Have a Nice Death

 PC
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 37 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 37
  3. Negative: 3 out of 37

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  1. furyohfury
    Mar 25, 2023
    4
    Okay let's talk about this game, why 4/10, right?
    Good sides:
    1. Visuals are cute. 2. Ideas of different horrors of life such as diseases, war etc as a departments in some organisation of Death is pretty cool. Welp, that's it. Bad sides: 1. Plot wise, they tried to make it somewhat like Hades, but in Hades we had different famous greek gods and good voice acting. Here we have    Okay let's talk about this game, why 4/10, right?
    Good sides:
    1. Visuals are cute.
    2. Ideas of different horrors of life such as diseases, war etc as a departments in some organisation of Death is pretty cool.
    Welp, that's it.
    Bad sides:
    1. Plot wise, they tried to make it somewhat like Hades, but in Hades we had different famous greek gods and good voice acting. Here we have mumbling instead of voice acting (budget issue, whatever) and absolutely boring dialogs with pathetic attempts of humor with some meta-jokes. I tried to read it, but it's just not interesting, but plot isn't what we come for in this games, right?
    2. Gameplay wise this game is just a complete rip off of Dead Cells but ... worse. And ok, devs copied 3 colour progression, unlocking weapons in a shop and many many more things. But they completely messed up healing system. Remember rally effect in dead cells (healing if you attack after getting hit). Here they made some INnOVaTiOnS. Rally effect is no more, but if you keep getting hit, there's a grey zone on your healthbar, which gets smaller after receiving more damage and allows you to heal only that grey zone. Meaning your maximum health isn't really your max health, but a useless thing, because only grey zone matters. And there's SO FEW healing in this game. You can sometimes abuse it (with certain skills giving hp spheres over time and with other few things), but blue healing spheres are really rare to find. But don't worry, devs have thought about how to fix their new stupid system! You can get your ACTUAL max hp back using yellow hp spheres. Buuuut, it can be found once in millenia, or be combined from a 3+ blue spheres (which you must keep not using and collect enough), so don't really get your hopes up.
    Also, remember Dead Cells gave you ability to fully heal your hp and estus flask between levels on first difficulty, so you could learn the game and enemy movelist? Forget about it, as i understood we have 11 boss stem cell difficulties (complete rip off but whatever, good mechanic) and even on the first difficulty YOU CANNOT HEAL BETWEEN LEVELS WOW. So you can survive boss on 1 hp and get to next level totally with 0 resources (on a level you visit for the first time). Great idea.

    In short, idea of combining Dead Cells gameplay and Hades approach for a plot in an interesting setting of Death is cool, but what came out in the end is just really bad. Don't buy this, it's better if you play these 2 games instead of Have a Nice Death. Seems like developers just didn't have enough experience to make this game work properly.    … Expand
  2. verdammte
    Jul 27, 2022
    10
    Excellent game, but very hard. I have yet to beat it, but that's not stopping me. I love rougelikes. My one complaint is that I wish it were a rougelite and had some form of progression, like Children of Morta. I feel like the Grim Reaper should be stronger than this. Regardless, I really enjoy the game. It has nice dialogue, it's funny, it's endlessly fun, and the graphics are well tunedExcellent game, but very hard. I have yet to beat it, but that's not stopping me. I love rougelikes. My one complaint is that I wish it were a rougelite and had some form of progression, like Children of Morta. I feel like the Grim Reaper should be stronger than this. Regardless, I really enjoy the game. It has nice dialogue, it's funny, it's endlessly fun, and the graphics are well tuned for the atmosphere.

    It is steamdeck compatible with everything maxed.    … Expand
  3. Nuvem54
    Apr 8, 2022
    10
    Really nice game, good combat, very beautiful visual, fun characters and history and on of the most fun games I ever played.
  4. rnomiyama
    May 23, 2022
    9
    Nice game, good combat, very fun. I think there are only 2 problems with it:
    1º the map feels to simple so you always know where to go and the background starts feeling samey because of it. If there are secrets hidden in the map they are basically un discoverable because I didn't find any.
    2º Upgrades feel a bit meaningless because they are basically only for weapons, the food is kinda    Nice game, good combat, very fun. I think there are only 2 problems with it:
    1º the map feels to simple so you always know where to go and the background starts feeling samey because of it. If there are secrets hidden in the map they are basically un discoverable because I didn't find any.
    2º Upgrades feel a bit meaningless because they are basically only for weapons, the food is kinda tough to reach.
    Both of these are not really relevant because of early access, so they can still figure it out. That's why the high rating! Loving it, bosses have a nice equilibrium on difficulty, npc's are funny, dialogues are great.    … Expand
  5. Gunit2006
    Apr 5, 2022
    9
    The only real problems I've had so far is the healing, there are 3 slots for healing supplies but I can only ever fill one up because I can hardly find any around, the grey area is interesting but half the time the healing doesn't heal enough for it to matter much. Surprisingly few bugs for a early access game, I've only noticed one possible bug and that was a few of the hammerThe only real problems I've had so far is the healing, there are 3 slots for healing supplies but I can only ever fill one up because I can hardly find any around, the grey area is interesting but half the time the healing doesn't heal enough for it to matter much. Surprisingly few bugs for a early access game, I've only noticed one possible bug and that was a few of the hammer descriptions were exactly the same. The levels also feel very similar and don't fully convey the floor it was supposed to represent but for and indie game and early access game it gives PLENTY of level personality and just the art for the few types of levels looks like it would have taken forever to make. The bosses are pretty hard same with the minibosses? but with how quick it is to get back to them and how you can upgrade it's not that big of an issue. The gold bars are a bit hard to get but the whole point of that system is to complete "missions" to earn a discount and make everything cost less so it's not an issue. Everything else about the game is great. The art is wonderful there is a very clear distinction of the player and enemies from the background which really helps you actually see where they are and not accidentally run into them thinking they were background elements, the intro was really well animated and explained the lore very quickly. The story is also great I can't say much because I want people to actually experience it themselves but the office setting is wonderful and they explain everything so well that you really understand the story as the game goes on. The action is fun and there are so many different weapons and ways to attack that really makes the strategy even more fun. The characters are very fun and very distinct from one another, and the story behind them is always really fun to read. The tutorial is very helpful and even if you forget it you can check through a menu that will tell you everything you learned anyways! The curse system is very cool but has very small options and isn't really noticeable much when using them, it adds a lot to the strategy, one of the best characters gives you them, and it's pretty helpful if you get the right cards. The floor choosing is very fun and helps differentiate, you get to decide where to go and how hard you want the room to be. The music is so good, the elevator music really makes the loading not seem like loading. Controls on PC were somehow already perfect without changing them and playing with controller or keyboard would probably be equally as good. 9/10 would recommend, very few problems, will continue playing.… Expand
  6. aradezzi
    Apr 21, 2022
    10
    Love this game YAY
  7. curzon_dax
    Apr 1, 2023
    7
    I'm trying to be fair because it is subjective.

    The game appears very good if you're into that kind of game genre; it's a pure rogue-like gameplay without much getting into the way of that; it has strong platforming qualities and a relatively fast pace if the user chooses to play that way. However for my tastes it's nothing extraordinary that would keep me playing; the gameplay    I'm trying to be fair because it is subjective.

    The game appears very good if you're into that kind of game genre; it's a pure rogue-like gameplay without much getting into the way of that; it has strong platforming qualities and a relatively fast pace if the user chooses to play that way.

    However for my tastes it's nothing extraordinary that would keep me playing; the gameplay appears relatively cumbersome to get used to and it has excessive usage of serial platforming which feels repetitive within less than an hour of gameplay and it doesn't feel naturally fast-paced and exciting (you have to force it yourself to go fast which drops the illusion of excitement other games of the genre offer that drop you more readily into the action); the story doesn't feel too engaging other than slightly comedic and the gameworld doesn't feel too dynamic that makes you feel as part of something grande so I would definitely suggest to people to stick to Hades for this genre because this is like a less developed and less fun and less engaging version of that.    … Expand
  8. OwimBawe
    May 10, 2023
    10
    Great game! Controls are very easy to learn and fights are quite demanding. I love the dark humor of the universe, visuals/music&sound are top notch. Also the last updates have balanced the gameplay and really improved the game experience!
  9. ChristP
    May 23, 2023
    10
    Lots of humor, fun gameplay, phenomenal art direction and challenging enough to keep you entertained for days and more.

Awards & Rankings

89
#89 Best PC Game of 2023
88
#88 Most Discussed PC Game of 2023

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. Edge Magazine
    Apr 20, 2023
    70
    Death himself is an amusingly grumpy fellow, in constant need of a cup of coffee to stay motivated. [Issue#384, p.112]
  2. Meristation
    Apr 18, 2023
    85
    It has the very best of roguelike genre and this challenge has been accomplished by Have a Nice Death. However it doesn't have any gameplay mechanic that defines it although its excellent art design.
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  3. BaziCenter
    Apr 9, 2023
    85
    Have a Nice Death is a solid rogue-like game that mixes its dark humor with funny characters, superb music, and beautiful art design and animation, and it's a must have for most gamers.
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