Played on Xbox Series X

Developed by Acid Nerve

Released 20th July 2021

With the amount of polish that is shown in this game, it's hard to believe that Acid Nerve is simply a 2-man team from Manchester, UK, comprising of programmer, designer, writer, and animator Mark Foster and producer, designer, composer, and sound designer David Fenn. However, 'Death's Door' isn't the duo's first game; it serves as a sequel to their previous title - 'Titan Souls' - which I may end up reviewing someday with how much I enjoyed this. Devolver Digital always has such a keen eye for picking out fantastic indie games to publish and the fact that Covid-19 didn't halt this game's progress is a feat within itself.

Story

While the story itself isn't much of a highlight and can be quite unoriginal at times, what makes up for it is the world it's set in. 'Death's Door' is set in a world where the afterlife is this bureaucratic affair, where reapers collect souls as if it were an office job with a semi-tyrannical being spearheading this process. Even though the plot is quite stereotypical of a plain worker ending up doing the impossible, prophecised task of defeating powerful entities, it was still enjoyable to see it progress and have the world around you develop and unravel around this idea of escaping death, which while still not unique, is presented so freshly that you'd think that it is.

Originality can help make a game's identity feel so much more memorable, but in cases like this, simply having an incredibly polished version of a tale told numerous times can be just as effective. It's not like this game doesn't have some of its own ideas as the whole concept of doors accessing any point in the universe is one of a couple of plot points that felt smoothly integrated into the narrative, synergising with the other themes to make something that provides enough first-time intrigue, but still has a common enough groundwork where it doesn't require over-explaining or bring up confusion. Each world feels lively, and its population of NPCs contributes to giving every plot point a decent flavour. There is a secret ending to the game as well, however, the base ending is good enough to fulfil and satisfy your journey if you decide to leave it there. In other words, 'Death's Door' has a basic storyline wrapped in high-quality, fresh and familiar world-building.

Gameplay

The gameplay shares many Zelda-like and Souls-like mechanics in other isometric action-adventure games like 'Bastion' or 'Hades'. To explain further, the combat sections of the game focus heavily on the player landing 2-3 hits before needing to dodge a barrage of attacks from the hordes of enemies around them, often using the interactive elements of the arena as help, like destroying an explosive barrel or building up momentum on an icy, slippery floor. Meanwhile, the downtime between these encounters is filled with puzzle-exploration sequences where players can use their previously unlocked abilities to access new areas they couldn't initially, such as acquiring the ability to blow up a weak wall or to light and unlock a torch-controlled door. This combination of mechanics results in a lot of satisfying goodness and, for the 6-hour duration I spent with the game (80% completion), I didn't find myself bored or disinterested at any point.

However, for most of the depth that the gameplay has, you get introduced to it right from the get-go and you're kind of just stuck with it for the rest of its length. Yes, you do get new abilities like a grappling hook or a bomb, but they don't affect combat too much since rushing with the grappling hook or standing still to charge up the ability tends to be too dangerous with how fast-paced the enemies are in this game. Quite simply, the action is tight enough to thrive off of simple 3 attacks and a dodge. As for the puzzles, the way you use a new ability remains the same right from the moment you unlock it and, while the puzzles are laid out brilliantly and cleverly, there was much to be desired with them. The only time I had to use all the abilities in coalescence was in the final level of the game which was amazing but a shame that it happened only once, so late into my experience. That being said, the puzzles combined with the backtracking type of exploration go hand in hand with each other quite beautifully with the plethora of secret areas to find, leading to extra XP, a collectable, a new weapon or an increase in health/mana.

So much of what is amazing about this game is its interconnectivity between levels and overall, just how good the level design is, being something worthy of FromSoftware's praise. For the upgrading, it is quite basic with just some statistic improvements like extra damage or speed and the weapons don't have too many differences in movesets besides how fast you can attack with them, but that isn't too much of an issue with the relatively short playtime. The enemies were fantastically diverse though, with my approach to encounters feeling so unique due to their variety, from a leaping, boomerang-throwing beast to a teleporting magician. As a whole, this game is extremely polished, there's no denying that. It's clear that every moment spent here has been playtested to death to feel as good as possible, but that's about all it offers.

The influence of 'The Legend of Zelda' can easily be linked back to the days when the series went into 3D in the late 90s and since then, there have been a multitude of games that would take influence and inspiration to make something greater, creating new and awesome gameplay mechanics. While that is not as easy to do nowadays, the fact that 'Death's Door' literally offers nothing new is quite disappointing. Yes, it's polished, fun, and worth the time, but you can't help but feel like you've played this game before, albeit in a different setting, possibly with a more interesting gameplay system or narrative, etc. This isn't enough to discredit the game, but I don't see many Zelda-like fans going into this and coming out of it as if they've experienced the next, best chapter in the genre.

Bossfights

The bossfights are the best instances of the gameplay being tested and perfected for maximum enjoyment. Every boss here works so well, not just in gameplay, but in design, soundtrack, sound effects and lore. The duels were fast-paced with them rarely being idle. Still, because of how well-telegraphed the attacks were and how clear their counters were, the challenge present would be whether you're good enough to dodge all of their strikes and clever enough to regulate how often you attack. Whether it was the King of the Swamp tilting the arena causing its tiles to go missing or Betty rolling around the arena, you have every opportunity to attack as much as you do dodge. Bosses like the King of the Swamp required you to use some puzzle-solving skills like hitting the hammer on his back to reset the arena, which was some of the best displays of the gameplay as its fusion of combat with puzzle-solving is what I wish would've been incorporated more throughout. Designs - like the Guardian of the Door, just being a big walking castle - are phenomenal, and if there were a reason to play this game, it would most likely be because of the bosses as they were easily the highlight, gameplay-wise.

Characters

The characters here, such as the Grey Crow, Pothead, Steadhone, Barb the Bard and more, were entertaining to meet, having this Disney-esque connection to the player or the boss of the area. Limited to just having a couple of lines of dialogue each, the NPCs did leave me wanting more, but with their designs and brief appearances, they all proved to have a lot of character to them regardless. It's not like they were the best-written characters of all time as even some of the more "emotionally"-leading moments such as each boss' funeral, only just about scratched the itch it was aiming for, but when needed to provide a chuckle or some well-written exposition, they sufficed.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere was great as well. Every environment is so rich in detail and has pleasing colour palette choices while remaining to keep it as full or devoid of life as the area intends. Its simplistic approach to character design, whether it's the player or the final boss, creates very memorable occasions, and with the beautifully lit areas, they make up for some wonderous backdrops. The contrast between the single-colour weapon and the noir shading on the player is one such accomplishment of knowing what looks good with what. Whether it's the pristine arrangement of the Ceramic Manor or the nature-lush Overgrown Ruins; these aren't anything you wouldn't have seen in another game but just like the rest of 'Death's Door', it's the polish that makes it thrive.

The soundtrack is just as wonderful: melodic, and upbeat enough to not make the game too serious, but still capable of delivering some hefty music that drives forward the direness of the situation. It's simply enchanting, just as you would expect the area to be when you first enter it. For an OST to be so complimentary to an area means so much in developing its atmosphere and first impressions that inevitably stick with you. With how majestic the music can sound, it stands the test of time by being played repeatedly without sounding dull and successfully lodges itself into your memory. I haven't had this level of adoration for an atmosphere of this depth since 'Ori and the Will of the Wisps', which just so happens to be my favourite atmosphere in all of gaming. This game isn't as good as that mind you, but for me to compare it as such: yeah, that's a good-ass atmosphere.

Story - 7.5/10

Gameplay - 7.5/10

Bossfights - 8/10

Characters - 7/10

Atmosphere - 9/10