Death's Door

A murder by crows

Why

Why Not

Impressions

In the world of Death's Door, Grim Reaper is a job like any other (as long as you're a crow). The soul harvesting business is slow these days though; at least until a mysterious older crow steals the surprisingly powerful soul you just claimed.

Needing it to meet your quarterly KPIs, you end up on a quest across three biomes to defeat the area bosses and claim their powerful souls as keys to open the titular "Death's Door". Each biome has its own enemies and puzzles fitting the theme, and is ability-gated by traversal methods you gained in previous zones. Despite the linear progression between biomes there are usually a number of paths to take and secrets to find within them. Enemies are mostly straightforward but there are some tougher minibosses, and sometimes the mix of ranged/melee enemies with those requiring specific strategies ups the challenge significantly. This is especially evident in the gauntlet rooms which grant you a new traversal method after defeating waves of the enemies native to the zone you just cleared.

Before accessing those though, you'll need to defeat the bosses. These are brilliantly designed fights, incorporating multiple gimmicks without feeling cheap. For example the witch makes use of various potions and the pots scattered around her mansion as both projectiles and an means of locomotion, the frog boss tries to take you for a swim with him and the yeti uses themselves as a snowball in addition to those made of snow. I also enjoyed the lack of health bar, with their proximity to expiry instead indicated by a cobweb of red cracks spreading across their body.

In a more general sense the combat is basic but satisfying, with a fair amount of variety offered by the gradually unlocked main/secondary weapons. Each of them feels distinct to use, though the core souls-like combat loop is essentially the same. One difference from a souls game is the lack of stamina, replaced instead with charges for your secondary weapons replenishing on hits from your primary. There's also no Estus equivalent; to heal you'll need to make your own bonfire by planting one of the seeds you find in a handy pot. FYI it is possible to fill all the pots, and there's a reward for doing so.

It's been over a year since I played Death's Door as I write this, but I feel compelled to get my remaining impressoions down as even after a year where I finished 60+ games it stands out as a unique experience I really enjoyed. You can see the care the devs put into every aspect of the game, and it paid off with a stylish, polished experience stuffed with character and charm. If you're looking for a slightly more chill introduction to the souls-like genre, or just a beautiful game with plenty of charm, give this one a go.