Sacred Citadel was developed by Southend Interactive and published by Deep Silver. It was released April 17, 2013 for 1200 MSP. A copy, including the Jungle Hunt downloadable content, was provided for review purposes.

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The recently independent studio Southend Interactive is no stranger to XBLA. Previous games include the cute puzzler ilomilo—a favorite among many players—along with new takes on old classics like R-Type Dimensions and Tecmo Bowl Throwback. Southend’s newest game, Sacred Citadel, puts a twist on the RPG franchise Sacred, trading in the point-and-click action for side-scrolling brawling reminiscent of Golden Axe and the great Dungeons & Dragons: Shadows Over Mystara. While it may not have the lasting impact of those titles, it’s more than capable of hanging with that crowd.

In Sacred Citadel, the world of Ancaria is threatened by Lord Zane’s quest to destroy the peaceful Seraphim. Players will stand against Zane’s evil Grimmoc army by taking control of one of four heroes: the Seraphim Mage, Safiri Warrior, Ancarian Ranger or the Khukuri Shaman. Throughout four acts (five with the Jungle Hunt DLC), the heroes will gain experience, level up and find new weapons and armor to further their quest towards victory. Players can experience all of this through a single player or three player co-op campaign. Get your button-mashing thumb ready because Sacred Citadel is going to put it to the test.

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Here’s what we liked:

Come for the action, stay for the view – The first thing you’ll notice—besides the dubstep inspired main menu music—is the wonderful art direction in Sacred Citadel. The cel shaded-esque art style lends the game a fun, almost cartoonish look, making each of the four characters visually unique and impressive. The art also goes a long way towards creating the engaging and diverse world of Ancaria, ranging from dark mines, vibrant outdoor areas and snowy mountain tops. Combining the great visuals with smooth animation makes the game a real joy to behold.

Loot, loot and more loot – Southend maintains the spirit of previous Sacred games through random loot drops in the form of weapons, armor, crystals and potions. Weapons offer different levels and types of damage, such as fire, ice and electricity. Armor modifies the overall amount of protection plus bonuses towards defending against magic and physical attacks. Crystals can be equipped to offer temporary attribute bonuses. Potions replenish character health, increase damage or fill the power attack meter. New gear can be equipped with the simple press of a button. Standing over the new equipment displays a comparison screen letting players quickly decide if it’s better than their current gear and get back to the action in no time. Loot collected throughout the game can be accessed between levels at the town’s blacksmith, so there is no need to worry about losing a weapon or armor when trying out new ones.

The townsfolk – Within each of the four main acts, players can visit a town to prepare before heading into the next battle. In town, merchants sell crystals, potions and new weapons and armor, or talk to the blacksmith to access any gear found in previous levels. Of course, don’t forget to put the hero’s skills to the test by placing a bet with the bookkeeper to activate one of three special challenges available in every level: time attack, score attack, or make it through a level without dying. Beat the challenge and earn a little extra spending gold. This is perfect for players looking to add a little extra difficulty to the game.

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Here’s what we didn’t like:

Day one DLC – When a new game offers downloadable content the day it’s released, pause is given. Unfortunately, Sacred Citadel’s day one Jungle Hunt DLC feels a little shady. For 400 MSP, a fifth act set in a new area is added to the game along with three bonus levels accessed through previous acts. In any other circumstance, the content on offer is a great addition to an already fun game, but the problem lies in this fifth act feeling as if it was left out of the game on purpose. It’s more value withholding than value adding. Perhaps it was left out because they needed to hit a 1200 MSP price or it simply wasn’t ready in time to be submitted with the rest of the game for certification. Whatever the reason, it’s a shame people lacking the DLC will miss out on one of the most visually interesting environments of Sacred Citadel and, it could be argued, the real ending to the game.

Different in name alone – Sacred Citadel offers four playable characters, each with unique abilities. This is technically true. However, once you’ve played through the game as one character, there is very little incentive to play through as another because they don’t feel all that different. Every character has the same unlockable combos and ability to duel wield every type of weapon. The only real differences are the power attacks available to each hero and their secondary weapons, but those alone don’t warrant enough excitement to level up every character. With that said, whatever hero you choose will be a blast to play, although we found the Ranger to offer the most fun.

Have we met before? – Even though the art style is one of the defining characteristics of the game, it’s disappointing to realize enemy models are frequently reused throughout the five acts. Each enemy is reskinned depending on the area it’s in but attacks and tactics remain the same. The recycling of enemy assists even extends into the boss battles where several are just scaled up versions of regular enemies. Combat becomes very tedious once the same model has been seen for the third or fourth time. This is in no way a deal breaker, and only stands out because the game invites so much attention to be paid towards its heroes, environments, and enemies.

Clueless mobs – Besides textures, enemies share another unfortunate characteristic. They’re dumb as a rock. Multiple times, enemy mobs had trouble navigating around objects in the environment, so they would walk in place until hit or otherwise forced to change course. Other times, the enemy would stand there waiting to get hit. This led to several unsatisfying combat encounters—the lifeblood of any side-scrolling arcade brawler.

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Sacred Citadel is a visually-inspired, side-scrolling arcade brawler with some RPG elements and loot gathering thrown in for good measure. While combat generally remains satisfying thanks to combo attacks unlocked through leveling up, it can become repetitive due to the overuse of the same enemy types. Enemies becoming stuck on the environment or looking on helplessly as they are slaughtered also adds to the games overall combat issues. With that said, Sacred Citadel is still a ton of fun, especially with a friend or two. However, it will appeal much more to fans of the beat-em-up genre than those of RPGs. It’s very much a “If you like this type of game, then you’ll love this” type of game. The Jungle Hunt DLC is worthwhile, but not required if you’re looking to just spend several hours tearing through hordes of monsters and not follow the overarching story of the game

 Score: Try it