Death's Door

I didn't do everything in the game but I did do a lot of the things and it was enjoyable the whole way through. It's got great style, super chill, even when the fights are tough. There's a decent amount of variety to the combat. It's got a great sense of humour throughout. The different areas feel really distinct and unique. It's hard not to recommend if you like this kind of thing.

Crows.

WOW such a charming game! Clearly inspired by games like the top-down Legend of Zeldas, it carves its own niche by having an interconnected overworld AND an explorable hub-world. While the grunt enemies leave something to be desired, there is still some challenge while tasked with mowing down hoards of them all at once. The Boss fights are generally good but the combat just FEELS great. I would say I enjoyed it as much if not more than Hyper-Light Drifter, which is a very similar game. If you liked that, definitely get this.

Death’s Door is an absolutely wonderful game; what an experience! Every moment of the almost 20 hours I spent playing it (across two playthroughs) was fantastic. My first run was just to enjoy the journey, and my second was to get the Academy of Umbrellas achievement and 100% the game, and I don’t regret it at all, because it was even better, tbh, and of course, more challenging lol, but not as much as I thought it'd be when I played it for the second time.

The soundtrack is a masterpiece; it totally matches with the game’s atmosphere. The environments are so beautiful, and the art style is stunning. The gameplay is very good, fluid, and responsive, and the combat is challenging but fair, not that easy and not that hard (even when I was trying to get the Academy of Umbrellas achievement).

And about the ending of the game, I really like it, and even more when I got the true ending of the game, simply amazing.

Final thoughts: The game is awesome, and particularly I had an incredible time playing it. For me, a solid 10/10.

A sweet isometric action game with engaging mechanics. Solid and fun.

A difficult but fair where every Challenge that I overcame made me cheer out loud, the only nitpicks i had with the entire game would be that the perspective can sometime lead you to aciddentally falling of cliffs or losing track of where you are in the combat sections and a good chunk of the post game content is very cryptic at tiems. But at no point did it detract from my overall enjoyment of the game. a high recomendation and a must play

Death's Doors combat & exploration are heavily reminiscent of Tunic, I got a solid 12 hours out of the game before credits and there's still some extras I could go find.

Sadly the "Extras" seem like an afterthought, an underdeveloped one at that. The collectables are uninteresting and serve no mechanical function in the game. Tunics manual for example added tons of character to the game Death's Door would have benefited from something like this

The main quest has a good amount of fun boss fights, that provide enough challenge to give a brilliant rush when you finally succeed in beating them. 6.8/10

What a charming and fun Zelda Like. It is shortish but very sweet. If you like 2D Zelda then you will love this. Music is great, dialog can be funny at times, some challenge but not too tough and over all felt very satisfying to 100% the game. I highly recommend the game.

I definitely enjoyed this one. The story was both funny and really sweet at just the right times, and the game play always felt good with my controller. I finished my run in 13 hours but there was still secrets left for me to unlock.

Solid adventure game, it dragged a bit too much with lots of secrets and collectibles, but overall 7/10

Great game, very bleak feeling story but the combat and gameplay is really fun!

nothing particularly special. all decent fun gameplay not too challenging but still engaging enough to be slightly fun and enjoyable there are some annoying mechanics but its nothing too troubling.
graphics are very cute love the artstyle and aesthetic and how simple it all looks
dialogues are terrible because they always flip around from being serious to joking so the mood is never right in this game you cant take it seriously because the game doesnt take it seriously
7/10

played it, completed it, loved it. good slash and dash, not much time to learn, good after work game :)

Fantastic game. Has a souls-like experience without being punishing like Souls. Great for the Steam Deck. Enough to do to keep you interested. If you need to put it down its easy to pick back up. The graphics are fantastic and the art style is amazing. Love this game. Look forward for more stuff from Acid!

its very fun. Its fun but hard, it really gives the souls like feel me honestly is pretty bad but its fun i love it

Death's Door is a good game about a little adventure. It doesn't try to be more than what it is, and it doesn't overstay its welcome.
Story 7/10 - Simple and occasionally funny
Soundtrack 9/10 - Beautifully immerses you in the game
Gameplay 8/10 - Well executed without being too complex
Art style 8/10 - Pleasant
Difficulty 6/10 - You'll die but won't feel unfair

Easier than a souls game not as punishing too! Fun like the old top down Legend of Zelda games with puzzles too! Cool story and interesting roster of characters also your a crow with a big ass sword!

awesome art style, pretty and aesthetically pleasing. combat flows quickly and smoothly on PC, bet it feels great on a controller. compelling story and great story - character's such as the bosses and side characters have really fun interactions and personalities. would totally recommend for anyone looking for a casual gaming experience with a bit of a challenge.

Absolute gem of a game to play on the Steam Deck. 15-25 hours. Can be frustratingly unforgiving at times but it's so well made it keeps you going back again and again until you win the fight. Exceptionally cute and fun work of art.

very nice birb metroid game. I love how the gameplay is difficult yet forgiving. One you learn the enemies you can run circles around them.

Finally after 4 years, I sat down and enjoyed this gem of a game. It isn't a difficult game by any means, and it isn't suppose to be. It is suppose to be fun and charming, with a hint of difficulty that is easily overcome. The music is calm and soothing which works perfectly. The characters are unique and full of personality. It's an enjoyable game through and through to where I wanted to go back and 100% it and get all the achievements which isn't something that I ever care about. It reminded me a lot of Jotun, another fantastic Indie game. Big game studios need to take some notes on how to make an enjoyable game. Simplicity is sometimes the best thing for a game.

Yeah you had a good game until you did what most people do and just make the final boss MISERABLE.

Don't imply there is a checkpoint system every so often if there is in fact no checkpoint system and you have to slog it over and over again just to get back to where you were and that is before we get to the absolute nonsense that is DEATH ROLL (insert party blower noises)

Too many areas where it is easy to fall off and lose health. The start of the game can be a little confusing (not the grove the bit after).

Abilities (spells) are pretty cool i guess but again just a reminder that you shit the bed and decided the final boss needed to be stupid hard

Great art direction, interesting world. The gameplay is fluid, but a bit shallow, not much incentive to use anything beyond dodge and attack, but still fun which is what matters.

Very charming Zelda-like game with really nice artistic style, simple but very effective. The music is fantastic. There is not a single area where the music wasn't great. There is some humor knit between the segments of the game, which is welcome and doesn't get in the way. Although in the second half the areas don't seem as well designed as the beginning, maybe time or budget constraints, there is still plenty things to do after the final boss. Highly recommend! Runs great on the SteamDeck.

Love the game! Some things were so hard to find to get all achievements, but, we like a challenge

Amazing gameplay with beautiful soundtrack and stunning visuals. Story kept me hooked the entire game. However, it was pretty hard to navigate without a map or compass and had to watch a playthrough to understand what my next objective was, kinda tedious to go back the same area to unlock new areas with the abilities. Overall good game, 8/10

Overall very cute and fun game! The combat could be challenging but rewarding. I really enjoy the OST!!! The puzzles and OST give me The Last Campfire vibe (another game with great puzzles and OST).

An amazing souls-like game that is never either too unfair or too easy.
Each new area in Deaths Door felt a bit overwhelming at first. However, you learn the areas quite fast since the game heavily encourages thorough exploration ( especially for the true ending and achievements ).
Even if you're not into souls-likes, I still highly recommend this game. It only takes about 10-20 hours to get through, and it was enjoyable the whole time.

Incredibly fun game. Don't let the tag confuse you like it did me, this is by no way shape or form a souls-like game. There is no stamina to manage, you don't lose anything when you die and the overall game is on the easier side.

Biggest issue I had with it (which is a non-issue really) is that there is a LOT of backtracking if you want to complete it 100% with the true ending, especially since there is no map. Also, the NPCs who give advice will only appear on day cycle which require you to go all the way to the bell and back, and that is really tedious but I had something running on my 2nd screen so I was fine for the most part.

Other than that, it's an easy recommend. Simple yet awesome gameplay with a cool OST.

A great 2D Zelda-like marred by being too souls-like.

I know some people really enjoy souls-like games, I do not, and Death’s Door is the perfect reason why. Everything else about it, makes it a game I should love, a very 2D Zelda like game. The problem with Death’s Door is even when you take the time to go on the side quests to improve you character to hopefully give you an edge in later battles it never really makes a difference, You never really feel like your character has gotten more powerful, battles are just a matter of ‘get good’ and slogging it out, In short, my game time becomes work, and that is not why I play games.

Really liked this game!! Nice atmospheric world and characters when you explore the game. Puzzles not that hard but kinda perfect level for a game like this. I would have wanted a map, especially when coming back to the game after a bit. Also the combat in my opinion could have been more fun, not bad by any means but also not great.

A fun and cozy Metroidvania that is a bit challenging ( but not Souls-like as it says in the tags above, it is WAY easier than you think ), cool story with some twists here and there ( i suggest finishing it 100% ).

hope they make Death's Door 2 at some point :)

The game is great in every aspect. I can only find a few downsides - it does not teach you the falling attack that is required to open sewer entries, and I constantly encountered an annoying visual glitch with death screen black pixels stuck on the screen after resurrection. Besides that, this was a pleasant and engrossing experience, I lost the entire Sunday with no regrets.

This started a little slow for me but quickly became a lot of fun to play. The controls are smooth, the graphics are beautiful, and the dev team has a fantastic sense of humor. Will definitely give it another play through at some point.

Honestly have no real complaints about this game other than it needs a map of some sort. The regions are not overly complicated to remember how to get around, but some sort of map that also keeps track of collectibles would be a very nice quality of life update to add. Other than that, it's a really fun game. Combat was enjoyable including the bosses which are not terribly difficult after you learn their attack patterns. It scratches that Zelda itch. After you get about an hour into the game and the plot starts to show itself, it sucks you in until you finish.

Death's Door has excellent presentation and starts strong with engaging gameplay. However, it fails to be memorable.

The game hits its peak early and the campaign lacks creativity. Backtracking offers a slight break from the gameplay loop, while puzzles feel shallow and add little to the experience.

Death's Door still deserves a positive review for its solid foundation and presentation. It's a noticeable improvement over their first game. Although the direction has still room for growth.

Short and sweet game that I recommend on sale. Game wasn't very hard to be called a souls-like, but it was very enjoyable while it lasted. Music was amazing

Been a long time since I enjoyed a game as much as I did Death's Door, highly recommend!

Great game from start to finish. The developers deserve special praise for making an ice level where sliding about is actually fun and not just an irritation.

Amazing game! Super cute art style, exceptional music, fun but not too difficult, a nice story, enjoyable to 100%. Definitely recommend :)

i really liked this game, i saw one guy saying that the game is super eazy and made him dont finish the game, but for me, that was a really good thing, bc i dont want to play the next dark souls or something like that, i just wanted to play because a liked the visual of the game

the animations and soundtrack is really good, btw i caught me whistling the soundtrack along the day sometimes

Solid combat mechanics and great writing humor. The exploration part can feel a bit tedious because the game likes to take it's time with the presentation but it's well worth playing

Death's Door

Death's Door is one of my favourite games ever.
The first time I played it, I spent about four hours but didn't really enjoy the mechanics.
A few months later, however, a strange longing for the game stirred within me.
So, I gave it another shot, and its brilliance shone through!
Now, it stands among my all-time favourites.

Gameplay [10/10]

The gameplay is phenomenal!
The game offers five distinct weapons (including an umbrella), each with unique stats such as damage, range, swing speed, and swing time.
Although there's only one difficulty setting, players can adjust the challenge level by choosing specific weapons.
For instance, using the umbrella moderately raises the difficulty since its damage output is half that of the default sword.

Boss fights are unique, dynamic, and incredibly fun!
There are even clever mechanics to briefly stun bosses, providing opportunities to deal extra damage.
The introduction of base enemies is well-paced across the game's five regions, each enemy type requiring slightly different strategies.
As in the Souls series, shortcuts open up as you progress through areas, improving the flow and reducing frustration.

The game's brilliance truly shines in its encounter design.
It blends various enemy types in ways that demand vigilance and adaptability.
Puzzle elements and special abilities add layers of depth, requiring creative thinking to overcome certain obstacles.
The levelling system, with four upgradeable stats, is well-implemented and rewarding.

After beating the game (January 9, 2025) and achieving 100% completion (January 10, 2025, at 8:47 PM), I immediately began a new playthrough.
This time, I used only the umbrella to unlock an achievement.
Though challenging, I enjoyed every second of this journey (umbrella-only achievement unlocked: January 11, 2025, at 1:54 AM).
The upgrade system's impact became especially evident during this run, as the difference in performance was striking.
It's astounding to think this masterpiece was crafted by just two developers!

Presentation [9/10]

• Graphics & Atmosphere: The visuals are stunning and stylised, perfectly complementing the isometric perspective. Each area boasts clever design and a distinct theme, creating a cohesive yet differing world.
  
• Soundtrack: The music, composed by David Fenn, is nothing short of magnificent. Every track fits its area perfectly, enhancing the atmosphere. My personal favourites are "The Old Watchtowers" and "Flooded Fortress."
  
• Performance: Completely flawless. No stuttering, screen tearing, frame drops, or bugs to be found. It's a seamless experience from start to finish.
  

Narrative [9/10]

The story is unique and features the cutest protagonist I've ever played. It evokes nostalgia, reminding me of childhood stories read to me by my father. Supporting characters are well-written, with meaningful backstories, engaging dialogue, and a refreshing dose of humour that genuinely made me laugh. One post-game boss fight even conveyed a poignant sense of sadness, something I didn't expect, but deeply appreciated.

Longevity & Replayability [10/10]

It's a shame there's no sequel or DLC because Death's Door is nearly perfect as is.
While the game doesn't overwhelm you with collectibles, this restraint makes collecting everything feel especially satisfying.
Despite already completing it twice, I know I'll play it again, perhaps even aiming for 100% completion again.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Engaging, polished & fluid gameplay mechanics.
  
• Memorable and unique boss fights.
  
• Beautiful graphics and world design.
  
• Outstanding soundtrack that elevates the atmosphere.
  
• Well-written story and characters.
  
• High replayability due to flexible difficulty and achievements.
  
• Flawless technical performance.
  
• Balanced amount of collectibles
  

Cons:

• Lack of a sequel or additional content.
  
[*] Single difficulty mode (though weapon choice compensates for this).

Final Verdict

At 19.50€, Death's Door is a steal.
I'd gladly pay 30€ for the unforgettable experience it offers.
It seamlessly blends nostalgic charm with challenging, thoughtful mechanics, resulting in a game that I dare to call perfect.

Death's Door is a masterpiece I'll cherish eternally.

I'm enjoying so much this game, challenging, well balanced, lovely designs and it has crows!

Death’s Door starts off very charming and intriguing, but quickly becomes tedious.
The difficulty is manufactured by an intentionally clunky combat system.
World building somehow feels one dimensional and lack laster.
I’m not sure why there’s no map or directional system, but that also makes for really frustrating gameplay.

The game was fantastic! Was so great played the umbrella run and 100% on both play throughs. would recommend to any and everyone who likes a souls-lite!

The game is a bit too slow for my liking, never quite scratched the 2d 'dark souls' type itch for me in terms of difficulty, but the visual and story are nice. I will likely not unlock the true ending. 6/10

This game is very very good. The music, the gameplay, even the stories was good. you don't have to be so good to in this game, the mechanism was easy to learn. This game is amazing, i wish i can play this game for the first time again

I just 100% completed the game, and am blown away by the amount of effort and care poured in.

This game is centered around uncovering secrets, solving puzzles, and overcoming the occasional challenging enemy. The characters are charming and memorable, and the plot had me invested very early on. There is a very basic upgrade system and a small handful of weapons to play with. The combat itself feels very polished once you understand it.

My only real complaint is that it is pretty easy, enemies' attacks are very telegraphed and only 2 bosses took me more than one try. I am also a tryhard with much souls-like experience, so results may vary in that department.

Death's Door is a fabulous game that I'd recommend to anyone who's a fan of tight combat, narrative, and visuals. The entire game is extremely well polished and it's honestly a breath of fresh air to play something so... finished.

D+. Walked away with a negative impression with few very positive to justify my experience.

Pros:

• Soundtrack and sound: Doesn't feature an extensive sound library but I actually enjoyed what is available, within the setting of the game. Has a nice, almost classical soundtrack to accompany the black and white landscape relying on intense melodies (mostly piano) to accentuate gameplay beats. Sound effects are similarly bare but it works with nice impact to the hits and movement.
  
  
• Writing: The plot is fairly limited but I actually find it enjoyable since this feels reminiscent of older Zelda games. Gives you just enough to get started, while adequately balancing world/lore building with more expository plot. The pace at which new events and information is uncovered felt about right and I was pretty satisfied with the way the game concluded. Dialogue is whimsical enough to carry most of the conversations.
  
  

Mixed:

• Level design: Mixed in the sense that there are some good and bad decisions here. The good aspect is that the levels do a good job of using verticality to flesh out the world. In addition to the generous unlockable shortcuts available it gives the level a feeling of realness to it that other top down games often lack. Subjectively though I felt like they did too good of a job, as retracing steps became frustrating due to the open endness of the level design after the shortcuts open everything up. Would possibly have been alleviated with a map system which is unfortunately absent. The downsides to the level design have to do with the gameplay aspects of it. As you are playing through the game most areas are linear, boring sections to navigate. Typically some enemies in a room that are easily avoidable and areas with no distinct features. There are some light puzzle sections available but they are some the simplest I've seen in recent memory, so simple that I wish they were removed because they slow gameplay while contributing absolutely nothing. The areas are also a tad too big given how slow movement is, which I'll touch on later.
  
  
• UI/UX: Keeping it short the features here are mostly adequate if bare, though I'm sure this is a deliberate decision given the game feel.
  
  
  
  

Cons:

• Gameplay: Objectively I could see an argument made for this game but for me the game fails at nearly every turn. Going to forego a comprehensive look at the system and list my gripes instead:
  [list]
• The game's primary use of currency is through upgrades that enhance various aspects of speed and power. In many games this type of progression system would feel rewarding for the player. Instead the game's initial core gameplay feels kneecapped instead. Primarily in the movement that starts off with abysmally slow walking speed and high animation lock. Damage doesn't feel great at first either and enemies can feel like damage sponges which wouldn't be an issue if most enemies didn't have a laughably boring moveset. What results is that you start the game as a severely underpowered character where you have to make progression choices between moving sluggishly or having flimsy hits. It doesn't help that most enemies in the game will give you 1 or 2 currency when upgrades are mades in the hundreds, and later thousands. By the end of the game (not true ending), I was just shy of 3/4 of the way through upgrades, having exhausted most of the discoverable currency caches that help speed progression.
  
• On that same topic, movement feels too slow for a game that relies so heavily on backtracking. And not just a little, but the entire game feels designed in a way to maximize gametime for arbitrary stats. It felt like I was consistently retreading ground for no reason other than to unlock shortcuts that, while satisfying to unlock, are ultimately rarely useful. Compounded with the dungeon gameplay aspects it makes it feel extremely tedious just to walk around (and no new movement is unlocked at any point).
  
• Enemies attack patterns are range between either easily dodgeable and reactable, to nearly borderline instantaneous. But either way it didn't matter due to the lack of player control due to slow movement. Essentially, instead of being able to have an offensive based mindset I felt it necessary to just memorize the single basic enemy attack pattern, then preemptively dodge to avoid an attack I may or may not have been able to react to but can't either way if I lead with an attack. The end result is usually just dodge then slash in a circle around an enemy until they die (or for the easier enemies just spamming attack would often do the trick). This sounds like the gameplay loop for most games, but in this case it feels like I'm playing solitaire- the same dodge attack pattern would work on most enemies and I could probably close my eyes and kill enemies because they never change up their attacks or behavior. Outside of bosses this results in really unengaging gameplay with the enemies of the world.
  
• I'll tack it on here, but again the simplistic level gameplay setup leaves a lot to be desired and I often ended up just ignoring nearly every mob in a new area and just keep walking until I hit a mandated enemy encounter.
  
• Lack of any meaningful gameplay changes on a strength build: You get up to 3 different ranged attacks as the game progresses but since you're not leveling into "magic" (which encompasses all three) then they're basically useless in real combat. You don't even get a charm/relic like system here where you could diversify the experience. Old school zelda games aren't known for incredibly diverse gameplay options but the difference is that in those game it rarely felt like your avatar was severely underdeveloped as they are here, and I swear enemy AI from Zelda games is more interesting.
  

Artstyle:The general textures of the game feel polished, but I feel like the game lacks a distinctive identity. The game has a simple color palette as an intentional choice but the game with have benefited more from having more color. Given the setting I'm sure this is the case but it doesn't diminish the lack of joy playing through areas. Levels, while structurally well designed, visually lack contrast within itself causing areas to essentially blend together which makes backtracking worse. Outside of bosses and side characters enemy designs felt very lacking as well, with a number of enemy types retaining the same form changing only some colors here and there.

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