Parents' Guide to The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross

In just the first few minutes of this role-playing game adventure, it's obvious that this has been created for the more hard-core fans of the anime/manga series. From the deep roster of available characters to the wide range of cosmetic customizations to the sheer magnitude of Easter eggs waiting to be discovered, if you're a fan of the series, The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross has something that's sure to entice you to give it a go. Plus, there's no way to deny that the game's presentation is absolutely gorgeous. In many ways, it looks more like you're watching an episode of the anime than playing a game. The question is, once you look past the pandering and fluff, is there any real substance left to keep players coming back?

The main gameplay in Grand Cross is simple to a fault. Each character in your team comes with a small number of abilities that can be used to attack or combined into more powerful versions of those attacks. These Ultimate moves are often performed with lots of flourish and flair, but still leave players just going through the motions. And even though the game has a massive roster of characters to collect and use, the truth is that once you have a couple of particularly strong characters, there's never really much reason to switch out. Meanwhile, special features like the costumes and dressing rooms serve little purpose other than changing up a few cosmetics while encouraging an almost uncomfortable level of ogling, particularly for the female characters. Unfortunately, the end result is a gorgeous but repetitive mess that's mostly flash with little substance.