Death is completely over all this God damn paperwork in this corrupt underworld, so what does he do? Start stabbing his employees in spectacular fashion! Boasting a large roster of different enemies and even more ways to dispatch of them, Have A Nice Death is a thrilling, 2D, action-packed roguelike experience wrapped in a beautiful, adorable, and down right lovable setting, filled with a wide array of colorful characters you will meet along the way.
Gothic and Cute.
Have a Nice Death is set in a world where the afterlife has taken on a corporate role with items and areas reinforcing this idea. Most of the enemies you will fight initially are dressed business casual with no heads allowing the player to project those frustrations in the modern workplace, and adding to the cutesy, grim setting are a wonderful cast of Tim Burton-esque characters that wouldn’t look out of place in Beetlejuice. The theme is just so unique that it leaves you wondering: what in hell did I just look at? Monster Death Crabs, slime and grime covered monstrosities are just a small bite into the deeply layered cake that this game’s enemy roster contains with every layer more revealing than the last, exploring this world from a gameplay perspective is, simply, satisfying.
Holy Whoop Ass Batman!
Damn! This game has the best combat I’ve played with in a while: every enemy is manipulatable and provides solid feedback to being hit with a slight screen shake and great audio feedback on hit. But how does it feel to be the one on the receiving end? It’s surprisingly just as good with more screen shake and a record scratch to interrupt the great sound track so not only don’t you just feel bad you got hit, but you also interrupted the music…! Good job, dick head.
The soundtrack adds a lot to the overall feel of combat making you feel like a badass all the way through with gothic elevator tunes that get stuck in your head for not only are they catchy but so unique it simply plays with the overall aesthetic beautifully. The controls are so tight it feels like a fighting game, but it’s not without flaws: sometimes eating inputs which is simply frustrating, but a rare occurrence. The control layout is solid as well with every combo being able to be done with just the joystick plus one of the attack buttons to complete every combo, without having you bother with long attack strings: just pure in and out fast paced combat. To be quite honest, there simply isn’t much to complain about the combat and enemy design at this stage of the game.
It’s Pretty Solid
Have a Nice Death isn’t looking to reinvent the wheel: it just polished it. The game is so refined even in its current early access state that I can’t recommend the game enough if you enjoy 2D action games and roguelikes. From the beautiful world, amazing character design, and some of the best combat I’ve experienced in a very long time, Have a Nice Death will leave you with a unique experience that you won’t want to put down: at $14.99 USD, this is definitely a recommended purchase.
