Underneath my yellow skin

Tag Archives: Acid Nerve

The one true winner…and an apology

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I’ve done several posts for my games of the year. I was ready to do one last award when I was reminded of another game that I played earlier this year. I really thought it was last year–or rather, I had completely forgotten it was this year. Because, you see, the first half of the year has been wiped out of my memory because of my medical trauma. I’m watching the Game Informer Game of the Year video and two people (of two) so far mentioned a game that I had played, but it had completely fallen off my radar. So I’m going to squeeze that in before I get to my final award of the year.

The little soulslike game that could with an adorable crow as the main character

Death’s Door

I loved this game by Acid Nerve when I played it. The art style is gorgeous and colorful, and the little crow who is the main character captured my heart. They don’t ever say anything as they trot around the worlds, but they swing their red sword with panache and flair. They have a little cock to their head that is inquisitive and jaunty. They captured my head from the start, charming the pants off of me.

I loved exploring the worlds, brightly-colored and hand-painted. even though I’m not as enamored with getting lost in said worlds. Each area is distinct, but within each area gets a bit samesy at times. I have a terrible sense of direction, which means I spent a lot of time lost. That’s never enjoyable to me, but I’ve come to accept it’s probably going to happen because as I said, I have a terrible sense of directions and any game that isn’t Souls without a map is not so much fun for me.

I didn’t really mind as much in this game because each environment was so charming. There were little Souls nods such as walking across the rafters a la Anor Londo. The biggest one is Pothead, a jovial character who is strongly reminiscent of Siegmeyer, the Onion Knight. Both affable and jolly, but ultimately helpless in the field–though they fancy themselves fierce fighters.

The bosses are very colorful and creative, but I didn’t enjoy fighting them, sadly. In fact, I would have to say that the combat is the weakest part of the game. You only have four health pips (you can get more later, but it’s grueling), which means you can only take four hits in a fight. There are healing flowers that you can eat that will refill the pips, but, you can only plant them where there are flower pots.

I like that the ranged skills are refilled when you hit things with your sword. The combat is very simple and even though there are different weapons, they don’t play that much differently. The combat is fluid, yes, but it just doesn’t quite have that satisfying crunch to it.

Still. I loved the game enough to 100% it (in the game. Not platinum it. Because you have to beat the game with the umbrella, which does half-damage, as your only melee weapon to plat it) and see the movie ending. I forgave it its sins because it was so delightful and I just adored the little crow. I can heartily recommend it and am glad I played it all the way through.


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The good, the bad, and the Dark Souls

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I’ve been playing an indie game called Death’s Door by Acid Nerve. It had been on my radar because of the gorgeous graphics and the fact that you’re a crow with a red sword. I mean, that’s really all I need to know because I’m simple like that. It’s an action adventure Metroidvania with more than a dollop of Dark Souls frosting. I am not just making that up in my fevered Elden Ring-starved brain, either. Both streamers I’ve watched who were playing it mentioned it more than once. There’s even a character who is highly reminiscent of a Dark Souls fave, not to mention one who is similar to an NPC in Sekiro. I will, of course, get to that later in the post.

Side Note: I have finished the game so there will be spoilers throughout the post. Fair warning to turn back now if you want to play it unspoiled.

First, I need to rave more about the environment of Death’s Door. It’s moody and dripping with atmosphere. The crow is wearing a jaunty little scarf and you can find a Discarded Umbrella that is shit as a weapon but is a great accessory. I love the crow’s quick little walk and the head tilt when they think there’s something interesting. They are a silent protagonist, but they exude so much personality.

Before I get into what I like about the game (and there’s a lot to like), I need to talk about one big thing I don’t like right from the start. It’s the combat. I’ll get more into it later, but for now, I’ll say that it’s the combination of too many mobs, not enough variety, the need for twitch responses, and not being able to heal during combat. Oh, and having 4 hit points. That’s right, 4. There are ways to boost it, but only up to 6. I’ll get more to that in a bit.

The premise is that I’m a reaper crow who is going out and getting souls. In the beginning, I’m dropped off at the Reaping Commission Headquarters. The security guard is called Baul Plarth and I know I’m in for some droll humor. There’s a typist named Agatha who just loooooves typing and Chandler the Handler who is a hard-bitten crow who is a middle management type who is constantly worried about his job being harder. Then there’s the mysterious Vaga who has a book on his head and makes cryptic statements about a better life out there.


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Something old, something new

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I need a new game. Again. I say this every time I finish a game, but it’s true. I’ve given up on the Imposter Mode in Going Under (Aggro Crab) because it’s not fun at all. I tried it a few times in the past week and it just aggravated me every time. I’m not quite at the point of uninstalling it, but I’m close. I really want to plat it, but I haven’t even made it to the third boss yet. I will admit that not being able to win at the Imposter Mode has dampened my enthusiasm for the game in general. That’s not entirely fair, but it’s my honest feeling. I know I don’t have to do the plat and I got a good forty hours out of it, but the grind for plat, the one-off bosses, and the Imposter Mode have really left a bad taste in my mouth.

I decided to try Nuclear Throne by Vlambeer again to see if I was any better at it. It was the first roguelike I had played, which was diving into the deep end. It took me hundreds of hours just to make it to The Throne, let’s not talk about how long it took to actually beat The Throne. This time, I reached The Throne in less than ten runs and then promptly died when it barfed its rads all over me. I knew it was going to do it, but then it didn’t, but then it did. It was instantly deflating. I haven’t made it back yet and I’ve played probably thirty-plus more runs.

Robot is my main with Crystal my backup. The rest of them I could take or leave with Horror being more on the leave side. I think my mouse setup is not helping, but I’m still not good at this game. I had an amazing build the time I got to The Throne, but I haven’t been able to replicate it since. This game really depends on twitch reactions, which I do not have, and heavy RNG. If I get dropped into a mob, there is no chance I’m going to survive.

I think the game is really good, but the ramp-up is too high. I doubt I’ll be playing much more of it because the ceiling is still there.

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