Soul Sacrifice Delta is an updated version of the original 2013 release, boasting a number of new features and content. The original game is still largely intact, so if you are unfamiliar with Soul Sacrifice you may find it useful to check out my original review here. Thankfully, a good amount of the new content and features are available quite early on for players to enjoy, which those transferring a save from the original will appreciate as the transfer process reverts you to level one. A good amount of content does transfer to the new game, including spells and sigils so players of the original will still find it very helpful to transfer their save. It should be noted that some transferred sigils will not be available until the player gets back up to a certain level.

The primary new feature, which also ties in to the new story content, is the ability for players to choose a faction. Two of these, the Avalon and Sanctuarium, are based around sacrificing and saving monsters respectively and were referenced in the original game and its DLC. New to Delta is a third neutral faction, Grim, that leaves monsters to their fate, choosing not to get involved in the affairs of gods, as the first member you encounter explains. New secondary story sequences have been added so that players can gain a deeper insight into this new faction. As far as gameplay goes, this adds a third fate option in addition to sacrificing and saving, which increases both light and dark levels equally.

What’s nice about this new faction option is it changes a key element of gameplay to make it easier to stick to the faction of your choice. In the original game, sacrificing a monster restored spell uses, while saving a monster restored health. Since restoring spell uses was critical in longer fights, players would often need to sacrifice monsters to restore spell uses even if they were trying to stick to leveling up their light side. Now, whichever option most represents your faction of choice is the one that will restore spell uses, making leveling much easier to manage. The only annoying side of the new change is the first chapters of the Grim and Sanctuarium side stories must be completed before these factions can be selected. It’s a relatively minor issue, but will be frustrating for veteran players that just want to pick a faction and quickly jump towards more challenging content.

Though the core gameplay remains largely the same, the ability to combine certain spells together has been added, which creates a bit of depth not present in the original. For example, the player can unleash an elemental spell and then follow it up with a non-elemental weapon spell to imbue it with the element of the first spell. In addition, players can now use support spells while other spells are still active. It’s a nice little change, though it would have been nicer if more spells were added that could take advantage of the combining feature. Still, veteran players should enjoy looking for all the possible combinations.

Soul Sacrifice Delta is a very nice update to the original. The new content should give veteran players plenty to enjoy for a long time to come, and make for a definitive version for new players to start with. The story is as interesting as ever and the additional side chapters make for a nice addition. New features like a spell logbook that show players all the spells they’ve discovered and where they can get them further improve the already stellar interface. The core gameplay tweaks make Soul Sacrifice Delta easier to play, but as I stated in my original review, there’s still a lot that needs to be done to turn the Soul Sacrifice formula into more than just a pretender to Monster Hunter’s crown. This definitive update is a step in the right direction, and hopefully a sequel follow to deliver on the full potential of Soul Sacrifice.