Death's Door Review

Introduction:

For scheduling and prioritization purposes, I am getting to this review a bit late, as the game has already released, but sometimes that is how it goes. In any case, today I have the review for Death's Door, an action-adventure game from Acid Nerve and Devolver Digital where you play as a crow employed as a reaper of souls. When given an assignment, you are to travel through a door to the soul, claim the soul, possibly by killing the being it is for, and return it. Failing to reap a soul means the creature is able to grow large, powerful, and evil, having past its time. Your assignment that starts the game is interrupted after having claimed the giant soul, as another being has snatched it away from you, but left a door open so you may follow. Besides needing the soul back as part of your job, you also need it to regain the immortality reapers enjoy in the Hall of Doors when not on assignment.

Besides the action adventure gameplay, the game also features some RPG elements and an isometric view as your crow wields its weapons in the varied environments. The bleak and desolate Hall of Doors contains only gray scale colors but you will visit colorful forests, swamps, and mountains to complete your mission. On your back will be your equipped weapon, possibly a sword or a mighty hammer for crushing and cutting your enemies. When necessary, you can also wield magic to defeat your enemies at a distance or open up paths necessary to progress, or find all of the collectibles.

While on your adventure in a land typically restricted from the reapers, you will also uncover hints and clues to a conspiracy. There is more going on than just the cycle of life and death and you must learn the truth before the cycles balance is so upset, the world itself is destroyed.

As mentioned above, Death's Door is from Devolver Digital and, as usual, it was Tinsley PR that provided me with the key for the publisher. According to the games website, it is rated E10+ from the ESRB for mild violence. Unfortunately the same rating cannot be applied to the review playthrough as I certainly got quite frustrated at times and vocalized my anger over the microphone. You will just have to read the Gameplay section to know why I was frustrated and what the impact may be on the larger experience.

I believe that covers everything for the Introduction, so time to get things started in this review and determine if it is worth stepping through the door.