Death's Door (2021)

I had Death's Door on my short list of games-to-play for the past few months when it suddenly popped up on PC Gamepass. It felt like an omen and I did not ignore it. Death's Door is an isometric action game with a number of Metroidvania elements. Most of the game consists of combat and traversal through world that is somewhat open but starts mostly locked until you open up more areas through abilities obtained as you play (in the typical Metroidvania fashion, of course).

Combat is easy to understand but has a solid amount of depth. More importantly, it feels crisp and responsive. Pulling off a chain of melee attacks, barely dodging through your enemies riposte and then pelting them with a bow shot from afar feels snappy and satisfying. While you do encounter many of the same enemies with similar attacks as you proceed through the game, there is still enough variety in what you see and the combinations of enemies and terrain to keep it fresh the entire way. I would not classify Death's Door as challenging in the way a Fromsoft game might be, but the boss fights require some serious practice and execution. Some of these toughest encounters took me 6-7 attempts to fully grasp and complete.

On top of the solid gameplay is a presentation that is absolutely fantastic. Death's Door absolutely kills it in this respect. Crisp, beautiful graphics in an interesting and varied world. Fantastic music that blends into what is happening in the levels and iterates over the same basic theme as you go along. Subtle cues that show you what is happening in the world and teach you its rules without spelling it out explicitly. Death's Door looks and sounds GREAT.

The story and characters are both light and silly but still take their world seriously. I never thought I'd truly feel for a gravedigger wearing a headstone hat or feel attached to a soup-making octopus-puppeteer but I did. Best of all, Death's Door puts you up against opponents whose goals may not be admirable but they are completely understandable. After all, who really wants to die?

While a large majority of my time with Death's Door was extremely positive, there were a few small issues I encountered along the way. These came in the form of minor bugs such as boss encounters breaking, some obnoxious terrain pop-in and text occasionally being slightly off-screen on my monitor. I have a feeling some of this may have been due to my playing on an ultra-wide resolution. In addition to these minor bugs, there are portions of the game that can be a bit exhausting if you just mainline through. One spot in particular involves three boss fights nearly in succession and it would have been nice to have a little bit of time to settle in between.

As I've matured, I have found myself preferring shorter single-player experiences. As an adult, it's harder to find the motivation to get through 50-100 hours of game. Not only because of the time investment, but because there are so many to play and PC Gamepass especially has made so many available. The downside to some of these shorter experiences is that they sometimes lack the depth or polish of the bigger budget ones. Death's Door does an amazing job of riding this line perfectly. A light, 8-10 hour experience that still feels deep and satisfying. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys tight combat covered in a super slick presentation.

Update: 6/26/23

I don’t know why I had so many issues with the game on my first play, but I’ve totally changed my mind. It’s almost a perfect game. The combat and exploration are top notch, and it has a great Miyazaki art style.

My only real complaint - the secret ending. I found it extremely tedious and not well designed. I had to give up after learning you have to collect and plant every seed…

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I loved the Zelda-like structure of the game. I love the concept of the story, the unique isometric design, amazing art and graphics.

I feel like with a few modifications, namely a metroidvania style map, would’ve enhanced the game so much. I really see no reason they didn’t include a map, because it only gave me frustration and discouraged my backtracking- an essential mechanic in the game.

The other weakness was the puzzles, which were overly simplistic.

It could’ve been a perfect game if those were resolved, along with a more compelling story, which sorta felt meandering. I still really treasure the game, but it left me somewhat indifferent towards the end.