Reopening Death’s Door

Death’s Door is not afraid to proudly wear inspiration on its sleeve.

When I reviewed the game on the PC earlier this year, the comparisons to classics were not lost on me. But Death’s Door had an indescribable charm, due in no small part to its tiny crow protagonist. An impeccable art style and murmurings the game had any shred of Dark Souls in it further poised the game for success.

Around five months have passed since Death’s Door launched on PC and Xbox and I feel like the game has become lost in the shuffle. It was a near-perfect endcap for the summer, leading way into the numerous incredible games that would arrive over the next several months. Acid Nerve’s Zelda-like made a confident statement, sucking players in with its challenge and style. While the launch platforms are by no means small, Death’s Door felt stranded by not being on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 and 5.

Coming back to Death’s Door on PlayStation has only reminded me of its brightest spots. The game does fall short in a few small ways but a lot of that is due to its short length and cryptic nature. It feels like one of those games that if iterated on, will only improve if the developers manage to capture lightning in a bottle twice.

At its core, Death’s Door is most akin to an isometric Link to the Past. I was never certain where the Dark Souls comparisons came from, outside of preview footage alluding to a mildly sharp difficult curve and using experience from felled enemies as the primary form of currency. Players aren’t seeking out a captured princess or even saving the world from a primordial threat… at least not initially. As a small crow, we are a Reaper that takes the souls of the dead from their colorful homes to a black-and-white world that acts more like a dilapidated office. The crow’s most recent targeted soul is captured by a fiercer, older crow for an unknown reason, leaving our hero stripped of their immortality.

Acid Nerve rarely traverses into grim territory outside of a few wrenching story beats that will impact the player. Instead, the humdrum office of the Reaper Commission is played for stale chuckles and the absurd bosses act as cartoonish tormentors. The atmosphere is distinct and vibrant, each new area capturing its setting in a whimsical way. There’s old ruins, lush forests, and a haunted mansion, all with hidden paths and unlockable shortcuts.

What I think hinders stronger attachment to the world of Death’s Door is the fact that there is no map or easy way to acknowledge where you are in a level. For completionists, the game will likely take no more than 15 hours. To include a map would have been an added budget consideration for Acid Nerve and a tool players would have relied on too much. That being said, I think levels were just big enough that some sort of signposting would have made backtracking absolutely satisfying.

Throughout the campaign, players will come across a number of tools, weapons, and unlocks that work to elevate the hacking and the slashing. Often, these upgrades will serve to pry open a small portion of the map that rewards players with a new upgrade. But players who have forgotten where those parts of the map are will likely wander around in hopes of checking off boxes that don’t exist. I celebrated finding a new weapon and health upgrade but often never felt like it served to make my reaper that much stronger. Again, these shortcoming result from the compact nature of Death’s Door.

A new weapon a quarter of the way through the game isn’t going to result in a drastic power increase, just a new way to tackle combat. But more frequent health upgrades would have served to make players feel like they can survive longer, especially with the more difficult bosses and enemy rushes that occur periodically. Instead, Death’s Door feels like a game that asks you to be lost in its world rather than squeeze every inch of life out of it. Combat had its moments when I finally felt like a master of reading enemy attacks and dodging at the right moment and I never asked more from the game than to allow me to figure out how many times I could mash the attack button before having to dodge. There’s a simple toolset that players will choose to run with or leave alone.

When I reflect back on my time with Death’s Door, I straddle the line between thinking the game was too short and also the perfect length. I regret the shorter playtime because Acid Nerve threw in multiple upgrades and items that never really seemed to pay off. Hunting to find everything in the game felt like a goal meant for those who wanted to 100% the game rather than become stronger. On the other side of the coin, I feel as if Death’s Door never wore out its welcome. A good amount of memorable boss fights, side characters, and unique locations would have suffered if they were stretched to their limits.

Death’s Door partially feels a bit forgotten because the game made a massive impact upon launch, a bold statement. It lovingly payed homage to a number of games that Acid Nerve were likely fans of in their younger days. But there was also an undeniable charm that was delivered in this compact package. It made no attempt to do more than it presented and was confident enough to not stray too far from a specific design bible. Ultimately though, I think Death’s Door was overshadowed by a number of gargantuan releases that came out in 2021. Resident Evil: Village, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Returnal, It Takes Two, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Far Cry 6, Deathloop. Not only that but a number of smaller titles actively sought to be different and define a wholly unique experience, like Unpacking or Before Your Eyes. Unlike all those games, Death’s Door isn’t completely innovative. It’s not bombastic or making a statement. Rather, it’s a gamer’s game. One that players can come back to multiple times and have a classic gaming experience. For a long time, I would go back at least once every year or two and replay Link to the Past, Death’s Door isn’t really that different and that should be celebrated.