Have a Nice Death
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch
WHERE TO PLAY
A macabre roguelike with stunning visuals and incredibly solid, fast-paced combat.
Style is one of the main things that attracts me to a game. A title with a unique art direction that speaks to me will often have me approaching it more readily than a game with better metrics on every other front. Of course there’swaymore to a game than that though, and I’m happy to report thatHave a Nice Death’s gorgeously macabre look is matched by a fast-paced, crunchy experience that absolutelykillsin every way you’d expect a great roguelike to.
Playing as Death (straight up), you make your way through the departments of your company, Death Incorporated, with the goal of getting the rebelling minions you created to lessen paperwork back to work through extreme violence. Each department you visit has a number of floors named after the loot found within them (such as a Soulary floor having a great deal of currency at its end or a Mana floor having drops that boost your max mana) Every time you finish a floor and reach the elevator you get the choice out of a couple of rooms to choose from before arriving at the boss of the department, such as the habitually slacking security gargoyle Brad or the waste-spewing Gordon Grimes.
With typical roguelike randomization of enemy placement and floor layout between runs, Have A Nice Death’s fairly simple core gameplay that relies on dashing and slashing your way through these floors (with the occasional arena that forces you to fight to progress whereas elsewhere you can dash past the competition) is welcome considering the sheer depth at play — with dozens of weapons, spells and curses to help you get your psychopomp corporation back on track.
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That aforementioned slashing and dashing is really what makes the game work so well. You begin armed with your scythe and can pick up other weapons or spells (the only difference between the two being that spells use your mana). The game is pretty generous with weapon cooldowns and mana regeneration, meaning you can really go ham with your whole arsenal. Unleashing a flurry of blows on most foes will stun-lock them — allowing you to combo cannon fodder into next week.
Slashing your scythe around midair lets you suspend yourself above the ground, with an even longer duration allowed if you’re actively beating enemies to a pulp. Once you get into a flow, your combat capabilities make you feel truly unstoppable. Some enemies will test your hubris, however, and those that aren’t as easy to stun are often the same ones that’ll give you some real trouble with their attacks. Luckily, you have your dash — allowing you to burst forward whilst invulnerable to dodge attacks, albeit with a slight cooldown between uses. All these little things make Have a Nice Death’s core gameplay a real treat; I recall situations where I’d have to fight weaker enemies on higher levels of an arena, hacking into vile plumes of inky waste that threatened to blast me with homing explosions if I didn’t stun them — all whilst a miasmatic mass of floating pollution waited to strike on the floor below, readying itself to blast a column of inky pestilence if I ever got within its range.
The weapons and spells that assist you are greatly varied and always fun. Even though many options, especially in regard to spells, are far too niche to justify not replacing with better choices when they come up, I always found it tough to replace a weapon because they’re all pretty to look at and almost all incredibly fun to use. I can count on one hand (with fingers to spare) the combat options that I found outright unsatisfying (like the Boomerang Hex, which I found a bit too mediocre to get any real use out of) — and even then nothing’s particularlyunusable.Some of my favorites include most of the heftier weapons with a bit of wind-up, like the Jabelin or the Slaygore (and I equally appreciate this game’s penchant for puns) as well as the game’s bows or the spells with a longer range. Special mention to the spell that literally just chucks an anvil at your opponent as if you’re playing a vastly more effective Wile E. Coyote. I love this spell and no more powerful option will stop me taking it.
The curses I found to be more mixed. Occasionally, HR manager O’Shah will pop up and offer you a curse from a choice of three. Many of these I found to be far more useful than others, such as curses that allow you to infuse your weapons with debuffs or ones that offer a limited form of regeneration. I like that some curses come with a penalty and are upfront about it (and I really like how you get to choose your penalty once you take the curse), but said options are rarely worth it if you’re on a good run given that you don’t know your penalty choices until taking the dive. Overall, the curses are solid little buffs, but I think they could use a bit more balancing.
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On the topic of regeneration, the reason that curse is so useful is that the healing system in the game is oddly cumbersome. Occasionally (and I do mean occasionally), you’ll be able to find animas — the game’s main healing items (since you don’t heal by yourself without the aforementioned curse). You can carry three at a time and use them with the push of a button. This would make for a convenient health system that could be used well in the heat of battle if not for the game’s injury system; after getting hurt, the most recent damage you took will be represented by a grayed-out area in your health bar.
Considering that animas and other health options are moderately scarce, the fact that health items consumed above the limit of an injury will be wasted is very annoying.
Your animas can only heal within this area — with the same rule applying to temporary lifesteal powerups or the instantly consumed health powerups, save for the few ‘pure heal’ items that heal health regardless of injury. Considering that animas and other health options are moderately scarce, the fact that health items consumed above the limit of an injury will be wasted is annoying. It’s a minor nuisance, but I would’ve preferred that the game either ditched the injury system and had everything pure healorhad the mercy to make healing items just a tad more common. They’re rarely dropped by slain foes and I think the odds of such a thing could do with being just a smidge higher. Again, it’s a small gripe, but it’s probably my most pronounced critique of the game.
From my main critique to perhaps my biggest praise, I could rant no end about how gorgeous this game is. Every stylistic decision is poured over with heart and soul,giving the title one of the most unique art directions I’ve seen in a game(as well as one of the best). Have a Nice Death’s animation is unparalleled in its fluidity, yet it also utilizes a reduced frame rate for certain motions to sell impact and telegraph attacks. Every inch of the game is brimming with detail that earns the title of comedy-horror.
It’s not just a typical Halloween affair, but one filled with gore and ickiness. The minimal color palette really brings out the harsh reds of your enemies' eyes or the colored sparks that fly from your weapons. The music also goes hard — taking the tropes of goofy horror music, adding some alien elements to sell the purgatorial vibes of many areas in the game, and generally creating pieces that heighten the excitement and energy of hack-and-slash action.
On the topic of audio, the sound design adds someoomphto the aforementioned crunch in combat; stunning weaker enemies with a combo is tuned to some wonderfully visceral sounds. Even the pause menu is in the style of the speech cards seen in silent films, with a change of screen in the menu sounding like a vintage projector changing slides. Have a Nice Death is nothing short of an aesthetic masterpiece.
Have a Nice Death is an absolutely fantastic time. Whilst the anima system and some lacking curses are enough of a nuisance to be noticeable, they don’t overshadow the rest of the game’s excellent qualities. Not only is it one of the best looking games I’ve ever played, but its roguelike loop provides a perfect base of simplicity that acts as a foundation for crunchy, fast-paced fights. The game both indulges the power fantasy of acting out the unstoppable will of Death itself whilst providing a suitably tough experience that forces strategy and rewards learning about each opponent.
If you decide to try out Have A Nice Death, you’ll likely reap what you sow and have a hell of a time.
