Indie studio Acid Nerve from Manchester, consisting of only a couple of people, got its share of popularity thanks to the project Titan souls… In general terms, the game was a demake Shadows of the colossus, made in pixel 2D. Death’s door – a bird of a slightly higher flight. From now on, a stylish three-dimensional picture pleases the eye, and the place of a brisk boy with a bow and arrow was taken by a death-carrying crow with a bright red blade at the ready.
We look at the world of the game 90% of the time from the angle of mathematically accurate isometry, and this world is damn beautiful. With minimal means, the developers have achieved a bewitching picture, fragrant with its own style and charm. The hub location evokes associations with the famous staircases from Escher’s black and white paintings, but some of the objects are highlighted with bright colors, like the same sword behind the back of our little crow.
The universe of the game turned out to be very colorful: crows work from bell to bell in strange office premises soaring in emptiness, portal-doors to a real colored world are placed all around, and our hero plays the role of a reaper who collects the souls of creatures whose life in the world is about to expire. A duty task to remove the soul from the body of a huge monster is thwarted by a mysterious stranger who stole the prey from under our beak. Such impudence becomes the start for an exciting adventure in a fairy-tale world with unraveling of global intrigues and philosophical discourses about the meaning of life and the importance of death. For most of the game, you are unlikely to understand what is happening around at all, scooping scraps of information from short remarks of oncoming characters and descriptions of wonders found, just like in Dark souls… However, unlike games Hidetaki MiyazakiDeath’s Door doesn’t require any special deductive skills or an archeology degree to understand the intricacies of local plot and lore. Towards the end, you will most likely have a more or less complex picture of the events taking place.
Despite the rather dark story about death and the smell of doom in the air, Death’s Door is not devoid of the spirit of a fairy tale adventure and sweet humor. On the way, there are very strange characters, like a peasant with a pot instead of a head, who amusingly pours soup, making a greeting bow. A zombie innkeeper with a squid on top of his head makes a wonderful dinner and shares gossip about secrets you missed while our crow bangs on a plate with its beak. An analogue of Dandelion’s bard will also be met on the way, and, pardon the tautology, the coffin-headed undertaker …
Contrary to current trends, Death’s Door is not a randomly generated roguelike. Before us is a story-driven adventure in the spirit of classic The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening or The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, where most of the time is devoted to exploring a small cozy world and solving simple puzzles. According to the precepts of “metroidvania” the first half of the game we will run into impassable obstacles at every corner, but in the course of the plot, the hero will learn tricks that allow him to taste all the secrets. In hidden nooks we will find currency to upgrade our crow, shards to permanently improve health and spell charges, and even new types of melee weapons. Often there are just collectibles that shed light on history. Particularly attentive reapers will be drawn into entertaining quests after completing the game and even reach out to ferocious secret bosses.
Although the game came out very short (about 6 hours to complete the story and the same amount to explore the world), you are unlikely to have time to get bored during this time. She competently keeps the rhythm, slipping you new methods of interacting with the world, riddles and enemies. Opponents do not shine with intelligence, but it is difficult to find fault with the variety: someone jumps furiously from afar, someone sneakily shoots from a bow, someone teleports, and someone is simply annoyingly fat and has an uncomfortable moveset. Bosses are very tricky, battles with them are always divided into several stages. Nothing extraordinary, but it is performed sensibly and varied.
