Consoles: PS5, Ps4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X,S, PC, Nintendo Switch
Published:Saona Studios, Perp Games
Developers: Saona Studio
Released: May 2023
Late 2022 and ealry 2023 began a huge argument online over two rogue like hack and slash games. One being Have a Nice Death and the other one being Death or Treat.
The reason behind the arguments over the two games was the fact that both games shared alot in common. Concerns were made over the idea of one game simply copying the other. One glance on both the visual and the gameplay
and you could easily confused the one game over the other. Ofcourse game development takes alot of time and effort, which means both teams were developing their games way before they were introduced to the crowd. Unfortunately
both games were reveal at the same time which caused the entire commotion.
Both developers, ignore the arguments and showed their support to each of the projects. Death or treat is the first game developed by Saona Studio, a small indie Spanish studio. The developers had the support of Perp Games
who help them publish their game. The game was released in early of May 2023 which once again did not help the game. Two months Prior in March 2023, Have a nice Death released their free DLC and also announced their console release.
Have a Nice Death was met with praises over its asthetic and its polish gameplay. When Death or treat was released, anyone who experienced it had one thing to say. The game is nowhere near the level of Have a nice Death. In fact in every post or
video found online, the majority will side with Have a nice a death and will recommend that over this. The question lingers, is Death or treat worth it?
The game as of now exist digitaly in all platforms and physical for both Sony's & Nintendos consoles.
Standard
Included the game alone with a postcard
Deluxe Edition
Included the game, The postcard, a poster and stickers.
Story of the Game
All we ever wanted is to have our own Candy shop!
Death or Treat's oppening act introduces the players to Scary, a small little Ghost that lives in the town of Hallow Town. The little Ghost is owner of sweet shop known as the Ghost Mart. Scary had a lovely time bussiness was going well
but like all things, all good come to an end. A massive coorporation known as Faceboo owned by the evil CEO Fackerburg has rose to power. With every citizen addicted to Faceboo 's products bussiness was running low. Many of the smaller stores were shut down
because the competition was just too tough for them. Scary does not want to be also forced to shut down his bussiness and thus decides to take matters on his own hands. The idea is simple, make his way all the way to the Faceboo headquarters and take down all the higher ups
including the Ceo. Only then will the rest of the store owners open their stores and brng the public back to Hallow Town.
Thoughts on the story
I personally found the idea creative but the excecution was so bad i ended up not caring one bit about. The first cutscene of the game comes and goes in less than a minute and then its simply talk to NPCs and put 1 on 1 together. The game has 0 spoken NPC dialog which honestly does not help its appeal.
In Have a Nice death of even Hollow Knight the characters usually make some weird sounds when interacting with the hero, but here nothing. The only good thing regarding the story and the setting is the creativity behind some of the names of the NPCs and of the Coorparations. Its like Saona Studio took shots
on some of the people, like Joe Bite them(the Vampire) who clearly is about Joe Biden, Deto Bucks being referential to StarBucks and a couple of other puns. Aside from that, the story works well for a rogue like game, where the hero keeps trying to break it in the Faceboo HQ.
Like i said, the story is creative, but the lack of Cutscenes, the usage of still frames with text is just not appealling.
Gameplay
In their debut title, Sanao studios puts the players in the "shoes" Scary, who is the only playable hero. The game is a 2D Roguelike Hack and slash. Roguelike are the games that allow you to explore dungeon like areas that are randomly generated, with different weapons/powerups that you will find randomly
each time and differ with each attempt. When you die or successfully complete a run, you keep the EXP, but any upgrades and skills you had are reset to zero. In Death or Treat some things occur whilst others do not. For example, the player will always start with a weapon and skill that they choose, however the skills they
will be obtainning will be random.
When starting your quest, your goal is to reach the top floor of each area and defeat the corresponding boss. Before starting the run, Scary will have to speak with Marshmallow and select the weapon and skills they wish to start with. In the beggining, Scary only has his broomstick for his close range attack and a selection of three skills.
Each time Scary purchases a weapon, that weapon will become available for him to choose from. Unlike the typical roguelikes, Death or Treat keeps your standard weapon and ability the excact same.
Once the selection of weapon and skills is complete, Scary begins his adventure. Scary is capable of moving in a 2D space. The players can go all the way to the end of the level and proceed to the next one or they can choose to fight
every enemy. In terms of mobility Scary's movement is limited. The little Ghost can jump, double jump and use the walls to wall bounce. The ability to dash can also be used both on the ground and on air. The players can combine the first
jump to the dash and then tp the second jump.
In terms of compat Scary's attack are limited. Scary has a button dedicated to attack. Most of the weapons have a 3 hit combo attack. Any enemy found infornt of the hero will get hit but also the ones located behind him since the third strike usually
hits on the back as well. Some weapons shoot projectiles instead of being used as a "blade". Those attacks usually dont do three strikes but they can be shot at any direction and will follow the direction they were shot unless they hit an opponent or
a wall. Most weapons(mellee ones) also have an uppercut attack by combinning the attack button with the up direction. The attack is meant to launch the enemies in the sky but keeping it honest it doesnt always perform as it should. Moreover,
all attacks have a secondary hit using the alternative button. That attack is usually a single strike that deals more damage than the attack button. Additionally a smash attack is also available by combining the attack button and down. This will cause
Scary to Dive down hitting anyone on his way and everyone near his landing area. Moreover, the hero also has his one skill selected by Marshmallow. This special attacks charges over time and with a tap of a button he cast his attacks. Scary has to choose
one of the three skills, Ghost bombs(spirits that fly and target the enemies), a tornado attack(Scary spins fast forming a tornado that slashes enemies) or Bat boomerand(a bat that flies back and forth hitting anyone in the way.).
Aside from those basic attacks, Scary can obtain powerups from his weapon and from the skills picked in the levels. Every weapon forged by the blacksmith(Smith) has a secret "hidden" ability. For example, a blade is capable of dealling more damage
when the health of Scary is below 40%. Another weapon deals critical strikes after a certain ammount of enemies slain. These abilities can be seen when crafting the weapon. On his way to faceboo Scary might come across certain potions and powerups.
The powerups allow Scary to summon creatures like a werewolf, Frangestein, Bat and Pumpkins to fight alongside with him. Some powerups(like the bat) fly alongside Scary and attack the enemies, whilst skills like Frankestein/Werewolf are only appearing
during Scary's combo and attack once or create an AoE. On the other hand, potions are usually found before a boss fight. These potions create different buffs and nerfs. For example, Agility Up but loss of Max HP.
All these upgrades do not stay with Scary after a certain run. However, upgrades obtain from the town will always remain. During combat, Scary can spam attacks but the player cannot cancel any of them. This means that if the players press to attack he cannot
dodge out of it or do anything else to prevent it. Dodge does not grant frames or imvisibility which means even then there are chances that the player will be hit. Another issue of the games combat is the lack of impact. There are times where i simply walk with
the enemies and attack them and all they do is ignore me and walk their path until they die. Other enemies once hit are stuck on their falling/damage animations and wait for me to strike them again and again until they die. Combat is not satisfying whatsoever.
Last but not least another major issue is the hit boxes and Scary's HP. Scary doesnt have much life and despite the upgrades he is still squishy. This wouldnt be a problem if the hitboxes didnt work againts you. Multiple times you ll notice being hit by projectiles
you visibly dodged or should ve countered.
The citizens of Hallow Town are there to support you. Everytime you die, you bring back with you all the items collected from fallen enemies. The players can spent their items into rebuilding the closed shops. Every store that opens will bring the NPC back and the
player can purchase items and buffs. From the blacksmith the players can create stronger weapons which the hero can take with him. In Deto Bucks the player can purchase drinks that will upgrade Scary's life and Mp bar. Joe Bitethem will sell you extra inventory space,
Gates from Necrosoft will upgrade all of your skills and the pumpkin will let you exchange some of your items for others. Last but not least all of the items can also be used once you re on your adventure to unlock portals which will teleport you to a certain area in faceboo.
For example go straight to Riptok, Deviltube etc.
Thoughts on the gameplay
It only took me five minutes to say that Have a nice death was/is a much better game. Honestly from the movement all the way to the combat this game feels unpolished. The ammount of times i couldnt dodge out of an attack or dodge right into one was annoying. For example in
Have a nice death not only are you imvisible but you can also jump and appear in a higher ground. In Death or treat you simply go into a straight line. Some attacks also have Aoes which can make you dodge the strike and get hit by the Aoe. The combat feels slow and the game
doesnt give you/reward you much to make you wanna keep playing. In have a nice Death, you can buy different abilites, weapons that will make you play and play again, in this one its the same three abilities over and over. The NPC dont have anything interesting to say nor to do
which makes the world dead and boring. Once again, in its competitors NPCs did Tours, dialogs during coffee breaks, they had events for Christmas, Easter and also had a whole plot about a stage act of Little marmaid.
Sound and Graphics
Once again i found myself disliking the style of game even though i had different feelings in the beginning. First of all, the design of the Npcs and Scary are very good, and as mentioned theres alot of puns to make you smile. The areas look good and each area is seperated from each other.
On the other hand, the enemy variety is very limited and look very similar with the only thing being different was the size. Furthermore, there is a huge lack of animations. Whether we re referring to animated cutscenes or animations for the in Game NPCs. Scary doesnt have any idle animations or
if he does, they re definetely not triggered in 1 minute of doing nothing. The backgrounds although well design sometimes mess up with the actual gameplay. Some things look clearly interactable but re not whilst other that do not look like ones are.
The audio department also didnt find me as a huge fan. First of all theres no sounds comming from Scary nor the NPCs when interactcing with them. The only NPC i believe with voice were the dogs in the town. The background sound is monotonous and it gets repeatetive. Honestly i was waiting a bit
more based on what i saw but i should ve known that it wouldnt be as good as the other.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion Death or Treat is a game i personally was eager to play after Playing Have a nice death but was soon to dislike after actually playing it. The only thing the game does good is simply play with puns and have some good character models. All the rest are simply a downgrade. The gameplay
is slow, the buttons dont respond in time and overall take away the freedom of the player to combo attacks or combine attacks. Moreover, the game skips a basic fundemental of Roguelike which is progression, yes it offers upgrades but in slow pace and most of them are relatively useless. The lack of
animations also does not do the game any favor. Whether its enemy animations or cutscenes the game really show some low effort which does not represent it. It genuently feels like this game is a cheap version of Have a nice Death just because its lacking that polishness. Overall, it was a good effort
but one that didnt stuck with me. If its a game that triggers your interest my advice would be get it on a cheap price or simply buy Have a nice Death instead.
This is a video with my Honest review close to when i played the Game
