You play as a crow whose job is to reap souls. At least until your current soul is stolen and you must track it down, discovering a world where death isn’t the end.
Visuals
Why is this game so pretty?! As soon as Death’s Door loaded up, I was in awe. This is exactly my aesthetic. It’s dark and moody and whimsical. The graphics are pretty simplistic, but they create such a believable, cohesive world. The main hub world where the game starts is in black and white with a few pops of red. That may sound boring, but it’s far from it. The shading and details is what makes this area look fantastic.
Once you head through the first door, you’re now in the other world, perhaps limbo. Or at least some interpretation of it. It’s kind of empty and desolate looking, but not lifeless. Despite being full of death. There’s slightly more color here, but it’s still muted and gorgeous.
Each level is its own mini labyrinth. There’s an amazing use of subtle visual clues to tell you where to go, so you should never get lost. Although it is fun to just roam around the area and take it all in. Assuming you’ve already taken out the monsters lingering about. Another small detail that really adds to the atmosphere are the blood splatters. This isn’t a gory game, at all, but when you’re hit or hit an enemy, little pools of blood are left behind. Along with the enemy corpses.
The main enemies are quite varied, although they don’t stand out too much. It is kind of difficult to tell exactly what they are, especially since a lot of them move very fast, so you’ve got to be ready to strike rather than trying to decipher what they are. The mini bosses are more interesting and definitely weird. The main bosses are freaking amazing! I was in complete awe of those first two and actually got a bit distracted during the fights. They’re just really well done.
Sound Effects + Music
Why is the music so good?! I love the background music in Death’s Door. It’s very chill, piano music for the most part. It’s relaxing and kind of haunting. Perfect for the vibe of the game. But when those string instruments kick in, be prepared, because something is about to go down!
Of course, the enemies all have their own sound effects. Mostly snarls, snaps, and other creepy noises as they come after you.
There’s no voice acting. In fact, characters don’t speak at all, even in gibberish. Our protagonist is particularly silent, but it works. You’ll have to read everything if you want to know what’s going on.
Gameplay + Controls
Controls in Death’s Door are pretty straight forward. Our character can simply walk/run, roll/dodge, and attack. There’s no jumping, since this is not really a platformer. It’s a top-down, isometric adventure game with puzzle elements. The controls for other weapons/spells are a bit more involved. For the bow and fire spells, you’ll have to hold two buttons and aim. It’s not too bad, but it took me some practice. For reference, I was playing on my PC with an Xbox controller, so I was holding down LT to equip the bow/fire, B to charge it, and aiming with the left stick.
Death’s Door is a test of patience. I died a lot at first because I just reacted too quickly. This was especially true during the first couple of boss battles. You’ll have to slow down, learn the pattern, then attack when it’s safe. Then the bosses aren’t that bad. The enemy gauntlets are more difficult, because you’ll have multiple types of attacks coming at you at once. But I think the basic strategy still applies. Get to a safe location, attack when there’s an opening, then pull back.
I do appreciate the lack of lives and “Game Overs” since I tend to die a lot. When you die, your progress is saved and you respawn at the last door you activated. This felt fair. Sure, you have to make your way back to the area where you died in order to continue. But any major events you completed don’t need to be repeated (enemy gauntlets, puzzles, etc), although regular enemies will respawn.
There are multiple things to collect throughout Death’s Door, but I wouldn’t categorize it as a collectathon. You’ll find Soul Mass around the levels which serves as currency for purchasing upgrades. Life Seeds are hidden around and should be placed into Seed Pots around the world to replenish your life bar. There are lost souls to be set free in order to unlock new areas. Crystals are found at shrines in order to upgrade your stats. And of course, the main collectables are the three Giant Souls to be reaped. You’ll also find new weapons hidden around.
I did have one annoying glitch early on in my playthrough. During an enemy gauntlet in The Lost Cemetery, one of the enemies got stuck under the bridge. I couldn’t get to it to kill it, and therefore new enemies wouldn’t spawn to progress the game. My only option was to close the game and restart, or just throw myself off the bridge to respawn. How did it get under there in the first place? I have no clue.
Replayability
While this is a lovely game, it’s also hard as heck, so there is no way I’d start it over. I imagine that this would be a fun one to speedrun as precision is important to making steady progress.
Overall
I really enjoyed my time with Death’s Door, even though I found it extremely challenging. Surprisingly, I never got frustrated with it though. Sure, I died a lot, so I’d just take a break and come back to it later. I haven’t beaten the game yet, since I no longer have game pass, but it’ll be a priority when I subscribe again.
Visuals
Why is this game so pretty?! As soon as Death’s Door loaded up, I was in awe. This is exactly my aesthetic. It’s dark and moody and whimsical. The graphics are pretty simplistic, but they create such a believable, cohesive world. The main hub world where the game starts is in black and white with a few pops of red. That may sound boring, but it’s far from it. The shading and details is what makes this area look fantastic.
Once you head through the first door, you’re now in the other world, perhaps limbo. Or at least some interpretation of it. It’s kind of empty and desolate looking, but not lifeless. Despite being full of death. There’s slightly more color here, but it’s still muted and gorgeous.
Each level is its own mini labyrinth. There’s an amazing use of subtle visual clues to tell you where to go, so you should never get lost. Although it is fun to just roam around the area and take it all in. Assuming you’ve already taken out the monsters lingering about. Another small detail that really adds to the atmosphere are the blood splatters. This isn’t a gory game, at all, but when you’re hit or hit an enemy, little pools of blood are left behind. Along with the enemy corpses.
The main enemies are quite varied, although they don’t stand out too much. It is kind of difficult to tell exactly what they are, especially since a lot of them move very fast, so you’ve got to be ready to strike rather than trying to decipher what they are. The mini bosses are more interesting and definitely weird. The main bosses are freaking amazing! I was in complete awe of those first two and actually got a bit distracted during the fights. They’re just really well done.
Sound Effects + Music
Why is the music so good?! I love the background music in Death’s Door. It’s very chill, piano music for the most part. It’s relaxing and kind of haunting. Perfect for the vibe of the game. But when those string instruments kick in, be prepared, because something is about to go down!
Of course, the enemies all have their own sound effects. Mostly snarls, snaps, and other creepy noises as they come after you.
There’s no voice acting. In fact, characters don’t speak at all, even in gibberish. Our protagonist is particularly silent, but it works. You’ll have to read everything if you want to know what’s going on.
Gameplay + Controls
Controls in Death’s Door are pretty straight forward. Our character can simply walk/run, roll/dodge, and attack. There’s no jumping, since this is not really a platformer. It’s a top-down, isometric adventure game with puzzle elements. The controls for other weapons/spells are a bit more involved. For the bow and fire spells, you’ll have to hold two buttons and aim. It’s not too bad, but it took me some practice. For reference, I was playing on my PC with an Xbox controller, so I was holding down LT to equip the bow/fire, B to charge it, and aiming with the left stick.
Death’s Door is a test of patience. I died a lot at first because I just reacted too quickly. This was especially true during the first couple of boss battles. You’ll have to slow down, learn the pattern, then attack when it’s safe. Then the bosses aren’t that bad. The enemy gauntlets are more difficult, because you’ll have multiple types of attacks coming at you at once. But I think the basic strategy still applies. Get to a safe location, attack when there’s an opening, then pull back.
I do appreciate the lack of lives and “Game Overs” since I tend to die a lot. When you die, your progress is saved and you respawn at the last door you activated. This felt fair. Sure, you have to make your way back to the area where you died in order to continue. But any major events you completed don’t need to be repeated (enemy gauntlets, puzzles, etc), although regular enemies will respawn.
There are multiple things to collect throughout Death’s Door, but I wouldn’t categorize it as a collectathon. You’ll find Soul Mass around the levels which serves as currency for purchasing upgrades. Life Seeds are hidden around and should be placed into Seed Pots around the world to replenish your life bar. There are lost souls to be set free in order to unlock new areas. Crystals are found at shrines in order to upgrade your stats. And of course, the main collectables are the three Giant Souls to be reaped. You’ll also find new weapons hidden around.
I did have one annoying glitch early on in my playthrough. During an enemy gauntlet in The Lost Cemetery, one of the enemies got stuck under the bridge. I couldn’t get to it to kill it, and therefore new enemies wouldn’t spawn to progress the game. My only option was to close the game and restart, or just throw myself off the bridge to respawn. How did it get under there in the first place? I have no clue.
Replayability
While this is a lovely game, it’s also hard as heck, so there is no way I’d start it over. I imagine that this would be a fun one to speedrun as precision is important to making steady progress.
Overall
I really enjoyed my time with Death’s Door, even though I found it extremely challenging. Surprisingly, I never got frustrated with it though. Sure, I died a lot, so I’d just take a break and come back to it later. I haven’t beaten the game yet, since I no longer have game pass, but it’ll be a priority when I subscribe again.