Arashi: Castles of Sin
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| Arashi: Castles of Sin | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| VR/AR | Virtual Reality |
| Developer | Endeavor One; Forward XP (Final Cut) |
| Publisher | Endeavor One (PS VR digital), Perp Games (PS VR physical), Skydance Interactive (Final Cut) |
| Platform | PlayStation VR, PlayStation VR2, Meta Quest, SteamVR |
| Device | PlayStation VR, PlayStation VR2, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest Pro, Valve Index, Oculus Rift S, HTC Vive |
| Operating System | PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Meta Horizon OS, Windows |
| Type | Game |
| Genre | Stealth, Action, Adventure |
| Input Device | PlayStation Move (PS VR), PS VR2 Sense controllers (PS VR2), Tracked Motion Controllers |
| Game Mode | Single-player |
| Release Date | 10 August 2021 (PS VR); 5 December 2023 (Final Cut) |
| Price | US$29.99 (PS VR at launch; Final Cut on Steam and Meta Horizon Store as of October 2026) |
| App Store | PlayStation Store, Meta Horizon Store, Steam |
Arashi: Castles of Sin is a first-person stealth action game for virtual reality headsets, developed by Endeavor One. Players control Kenshiro, a shinobi and the last surviving son of the noble House Arashi, who sets out to reclaim castles in feudal Japan from a group of bandits called the Six Oni of Iga, with help from his wolf companion Haru.[1][2]
The game was released as a PlayStation VR exclusive on 10 August 2021.[3][4] An updated version, Arashi: Castles of Sin - Final Cut, published by Skydance Interactive, followed on 5 December 2023 for PlayStation VR2, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest Pro and PC VR.[5][6] UploadVR gave its wolf companion its "Most Immersive Moment" award for 2021.[7]
Gameplay
The game is set in Japan at the turn of the 16th century, early in the Sengoku period.[8] Kenshiro returns from exile to take back castles held by the Six Oni of Iga. His cousin Ayane, Spymaster to the Shogun, guides him during the campaign.[1][8] Endeavor One described the game as a "stealth-action sandbox": the player can fight openly, move through light and shadow to avoid detection, or distract guards.[1] According to the studio's co-founder Tom Doyle, a pacifist run in which Kenshiro reaches his goals without killing anyone is also possible.[8]
The player can scale rooftops and climb to strike from above.[2] The arsenal includes a katana and tanto, shuriken, a bow and arrows, grenades and a grappling hook that is used both for traversal and in combat.[4] In its review, UploadVR also listed mines and poisoned onigiri that guards eat when they find them. Long grass hides the player, enemies can be highlighted with a button press, and defeated enemies' bodies disappear.[9] Haru can be ordered to attack or distract enemies, and between missions the player can pet the wolf and play fetch with her.[9] The campaign includes boss battles against the Oni, each with its own combat style.[5]
The original PS VR version requires the PlayStation Camera and a PlayStation Move controller, and supports two Move controllers.[10] UploadVR counted five long levels that took about four to five hours in total.[9]
Development
Endeavor One is based in Seattle and had worked in virtual, mixed and augmented reality for about seven years before Arashi. Its earlier projects included Halo: Recruit for Windows Mixed Reality and Dome of the Dead, a four-player cooperative shooter made in 2019 for Vulcan's HoloDome.[8] Doyle, who spent almost twelve years at Bungie and was a lead artist on Destiny and Destiny 2, told GeekWire that Arashi was the studio's first "capital-G game". It was made by a 30-person team in Unity over about two years, with support from Unity's Seattle office. The team included veterans of the Halo and Destiny series and people who had worked on Microsoft's HoloLens and AR projects.[8] Doyle described the game as a "combat sandbox" designed to take seven to nine hours to play.[8] In Meta's 2023 launch post for the Final Cut he said the team "always wanted to tell an original story and do a tribute to the Chambara genre of films".[6]
The swordsman Russell McCartney performed the motion capture for the human opponents. Because a wolf cannot be motion captured, the team recorded German shepherds with Beyond Capture, a Canadian partner, and its animation and art staff visited the wolf sanctuary Predators of the Heart near Anacortes, Washington, for reference.[8]
Release
Endeavor One announced the game on the PlayStation Blog on 3 June 2021 with a summer 2021 release window.[1][11] On 11 June 2021 the London-based publisher Perp Games announced that it would release a physical boxed edition.[12][8] The digital version launched on 10 August 2021 at US$30, and the physical edition followed worldwide on 3 September 2021.[4] The game runs on PlayStation 4 and on PlayStation 5 through backward compatibility.[3] The PlayStation Store lists Endeavor One as the publisher of the digital release.[10]
Final Cut
Arashi: Castles of Sin - Final Cut was announced during UploadVR's Summer Showcase in June 2023 for a fall 2023 release on PC VR, PlayStation VR2, Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3.[13][14] Meta's announcement listed enhanced visuals, updated enemy and boss behavior, revamped controls and other quality-of-life changes.[15] In September 2023 a release date of 16 November 2023 was set for PS VR2, PC VR and Quest 2, with the Quest 3 version to follow.[16] On 12 October 2023 the launch was delayed to 5 December 2023 on all platforms, including Quest 3.[5]
The Final Cut was developed by Endeavor One with Forward XP and published by Skydance Interactive.[6][17] According to Meta's launch post, it added a new inventory system in which weapons are assigned to slots on the player's body, a distinct mechanic for each boss, a new tutorial, and post-processing effects such as bloom on Quest 3.[6] Players choose a loadout before each mission.[17] The Steam version lists support for OpenXR, Oculus Rift S, Meta Quest 2, Valve Index and HTC Vive headsets, and nine languages, with full audio in Japanese.[17]
| Version | Platform | Release date | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | PlayStation VR (PS4; PS5 via backward compatibility) | 10 August 2021 (digital); 3 September 2021 (physical)[4] | Endeavor One (digital), Perp Games (physical)[10][12] |
| Final Cut | PlayStation VR2 (PS5) | 5 December 2023[5] | Skydance Interactive[18] |
| Final Cut | Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest Pro | 5 December 2023[6] | Skydance Interactive[6] |
| Final Cut | PC VR (Steam) | 5 December 2023[17] | Skydance Interactive[17] |
As of October 2026 the Final Cut is listed at US$29.99 on Steam and on the Meta Horizon Store.[17][19]
Reception
In its review of the PS VR version, UploadVR rated the game "Good". Jamie Feltham praised the open level design, with multiple routes through each area, and the hand-drawn cutscenes and art direction, and called it "a rare VR game that gives you genuine choice in deciding how to get from A to B". He criticized the forgiving stealth rules, "spotty" enemy AI, bugs and "messy" sword combat, in which enemies often stepped forward and bypassed the player's block.[9] Eurogamer's Ian Higton, in a "VR Corner" gameplay video feature, called it "as close to a VR version of Tenchu: Stealth Assassins as you can get".[20] UploadVR later gave Haru its "Most Immersive Moment" award for 2021, calling the wolf "the absolute best, most thoughtful realization of a virtual animal yet seen".[7]
Neither version has a Metascore; as of October 2026 each Metacritic page lists three critic reviews, one short of the four needed for a score.[21][22]
Previewing the Final Cut on PS VR2 at Gamescom 2023, UploadVR's Harry Baker noted better textures, a more detailed Haru and longer, more aggressive boss fights, but said menus still relied on a head-locked reticle instead of the headset's eye tracking.[23] PlayStation Universe's Mark Kriska scored the PS VR2 version 8.5/10 and liked the story and the mix of stealth, swordplay and gadgets, though he wrote that its PS4-era origins held it back.[24] Metacritic records 62 from Video Chums and 60 from Push Square, whose review cited dated visuals, weak AI and technical issues.[22] Reviewing the PC VR version for Screen Rant, Ben Brosofsky liked the equipment and boss designs but criticized the controls, samey level layouts, unchanging enemy types and an anticlimactic story, concluding that the game "feels like a first draft, not a final cut".[25]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Tom Doyle (2021-06-03). "Become a ninja in PS VR stealth-action sandbox game Arashi: Castles of Sin". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/2021/06/03/become-a-ninja-in-ps-vr-stealth-action-sandbox-game-arashi-castles-of-sin/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sal Romano (2021-08-09). "Arashi: Castles of Sin launches August 10". Gematsu. https://www.gematsu.com/2021/08/arashi-castles-of-sin-launches-august-10. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jamie Feltham (2021-08-09). "PSVR Exclusive Arashi: Castles Of Sin Launches Tomorrow". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/arashi-castles-of-sin-release-date/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Ben Lang (2021-08-10). "Stealth-action Game 'Arashi: Castles of Sin' Launches Today on PSVR". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/arashi-castles-of-sin-psvr-launch-endeavor-one/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Rainier (2023-10-12). "'Arashi: Castles Of Sin - Final Cut' Gets Delayed, Now Coming to PS VR2, PC VR And Meta Quest In December". Worthplaying. https://worthplaying.com/article/2023/10/12/news/139347-arashi-castles-of-sin-final-cut-gets-delayed-now-coming-to-ps-vr2-pc-vr-and-meta-quest-in-december/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "Become a Ninja Assassin in 'Arashi: Castles of Sin - Final Cut,' Out Now". Meta. Meta Platforms. 2023-12-05. https://www.meta.com/blog/arashi-castles-sin-final-cut-launch-endeavor-one-forward-xp/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Jamie Feltham (2021-12-23). "UploadVR's Best Of 2021 Awards - Winners". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/uploadvr-best-of-2021-winners/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Thomas Wilde (2021-07-18). "How Endeavor One used an expert swordsman and dogs to create VR game 'Arashi: Castles of Sin'". GeekWire. https://www.geekwire.com/2021/endeavor-one-used-expert-swordsman-dogs-create-vr-game-arashi-castles-sin/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Jamie Feltham (2021-08-10). "Arashi: Castles Of Sin Review - Fun, Forgiving VR Stealth". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/arashi-castles-of-sin-review/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Arashi: Castles of Sin". PlayStation. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/arashi-castles-of-sin/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2021-06-03). "'Arashi: Castles of Sin' Brings First-person Ninja Combat to PSVR This Summer, Trailer Here". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/arashi-castles-sin-psvr-announcement/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Arashi: Castles of Sin Coming to Physical Retail". Perp Games. 2021-06-11. https://perpgames.com/2021/06/11/arashi-castles-of-sin-coming-to-physical-retail/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2023-06-15). "Stealth-action Game 'Arashi: Castles of Sin' Coming to All Major VR Headsets This Fall in 'Final Cut'". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/arashi-castles-sin-final-cut-quest-3-psvr-2-steam/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ Henry Stockdale (2023-06-14). "Arashi: Castles of Sin - Final Cut Sneaks Onto PC VR, PSVR 2 & Quest This Fall". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/arashi-castles-of-sin-final-cut-remaster/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ "'Arashi: Castles of Sin - Final Cut' to Bring the Award-Winning Stealth-Action VR Game to Meta Quest 2 + 3 This Fall". Meta. Meta Platforms. 2023-06-14. https://www.meta.com/blog/arashi-castles-sin-final-cut-stealth-action-vr-game-skydance-interactive/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ "'Arashi: Castles Of Sin - Final Cut' Comes to PS VR2, PC VR And Meta Quest 2 In November, Quest 3 To Follow - Trailer". Worthplaying. 2023-09-13. https://worthplaying.com/article/2023/9/13/news/138904-arashi-castles-of-sin-final-cut-comes-to-ps-vr2-pc-vr-and-meta-quest-2-in-november-quest-3-to-follow-trailer/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 "Arashi: Castles of Sin - Final Cut". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2434420/Arashi_Castles_of_Sin__Final_Cut/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ "Arashi: Castles of Sin: Final Cut". PlayStation Store. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/concept/10007927/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ "Arashi: Castles of Sin - Final Cut on Meta Quest". Meta Horizon Store. Meta Platforms. https://www.meta.com/experiences/arashi-castles-of-sin-final-cut/6574695042540825/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ Ian Higton (2021-08-15). "Arashi: Castles of Sin is as close to a VR version of Tenchu: Stealth Assassins as you can get". Eurogamer. https://www.eurogamer.net/arashi-castles-of-sin-is-as-close-to-a-vr-version-of-tenchu-stealth-assassins-as-you-can-get. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ "Arashi: Castles of Sin". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/arashi-castles-of-sin/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Arashi: Castles of Sin - Final Cut". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/arashi-castles-of-sin-final-cut/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ Harry Baker (2023-09-02). "Arashi: Final Cut - An Entertaining Upgrade Marred By Last-Gen Hangovers". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/arashi-final-cut-impressions/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ Mark Kriska (2023-12-11). "Arashi: Castle of Sin - Final Cut Review (PSVR2) - A VR Ghost Of Tsushima Experience". PlayStation Universe. https://www.psu.com/reviews/arashi-castle-of-sin-final-cut-review-psvr2-ps5/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ Ben Brosofsky (2023-12-15). ""A First Draft, Not A Final Cut" - Arashi: Castles of Sin - Final Cut Review". Screen Rant. https://screenrant.com/arashi-castles-sin-final-cut-pcvr-review/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.