Sorry We're Closed (2024)

Picked this one up for free at the Epic Games Store giveaways, and boy, what a treat it was! A classic retro-looking survival horror, and as someone called it: a gay Silent Hill.

Everything here's great. A small indie team of what seems to be 2 people has created a small and sweet gem that feels expansive and interesting beyond the scope.

Love the characters, and the story is intriguing and interesting. The gameplay mechanics are somewhat bare-bones in an indie fashion, but it's such a fun concept, and it really works throughout the game as new puzzles and mechanics are being creatively set out and reused in an interesting way.

Art direction and soundtrack are just a chef's kiss. Got no notes here. The area soundtracks mixed with the unique rap-produced boss battle music just hit so perfectly for this world.

I went in completely blind for this experience and was absolutely blown away by its charm, clear creator's passion, and wonderfully dark world building! 5/5.

disaster gays dropped into a colourful, scarred world between heaven and hell. with no choice but to dive face first into peril, wearing their precious, broken hearts on their sleeves. fueled by a mix of desire and yearning, against all odds with spiteful persistence.

queer horror shaped by the contemporary conditions of that very survival: unstable employment, lesbian yearning, colourful attire, pop tunes & a visible tiredness of sanitized queerness coming through refreshingly direct and crass. and that doesn't only extend to the narrative; its sound design is a remarkable feat. every rattling, gurgling, bonecrunching sound is extremely crisp, creating a very tense and threatening atmosphere. along with the vision denied to me by the fixed camera angles, it would align in a cursed constellation that would make me feel those gnarly sounds right inside my bones.

for all the twisted dynamics and explicit ongoings, i found it most touching during quiet and reflective moments, be it sitting in a car, talking about what lies ahead while a catchy song lowkey plays on the radio and the wind blows through our hair, or hearing about the conundrums loving demons & angels find themselves in due to the roles assigned by their makers, in the church of all places. every relationship is complicated by factors outside of their control that need to be considered and overcome, paralleling external with internal struggles in a way that feels grounded in complicated queer experiences, yet heightened through supernatural struggles. sometimes they might not always strike the exact nerve amidst their messiness, but it is noticable they always come from a place of struggle and wish for things to be different, for cisheteronormativity to cease.

if you wanted to summarize its overarching thesis into one sentence, it could fittingly be one of its very own quotes. it is not only the essence of how the game feels, but stands as a powerful statement against these grim times we live in.

Sorry, We're Closed is a survival horror game with a take on the genre unfamiliar to me. I don't often play survival horror, though a few gems like Signalis have crossed my path in recent years. This game is pretty forgiving as the genre goes and the moments of actual horror come in the story rather than the exceedingly few moments of tense survival. Still, I didn't like the gameplay; the combat is especially frustrating as it requires you to stop moving and switch from fixed camera overhead to first-person. You can't move forward or backwards in this perspective, only aim and hope your close enough to hit. There's two guns and one melee weapon but I'm not a great aimer with a controller so I wasted many bullets. The solution was for me to depend on the axe. In the end, some difficulty options let me finish the game. The game does a good job there; more than just easy/normal/hard, there are many features like infinite heals and damage dealt/felt sliders. There were a few truly challenging portions but I was able to get past them.

The story is the main thing and in that, I liked it a lot more. Without giving anything away, it's sort of an LGBTQ Dogma. Angels and demons interact with mortals in a story that shifts from (not to NSFW) sexy to the disturbing. Our heroine, Michelle starts off with a broken heart in a game that explores many types and aspects of relationship. The main antagonist seems to be seeking love, though a very abusive version of a relationship that destroys their lover.

There are choices and a few sidequests along the way, as well as optional enemies who reveal minor upgrades. The choices ultimately impact the ending, though I usually found one choice to be the right one. I found myself rooting for/sympathizing with some characters and really disliking others.

I played on Switch 2 and it was about 12 hours of actual play. I used my save's time for playtime so that didn't account for dying and reloading, which happened to me a few times.

Ultimately, it's not an amazing game but it's a good one. One of the benefits of the Grouvee Game Club is playing games I probably wouldn't ever actually touch.

Sorry We're Closed puts a fun twist on classic survival horror gunplay while doubling as a dialogue on the nature of love. The art style is simultaneously retro and very fresh feeling-- it's a big part of what drew me to the game to begin with. I really liked the cast of characters here. They're all fun to engage with and listen to which made interacting with them a treat every time. I do wish the narrative felt a bit tighter overall, as it took quite a while before I really felt motivated to see what would happen instead of pushing on just because I enjoyed the combat. I also found the soundtrack a bit lacking but the SFX were excellent and added a lot of character to the world.

I already said I really enjoyed the characters across the board but I want to highlight that I think Michelle is a really fun protagonist. She's snarky, relatable, and I really love her design. It's classy and colorful in a way that suits her perfectly without being over-complicated. In fact, I think the effort that went into giving all the characters unique looks totally paid off. They were immediately recognizable even though I didn't spend as much time with them as I would have liked.

The aforementioned fun twist that this game introduces is a weak point system for enemies that you can effectively turn on and off at will, but when it's on you can only shoot enemies when they're up close-- basically within range of hitting you. It's simple but satisfying and lends a unique depth to the gunplay that was very appreciated. Chaining shots on an enemy's weak points feels great and rewards careful but quick aiming. Combined with the characters and art style it helps carve out a unique identity for this game that sets it apart from others in the genre.

Sorry We're Closed is just oozing with style. The visuals and character, enemy and weapon designs are all unique and immediately recognizable.

Gameplay-wise, this is a pretty standard survival horror, RE-like, but the addition of the "third eye" mechanic adds a little bit of strategy and "risk vs. reward" to the fights. Do I shot at enemies from afar and waste ammo, or do I wait for them to come close so I can expose their weak points? It's a cool new layer.

I also really like the story and characters. Everyone is fun to talk to (even the assholes) and they are all sexy as heck for some reason.

I would love a New Game+ to get all collectibles, upgrades and endings (and I also want more outfits for Michelle), but even without it I can see myself replay it to see and experience more. Good game.

A strong aesthetic. Great characters and classic survival horror mechanics with new ideas. That's all this game needed to shine. But it went beyond that. This is not only a fun and tense retro horror experience in the same vein as the first Resident Evils and Silent Hills, is also an absorbing exploration of the concep of love and what we think it means.

You can read my full review in spanish in GamerFocus.

It is also very, extremely gay.