 |
Pardon the dust! This page includes some jargon that hasn't been added to the site's glossary yet. I'll be around to fix this later, but sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime. |
Review: SANCTUARY
At a Glance
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
How to Save and Pause:Your progress is automatically saved at the end of each night. However, there doesn't seem to be a way to pause - and your muscle memory will betray you, as pressing ESC instantly closes the game. Time needed per session:The entire game can be completed in less than an hour - or less than half an hour, if you're not bothering to read any dialogue. If you need to be more precise, give yourself at least fifteen minutes to clear a night.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Does this game pose issues for Christian players?
 | No - this is a great game for Christians This is an explicitly Christian game, so there never was a chance of it containing offensive material - in fact, it does exactly the opposite by dropping some important reminders about our Faith! |
Screenshots
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/sanctuary_0.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/sanctuary_1.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/sanctuary_2.jpg)
Game Overview
SANCTUARY is a Bible-themed trivia game (of sorts) that takes some inspiration from several popular games, noteably Five Nights at Freddy's - just like that game, you're facing five nights dangerous nights trapped in a locked building. But you're not a security guard this time: you're just some poor soul who's down on his luck and needs a place to stay for a while.
Fortunately for you, the pastor of the Mapleland Dwelling Place is willing to let you stay at his church until you're able to support yourself again. Thing is, something about this church feels off, and during the first night, you'll discover why - despite being a House of God, the place is infested with actual demons!
In order to protect yourself, you'll need to use the Word of God and drive away the monsters lurking throughout the defiled church.
That leads us into the game itself: it combines point and click adventure mechanics with a trivia game. To move around or interact with things, you'll need to click on doors, arrows, or anything that looks interesting. Most of the time, you're specifically looking for small distortions that indicate the presence of a demon, and you'll need to move quickly, as you still need to leave yourself enough time to sleep before morning (6:00 AM).
The trivia portion of this game comes in as the mechanic behind the battles. In each step of a battle, you're given a verse from the Bible that's missing a word or two. Your task is to select the missing word from the provided options. Taking too long to make a selection or selecting the wrong word will lower your Faith meter, and if it reaches zero, the game is over.
Since they're mainly there to waste your precious time, normal demons are pretty easy to beat. They usually go down in just two or three verses, and don't pose much of a threat. A much more dangerous enemy, the sin-ninja or "sinja", appears later on. Unlike the other demons, they'll engage you the moment you enter the room they're in, and if you don't pick the right answer in time or block their attack, it's an instant game over. On the plus side, they have no stamina to speak of, and are always defeated with one correct answer.
Once every minor demon has been dealt with, the night's boss will be waiting for you in the sanctuary. Based on the Seven Deadly Sins, they all feature their own spin on the battle mechanics and pose a serious threat. They can prevent you from selecting answers, obscure the screen, or even just straight up deal damage if you don't block their attacks in time.
Obviously, being able to block attacks is a crucial ability to master, but it's not something you can actually do by default. In order to be able to block attacks, you'll need to locate the Shield of Faith. It, like the rest of the Armor of God, is hidden somewhere in the church. Each piece of the Armor of God grants you a special ability, so be sure to look for them. You'll need the complete set to overcome everything that the demons are going to throw at you.
All in all, I'd say this game is entertaining enough to make it worth playing through even if you're not really interested in its religious aspect. And if you like what you see, there are also a bunch of additional secrets waiting in the wings to be discovered, such as several tricky achievements and a very difficult hidden boss.
Fortunately for you, the pastor of the Mapleland Dwelling Place is willing to let you stay at his church until you're able to support yourself again. Thing is, something about this church feels off, and during the first night, you'll discover why - despite being a House of God, the place is infested with actual demons!
In order to protect yourself, you'll need to use the Word of God and drive away the monsters lurking throughout the defiled church.
That leads us into the game itself: it combines point and click adventure mechanics with a trivia game. To move around or interact with things, you'll need to click on doors, arrows, or anything that looks interesting. Most of the time, you're specifically looking for small distortions that indicate the presence of a demon, and you'll need to move quickly, as you still need to leave yourself enough time to sleep before morning (6:00 AM).
The trivia portion of this game comes in as the mechanic behind the battles. In each step of a battle, you're given a verse from the Bible that's missing a word or two. Your task is to select the missing word from the provided options. Taking too long to make a selection or selecting the wrong word will lower your Faith meter, and if it reaches zero, the game is over.
Since they're mainly there to waste your precious time, normal demons are pretty easy to beat. They usually go down in just two or three verses, and don't pose much of a threat. A much more dangerous enemy, the sin-ninja or "sinja", appears later on. Unlike the other demons, they'll engage you the moment you enter the room they're in, and if you don't pick the right answer in time or block their attack, it's an instant game over. On the plus side, they have no stamina to speak of, and are always defeated with one correct answer.
Once every minor demon has been dealt with, the night's boss will be waiting for you in the sanctuary. Based on the Seven Deadly Sins, they all feature their own spin on the battle mechanics and pose a serious threat. They can prevent you from selecting answers, obscure the screen, or even just straight up deal damage if you don't block their attacks in time.
Obviously, being able to block attacks is a crucial ability to master, but it's not something you can actually do by default. In order to be able to block attacks, you'll need to locate the Shield of Faith. It, like the rest of the Armor of God, is hidden somewhere in the church. Each piece of the Armor of God grants you a special ability, so be sure to look for them. You'll need the complete set to overcome everything that the demons are going to throw at you.
All in all, I'd say this game is entertaining enough to make it worth playing through even if you're not really interested in its religious aspect. And if you like what you see, there are also a bunch of additional secrets waiting in the wings to be discovered, such as several tricky achievements and a very difficult hidden boss.
Points of Interest
Four Endings
Excluding the game over screen, there are four unique ways this game's story can pan out. Getting the best ending requires a little forsight and a good deal of effort, but what good is a game without a little challenge?
Should you have trouble finding the path to the best ending, listen to what Pride has to say - he drops a few hints while monologing.
Should you have trouble finding the path to the best ending, listen to what Pride has to say - he drops a few hints while monologing.
Scripture based, but not required
Knowing your Scripture does make this game easier - as you'd expect from a trivia game - but it's not required. Most of the answers are fairly obvious, and it's fair to say that this game tests your reflexes more than your brain. Of course, if you acquire the Belt of Truth, you'll never need to read another word in order to win every battle - the correct answers are highlighted.
Achievements
Although this game isn't on Steam, it does offer a total of 22 achievements for players to earn as they try to salvage what's left of Mapleland Dwelling Place. While a few of these are earned by completing certain milestones in the story, most are going to requre some effort and a willingness to get awfully close to a game over. A few even challenge the player to deliberately handicap themselves during a playthrough.
Concerns and Issues
Demons, naturally
Let's be honest here: who else would star as the villains in a Christian game? Fortunately, everything is very family friendly, with the typical demons looking like scary hands or ninjas. None of the bosses look evil or frightening either.
Minor gross humor
As the bosses are based on the Seven Deadly Sins, one of them is themed after Gluttony. If you manage to play your cards badly enough, he'll get a bit sick and presumably throw up on you (though this last part is not shown). Lust can also be considered to be a little disturbing, as he's depicted as a hairy middle aged cupid.
Everyone wins.
After defeating the last boss, you're allowed to explore Mapleland Dwelling Place during the daylight hours. All of the Deadly Seven are still present, but now that they've been defeated, they are remorseful and broken hearted. You see, they were originally the church Elders, but slowly they turned astray and let themselves fall into sin. Stripped of their power, they've hit rock bottom and could use a little help getting back up.
So it seems you arrived here for a reason, after all.
So it seems you arrived here for a reason, after all.
Cameo by the Devil
Should you complete the requirements to unlock the path to the best ending, you'll gain entry to a hidden location in the sanctuary where the game's true final boss, the Devil himself, waits for you. Like the other bosses, his battle changes from the typical formula - you must answer every single trivia question in the game in a single attempt with a very strict 9 second limit per question. You'll also instantly lose if you make even a single mistake. Even with the Belt of Truth, it's much harder than it sounds.
But this also makes a very important point - in reality, the Devil both knows and can use our Scripture when it suits his purposes.
But this also makes a very important point - in reality, the Devil both knows and can use our Scripture when it suits his purposes.