The only constants in the working crow afterlife in adventure game Death’s Door are reaping souls and paperwork. The diminutive little reaper at its center is but one of a charming menagerie of creatures, with the game presented in a fetching zoomed-out isometric view and packed with punchy combat, exploration, and light puzzles. Touchstones like The Legend of Zelda series and the Souls games give way to a few other esoteric comparisons; in our preview of the game, one that most came to mind was the classic PC series Little Big Adventure, as Death’s Door similarly emphasizes an absorbing atmosphere and tone which comfortably gels with its action-adventuring.
It’s also nice how the main crow character in Death's Door isn’t really an anthropomorphic caricature. They frankly look exactly like a typical crow, but a luminescent sword, bow, and equippable magic spells manifest out of thin air around them when needed. The cast of characters available in the preview all had a bit more flair; a particular favorite was a kind of “soup knight” referred to as Pothead who sloshes stew from of his “head” when taking a theatrical bow.
In earlier reveals of the game, developer Acid Nerve described Studio Ghibli films as a touchstone, and that’s most certainly apparent. Aside from some very kodona-esque sprites who like to follow the player around, a boss in the preview prompted strong comparisons to Miyazaki’s more multifaceted treatments of villainous characters in his films. None of Death’s Door storytelling sequences interrupted the gameplay for very long; they are tight, short, and, like much of the game, ineffably charming.
The action gets a lot of things right as well. Sword swipes and basic combos are snappy with enemies providing great , and recharging arrows make the bow a utility more than a precious special-case projectile weapon. Hit points are meager but can be refilled at certain pots after planting seeds in them, with more pots in the world than seeds turning this resource into a lightly tactical decision every time. The enemies in Death’s Door are a blend of creepy, cute, and goofy, though none of the combat in the preview was particularly difficult.
What cannot be overstated is how lovely it is to just explore the world of Death’s Door. The architectural designs, varying color palettes, and satisfying tactile quality of each walkable surface makes wandering a constant pleasure. The brief cinematic interludes also make great use of dramatic camera angles, and the overall design of the game is so precise, consistent, and coherently presented.
A scant few bosses appeared throughout the Death’s Door preview, and while none were distinctly challenging, they were beautiful creations with fun routines to learn. The Witch of Urns is definitely the centerpiece, an oversized sorceress and scientist with an intricate explorable manse. Other mysterious figures - perhaps eventual future bosses - appeared at various points, including a hilariously curt Lord of Doors, a character feeding into the titular lore of the game. Essentially, reaper crows employed at the Hall of Doors use magical portals to facilitate their souls-reaping, but learning the inner workings of this bureaucratic system and its transport implies a richer backstory to be found about the whole death management element (with possible hat tips there to Grim Fandango) on display.
Death's Door's world is appealing, even if aspects of the game may not be revealed to be as deep as comparable titles in its genre of isometric action-adventure. "Shiny things" are artifacts which can be found and contain lore and clues, but there isn't a lengthy list of stats to buff and the total available armory seems unclear, but possibly meager. All in all, this doesn't feel like a game about incalculable depth or complexity, but a magnificently gloomy yet sarcastically comedic world with top-shelf artistic design - a place where each detail sparkles and never gets lost in background noise. Death's Door releases July 2021, and its infectious world, pick-up-and-play qualities, and sarcastic corvids are definite cause for delight.
Death's Door releases on July 20 on PC/Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A digital PC code was provided to Screen Rant for the purpose of this preview.
