Every year there seems to be an indie game that comes out of nowhere and explodes onto the scene. "Have you played Hades? Have you played Celeste?" Somewhere inside me I believe that Death's Door will be the next game to reach such status. While obviously inspired by Dark Souls, classic 3D Zelda, metroidvanias, and isometric dungeon crawlers, Death's Door finds its own identity quickly and reaffirms it with each new surprise.
Death's Door has players take control of a cute little crow named The Reaper, who has been assigned to find the soul of a giant. The stuffy old birds at The Hall of Doors tell The Reaper that they'll need to retrieve souls to continue to power doors to other realms. But, they must be careful. If they die while their door is open, they perish forever. The Reaper receives a sword and a magic bow and wanders off, searching for their soul assignment.
The map setup is a bit reminiscent of Bloodborne. The Hall of Doors serves as a hub area, which heals the player whenever they return and where the player can trade in their collected souls for upgrades. While exploring the realms, players will find doors that act as checkpoints leading back to the Hall of Doors. This checkpoint feature is a brilliant little design since you'll likely need to bounce around worlds as you gain new powers to unlock new areas. Fast travel is as simple as walking into a door back to the Hall, walking a few feet down the path, and entering another door.
Inventive and disturbing monsters populate the over-world, but the art style applied is so cute and endearing it creates a strange dissonance that feels comfortable. The creatures are reminiscent of Studio Ghibli's peak films Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. The cartoonish art combined with the somber, otherworldly creatures and tongue-in-cheek humor draws my mind back to Tim Burton's James and the Giant Peach. The lilting music is calming yet puts me on edge when it needs to. Even during mini-boss fights, Death's Door uses quiet piano trills rather than a frantic orchestra. I suppose you could say that Death's Door controls the atmosphere perfectly every step of the way.
Combat consists of melee attacks, ranged attacks, and dodge rolling. The skill tree allows the player to upgrade melee weapons, dexterity, speed, or ranged weapons. You begin with four mana charge slots for ranged attacks and refill them by striking with melee attacks, similar to Hollow Knight. While it seems simple at first, adding new items and upgrades gained by completing the dungeons and fighting optional mini-bosses keeps things fresh. I focused on upgrading speed for better dodge-rolling, but the easy-to-learn system allows for many different playstyles.
I enjoyed Death's Door well enough for the first few hours, but the moment it struck me as genuinely great was when I stumbled onto an optional fire-based boss. I got my butt absolutely handed to me. Generally, after a few defeats, I would give up and move on to the next part of the story, but something about this game has made me want to be good at it. Death's Door has brought out the part of me that wants to master a game rather than just beat it, in a way that Hollow Knight or the Soulsborne games have failed to do. I spent nearly an hour on that boss, unable to conquer it, and yet I continued to try. After steadily getting better after 20 attempts, the moment of victory was the best I've felt playing a game this year.
The characters I've met have been delightful, especially my faithful partner Pothead, who is indeed a guy with a pot for a head. I won't spoil the plot for you (which is surprisingly tragic for a game this cute), but he and the other characters I interacted with walked a strange line between a morbid existence and darkly funny.
One last thing - this game is pretty damn hard. Don't come expecting a Dark Souls level of challenge, but perhaps something more akin to Hades. Checkpoint placement is very fair, and when you die, you only lose the souls you collected since the last checkpoint. The bosses will seem invincible at first, but once you find their weak spot, the cracks will literally begin to show. My advice is to keep at it by trying new approaches each time, rather than trying to perfect a play style that you've chosen. Roll with the punches, as it were.
My only real complaint is how easy it is to get turned around. The game does nothing to hold your hand and provides infrequent guidance. You'll end up doing a lot of backtracking to see what you missed. A map would be a great addition, as many of the pathways are winding, and it's easy to get mixed up. More than once, I wished I could access a guide on where to go next rather than wandering around until something happened.
I've very much enjoyed my time with Death's Door and hope the world at large does as well. The developers clearly took inspiration from the greats without compromising the unique identity of Death's Door, and it shows. If you miss the classic dungeons of 3D Zelda games, the hauntingly cute aesthetic of Hollow Knight, or the abominable monsters of the Souls games, then Death's Door is for you.
Death's Door has players take control of a cute little crow named The Reaper, who has been assigned to find the soul of a giant. The stuffy old birds at The Hall of Doors tell The Reaper that they'll need to retrieve souls to continue to power doors to other realms. But, they must be careful. If they die while their door is open, they perish forever. The Reaper receives a sword and a magic bow and wanders off, searching for their soul assignment.
The map setup is a bit reminiscent of Bloodborne. The Hall of Doors serves as a hub area, which heals the player whenever they return and where the player can trade in their collected souls for upgrades. While exploring the realms, players will find doors that act as checkpoints leading back to the Hall of Doors. This checkpoint feature is a brilliant little design since you'll likely need to bounce around worlds as you gain new powers to unlock new areas. Fast travel is as simple as walking into a door back to the Hall, walking a few feet down the path, and entering another door.
Inventive and disturbing monsters populate the over-world, but the art style applied is so cute and endearing it creates a strange dissonance that feels comfortable. The creatures are reminiscent of Studio Ghibli's peak films Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. The cartoonish art combined with the somber, otherworldly creatures and tongue-in-cheek humor draws my mind back to Tim Burton's James and the Giant Peach. The lilting music is calming yet puts me on edge when it needs to. Even during mini-boss fights, Death's Door uses quiet piano trills rather than a frantic orchestra. I suppose you could say that Death's Door controls the atmosphere perfectly every step of the way.
Combat consists of melee attacks, ranged attacks, and dodge rolling. The skill tree allows the player to upgrade melee weapons, dexterity, speed, or ranged weapons. You begin with four mana charge slots for ranged attacks and refill them by striking with melee attacks, similar to Hollow Knight. While it seems simple at first, adding new items and upgrades gained by completing the dungeons and fighting optional mini-bosses keeps things fresh. I focused on upgrading speed for better dodge-rolling, but the easy-to-learn system allows for many different playstyles.
I enjoyed Death's Door well enough for the first few hours, but the moment it struck me as genuinely great was when I stumbled onto an optional fire-based boss. I got my butt absolutely handed to me. Generally, after a few defeats, I would give up and move on to the next part of the story, but something about this game has made me want to be good at it. Death's Door has brought out the part of me that wants to master a game rather than just beat it, in a way that Hollow Knight or the Soulsborne games have failed to do. I spent nearly an hour on that boss, unable to conquer it, and yet I continued to try. After steadily getting better after 20 attempts, the moment of victory was the best I've felt playing a game this year.
The characters I've met have been delightful, especially my faithful partner Pothead, who is indeed a guy with a pot for a head. I won't spoil the plot for you (which is surprisingly tragic for a game this cute), but he and the other characters I interacted with walked a strange line between a morbid existence and darkly funny.
One last thing - this game is pretty damn hard. Don't come expecting a Dark Souls level of challenge, but perhaps something more akin to Hades. Checkpoint placement is very fair, and when you die, you only lose the souls you collected since the last checkpoint. The bosses will seem invincible at first, but once you find their weak spot, the cracks will literally begin to show. My advice is to keep at it by trying new approaches each time, rather than trying to perfect a play style that you've chosen. Roll with the punches, as it were.
My only real complaint is how easy it is to get turned around. The game does nothing to hold your hand and provides infrequent guidance. You'll end up doing a lot of backtracking to see what you missed. A map would be a great addition, as many of the pathways are winding, and it's easy to get mixed up. More than once, I wished I could access a guide on where to go next rather than wandering around until something happened.
I've very much enjoyed my time with Death's Door and hope the world at large does as well. The developers clearly took inspiration from the greats without compromising the unique identity of Death's Door, and it shows. If you miss the classic dungeons of 3D Zelda games, the hauntingly cute aesthetic of Hollow Knight, or the abominable monsters of the Souls games, then Death's Door is for you.