by Have a Nice Death is an indie Roguelite that I’ve been playing since its Early Access and the truth is that I had a good few hours of addiction and the game pleasantly surprised me. And nothing, since it is already released in its final version, I have decided to create this analysis + review so that you can learn more about this great title and my opinion about it.
I already anticipate that I consider it one of the best Roguelites out there today (I would put it at a level similar to The Binding of Isaac , although clearly Have a Nice Death does not have the nonsense of content that this one has, but I suppose that over time they will add more things) and I have not played a few games of this genre precisely. The game is really incredible, it’s one of those that it’s hard to find fault with.
I leave the trailer here in case you want to take a look and below you have my analysis:
WHAT IS HAVE A NICE DEATH ABOUT?
Me when I set out to do the Elden Ring guide.
We will take the role of Grim Reaper, who is the CEO of Death Inc. the company that is in charge of managing the souls of people who have passed on to a better life. The fact is that product of an exorbitant amount of souls to manage, Little by little, Grim Reaper becomes more and more stressed… (and becomes small in the process) until he ends up exploding and decides that he needs to take a vacation .
On his way to take his well-deserved rest, he will review the different departments of the company and he will realize that he had so much work because many of the heads of each section were doing their job poorly or being lazy, so he puts them in their place. (for the bad).
Total, that we will go through the different departments while we fight against multiple enemies, we are improving Grim Reaper and we face powerful bosses; As usual in the Roguelite we go.
THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS
The settings look fantastic, take a look at this area for example!
One of the most interesting aspects of this title is undoubtedly the variety of settings that we will visit , the Departments. Each department has a theme and the setting and enemies will display it (and the truth is that artistically it seems sublime).
For example, in the Modern Conflicts department we will be in an area that is a battlefield and will be full of enemies that lay mines or use missiles, while in another department such as Toxic Food Processing, we will find junk food for everywhere and the enemies will look even a little appetizing.
Knowing each area in detail, as well as its “traps” and especially its enemies will be essential to progress properly in the game.
REAPER’S UPGRADES
As in any good Roguelite, we have several improvements for both the run and permanent improvements. Let’s start with the run ‘s own improvements (which are lost when you die, of course, it has permanent death as in all Roguelites).
We have different types of Scythe from the start (it’s like the Scythe changes shape) so you can choose (at the beginning of the run we can choose them and then we can change them in the Control Room, we can also improve them) the one that best suits your style of play From faster weapons, others that stand out for their damage even though they are heavier, others that stand out for their range… there is a bit of everything.
We will also be getting Spells (which require magic points) and Cloak Weapons (which would be like the second weapon and work with a CD or waiting time) to further improve our offensive arsenal and again there are weapons and spells of everything type (some very broken).
And finally, let’s not forget the Curses since they play a very important role in the game, they are the typical passive improvements that we are acquiring in this game. Every time we can acquire one, we will have to choose one from a list of 3 or more to create our build. Be careful because sometimes they will also bring us some negative things. Of course we can also improve our Health and PM.
With regard to permanent improvements, we will be able to unlock new Spells and Weapons of the Cloak so that they can appear to us in the run and even some passive advantages for the run (not too decisive, but which are helpful in the end) in order to also have an overall progress despite the mechanics of Permadeath.
WE CAN “BREAK” THE GAME
This is the source of passive damage that I will discuss below that allowed me to make a very broken build.
If there’s one thing that makes me fall in love with Roguelites, it’s those that with a bit of luck allow us to create a build in which our character is so extremely powerful that we’ll practically wipe out everything in our path without complications. Those run , even if they are very rare, are never forgotten; The truth is that you have a great time when that happens.
In my case I once got one of these devastating combinations as I got an ability that increased my damage by 1 for every hit Grim Reaper took and I got enough Defense to take 0 damage from a very weak passive source of damage I found in a Department (like some pillars of fat or fire or something). So I just had to leave Grim Reaper in that passive damage source to boost my damage as much as I wanted (I went to make myself a coffee in the meantime).
Given that it had devastating offensive power, as I continued to progress I focused on acquiring defensive upgrades, so my Grim Reaper became a near-immortal destruction machine. The truth was pretty cool.
THE BOSSES
Brad is responsible for making sure that everyone doesn’t get into Death Inc. and is one of the main culprits for the excessive workload that Reaper endured. Basically for being a slacker.
I didn’t want to forget to deservedly mention the bosses because the truth is that practically all of them are incredible both in aesthetic design and in the setting and of course in mechanics and gameplay . There are very good bosses and the vast majority of them are very memorable.
Each one has a bit of its roll and its tricks, things that you will discover as you play more and more. But what has been said, very good work in the creation of the bosses , you can see the affection that they have given to them since, after all, they are one of the pillars that support this title.
TYPICAL ANALYSIS
Now let’s do the standard analysis of the typical aspects that are usually analyzed in games:
- Artistic Section : Simply wonderful, the game could not look better, it is one of those that enters through the eyes; 10/10 in this aspect, so I give it a well-deserved S.
- Music : The music (and sound effects) is just fantastic. The game has real hits and each zone/boss has its own. Another deserved S.
- Gameplay : The gameplay is tremendous. The game feels very smooth and handles very well. another s
- Setting : The combination of the tremendous scenarios, the enemies to match each area, the great effects of the abilities, the beautiful dance of Grim Reaper using his scythe, the bosses, the brutal music… creates a setting that is simply 10. Another S.
- Duration : It’s a cool Roguelite, you have hours and hours of fun if you want to get 100% out of it. Clearly an S.
- Whole : SS. Highest score, only suitable for games that are legendary in my opinion and that are practically perfect (perfection does not exist, but games like this in my opinion are the closest to it).
And as the icing on the cake, being an indie , it is at a very good price, which is something that we are always very grateful for.
WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED
The most difficult part of this post because in my opinion everything is fine in Have a Nice Death , so the only thing I think they could do to further improve the game would be to include more content (which is not exactly short of series ) as long as the same levels of quality are maintained. Hopefully one day they will be encouraged to release a DLC or something, I’ll be attentive!
To finish I leave you the link of its Steam page in case you want to keep an eye on it or buy it.
