Have A Nice Death [Review]
By: Mithrandiel
DISCLAIMER: We received a complimentary Steam code in exchange for our honest review.
Work can be hell. I think we can all agree on that point, right?
So, you can imagine how much worse it can be when you’re the grim reaper - dealing in death and managing a monolithic corporate enterprise to ensure souls are going where they should.
Have A Nice Death, a 2D action roguelike, has you control Death after he has spent many long years rubber-stamping paperwork and dwindling to a miniaturized shell of his former self.
With rogue employees on the loose, your job is to get the operation back in tip-top shape!
Sounds like you’ll definitely need that second cup of coffee.
Thematically, Have A Nice Death talks a lot about mental health and the danger of burnout. When Death is inevitably defeated at some point during your run, it’s not that Death can die per se, but that he experiences burnout and has to take things from square one. While it definitely leans into dark humor, the game provides some insightful dialogue and scenarios that may have you considering what steps to take to battle your own sense of burnout.
As a note - there is a warning at the beginning of the game issuing a trigger warning for suicide depiction, and after spending more than a few hours with the game I can confirm there definitely some disturbing visuals and circumstances, so tread appropriately.
As you take the elevator further and further down into your dismantled domain, you may ask: what tools are at your disposal as you barrel through an unruly (otherworldly) workplace?
Well, your primary weapon is a variation of the iconic scythe - not only the classic design, but also including a twin-sided blade, sickles and even yo-yo inspired blades on strings! Complementing the scythe is your Cloak, as well as a secondary attack/magic. There is also a version of a “super bar”, which charges up as you deal damage, and allows you to unleash a powerful attack with your scythe.
Toss in a dash, an upward attack that doubles as a secondary jump, and you’re off!
The overall control in Have A Nice Death was clean - very responsive and definitely had me exploring efficient combinations of primary and secondary attacks. The oversized buster-sword like cloak attack is one of my favorites!
As the game progresses and you delve deeper into your domain, you will be provided numerous “curses”. These curses are actually good for you, as they increase your base damage, or provide other bonuses as you move through the game.
While I had fun exploring the different curses as they were presented to me, they failed to have the same compelling appeal and diversity that helped Hades to set the gold standard all those years ago. I just didn’t feel like the curse I chose ultimately impacted how I battled enemies - and that lack of impact/consequence sort of took the air out of that gameplay element for me.
Aesthetically, Have A Nice Death creates its own appealing gameplay loop, from the familiar jingle you’ll hear after every death to the hauntingly-jaunty background music that carries you through floor after floor. The juxtaposition of cute character models and drab environments was not lost on me.
Overall, Have A Nice Death is a fun roguelike title that stumbles primarily on its approach to power-ups. With a great visual aesthetic, tight controls, important themes and awesome music, the gameplay loop will hook you…for how long? Guess you’ll have to find out!
