Death’s Door Review
Souls-like games have never really been my thing. I get the appeal, I get the massive success, and I get the ever-looming uphill battle that players strive to perfect. This weird merry go round of emotions often times leaves me frustrated than not and giving up on seeing the journey through opting for something more reachable. Death’s Door landed in the perfect middle ground that blends so many aspects beautifully without trying to be the next hardest game out there. I know we’re a few years late, but after recently finishing my Death’s Door playthrough in roughly 12 hours, let’s dive into our review!
Death’s Door is truly something special that I feel people are more likely than not to have at least heard of. From its unique art style that immediately harkens back to a Studio Ghibli film twisted with something from Alice in Wonderland, the world and its visual appeal are eye-grabbing. You take control over our little crow, who works an office job at a soul-collecting agency… no, literally, he clocks in at a traditional office setting and gets assigned souls that are ready to pass over to the other side. However, on your daily task, your soul gets stuck behind Death's Door, unable to be claimed, leaving you in a sort of limbo and vulnerable to the passage of time yourself. You’re eventually met by an older crow, who explains that you must collect three large souls to finish opening the door and sending your original task to the afterlife. While dealing with heavy tones and large parts of the world being monotone and shadowed, it never hinders letting the actual game shine.
Working at a soul collecting agency comes with all your typical office assets
The world of Death’s Door makes itself out to be larger than it appears; the large overlooking architecture makes the smaller, somewhat puzzle-box-designed areas fit together seamlessly. This works super well considering there is not even the slightest representation of a map to be found. Instead, use landmarks or crudely drawn signs to somewhat point you in your next direction as you hunt down a very small but diverse cast of mysterious bosses. This limited cast leads to only having three main zones outside of the overworld, and while that may seem like a laughable amount, each zone is distinctly different visually and overall. Each is a carefully curated play area rich with secrets, shortcuts, and puzzles.
Being a reaper of souls, our little crow has a short but trusty sword as his main weapon, along with a ghostly bow and arrow set. While there are four other weapons you can find, it mostly comes down to personal preference. The Thunder Hammer While slower and harder hitting may be better for those of you who like to take things more methodical, I found myself using the rapid swinging Rogue Daggers for most of my playthrough. Weapons don’t have their own skill set or special abilities; your choice comes down to the speed and rhythm you want your attacks to land at. Where you do get a little more customization is your different spells. As mentioned, you have a bow and arrow to start with but can learn new moves like a fireball or even a grappling hook. These are on a set count for uses you have that can be replenished by landing melee hits. No relying on a constant, slow-burning fire spell here!
Color still manages to burst through and otherwise dreary world
Death’s Door, at a glance, does an expert job at balancing difficulty and player skill level. There were a few harder rooms I got stuck in, but I never felt like I was being punished for a lack of investment. Combat being simplified and upgrades being purely small stat increases mentally made every challenge feel like it was within my grasp. It was never a case of not having the right item or upgrade available. The world being on such a small scale also makes running back to a room you failed on much less deteriorating and easier to get back to your next attempt.
By now, I feel everyone who wanted to experience Death’s Door has seen it through; it’s been two years, and after rolling credits, I was more upset with myself for waiting this long to finally play. While it may be a little while before the next release from Acid Nerve, Death’s Door has firmly cemented itself as one of this generation's finest and most solid indie games. We here at BadlandsBacklog give Death’s Door an 8/10. For more content from us, you can find more reviews and discussion pieces here at badlandsbacklogs.squarespace.com
Twitch.tv/thebacklogsgames
X.com/BadlandsBacklog