Have a Nice Death

Game'scover

About the Game

In 2015 a small indie company was founded in France with the aim of creating various experiences and adventures for the players who will play its games. Their team may be small in staff but that doesn't mean it doesn't have industry veterans as there are members who have worked with Ubisoft for years on well-known games like Rayman, Assassin's Creed and others. They also have members who worked on other indie games as well as people who don't have the experience but have the same passion as them. Their name, Magic Design Studio.

The company's resume consists of two games. Their first game, Unruly Heroes which was based on the novel Journey to the West, had a very positive response from the audience as well as from the critics as the reviews were mostly positive. Since their first game, the company had won the award for best Character Animation and a few nominations which boosted the morale and confidence of the staff. Their second game, “Have a nice Death”, was first released in May 2023 for PC and Nintendo Switch and once again received positive reviews. In June 2022 they released the first free Fast food expansion/DLC to which they added new rooms and new boss rooms. A year later, in December 2023, the game was released on the PlayStation 4/5 and XBox Series X/S consoles. The latter console release included the DLC as well.

The game as of now, only has physical copies for the Nintendo Switch.

Standard
Included the game alone
Deluxe Edition
Included the game,a steelbook case, an art book and an audio disk, a certificate of authenticity, 4 lithographs
Collector's Edition(Burnout edition)
Included the game, a steelbook case, the art book, audio disks + Vinyl, special painted case, certificate of authenticity and 4 lithographs

Story of the Game

Too much paperwork/office work pissed the Reaper off!!
The game's opening act acts as a presentation of the founding story of Death Inc. Since the beginning of time Death has roamed the Earth with a purpose. To reap the soul of anyone whose time has come. Over time Death grew tired of this same routine and created the Sorrows to make his job easier. Sorrows' job was to spread chaos in the human world while Death himself would deal with the corresponding documents in his company Death Inc.

Initially, this project had a positive response, but things changed over time. The Sorrows began to compete with each other as to who would collect the most souls and who would be the most powerful. Also their respect for Death's face had almost disappeared as he had disappeared behind the endless stacks of papers on his desk. This fact, as well as the fact that more and more mortals are dying each day, enrages Death who decides to put his cloak back on, pick up his scythe and remind his employees who's boss.
In the back of his mind Death is also dreamming of vacation at the beach, as all the paperwork made him wanna chill by the beach. Game'chasers

Thoughts on the story

I personally enjoy how simple and yet effective the story of the game is. Although the conept revolves around Death and his company which is responsible of killing people, the games cartoonish atmosphere makes you completely forget it. It's also nice that the NPCs have various dialogue options regarding the season of the game, how many times the player died, what floor you died etc. It's a nice and effective way to show that life(ironically) goes on.

Gameplay

No Floor in Death Inc is safe from Death's rage
In the second game of Magic Design studios, you own Death as 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 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. For example in Have a nice Death, on the first floor you will have the option to pick the Scythe/weapon you would like which may not be available on your next try. The same applies to the other skills/perks.

When starting your quest, your goal is to reach the top floor of each area and defeat the corresponding Sorrow. Each area has it's own number of floors that you must complete, with most having a total of seven floors with the seventh being the boss room. At the end of each floor you will find an elevator that will take you to the next. Your itinerary will differ each time as the floors are randomly generated. In the elevator you can see what perk/ability/item you can find so you should choose carefully. Floors can give you money ((Vault) which you keep after the attempt), Anima (potions), Clock/spell abilities (alternate skills), ControlRoom/Store (to upgrade skills or buy random items), Soulary/ Prismiun (a type of currency that only applies to the current attempt), Mana/Hp Room (boosts the corresponding item for the current attempt), Curse room (gives you passive buffs for the current attempt) and the Curse re-roll room which will allow you to change one of the curse options to something else. There are also two Thanagers rooms which are minibosses and give you curse ability when you beat them and the Coffee room/relax room where you don't fight anyone and just fill your life. After winning the Sorrow the elevator will take you to the cafeteria where you can talk to various NPCs, buy temporary buffs and enter the elevator to the next Sorrow Department.

Game'chasers
Show them why YOU re the boss
When you approach the first elevator on the main floor, Jocelyn(Flux Logistics Manager) will offer you 1-3 contracts before you enter. Contracts will ask you to lose life/mana to start a random special, kill a number of enemies in a short amount of time to gain soulary, and more. On the first floor you can change your primary weapon/scythe to another one recommended at the front desk. From a certain point onwards (based on your level) you will be able to unlock an elevator (shortcut) which will take you directly to the Sorrow rooms. If you take the elevator, the game will give you a secondary ability (cloak or spell) and only a +10 HP Booster which would be the prize if you won a Sorrow. E.g. if you take the elevator to go to the 3rd Boss, that means you passed at least 2 Sorrows and generally 12 floors from which you would get various buffs and perks. This action will raise the difficulty/challenge of the third Boss.

Each floor has its own route. Your goal is to move through 2D scenery and find the elevator. Death has limited movement as he can only jump once and can dash. If he jumps near a platform then he will use his scythe to pull himself up. Of course the game allows you to use the upward attack which will increase the distance you jumped. You could call it 2nd jump. Each floor features villains that you can fight or ignore as they are optional. The only time you'll have to fight the bad guys on the map is when the game locks you in a room. As you move around the area you may see a ghost lock on a wall. This allows you to use an Anima to unlock the secret room. In the secret room you will find various items whose value covers the sacrifice of an Anima in most cases.

This is a weird compination of Hollow knight meeting Hades

Game'chasers

Death's primary weapon is the Scythe. The game has seven different genres that prioritize different areas. Eg Twinsie (Double edge scythe) prioritizes damage while Diss Scythe (String Scythe) gives you a range advantage as Death throws it and pulls it back through the chain. The game has directional combat mechanics which means that the way you do combos is with combinations of the attack button and the direction you prefer. The only way of defense is the dash which, like in Hollow knight, gives you frames of invincibility. Along with Scyhte you can have 2 other techniques between Cloak and Spells abilities. Cloak techniques consist of various other weapons (bazooka, bow, hammer, spear, etc.) that you can have. These abilities have a cool-down to be used again. You can combine them in your combos or use them directly. Spells, on the other hand, are magic abilities (lightning, bee shots, claws, meteors, etc.) that you can use as long as you have mana. If you don't have mana you have to wait a short time for it to refill. Cloak and Spells have rarity levels which differ in strength based on their color (white-green-blue-purple-gold). Both items can be upgraded in the Control Room or sold in the Shop. Finally, all techniques (Scythe-Cloak-Spells) have their own separate Ultimate attack which is shown on the top right with the pink color. As you damage bad guys, the square turns pink and the book next to Death has pink lightning sparks which means you can activate it by pressing the ultimate and technique combo.

The techniques you have or choose as you play make up 50% of Death's build. The other 50% are curses. Curses are the buffs and perks that you choose through Mr. O'Shah who is the company's Health and Safety inspector. You can meet him after every Sorrow/Thanager encounter, on the Curse room floors and in the store if you buy the contract (75 soularis). Curse techniques are divided into three categories, Scythe, Defense, Magic (red, blue, yellow). These techniques are valid during your attempt unless you choose Permanent increase type techniques (Dmg, HP, Mana). From a point on, your options are given with side effects/Penalties. Eg Scythe +25% Dmg & Spells Dmg-20%. On the floors you can find 2 items, Curse re-rolls and Curse cure. Re-rolls allow you to change one of the Curses to another option or change the penalty of an option. You can use all your re-rolls in the same encounter with O'Shah. Curse cure items allow you to choose a Curse technique without having the corresponding penalty.
Game'chasers

Meet the employees of Death Inc

The company's employees are divided into two categories. Those who respect Death and those who don't. His followers are mainly on the main floor, 1st floor and the cafeteria. Most help through dialogue to form a realistic image of the company, reporting problems such as a lack of coffee or gossiping about other members. Some like Mr. O'Shah will give you power ups during your mission. Others like Muriel will suggest that you spend your money (Gold) on decorating the office or to buy new abilities (Scythe/Cloak/Spells) that will become available through your efforts. The game also has seasonal side quests such as Christmas, April Fools' Day, Halloween but also their own Quests such as the theatrical "The Little Mermaid".

On the other hand, there are the enemies who have lost their respect for Death or are followers of Sorrow. Of the enemies, the only ones who have dialogue with Death are the Sorrows. The design of each Sorrow corresponds with a fatal phenomenon. In the department they are in charge will have a common image and corresponding Mobs. For example, the Natural disaster section has as its main theme weather phenomena: wind, fire and water. The bad guys are monsters or fire trees, some bad guys drown and throw water at you, and some have a bag instead of a face and get blown away. In the Physical Health section you will find heart attacks, Steroids pills and drugs. The Sorrow looks like a crab representing cancer. The designs are unique and humorous. In what other game would you find evil representing a box of fries that if you fight it will leave behind a potato(single fry) crying ketchup?
Game'chasers

Sound and Graphics

For a game that has Death as its main character and its main theme is to show its employees who's in charge, Magic Design studios managed to create a not-so-scary experience. Death himself has a chibi/cartoonish design and as mentioned the NPCs also have clever unique designs. The game is mainly hand drawn just like "Hollow knight". The problem with "Have a nice death" is that the areas don't have anything interesting in their background. Every floor in every section seems to have the same background which is a monotone color. On the other hand the monotony of the colors helps you in the gameplay as the attacks of the bad guys have a red glow that alerts you to the upcoming attacks. For a game that emphasized the quality and quantity of its heroes' frames, it's a shame that the backgrounds show otherwise.
On the other hand, the sound department of the game is also one of its simple parts that you probably won't be remembering as much. The main background sounds aren't bad, there's just no OST that stands out. During the game there are soft sounds on the floors, rock music in the Sorrow rooms and elevator music in the relaxation rooms and during your stay in the elevator. The characters don't speak human language and make sounds similar to "Hollow knight" or "Animal Crossing", which distracts from the serious things they might be saying to each other.

Game'chasers

Final Thoughts

In conclusion Have a nice Death is a pleasant game whose plot may be simple, but in the gameplay you will find the value of the game. The 2D platforming roguelike gameplay is enjoyable as your every attempt will be different from the next. The game offers a decent number of Scythe, Spells, Cloak but even more number of Curses. There are various fees with which you can complete your effort. Finally there are various levels of difficulty which will increase the challenge of the game. The characters have interesting designs and personalities. The gameplay is easy and your every decision matters. The game reacts directly to the press of the stick which is important for this kind of games.

On the other hand the game does has some flaws. The most important flaw is that in some parts, the game softlocks you, causing you to close the game. This phenomenon is mainly in areas that you can reach with a little extra skill because they are far from the playable area. If you manage to reach those platforms, if you move in the direction (right or left) because there are no collision walls you will be falling out of the game. If someone curious wants to see what the creators hid in those areas it will crash forever until they restart. In the mental health section(only) in some stages, at the point where you are locked in a room with bad guys, the game will close from the many animations(overflowed). Finally, the backgrounds and most of the sounds are okay for their area and time of the game but not something you'll remember in relation to the characters and gameplay.

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