➤ Have a Nice Death, the review of a roguelite where freedom is the priority 🕹

Here's our review of Have a Nice Death, a roguelite in which the goal is to give us as much freedom as possible while we put the afterlife back in order.

It's been a year since we last had the opportunity to talk to you about Have a Nice Death, the rogue-lite from Magic Design Studios, and now it's time to get back into disguise and scythe to put Death Inc.'s rogue employees in their place.

The release date for PC version 1.0 of Have a Nice Death is set for March 22, 2023, the day the game will also be released on Nintendo Switch. Obviously all those who have purchased early access on Steam will be able to download the update for free and above all will be able to keep their saved games to continue the adventure. But let's not waste any more time and see everything there is to know in ours. Review of Have a Good Death!

Who dies is seen

Have a Nice Death, the review of a roguelite where freedom is the priority — Death will have a lot of work ahead of it in Have a good death

As we had already told you in our test, the beginning of the plot It's very simple: Death has long created an entire company dedicated to collecting souls, but this has distanced it from action in the field, leading it to indolence. While the paperwork piles up on the desk, the subordinates have gained too much power, also thanks to a dark and undefined figure whose nature it will finally be possible to discover.

Version 1.0 also serves to give a closure of the narrative component from Have a Nice Death, which remains a background element to the heart of the game, as is the case in many roguelites. However, this has not prevented the authors from adding, compared to a year ago, many small innovations, especially in the form of secondary dialogues with the faithful employees of Death Inc.

The various characters that move around death They are all pleasant and funny, with their strangely earthy concerns about the beings who live in the afterlife. Between slightly dim-witted interns, manic secretaries, barefoot union members (one of our favorites), and more, Death Inc. is alive and active.

He too environmental narrative It's nice: Death's Underworld is a real company and is divided into departments, each with its own theme: pollution, food poisoning, physical illnesses, drug addictions and more. Each area is very different, even if it is mainly dominated by gray: as already mentioned in the test, it runs the risk of becoming a bit boring after several hours, but it also depends on your tastes. In general, the care of the areas is remarkable, with many details and a unique style, especially when it comes to the enemies.

Have good battles and upgrades to the death.

From early access to version 1.0 of Have a good death combat system It has not been revolutionized. First of all, Death has a scythe, which can take several forms: at the beginning of each game we can choose one of three. Variants are tied to speed and power, with dedicated attack moves. For our taste we prefer the faster ones, also because the game rewards those who know how to reposition themselves between attacks, so the slower swords are at a disadvantage.

The Grim Reaper can attack on the ground and in the air, with charged shots (not very useful) and vertical movements, both going up and down. If in the first regions the battles are simple, with few enemies and few attacks that can really put us in danger, in the more advanced phases the screen becomes a chaos of ranged attacks, explosive mines, enemies that launch and teleport and, In general, they resist our attacks more, thus preventing us from taking full advantage of the stunning effects of the scythe, which can block enemies for a few moments. Have a good death asks us to find a balance between attack and defense, especially against bosses: if you like to attack repeatedly without taking into account dodging and positioning, you won't get very far. The bosses, in particular, are very elaborate, with lots of attacks, moves, moves, and almost "bullet hell" sections. This is one of the best elements of the game.

Luckily, it's not all about manual skill: even I updates determine the chances of success. First of all, there are weapons and spells: in each game we can collect attack tools that we can use after reloading. Most are powerful and allow you to attack alternately, either from afar or with wide shots.

These weapons, as well as the Scythe, can be upgraded at specific locations. Your stats increase and you gain extra bonuses, such as extra attacks or penalties like poison or burn. Learning to know the evolution of each instrument and relative effectiveness in each situation you will become true masters of Have a Good Death. In general, we can really perceive the improvement in our skills in using the tools and combos available over several hours of play: it is certainly satisfying.

The most interesting updates, however, are the curses, which we criticized in our test last year for being uninteresting. Well, having reached the final version we can say that we are satisfied. In addition to the simplest improvements like "more attack" or "more life/mana", interesting powers are added that activate penalties on enemies, create explosive butterflies or seriously boost our defense. It is now possible to create combinations of effects, also based on our weapons.

The system is also interesting because, having accumulated a certain number of Curses, we will have to accept a penalty, such as more dangerous attacks on enemies, more powerful bosses or loss of maps. The final feeling is that of having a good level of control over how to enhance our character, always within the limits of the randomness of a roguelite.

Preview

The improvements mentioned up to this point are only valid for the single game. Although death can get more tools between one scan and another. Just like in Early Access, playing games awards you gold bars based on your performance. These can be spent to permanently unlock new weapons and snacks, i.e. cures and upgrades.

The cost in Ingots Each object can also drop if we complete an associated challenge, such as defeating enemies, bosses, or receiving damage. This is a way to make the character evolution system more interesting and we appreciate it now as much as we did a year ago.

Another element is a the "level up" system., always based on the results of our matches. As you level up, several fixed upgrades are unlocked, such as the ability to immediately start a cure or new curses.

Both advance systems They are useful to give even the least skilled player the feeling of having achieved something even in case of defeat and, little by little, to become stronger and start with an advantage in subsequent attempts. Additionally, there is a lower difficulty level from the beginning which allows you to have some advantages, such as three heals from the start of the game and more damage resistance.

exploration

Another important feature of Have a Good Death is the freedom of exploration. Each game sees us explore a series of Departments, which are in turn divided into floors. When you go from one plan to another you have to choose which will be next among the available options. The differences are linked to the rewards we will obtain: that is, we will be able to choose how to evolve our game.

You can prioritize increasing your health or accumulating Curses, obtaining Animoons (to upgrade weapons or make purchases in the Shop), but also search for cures, obtain more Ingots and more. Once again, Have a Good Death focuses on the feeling of freedom: This is an element that we appreciate since it gives the feeling of having control within a system that is no matter how random it may be.

The individual levels, however, are quite similar to each other: a succession of rooms and passages with some enemies and occasional closed arenas with enemies in waves. Even in this definitive version there are not many of them and they will soon begin to repeat themselves. Freedom in the exploration phase continues with choice of next department to explore, which brings with it unique enemies, both common and mini-bosses and bosses. Additionally, each Department influences Curses (which are divided into colors), strengthening this or that type.

Conclusions

Tested version PC with Windows digital delivery Steam Price 24,99 € Holygamerz.com 8.5 Readers (27) 7.0 your vote

Have a Nice Death is a roguelite now complete and fun to play. It focuses heavily on the freedom to upgrade and progress, giving us the tools to make each game truly our own. It doesn't have any major flaws, but at the same time it is true that most of the game is derivative. It is not a title capable of positioning itself as a new point of comparison for the genre, but it is absolutely recommended for roguelite lovers.