My crow combines arrows and fire in any way you want to burn down a spider silk door and move to another room. Then she spends one tense minute trying to figure out the attack patterns of a tongue-based mini-boss. I, of course, die without getting a clear handle on how to take him down. After a trek from the respawn point, I re-enter the fight.
My crow dodges as much as possible and relies on arrows and carefully timed lunges to take down the enemy, which leads to a meeting with the real boss of the area. There are at least three other sections of this level I have to unlock and explore before I actually get the battle her, so there’s time to upgrade at least one ability and improve my combat moves.
Death’s Door is developed by Acid Nerve and published by Devolver. I played it on the PC using Steam but it is also offered on the Microsoft-made X and S consoles, as well as the older One. The game mixes a beautiful world with solid action mechanics.
The narrative is intriguing but never overstays its welcome. A crow, employed in soul harvesting for Death, loses its mark and needs to explore a door-infested world to get three giant souls that might open another one. The game has story bits and conversations, well-written and even slightly funny. But the focus is on the combat and the progression and the crow’s relative lack of personality is an asset for the game.
The mechanics are pretty straightforward. The main character can dodge (but cannot jump), attack with a sword or bow, deliver a charged attack and use some abilities. The crow needs to carefully mix all of these to progress through levels (none of them generated), defeat enemies, take down bosses, and find as many souls as it can. A hub area, accessed through unlockable doors, gives access to upgrades and some conversations.
The levels are intricate but linear. Areas that initially seem inaccessible open up after defeating a particular enemy or after a puzzle is solved. There are regular enemies peppered throughout, offering access to souls and posing a small challenge. But I only needed to use all my skills when a gate close and an arena sequence began. These involve waves of enemies appearing through doors, creating, sometimes, chaotic fights. Four pips of health are not much and it took a few tries to survive and defeat everyone, especially when a group mixed ranged and close combat opponents.
The boss battles are also well implemented. It takes a little time to see the moves the big enemies use and how to best exploit them. Death’s Door knows that players tend to be over-confident the first time around and punishes that. Careful observation followed by probing attacks and then final commitment is the best overall strategy. I was rarely frustrated, even when dying quickly to a boss. There’s plenty of Dark Souls inspiration here but none of the gratuitous cruelty.
The least enjoyable element of the levels is the puzzles. They are not hard to figure out but actually solving them is a little tedious for my liking. I was also initially annoyed at the long treks that were the result of dying in some places but the shortcuts that open up do a good job of mitigating that.
Death’s Door has a very Tim Burton meets Dark Souls presentation. The world is both rounded and filled with edges, dark but also welcoming. The enemies are all instantly recognizable, which helps a lot during the more frantic battles. The levels are easy to read and navigate, even without an on-screen map. I especially liked the way the bosses manage to be both inspired by the likes of Dark Souls and somehow a parody of them. The soundtrack is also very good. It doesn’t aim for pumping industrial or electro beats during the battles and stays calmly in the background, underlining the weirdness and melancholy of the world.
The Good
- Combat encounters
- Crow based action
- World design
The Bad
- Puzzle design
- Limited narrative
- Some unfair deaths
Conclusion
For me, the highlight of the game was the door-based battles, which had waves of enemies teleporting in more open space. Even when I died I wanted to get back to them quickly to try out new strategies (more doges are always a great idea). Death’s Door offers a good mix of combat and exploration but needs a few more systems to keep gamers interested to make progress and find everything the game has to offer.
Review code provided by the publisher.