Death's Door is a pretty little game. It's really short (I beat it in about 5.5-6 hours) and mostly pretty easy. The puzzles and combat are, for the most part, not at all challenging. The combat is mostly a button masher where sometimes you'll decide to use your ranged attack because it's been a while. The hookshot shows some promise of depth to combat but by the time you get it the game is already over so the use is moot. The game really only shines during the final boss fight, which is a shame because it makes me wish the rest of the game were nearly as fun. The visuals and music are amazing and basically saved this game for me. It would be really dull without those, I think. The biggest issue I had with the game was the strange tonal dissonance. The music and locales and story were all very somber and lonely, but most interactions with other characters had a jokey tone like something out of A Hat In Time. It felt very obnoxious to have the game seem to be afraid to take itself seriously, especially at times where it may have actually made the player feel something. Still, I'm a sucker for the music, visuals, birds, short games, and killer finales, so Death's Door still had something to offer.

Reviewed on May 15, 2022


Comments