Sega announced at TGS 2021 a brand new free-to-play, mobile dark fantasy JRPG,Sin Chronicle, with details on its story, characters, cast, and gameplay - moreover, the game’s concept and how it’s not reliant on gacha systems were also explained.
The release date in Japan ofSin Chorniclewas also announced. The Tokyo Game Show 2021 presentation featuredSin Chroniclegeneral director Jun Matsunaga and several cast members: Honoka Kuroki, Ban Taito, Aoi Yuki, and Shiori Izawa.
Keep in mindSin Chroniclewas not announced outside Japan yet, so all the story terms might be localized officially in a different way than in my translations.
Sin Chroniclestory and Ultimate Choice gameplay concept
Sin Chronicleis developed by theChain Chronicleteam, and Jun Matsunaga also worked onChainChronicle, and the arcade card gamesSengoku TaisenandSangokushi Taisen.
However,Sin Chronicleis brand new game and not a sequel toChain Chronicle. It has new characters, stories, and game systems.Sin Chronicleis set in the world of Heldra, which is believed to be doomed to be destroyed one day. At the center of the world is a giant abyss, the Naraku, from which monsters are endlessly spilling out, for thousands of years now. This is called the Corrosion.
To protect themselves from the Corrosion, Humanity built giant walls around the Naraku to create a Boundary, which is protected by the Boundary Knights. Aoi Yuki jokingly mentioned the word “hell” is in Heldra so you can really tell their world is on the brink of despair.
Sin Chronicle’s concept is “You decide your destiny, you only have one chance to make your choices and there’s no turning back. That’s what make a story truly memorable.”
General director Jun Matsunaga explained each chapter ofSin Chronicleis around ten hours long of gameplay.And at the end of every chapter, there is an Ultimate Choice to make.This choice is definitive and will permanently change not only the rest of the story, but also your party members.
Moreover, your current party of characters when making the Ultimate Choice will also affect what happens. So even if two players pick the same choices, the results will be different if their party is different.
Sin Chronicle- Protagonist and Mascot, cast first details
All the playable characters, including the protagonist ofSin Chronicle, are part of the Boundary Knights.
The male protagonist of Sin Chronicleis voiced by Ban Taito.At the moment no female protagonist version was confirmed. The protagonist is a young, new recruit in the Boundary Knights. Even new recruits are sent to the front lines.
During his first battle, he finds a mysterious book, the Chronicle. The spirit sealed within, Myutos, saves him and help him turn the tide of the battle. Thanks to his newfound powers and achievements, the protagonist is appointed as the captain of a new Exploration Division tasked to conquer the Naraku.
Myutos is voiced by Shiori Izawa.Myutos isn’t human, it’s a mysterious Spirit that was sealed in the Chronicle. Myutos recognizes the protagonist, who removed the seal, as its partner, and blesses him with power. Boundary Knights each have a Spirit’s blessing, but Myutos is much stronger than all the others, and calls itself a Great Spirit.
Next we have the two Main Heroines ofSin Chronicle. As a reminder, Heroines in Japanese games are characters different than the protagonist role. They who are pivotal to the main story, and might get in a romantic relationship with the protagonist, but it’s definitely not a requirement. There are also many games with male or even non-human characters in the Heroine role, such as in theSuper Robot Warsseries.
Sin Chronicle- Heroines
First, we have Sera, voiced by Aoi Yuki.Her concept is:“the girl who pierces through this twisted world with her own justice.” Sera was initially part of another corps of Boundary Knights in the North, but has just transferred to the South corps. (They didn’t explain that but I assume it’s the directions of the walls surrounding the Naraku).
Sera joins the protagonist after their meeting when fighting during the Corrosion. However, she seems to be an old acquaintance of the protagonist.
Next, we have Chloe, who is also voiced by Aoi Yuki.Her concept is: “the girl who pursues her ideals in a twisted world”. Chloe meets the protagonist at the beginning of the game, inside the Naraku. However, she’s amnesic and only remembers her name. Moreover, it seems Chloe’s past is linked to the Chronicle, the mysterious book the protagonist found.
Next, director Jun Matsunaga explained players will be forced to choose between either Sera or Chloe. Shiori Izawa and Aoi Yuuki jokingly mentioned “you need to pick between the sexy girl Sera or the cute girl Chloe”. They also pointed out how their character design complement each other.
Aoi Yuki also jokingly mentioned she’s a greedy seiyuu who dcided to voice both characters. It’s very likely Sega decided to give the same seiyuu to both Heroines since we can only chose one. That way the seiyuu factor doesn’t get in the equation.
Party members, Guest characters
Maaya, voiced by Honoka Kuroki.Maaya is from a a tribe living on an island, but wanted to travel the world and got into the Knights. At the 24:38 timestamp below, we got to see some story gameplay, a Camp Scene Event with Maaya. It’s still in development, and this might be voiced in the final game. They never specified ifSin Chronicleis full voice or not for now.
Camp Scene Events are different depending on your party members are. These aren’t random, they trigger or not depending on who you’re talking with, and who you have on your Party.
The relationship between the characters can change too and affect the Ultimate Choice. For example, director Matsunaga explained if Sera is on board with a certain Ultimate Choice, and if her relationship with Maaya is high enough, then Maaya will agree with her. So if you pick that choice, these two will support you and I assume this means they’ll stay in your party.
Moreover, each chapter ofSin Chroniclewill also have some Guest Characters. These two are the Guest Characters of Chapter 1. We have Gunther voiced by Yuichi Nakamura, a veteran Knight nicknamed The Reaper. And Anne, voiced by Kana Hanazawa, a young girl who lost her mother and became a Knight.
Note that they’re both part of the XVI Division, while the protagonist is the captain of the newly formed XVII Division. Depending on the player’s choices, they can become permanent party members. and join the XVII Division of the Boundary Knights.
Note that you could also hear veteran seiyuu Hikaru Midorikawa in one of the cutscenes, voicing a Knights leader. It looks likeSin Chroniclewill have a top star cast of seiyuu. Last but not least, the main character designer ofSin Chroniclewas announced to be N.P.A, who was the artist ofChain Chronicle.
Sin Chroniclebattle system, 10 minutes of gameplay
Some live gameplay played by Ban Taito was shown starting the 29:37 timestamp of the stream, till 41:32.
We can see thatSin Chronicleshas a Stamina System like nearly every mobile game. You have 3 Front party members, and three Sub Party members. Stage exploration is in 3D, with an Attack button and a Dash button. Once you attack enemies, you move to the battle system, which is 3D turn-based with placement. It’s very similar to theKiseki/Trailsseries.
Director Jun Matsunaga explained your characters level up inSin Chronicleby fighting monsters. There are no EXP tickets / crystals like in other mobile gacha games. You get EXP normally like in any traditional console RPG. This is also how you get new weapons and equipment.
Each time you explore a stage, the treasure chests you find are randomized, and by redoing stages you can get better rewards.WhileSin Chroniclewas confirmed to use micro-transactions, you don’t get new weapons or equips from the gacha.
The battle system also has a Chain system, the more you hit enemies in a row, the more damage you deal. You can also see a boss battle at the36:44 timestamp.
Sin ChronicleOST, release date in Japan, platforms, Beta Test
The OST ofSin Chronicleis composed by Kevin Penkin, who handled the OST of theMade in Abyssanime. Moreover there are several guest composers, who handled the Climax BGM after each Ultimate Choice.
The thing is, you will hear a different Climax BGM depending on the Ultimate Choice you pick, so you’ll always hear only one of the two BGMs possible at the end of each chapter.
For now, the composers revealed are: Kenji Ito and Masashi Hamauzu. Yoko Shimomura and Masato Kouda. Yasunori Mitsuda and Yuzo Koshiro. All huge names, and you can tell Sea put a lot of money on the table.
You canregisterfor the Beta Test ofSin Chroniclefrom October 1 to October 7. Lastly,Sin Chroniclewas confirmed to release in Japan on iOS and Android on December 15. Personally, I’ll definitely try out the game and it’s by far the biggest and best surprise of TGS 2021. Sega was overly confident with thefirst teaser trailer of the game, and they were right.Sin Chroniclelooks incredible and I hope it delivers. You can always share your impressions with me on Twitter@A_iyane07.
