Although it seems strange, it is not the first time that we get into the skin (or the bones) of a reaper of souls in video games. But it is new that the grim reaper is, on this occasion, a small body armed with a sword and a bow. This is Death’s Door: challenging isometric action.

Ireally like every time they illustrate the afterlife as a kind of bureaucratic organism that borders on the Kafkaesque. If life is complicated, with so much management and paperwork to do, handling the logistics of death should be even more so. There is no other way to see it. Under this pretext, it is logical that a guy behind a table spends eternity filling out reports while sending the “field agents” to harvest the souls that must transcend to the afterlife. But it is less common for the person in charge of this task to be a very cute crow. Well, that is less common … not either. Anthropomorphic animals have been invading our screens for a long time and birds are the new trend.

I suppose that, deep down, it is more appropriate that a crow is in charge of taking care of these tasks, because of the scavenger animal. The problem comes when our next assignment goes wrong and we lose the soul that we were supposed to take to the hereafter. To recover it, we will have to pass the Door of Death, defeating, effectively three bosses; each with its own area. Come on, although Death’s Door starts from this interesting idea, it has no qualms about gamifying it right away and that it is the game that takes the reins more than the narrative.

From that premise, the only thing that will matter will be your command skills and your ability to navigate each little world with special care. It all sounds a lot like Souls (we also have souls as experience) or even the zelda zelda, but Death’s Door is better understood when we understand that Acid Nerve are the creators of Titan Souls . Despite certain inspirations, the truth is that it manages to have its own charisma, being a game that starts out smooth and ends up conquering you as you unlock every door in this world.

For the three souls

With all this about the doors, I was worried that Death’s Door would have a washed out design, but, as I have been going through each of its environments, the idea behind its world is better understood. In the first place, because there are two areas that function as a central hub: the offices of the crows give us quick access to all the doors on each level; while there is a large main area that also serves as a distributor of three areas that are deployed in turn in various environments, guarded by three final bosses. This makes backtrackingis the order of the day, something that also caused me some doubts, because it is not always designed with enough motivation to go back to the same places, and it becomes a tedious process. But, although there is intention to force you to repeat certain areas, at least Death’s Door has enough elegance to know how to hide many of its secrets. With some you will only need a certain power to get them, but others will make you think a lot about how the hell you access that platform that seems completely impossible.

The trick, and here’s the magic, is in perspective. Death’s Door’s isometric action doesn’t just work well in combat, creating a momentum and dodge dynamic; Not only is it pretty, with some really accomplished settings; rather, they are capable of camouflaging what seems obvious. As in the best moments of a Luigi’s Mansion, discovering each secret path here is a game in itself. The palm is taken by the sanctuaries, which look how big they are, and even so they manage so that you have to review each scenario well if you want to access all of them and upload your statistics.

Death’s Door has not seemed an excessively challenging game to meAlthough the exploration component has finished conquering me, what we will do most in Death’s Door is fight. The skills of our raven in combat are basic. An attack and a couple of movements charged with the sword, and a bow with an interesting mechanic: since it is safer, we must reload its four arrows by striking with the sword. This way the game makes sure that you always have to get close during the fray. All this, together with a dodge in which our raven gives a small somersault, should be enough to face enemies and bosses alike.

Although with our progress other skills are unlocked, such as throwing fire and bombs, combat evolves little. The souls that we harvest (and do not lose when we die) are used to unlock passive strength, attack speed, movement, and shot upgrades. It’s enough? Well, it is, but without any boasting. This dynamic makes Basic Enemies fairly easy to clean up. The game is aware of it, it shows; For this reason, it places you in closed arenas where you can launch hordes of enemies that will make things more difficult for you. A somewhat crude solution, but it definitely works. Better do the confrontations against the final bosses and the elite enemies,in which it will be vital to learn their patterns and know how to respond and dodge their attacks. I’ve really missed a few more.

All in all, Death’s Door did not strike me as an overly challenging game, but this is not a criticism at all. He offers exactly the challenge he wants, perhaps aware that our raven abilities are limited. It is nourished more by the exploration factor, without punishing with deaths and based on the eternal pleasure that is to unlock many shortcuts to progress and go directly from the door to the boss or the place where we die. Come on, without frustrating the player, it is exquisitely designed; much more than meets the eye. The same thing happens with puzzles: they never want you to break your corvid brains, but from time to time they will make you reflect and, above all, make use of your spatial vision.

I started my game to Death’s Door somewhat cold: everything seemed too simple and I did not quite understand where this proposal was heading. But, accompanying this little crow on his adventure (about 10-15 hours), I began to understand his charm. Acid Nerve knows how to encourage you to explore every cornerand find all its secrets not for the reward, but for solving the situation itself. Some fights are easy, but others test your cold blood, because you have no cures: you must go to a series of pots and plant some seeds to heal yourself (and for this you must first find the seeds). And finally, as I went through the four corners of this world, I was realizing how beautiful it was. With a design that at first seems simple, the studio has managed to create places that enliven the imagination and that have reminded me why I love the isometric perspective so much.

After the game is over, I don’t know how the story will treat Death’s Door, but at the moment it has seemed one of the most prominent indies of the year. It may not stand out in anything revolutionary, but everything is built with care and care; something that you do not consciously think about, but that is there, throbbing with every little raven step you take. Writing these lines, I keep thinking of returning to him to find the secrets that I have left along the way. It will be a pleasure to reopen this door.