LTTP Deaths Door - feels like an government job

[Aether]

I'm always interested when people mention Zelda Likes. But they almost never quite get me.
So first my opinion on the usual suspects:

Spoiler: Other Zelda Likes

Titans souls was a fun game back then, somewhat simplistic. (Hinthint)

Okami: did not finish it on the Wii, found the battle system somewhat grading after a while and the game felt to wordy, reminded me of TP.
Will maybe try again on the switch sometime.

Moonlighter: meh dungeon crawler. Still had fun. But would not call it a Zelda like.

Anodyne: did not click. At all.

Blossom tale: fun initially, but overall lacking.
Art, music, gameplay... it feels like a second grade LTTP, it does not add much of its own outside of the humor that only got a chuckle out of me in the beginning.

Hyper light drifter: Golden. Took a while to fully grasp the gameplay. The world and it's style is rather unique (except the obvious Evangelion inspiration), the gameplay is tight, and you can get into a flow. The soundtrack (disasterface) is sublime. One of the best of the last decade.

Minit: actually great fresh take, fun, doesn't overstate it's welcome. Recommended.

Cross Code: fun gameplay, but more a "Golden Sun" then Zelda, some of the dungeons drag on, the story's not my jam and has to many "mmo culture" aspects, I just can't get into it. I would recommend, but had to pause it for TotK and can't get back into it. Also pretty long.

So... how does Deaths Door fit in?

It's from the same people that made Titan Souls I found the one hit mechanic an interesting twist, but also liked the world flair and Bo's fights generally.
I was curious what that team could do if they push it further.


The game starts with an introduction area, a boss fight, and the story kicks off. My initial impression was: graphics look sharp .. but also somewhat plain and almost generic in style, but not quite. Music seems fine, reminds me a little bit of hollow knight, but without the dynamics and strong melodies. And gameplay felt, but I was curious how it will change with new weapons and upgrades. Oh, nice collectibles, will there be a mechanic to bring stuff back to its owner, a new form of "trade quest" like in Zelda?

Aaand... the game plateaued. Music never picks up, side content feels meaningless and unsatisfying, exploration is more frustrating then interesting, mostly because the game doesn't even have the most basic map. Story is shallow in my opinion, and the characters did have some Charme (the octopus...pardon, human for example), but it all felt so ...lacking in impact. Nobody takes the world serious, but it's not out there. It really felt like in a government office where people are more out of convenience since it's a save well payed job, but nobody was burning for it.

Best part was the fight behind the door, and some of the chest fights.

Battles: it was never hard, I was just often inpatient. Power ups...honestly, all of them felt pointless. Including the magic power ups. Generally magic fellt useless in bos fights cause of the charge time and it not doing better damage then normal weapons. It was more risk then just dodging and attacking. HLD did this waaaay better.

Health mechanic...was annoying. It's checkpoints without the checkpoint. Needing to go back to heal was annoying and usually no risk. Healing items can bear a risk reward aspekt. This does not. You find more then enough seeds.
I almost always had 10+.

Then there's the weapons... yeah, I tried them all, but untill the big sword the starter sword was just better, und it did not FEEL much different using different weapons.

The shiny things? Pointless. Post game? Random searching things on the map.

Oh the map... it did not feel satisfactory to explore at all, and ... just like a random maze. Except in the dungeons it rarely felt like Levendesign, at the same time I KNOW it was intricately designed with linear progression in mind. Just a boring world. I just realized there was a settlement in the forest area. I totally forgot about it.

All in all its FINE. It's not to expensive, it only somewhat overstays it's welcome (gameplay does not evolve that much, and is not that deep), it felt like dungeons got easier as time progressed, but maybe it's just me getting more accustomed.

It was a fine 6.8/10 for me. 7 feels wrong compared to some 9/10 games, for sure more then 6.


So now I'm Stuck, people generally say that Tunic is worse then Deaths Door. Should I give it a shot? It's never on sale, so I could just as well get the Physical release.
And how is Eastward?

 

[linkwashere]

Only thing I can say is that I tried it for the first time yesterday because of the eshop discount, I played it for two hours and I don't have the desire to come back to it. Bland and formulaic as it gets.

 

[Zellia]

Dull as dishwater. Think I gave up around the third dungeon.

 

[Suswave]

honestly shocked by this

Death’s Door is one of my all-time favorites, and I love the soundtrack

it’s all steeped in melancholy, sure, but everything is impactful to me

I love how each area kind of goes deeper and deeper — unexpectedly layered.

the bosses are tons of fun and truly menacing. and they have incredible music — especially the swamp boss!

one of the major areas being a bit more melancholy and semi-empty feels very intentional, especially when fighting the elements and architecture — that felt like atmosphere to me, not a failing

there are many inventive-feeling fights, and the entire final sequence really sticks with me

my only regret with the game is that a certain post-game quest — which I did truly enjoy — gives final lore without an extra boss fight. if there were something to fight there, this would be one of my perfect games.

to each their own, though! you’re certainly welcome to not like it.

but if anyone is intrigued — I do recommend giving it a try. I was pleasantly surprised.

and I wasn’t sold at first, but the deeper I got, the more I loved it. it’s now one of my all-time favorites.

 

[ProteusRidley]

this game gets a lot of love around steam and whatnot. I, for one, am not a fan. I've tried getting into it twice, once on PS5 and once on XSS. I have no desire to try the game again.

Glad those that could find fun in it did!

 

[carbvan]

It's a charming game with fun writing, but it puts wayyy too much emphasis on its half-baked combat. Each area had a giant enemy gauntlet which took me a ton of time to get through compared to the overall length of the game. They were slogs. The windmill area took me forever because the encounters. I don't know why the devs felt like their game needed to revolve around its combat when it isn't particularly great or special. What puzzles were there were fun, but they were never really too complex. I think a low 7/10 or high 6/10 is a fair grade.

 

[Cubs017]

I actually loved Death's Door. I thought that the combat was fun and it was a solid mix of exploration/puzzles and combat without being too overwhelming in any one area.

I like it better than Tunic. Tunic had some great puzzles, but some were just a bit too obtuse for me and I thought that the combat was just really clunky. It was a game that I finished but had no desire to 100% or anywhere close to it.

 

[Weiss]

I played this last year and my strongest impression is that Death's Door created a lovely Tim Burton-y, Ghibli-y world of gothic whimsy, which it then proceeded to become deeply embarrassed about.

A portly knight whose head is a cauldron of soup is charming af, but they still had to call him Pothead or else I might do something cringe like be invested in his adventure.

 

[ngpdrew]

Huh. I really loved this game. I thought the combat flowed in a satisfying way and the overall aesthetics helped it rise above most other Zelda-likes. In contrast, I thought Tunic was a brilliant game that was a chore to play towards the end.

 

[em]

Is Death's Door still running at half frame rate on the Switch? It feels a lot better on PC et al.

 

[Lozjam]

I loved the furnace area. I get a huge hard on whenever developers sync the music to the world. It’s so satisfying.

I thought it was really good on Gamepass, would I buy it though? Probably not, but I am glad I played it. OST was really good and worth the playthrough.

 

[Suswave]

I loved the furnace area. I get a huge hard on whenever developers sync the music to the world. It’s so satisfying.

I thought it was really good on Gamepass, would I buy it though? Probably not, but I am glad I played it. OST was really good and worth the playthrough.

bruh you can say you liked the music without relating everything to your dick

 

[Lozjam]

bruh you can say you liked the music without relating everything to your dick

??????

 

[Suswave]

??????

I get a huge hard on

what’s the question

 

[Lozjam]

what’s the question

It's a musical term that most my colleagues used in university, it has nothing to do with genitalia. It means playing hard. Especially with complex pieces.

Like, "I get my hard on playing shostakovich".

 

[hologram]

It's a musical term that most my colleagues used in university, it has nothing to do with genitalia. It means playing hard. Especially with complex pieces.

Like, "I get my hard on playing shostakovich".

Yeah, the origin of that phrase is absolutely about genitalia though

 

[slide's]

lmfao

 

[IamPeacock]

Fully agree. Never understood the praise the game got. Very bland gameplay and story.

 

[Barely Able]

Please don’t slander us government workers that do important jobs in fields we love for shit pay because taxpayers think we are worthless. Thank you

 

[Linkstrikesback]

It's a musical term that most my colleagues used in university, it has nothing to do with genitalia. It means playing hard. Especially with complex pieces.

Like, "I get my hard on playing shostakovich".

Yeah right. You and your friends might have worked a really obvious euphemism in to your daily parlance, but you don't actually expect anyone else to buy that excuse for a second, do you?

 

[Suswave]

It's a musical term that most my colleagues used in university, it has nothing to do with genitalia. It means playing hard. Especially with complex pieces.

Like, "I get my hard on playing shostakovich".

mmmmmnot sure I buy that but even so, I recommend googling phrases before using them freely

also I literally went to university for music at a school known for its music program

so idk, maybe i know shit and don’t appreciate being talked down to

 

[Lozjam]

Yeah, the origin of that phrase is absolutely about genitalia though

Well consider me educated then. English is not my native language. I am sorry for anyone I offended.

 

[Suswave]

Well consider me educated then. English is not my native language. I am sorry for anyone I offended.

sorry for the frustration — it’s just the second time today i’ve seen the phrase thrown around on the site, so perhaps my guard is a little high right now

 

[Enpsty]

Really overrated game. People say that it plays like Zelda meets Dark Souls. Well it's nothing like Zelda and nothing like Dark Souls. It's a standard isometric action game.
The worst thing of it is how the combat never evolves, basically you'll roll and slash and roll and slash and roll slash for the whole game.
Bosses were nice and some environments were cool, but it's more of 5-6/10 instead of one of indies best.

 

[SammyJ9]

I liked Death’s Door quite a bit and found it charming, but I at least partially agree with a lot of your takes. I think Tunic is quite a bit better, especially if you’re more into the mysteries and puzzles and figuring obscure stuff out - and that’s something I adore. But both games are good, IMO.

 

[Aether]

Listening to the soundtrack without playing the game... yeah, i stay where i was:
lacking the textural depth of disasterpiece OST for Hyper Light Drifter, and lacking the melodies and actual drive/direction. It often feels like 3 minutes of a 15-30 second loop.

Still, the highlights: Hall of Doors
Battle theme is honestly pretty boring, just realized that i never actively listened to it.
Its just such a background track.
Avarice was also a good Track. Stranded Sailor.
And the Grey Crow reminds me of a FF8 song.

Overall its a passable soundtrack, that sometimes is to flat in the production (lacking dynamics and textures). I mean, just try the last lord: choir, guitar, but the guitar is dull sounding and does never change loudness, the quire is also never swelling up. It sounds like a Demo to me.

honestly shocked by this

Death’s Door is one of my all-time favorites, and I love the soundtrack

it’s all steeped in melancholy, sure, but everything is impactful to me

Oh, the melancholy is not the problem. The 2 soundtracks i compare it (Hollow Knight (Christoper Larkin), and Hyper Light Drifter (Disasterpeace)) are also full of melancholy.

But disasterpeace handles textures and harshness so masterfully that it really sticks with the visuals, and it has some themes&sounds that are used through it to give it a through line. It knows when to be quiet, and when to go BOOM. But i also know its not for everybody. It reminds me of a moderen take of Vangelises Blade Runner Soundtrack.
Vignette: Pancaea
Seed of the Crown
The Midnight Woods


Larkin on the other hand has simply a) stronger melodies with all that Melancholie, and b) the better...mix. Everything has more impact and punch, and the soundtrack usually knows what the "headline" of the song is, while David Fenn keeps everything more "in line", not pushing elements of the arrangement in the forefront.

I love how each area kind of goes deeper and deeper — unexpectedly layered.

What do you mean deeper and deeper? i felt the the structure was rather clear: new area, dungeon, another area, boss. The gardens from the witch was mostly just running arround. the manor was the most annoying dungeon in my eyes, the third the best (but then again, it was also the easiest and the one with the clearest layout), and the third areas where more fo a gauntlet, where i again found the witches furnice to be the hardest of the 3 post dungeon areas.

the bosses are tons of fun and truly menacing. and they have incredible music — especially the swamp boss!

i...only dies 2 times because i was inpatient. The game gives you plenty iframes for dashes.
The only hard part is not to get greedy with attacking. The hard part in the battles for me was managing bigger crowds, since it easily happened that you dashed right into a different attack or that you got attacked from 2 sides.

one of the major areas being a bit more melancholy and semi-empty feels very intentional, especially when fighting the elements and architecture — that felt like atmosphere to me, not a failing

which one? if its the third, then yeah, that was my favorite, but by then the gameplay was kinda... reaching a saturation point for me. Or of its the central main hub (not the "office"), then i don't quite get what you mean.

there are many inventive-feeling fights, and the entire final sequence really sticks with me

Bosses for me: Castle thingy, grey crow, then the 3 world bosses (all of those reminded me heavily of 2D zelda bosses, but in a derivative "i fought that one already" way...like the witch reminds me of the bottle djin from Links Awakening). And the final boss... yeah, did not really hype me, but i also really did not like the character. I found him...boring as the big bad.

my only regret with the game is that a certain post-game quest — which I did truly enjoy — gives final lore without an extra boss fight. if there were something to fight there, this would be one of my perfect games.

to each their own, though! you’re certainly welcome to not like it.

Thats the frustrating thing, i don't dislike it. I see the team is talented. But it to often feels way to safe and trying not to ruffle any feathers (hehe) or push any aspect. Im confident that the team could do huge things, but this game is not that for me.

but if anyone is intrigued — I do recommend giving it a try. I was pleasantly surprised.

Oh, i would definitely recomend anybody to try it! Thats the thing. 6-7 sounds like a harsh grade,
but i have a ton of games i loved that are not much higher. i don't subscribe to the "everything under 8 is a bad game" school of thought. I would say 6 and 7 are the "for genre fans" category. Not a masterpiece, but a solid entry worth trying.

It's a charming game with fun writing, but it puts wayyy too much emphasis on its half-baked combat. Each area had a giant enemy gauntlet which took me a ton of time to get through compared to the overall length of the game. They were slogs. The windmill area took me forever because the encounters. I don't know why the devs felt like their game needed to revolve around its combat when it isn't particularly great or special. What puzzles were there were fun, but they were never really too complex. I think a low 7/10 or high 6/10 is a fair grade.

Well, the puzzles where simple, since they worked strictly with the 4 mechanics, and even those rarely overlapped. Dodging has no downside (in boss battles), and not dodging is almost always worse. Combos don't really change anything, so more hits instead of more guaranteed hits that do more damage and then backing out is simply the better option, so the sword is the best weapon.
But the gauntlets where hard sometimes, when you have 3 enemies and dodge into a projectile.

I actually loved Death's Door. I thought that the combat was fun and it was a solid mix of exploration/puzzles and combat without being too overwhelming in any one area.

I like it better than Tunic. Tunic had some great puzzles, but some were just a bit too obtuse for me and I thought that the combat was just really clunky. It was a game that I finished but had no desire to 100% or anywhere close to it.

That is a way to look at it. Unlike Hollow knight where closely understanding the enemy patterns or Hyper light Drifter harder to master but way more time sensitive movement (and more useful ranged attacks...with the same mechanic for magic...) the battle never really changes, so its easy to get the grasp over time. In that regard its more like Zelda (well, zelda never was famous for its battle system).
The puzzles also never go to Cross Code levels (those can be... hard, while having similar "simple" mechanics), and zelda puzzles where way more diverse, so Death Door wont get you stuck with a puzzle.
As an entry to those type of games its probably a good choice.

Would you say it was worth finishing it? (Tunic)
Deaths Door is the same in regards to post content, after i realized, that its just re traversing the map to find random trinkets till i unlock a boss fight that was teased early on, i was like: nope, thx. i think i finished at 85% with the last battle.

I played this last year and my strongest impression is that Death's Door created a lovely Tim Burton-y, Ghibli-y world of gothic whimsy, which it then proceeded to become deeply embarrassed about.

A portly knight whose head is a cauldron of soup is charming af, but they still had to call him Pothead or else I might do something cringe like be invested in his adventure.

Thats a ... good way to put it. Generally, so many aspects it chooses to do, and then doesnt procede.
The topic of death doesn't go that hard, the characters seems like they care...somewhat, but not thaat much. Battle system starts soulslike... and doesn't evolve. Same for puzzles, rarely do the mechanics overlap, so you exchange one flavor of "shoot" for another flavor of "shoot" in the next area.

Is Death's Door still running at half frame rate on the Switch? It feels a lot better on PC et al.

Dont know. In my experience it felt smooth enough, that would be the least of my problems.
I did not miss inputs, and did not have the feeling that more frames would help in any way.

 

[bixente]

Fantastic game.

 

[Suswave]

maybe you’re just too good at videogames because I found it challenging, engaging, and delightful to play

i also died a lot

and i liked the spells and slow-building upgrades

but again, to each their own, i don’t need to forge a crystal-clear counterpoint from my draining pool of earthly seconds when I think it’s as simple as I loved it, and you didn’t! not a bad thing at all, just a thing

in terms of soundtracks: i mean, you are comparing it to two of the all-time greatest soundtracks!!

it’s highs are just as high — and I think there are some things it does better in some ways, even if more subdued — I definitely keep all of them in rotation depending on the mood

i could understand not loving it as much as the other two, though. again, in my opinion, all-time greats

i do love those soundtracks, so I commend your taste

actually, I’m really curious now —

I released part of a soundtrack to a game I’m making — would you be at all interested in listening to it? I’d really like to know your thoughts

 

[Aether]

maybe you’re just too good at videogames because I found it challenging, engaging, and delightful to play

Oh I did not want to bad talk the game.
It is a competently made game, I still finished it so it isn't borin.
I was just trying to articulate what missed for me and which aspects didn't klick.
If it hit the right spots for you, then that's great

i also died a lot

I also died a lot, but not with bosses, and it was almost always "impatient" as the reason, so there wasn't to much strategic thinking on my part unlike with other games

and i liked the spells and slow-building upgrades

.here I hoped somebody could give me a hint what the benefit of the spells is. The charge time takes so long, that the distance you add to cast them is most of the time gone after one shot, so it's not that you are more safe while casting then just going in and attacking.
And thy don't disrupt attack patterns.

but again, to each their own, i don’t need to forge a crystal-clear counterpoint from my draining pool of earthly seconds when I think it’s as simple as I loved it, and you didn’t! not a bad thing at all, just a thing

Oh sure. For me reassessing and analysing media is a big part of the fun and engagement I have with it. Doesn't have to be interesting for everybody

in terms of soundtracks: i mean, you are comparing it to two of the all-time greatest soundtracks!!

it’s highs are just as high — and I think there are some things it does better in some ways, even if more subdued — I definitely keep all of them in rotation depending on the mood

I will give it another go in the future. I had soundtracks lose or gain without the game context, so I'm curious how it develops.

i could understand not loving it as much as the other two, though. again, in my opinion, all-time greats

i do love those soundtracks, so I commend your taste

actually, I’m really curious now —

I released part of a soundtrack to a game I’m making — would you be at all interested in listening to it? I’d really like to know your thoughts

Sure, I'd like to give it a listen

 

[dingbat]

I seem to generally agree with your impressions on the other games you named. Especially HLD and Minit, which are among my favorites

To me, Death's Door is just a very slick and cohesive package, and that lets me round up the experience, so to speak. I don't get the impression that DD set out to be groundbreaking, and I think it does what it does well given its scope. So while it's not an all-timer, I enjoyed it immensely. The setting especially is really clever, and I was genuinely interested in its workings, which doesn't happen often. And I enjoyed the music a lot, in particular the main theme and its different variations. I thought that was one of its highlights even. It's no HLD, but there are a few soundtracks that come close to it.

I don't think your not resonating with Death's Door means you should skip over Tunic. Not that you can really do a like-for-like comparison, but I personally enjoyed Tunic more because it's heavier on the adventure and puzzle-solving. Unlike Death's Door, I feel Tunic is a must-play game.

The soundtrack for Tunic is also quite good. It's by Lifeformed, who also composed the soundtrack to Dustforce, which I must've listened to hundreds of times by now.

Another one you may want to try is Unsighted. Fun combat and dungeons, and a cool central concept (even if you don't engage with it). Often described as a metroidvania, but it leans more Zelda as far as I'm concerned. It isn't without flaws either, but worth playing for sure.

A slightly more distant cousin is Chicory, which I also liked. A bit too repetitive I thought, but it makes up for it in originality and a leisurely mode of play that worked for me.

 

[Suswave]

here I hoped somebody could give me a hint what the benefit of the spells is. The charge time takes so long, that the distance you add to cast them is most of the time gone after one shot,

ah! see, they were crucial to how I engaged with the combat. if I got over to the other side of a room, i could charge up a spell, let it loose as the enemies got in range, and have just enough time to strategically reposition. dodging was trickier for me, especially with a lot of enemies — close combat felt good but was riskier. spells let me regroup when my rhythm faltered, or let me have a desperate attempt to stay alive if I was down to one health. I feel like they’re intended to widen the choreography — they’re for catching breath, turning the tables, and handling lined-up enemies (especially fireball — I love ongoing burn damage!)

Sure, I'd like to give it a listen

thanks! it’s called A Taste of Grögol Bonanza, and my music name is Decimae. here’s Bandcamp:

https://decimae.bandcamp.com/

but I’m also on Apple Music, Spotify, and anywhere else you can listen to music!

there are also some EPs from in-game bands — those songs get worked in as well, but the main thing I’m curious about is how the main album feels.

thank you — I really appreciate it and value your impressions!

 

[EggmaniMN]

Pretty sure I disagree on every single point. As great as Tunic was as a heavily puzzle based Zelda type game, this was the Oracle of Seasons to that game's Oracle of Ages, the action Zelda I wanted. Filled with charm, an incredible OST, fun combat and a world that came together very well. And both of those games are 9/10 or 10/10 for what they're going for to me.

 

[jnWake]

I played Death’s Door and thought it was great. It’s not the most unique or complex game out there, but does everything competently. My main criticism was the enemy variety.

That said, I wouldn’t recommend it as a Zelda-like since it has almost nothing in common with Zelda.

 

[browneyes84]

Completely agree. Very bland and frankly boring game.