats. Our foe here is unknown and quite possibly incomprehensible. Sinisistar deals in cosmic horror. The ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of it all is something it has no intent on sharing. Only the where. Our goal is to reach the top of a faraway cathedral for whatever reason. As we descend into the increasingly alien lands and threats, that objective guides us forth.
We start off in our hideout, which acts as a hub-world of sorts. In it, we can select our difficulty and access a map to choose a stage. After finishing the game, it also gives us the option of an alternate costume and infinite arrows. Those last choices are far off as our journey has barely begun. With not much else to do or see in there, we must travel to our first destination. You’ll undoubtedly notice something upon arriving. The pixel art and atmosphere of this game are simply amazing. Darn near every moment is picturesque, and Sinisistar never runs out of steam. From beginning to end, I felt like a tourist with how many screenshots I was taking all the way through.
Suppose you have chosen the Easy mode instead of Normal. In that case, I’d recommend backing out to change it if you have any interest in engaging gameplay. The amount of hits a boss can take on Easy is so few that it is essentially a common foe. This is not much of a challenging game in the first place, and death is not penalized. You will restart at the beginning of a screen, of which there are many within a stage. It will also give you full health and recharge all of your arrows, making death more beneficial than anything. There are no limits to the amount you can die. Sinisistar wants everyone to make it to the end and offers little in the way of resistance.
The gameplay here is of the slow and methodical kind. Our heroine can barely wield her massive sword. As soon as we attack, we are left immobile for a few seconds before she recovers her footing. There are no combos, parries, or backsteps here. It merely comes down to getting as close to an enemy as possible and attacking when you feel the time is right. Her movement speed is relatively slow as well. Whether intentional or not, it does end up feeling sluggish. Calling it a Survival game feels more apt than Action, as I called it before. It certainly imposes the sense of facing threats far greater than us, yet I would not call this a fun combat system.
As you’ve likely noticed from these pictures, our arrow count is shown at the top left. Our ability to use a bow is our only other attack and lends us the safety found in retaining some distance from our foes. It takes time to cock an arrow and even more to properly aim it. From our limited ammunition, one may assume that it has quite the punch behind it, yet that is not the case. The bow and arrow is more of a situational weapon. It can be put to great use against a problematic and easy-to-hit enemy that you don’t want to face head-on, but melee is the primary focus here. On that same note, you can absolutely obliterate even a boss with your arrows on Easy mode. If at any point it gets too difficult for your liking, the bow & arrow can be your trump card.
It is pretty interesting how the further we ascend up the cathedral, the more it feels like we are descending into the depths of what can only be called hell. Halfway through the game is our first and only glimpse of sunlight before the darkness engulfs everything again. Our journey across these six levels contains numerous intriguing moments. That isn’t a ton of stages, yet this lets them be highly dense in content. There is no filler or anything that causes a sense of repetition, despite the simple gameplay. The ceaseless pace at which it throws new situations, environments, and foes makes it challenging to put down. It is quite likely you’ll blow through the hour and a half it takes to beat the campaign in a single sitting.
After the campaign, the real fun begins for those who wanted a bit more challenge. Two new levels will be unlocked, bringing the total stage count to eight. These come in the form of the Animal Farm and the Laboratory. Neither offers any more story or insight on the events. They wouldn’t have been out of place if included from the beginning were it not for the high difficulty. Animal Farm, in particular, is a highlight in a game already filled with highlights. That place is a complete horror show from start to end. It is a departure from the unsettling enigma of cosmic horror and into full-blown grind-house imagery.
Well, what about the hentai? The lewd aspect of this title only occurs after being defeated. Whether you miss one of the few jumps found throughout or are slain by a foe, it will result in your character being sexually violated. That act will be shown via both your character portrait and the in-game pixel art animations in over 40 unique scenes. Most of them are rather brief, yet they are of high quality. Given the theme of this game, it should come as no surprise that a high portion of the hentai will be far removed from simple vaginal penetration. They could result in many things, whether it be a painful death, becoming pregnant to a demon pig, or something that makes the Berserk rape scene look quaint. It gets really creative in its hentai aspect, and it fits the horror theme well. That will obviously not be everyone’s cup of tea, but its inclusion is worthwhile with much to see.
Once the campaign is defeated, you receive access to a ‘Reminiscence’ level. It is essentially a gallery mode where you can freely view all of the H content. There is no need to go out of your way to die or purposely lose, as it will all be unlocked whether you’ve seen it before or not. It even allows you to zoom in, which can be hit or miss depending on the scene. The pixels become far more apparent, so some animations are better viewed from their intended distance. This brings me to the fact that there is an all-ages version of the game which removes the sexual content and costs the surprisingly low amount of $2.50 (330 Yen). That is a fantastic deal for those not into Adult titles, but according to its wording, it is missing the post-game content. I have not played that version, yet those two bonus levels are not worth giving up if that is cut alongside the Reminiscence H stage.
Sinisistar in its uncut and uncensored form remains quite the deal at $9.44 (1210 Yen). In a more surprising turn of events, it comes bundled in with a Mac version. I have no idea if that means it works on Apple’s new M1 hardware, nor have a way to test it. The last Mac-based system I owned was in the early 2000s, and it is long gone, unfortunately. It is a really cool inclusion, nonetheless. What I can tell you is that the Windows version works like a charm. I’ve experienced no issues throughout, and it outputted my monitor’s native 4K resolution when in fullscreen. It has controller support and grants us the ability to rebind the buttons to our liking. This is a competently made title in every sense of the word.
When it comes to its flaws, I can only point to the clunky feeling combat and the lack of a difficulty above Normal. It had some bite to it with the post-game bonus levels, but for the most part, it lacked challenge. Adding something simple, like having a set amount of continues to get through the entire game, would have gone a long way as a separate mode. Regardless, this was an experience I would not give up for the world. It provides the same sense of going on a well-tailored journey as a Walking Sim and has a decent enough gameplay system to make it fun. Sinisistar is the type of title you’d expect from an experienced developer, not as someone’s debut game. It is one of the highest-rated titles on Dlsite for a reason, and I fully agree with everyone else’s opinion of it. I highly recommend Sinisistar. This is a must-play for fans of everything Lovecraftian.
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