Mortal Sin is a recently early access first-person roguelike that blends a boomer shooter's ferocious speed with an oppressive dark fantasy world. It's bleeding with style, but it starts off quite simply: a black screen and text that reads "You have retained your sense of self. And that is my gift to you. But who are you really? If not a part of me." That question echoed in my mind from then on.
A similarly cryptic, almost threatening message greets you at the start of every new run, which is appropriate, considering how unpredictably bloodthirsty this world's cave, dungeon, and forest levels are. In underground passageways, looking up will reveal an unnatural starry skyline. In the silence, you'll hear far-off whispers. Walking a little closer will reveal that a mountain of flesh was the source of those hushed noises, flailing out of the wall with an outstretched hand. Huge, vacant eyeballs similarly bulge out of the walls, rivaling Junji Ito's impressive collection of dilated pupils.
Every static-dotted sight is obviously beautiful, but also haunting. Every sign of life is skewered and distorted. Those eyes I mentioned a moment ago, for instance, look tangentially human. Step closer though, real close, and their pupils will reveal an empty cosmic blackness. Corpses are also sewn into the walls, overlapping like a Satanic recreation of Michelangelo's Catholic paintings.