I'm only halfway through Death's Door. But I'm not seeing why the critics have this tied with Tunic in score. (Seriously, you're f*cking dreaming.)
Though the YouTube space that both originally praised it to high heavens too, before dialing it back to "This is good...(But not perfectly good.)" - Says every analysis title I’ve seen, after Tunic was released.
Is also a statement I may find more or less contentious, whenever I happen to finish the game. (But this game's quality thus far, is clearly not much better than simply above average 6/10 affair.)
Character / Controls: The crow is cute and the controls are functional. (With only minor hiccups in my secondary powers not always firing, or doing what was intended.) So I’d say it meets the serviceable standard that it was probably aiming for.
Combat / Upgrades: All the upgrades require grinding (or more so collection hunting) and are not very impactful/noticeable in gameplay. With the secondary powers ‘upgrades’ feeling incredibly obtuse and unnecessary. (More like how they should’ve started-grades.) But the combat itself is fairly straightforward, and simple when it works as intended. With slow-paced fights and heavy dodging required for just about every encounter. (Having a few different weapons that all feel the same, except not as good as the starting weapon.) But it could probably keep me entertained…if not for…
Enemy AI / Variety: There is none. No, not really. But there’s so fucking many “stuck fighting waves of dudes” combat arenas, and every level has the exact same spawn pattern and mooks to deal with. (Except for some color and appearance changes.) So it starts feeling pretty repetitive, pretty fast. (Even sharing very similar mini-bosses in each level thus far.) But the even bigger issue is everything else…
Like their attacks striking you somewhere impossible (usually leaping/distance attacks), hitboxes that can be inconsistent (like your distance attacks passing through them and doing no damage), cheesing AI by standing somewhere out of bounds and striking the poor bastards to death, while they stare obliviously into space. (This has happened numerous times so far.)
Because the AI seems to be very basic and not very good at staying alive. (Whether it kills allies faster than you can, charges off a cliff, or teleports right next to you so it can be stunlocked to death.) It feels like the enemy's spongey health bar is all that’s keeping them a threat.
Boss Design: The first few have been the brightest spot of the game (and is the one thing I’d argue Death’s Door has made both easier and more entertaining than Tunic.) Even if I’d argue each might be a bit too easy and ‘interacts’ with you a bit too similarly. (You get a few intro lines and some “oh, I’m so evil and mad” dialogue (four times) each time you clear an area.)
Though I’ve also spoiled myself to know that my very next fight is supposed to be less well crafted. So, we’ll see how I feel about them in the end…
Exploration / World Design: One of its biggest letdowns. (As far as I’m concerned.) Since the levels themselves feel thrown together, and hardly feel like a cohesive world that was lived in. (Besides, how dead simple/time-wasting filler all the puzzles are, in a world full of dumb AI.)
But one of the biggest problems and patterns that I’ve noticed in most games (including this one) is that a game will (almost) always be worse off without a decent map. (Because every great game I’ve played in a bit, has a great map and/or world building atmosphere.)
Unfortunately, this game has no map whatsoever. So good luck wandering aimlessly and having no clue as to where you’re going, most of the time. Which makes traversing, backtracking, scavenger hunting for good ending collectables, power ups, finding where you’re supposed to go, etc etc. More tedious than it needs to be. (A bit of a meandering chore.)
Graphics / Charm: The artstyle is appealing (hard to say it's anything but nice looking) and the game runs smoothly. But the charming moments in its dialogue and story feel overstated. (In that, I’d argue only a few lines and bits are memorable in a positive way.)
Soundtrack: Another thing that probably carried the game for most. The music is noticeable and bombastic at times. But I’d argue that its placement has repeatedly messed with the tone. (Where the combat music will begin blasting the moment you step anywhere near any action. Just for the music to continue banging on, long after you decided to head in the opposite direction.)
So yeah. I’ll keep playing. But the (mainly subjective) art and music does not equal an eight out of ten game. Almost everything else could be improved upon, mechanics could be better explained, and certain main building blocks are poorly thought out. (Like its exploration.)
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