Death's Door drips with character
The indie game from Acid Nerve is one of the best games of 2021 easily.
With the short break in games from November to February, I thought I’d clear out some of my back log a bit. I am happy to say that it is now only 99 miles long as opposed to 100.
One game I played just recently after finally finishing Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy — a better game than I had even originally thought — was Death’s Door, an indie action-adventure game made by Acid Nerve and published by Devolver Digital that recently came to Xbox Game Pass.
Death’s Door is a short experience with wonderful combat and mystery that just drips character in every facet of the game. The art style is pleasing, the battles feel difficult but achievable and the music is entrancing and fits perfectly within its setting.
By the end of my 10 hours of gameplay, I was smiling ear-to-ear with the concise but deep story I was told all while feeling accomplished at beating each challenge thrown at me.
In Death’s Door, you are a crow working as a reaper for the Reaping Commission
, a group of crows who hunt down unwilling souls to help them pass on. After your first task, something goes awry and the crow must help an unlikely mentor of sorts. To help this mentor, the crow must hunt down three giant souls to open Death’s Door.
(I am leaving it particularly vague because the story is well told and short enough that I think small details may ruin it.)
The overworld of the Reaping Commission Headquarters is all black and white with doors and secrets hidden all over the floating platforms. These doors act as portals to different sections of the dungeons and worlds throughout this game that are all in color.
I really enjoyed the contrast between these two not only in color but also music and tone. The doors also come to play a big role in the game as I am sure you guessed from the name Death’s Door.
The combat in this game is well balanced and full of fun enemies. There are also different weapon options to change the way you may come at a challenge.
With that, there are also souls to be collected from even small enemies that can be used to upgrade the crow’s attacks, spells and dexterity. If you like games like old Zelda dungeon crawlers then this game is for you.
I had a great time learning enemy tells and getting better at dodging and knowing when to attack. There is a rewarding loop in how you approach certain types of enemies and how to chain attacks and environmental hazards to your benefit.
The different biomes have their own look and feel with characters that really make it feel lively. There are plenty of personalities and fun interactions that really made me connect with the characters.
The dialogue can be funny at times and others really hit. Ultimately, this is a game about death and letting go of life so the themes can get pretty heavy. Alongside the incredible soundtrack, some of these moments are incredibly emotional and thought-provoking.
Speaking of the soundtrack, David Fenn did an absolutely outstanding job with both the sound design and musical composition for this game. Like I said before, the music fits each setting perfectly and the transition between one song and the other is seamless as you move from section to section.
The absence of sound is also used quite well and when that sound comes back it is even better. The music captures the mood of each encounter and room in a different way that I couldn’t help noticing through the entire playthrough.
Some rooms have a calming piano playing a somber song and others have upbeat moving rhythms with an entire orchestra playing. This is especially noticeable in battle when the music always becomes upbeat to fit the challenge ahead.
Another great aspect of Death’s Door is the post game where a lot of the secrets and interesting riddles of the game unfold. It is also very accessible with only about two hours of content to get through.
There are plenty of hidden rooms to find and riddles placed throughout dialogue that can lead you to some pretty great things.
When all was said and done, I think Death’s Door is easily in my top 3 games of last year, with it being really a toss-up between Returnal, Death’s Door and Deathloop. It is easily digestible and something I’d recommend to anyone.