I played the game on switch 2021 and really enjoyed it, cracking art style, solid combat and decent writing with a surprising sense of humour. Hope folks enjoy!! @AgentCooper suggestions from this month for the shortlist sounds like a reasonable way forward, cheers for organising!
I’m hoping to start Death’s Door this week, when time allows. Might be the weekend before I can get a trial in.
It’s slightly out of my wheelhouse with the isometric graphical backdrop. I have several of that style in my backlog to try (Disco Elysium, Hades, DOS2, Dead Nation and Alienation, Helldivers, The Ascent…) but for some reason I seem allergic to that visual perspective because I seem to avoid it. Actually, I’m not sure I completely know the difference between isometric graphics and 2.5 D and 3/4 view. It’s probably all semantics. But either way, I am surprised when I look back at my game list and see I hardly ever play games from this viewpoint.
A lot of the reviews also call Death’s Door a “Souls-like” or probably better “Souls-lite” or “Souls inspired.” Of course that’s a whole can of worms that I know we’ve debated on the forums before as to what really constitutes any shared relation to a Souls game. But the general Souls formula is one I’ve grown accustomed to and have played quite a lot of recently.
I’m glad to see the game is around 10 hours. I’m not sure if I’ll push for the platinum yet, so I’ll have to see how I get along with it first.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@AgentCooper As far as which list, I think it’s fine to pull forward only games getting repeat mentions. So whatever new game nominations can be added, and keep any that have been mentioned from the past list. For example, Humanity on the original list is still getting mentions, but then there’s new interest in a game like Tren. Like @Mr_B021 says, perhaps drop a game if there is no vote for it after two cycles. That way it keeps and evolving list with some of the games present that have at least a little interest, but weeds out those which don’t have any support.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
I've been playing this game a bit the last few days and just got to the underground part of the Urn Witch's mansion. I'm not sure if I want to continue from here on. I think the game is absolutely gorgeous and the world-building very intriguing, but I have not been able to get into the combat. It feels very bare-bones and, frankly, boring to me. I hoped that as I would continue playing new mechanics might be introduced to make it more exciting, but so far it's just been more of the same.
The dagger was the first weapon I got as I assume is the case for everyone, but it just feels like an objectively worse choice than the sword you start out with. The timing of attacks in fights seems like it pretty much always gives you the chance to get three hits in with the sword and then dodge. If you use the dagger, the timing becomes a lot harder to get right with pretty much zero benefit in terms of damage. I just don't see any reason to use this instead. I was excited when I finally got some of the magic the menus had been teasing and thought this might introduce something new... only to realise it's practically just the bow with a different texture. Sure, you can use it to solve new puzzles and get to new places, but as a weapon it feels indistinct.
When it comes to exploration, it feels largely unrewarding. There's mainly been two different types of loot to gather throughout the first few hours, neither of which bring me much of a feeling of satisfaction. I can barely fit the amount of life seeds I have in my pockets at this point. This would be more useful if I was afraid to die, but even that doesn't really come with any consequence here. Dying is more like a small inconvenience than anything truly meaningful. There's no tension in combat for me, because I know that if I die I'll be back to this place in no time and will have lost nothing but time. Speaking of which, I wish there was a way to traverse through the map quicker. The character feels too slow for me with the amount of backtracking I have to do (which generally I'm already not a fan of). A sprint button or the like would've been appreciated.
So yeah, I think conceptually this game is quite interesting, but the gameplay so far has let it down extremely for me. Anyone else feeling this way? And for anyone who might've gotten further by now, are there any significant new mechanics introduced that make combat more exciting? If so, I might have to push through for a bit. If not, I might have to stop playing.
I was surprised when I went to download this game and it was only 800 MB. That was a relief after having Jedi Survivor, Hogwarts, Horizon Forbidden West, FFXVI, and GT7 weighing down my meager SSD. There has been a real increase in average file size for PS5 games lately. Early gen it was a rarity to go over 100 GB, but now all these AAA games are quite big
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
I was able to start Death’s Door and I’m liking it so far.
But the first 30-60 minutes are a little tough to get through. It didn’t initially grab me and the first boss and exposure to combat are more frustrating than I expected. Getting into the groove of the movement and attack animations takes time. That along with the isometric viewpoint and the maze-like nature made me consider quitting during that opening hour. One thing I wasn’t ready for was the large health penalty for falling off the path. But the absolute worst thing so far about the game is the dash/dodge-roll being mapped to the X/Cross button. I wish there was controller configuration option to switch dodge-roll to the O/Circle button and range attack to the X/Cross button. I’ve died so many times whilst hitting the wrong button to dodge.
But after spending my souls to get my first attribute enhancement and also switching from the umbrella to the sword (I was trying for an umbrella run but I just gave up on that) then the game has started to click better.
I’ve now met Pothead and am working on finding the Witch. There’s an optional appearing larger enemy / mini-boss with a large hammer that is making mincemeat of me, so I decided to take a small break. I’m looking forward to getting back to it.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Spent some additional time with Death’s Door this weekend and was able to beat the witch. She took me four tries until I got her patterns down and was able to defeat her. Looks like I’m about 30% through the game now, at around 6 hrs invested.
I still like the game and certainly it’s more enjoyable now than the first hour. The fire spell has opened up some new areas and tactics. I’ve also discovered some of the hidden areas that I had walked right past before. Things like the shrubs in the garden which have certain bushes that you can walk through to get to otherwise inaccessible areas.
There’s still large jumps in difficulty, but thankfully the checkpoints have been fairly forgiving so far. Also the fact that dying does not amount to losing any progress or collectibles is a relief.
I’m wondering if anyone else has any feelings about the game, positive or negative.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Is the first rule of game club the same as the first rule from fight club??
@Th3solution
There is a way to upgrade that fire spell and once I'd found that it was pretty much my go-to for combat for the rest of the game. Yeah it's definitely a game that is worth fully exploring and going off the beaten path. Most of the bosses are like the witch in that once you get the band of their patterns and attacks they're not too bad. The exception in my case being Betty - oh I retired that one sooooo many times.
Glad it's starting to click with you and happy to read about your continued progress... Though is it technically a club if you're the only one there?
Hmm, not a lot of action this month so far. I just got back from vacation and started Death's Door. @Th3solution I met Pothead and I am on my way to the witch. I wasn't sure initially if I would like this game, as it's not really my cup of tea. But so far, thanks to the great music score and generous checkpoints, it's actually quite relaxing. I did not do a lot of exploring or upgrading up to this point. I started an umbrella run, but I quickly ditched that as it made the game frustrating instead of fun. At certain points it reminded me of a stripped down version of Hades, minus the rogue like elements. I like it so far and I will probably play to completion. But I'm not going to platinum it.
@Th3solution we can't have you being in a club of one!! It's been a bit since I played the game but I remember really enjoying the next section, which was a dungeon with a cool four way cross roads with multiple paths through where i found a hammer that I really liked. You can definitely unlock shortcuts when you explore that let you use lifeseeds you have already planted to save on your lifeseeds. How you finding the story/tone? @sorteddan it was the one after that wasted me!!
I don’t mind being a club of one, but glad to hear some other people have played the game. 😄
@sorteddan Upgrading the fire spell sounds like a good idea. I’ve upgraded my strength twice and my dexterity, haste, and magic each once. I hardly noticed any effect from the latter three, and only minimal assistance with the strength upgrades. More strength does help my reach and maybe a few enemies go down in two hits instead of three, but the difference is pretty small.
@Mr_B021 I feel mostly the same. The game has grown on me and although it won’t likely be my GOTY it’s really quite good and addictive in its own way. But yeah — the umbrella run is for the birds (no pun intended). I gave up on that too.
@R1spam I’ve had some decent shortcuts open up, so I’m glad to see it will cut down on map traversal. I’ve been hoarding the seeds and I think I am carrying around about 10 of them. 😅. Whenever I need to heal sometimes I just go to a door and go back to the office and then back again to get my health back rather than plant a seed in a pot I may never use again. I have two crystals so far toward a health upgrade and so I look forward to having another hit I can take.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution
Fire upgrade so it does damage over time is from beating an optional boss. Was pretty difficult to obtain and another place a died a fair few times but totally worthwhile in my opinion as it means you can keep more distance from tricky enemies.
And yeah you should probably, definitely avoid the umbrella run on your first playthrough.
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
Evening all. I will join the chat and only just got round to starting this today, I beat the first boss (not on the first go) and are currently at the feet of the second.
I'm enjoying the game but feel that I can only play it is relatively short bursts, not sure why but perhaps it is that otherwise I feel like I'm in a boss rush game which is a type of game that I don't particularly enjoy.
Only managed to upgrade one stat so far and that point went in dexterity which I feel did improve my hacking and slashing speed especially fast attacks.
As I say I do like the game, the art style and music but my main criticism is that I would like to remap the controls or use different presets, I find the control layout most strange although I guess that is years of FromSoftware games and my brain failing to readjust. I know I could remap at a system level but ain't nobody got time for that.
I just loved the vibe of it all. A bit like Hollow Knight, it created a wonderful little world, had some great characters, a lovely art style, and solid combat.
I found the lack of any map the biggest frustration. Shortcuts helped with getting around but almost made the lack of a map seem even more ridiculous.
I'm glad to see a small number of people enjoying it at the moment... even if you are all wimps and not doing an umbrella run
I made it past the witch and am on my way to the frog king. It is getting less and less relaxing. Near the urn witch mansion's front door I met a black knight who gave me a serious ass kicking. I don't know if I'm already supposed to beat him, but I left it for now. I heard several people call Death's Door an easy version of a souls like. I haven't played enough souls borne games, but I wondered if anybody here has an opinion on that.
@Mr_B021 I can see why people would say that, as you could set your own checkpoints to heal with your lifeseeds vs defined bonfires, you don't lose any resources if you die but you still have challenging, pattern recognition combat. Having said that, souls games let you summon and you can grind for levels to increase your health where in deaths door, finding health crystals was pretty tricky and your on your own! I'm a bang average gamer and have finished a few souls games, the difficulty of many of those games is pretty overstated. Deaths door later on has some bloody tricky sections!
@Mr_B021
Yeah that guy outside of the witches mansion gave me quite a beating too when I first encountered him. It is doable but much more manageable when you go back during later clean-up with better weapons and upgraded stats.
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
So unfortunately I haven't joined in this month, the plonker that I am only went and broke his wrist and elbow 😢. Having to have your Mrs cut up your food is a humbling experience let alone being able to game
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