A clever homage to Zelda
Noir vibe, visuals create lovely nod to genre
Death's Door Devolver Digital Available on PC, Xbox One
When a creative work bears an obvious resemblance to a well-known predecessor it runs the risk of being labelled derivative. However, if the work in question stirs us we often consider it a love letter to its inspirational sources. Happily, Death's Door, the new action adventure game about a hard-working, soul-reaping crow is very much a love letter to the old Zelda games. Its mechanics are satisfying in a chip-off-the-old block way, its visuals are a delight and its storyline is touched with assured, easygoing humour. Such qualities are even more impressive when you find out that Death's Door is the product of a two-person collaboration, Mark Foster and David
Fenn.
At its start, a bus rolls into a station and a textbox at the bottom of the screen announces, “Now arriving at Reaping Commission Headquarters.” The scene, rendered in black-andwhite, has a noir vibe. It's a smart move as it subtly links what's to come as a conscious exercise in genre. Descending from the bus, a crow with a large red sword on its back makes its way into an office where a couple of feathered office workers tap away at their typewriters in a large room occupied by many empty desks.
Approaching the desk of one Chandler the Handler, the crow learns that it's been assigned to reap a Giant Soul. A door then appears at the top of the staircase above the typing pool — a portal to the assignment.
Proceeding through the door you find yourself in the Grove of Spirits, a place of gnarled, leafless trees and muted daylight. Entering a clearing you confront a Demonic Forest Spirit, a monster with four razor-like tentacles that bears a resemblance to a spinning top. Once dispatched, your crow leaps for joy, but its triumph is short-lived. A door pops into existence, behind which stands a giant bird and the red ball of energy, the soul of your vanquished foe, disappears inside.
Helplessly, your crow collapses on the ground. Upon reviving, your crow discovers that the newly materialized door leads to The Lost Cemetery.
After hacking your way through a parade of low-level enemies, and past a miniboss, you meet the large bird that pilfered the Demonic Forest Spirit's soul. This ancient crow explains that it, too, used to work as a reaper. Years ago, the old crow explains, its designated assignment managed to flee behind the door (a.k.a. Death's Door), “the end point of all life.” Using the soul of the Demonic Forest Spirit, the ancient crow had hoped to open the door, but since that didn't work, it offers you a bargain. Directing your attention to the location of three other Giant Souls, it asks you to go and kill them.
As a critic I, have my weaknesses, particularly when it comes to games that put me in mind of a childhood favourite. Suffice it to say, Death's Door is my kind of comfort food.