Soul-hunting as a crow: 92% positive Zelda-Soulslike RPG for under $2 on Steam

In Death's Door, players take on the role of a small crow working as a soul reaper for the so-called Reaping Commission. Its job is supposed to be simple: Collect the soul of a deceased person. However, the assignment goes terribly wrong. To finally get its claws on its target, the crow must fight its way through various fantasy realms filled with bizarre creatures, ancient rulers and beings who refuse to accept their own mortality.

In terms of gameplay, Death's Door combines classic Zelda elements with challenging Soulslike combat. From an isometric perspective, players explore enchanted estates, abandoned graveyards and mysterious ruins, solve environmental puzzles and discover hidden paths. Combat involves swords, daggers, bows and arrows, and various spells. However, blindly rushing into battle isn't a good idea: The little crow can only withstand a few hits, making precise timing and learning enemy attack patterns essential – especially during the challenging boss fights. Character progression adds light RPG elements, allowing players to invest collected soul energy into upgrades. New abilities also unlock access to previously unreachable areas.

In its review, PC Games (in German) awarded Death's Door 8 out of 10 points, praising its creative enemy and environmental design, varied combat and charming visuals. The combination of exploration, puzzles and a melancholic story with dark humor was also well received. However, the publication criticized occasional AI issues and performance drops, which could become particularly frustrating during difficult boss fights. The sometimes lengthy walks back after dying were another point of criticism. Metacritic lists Death's Door with a Metascore of 85 and a User Score of 8.1.

The Steam community's verdict is even more positive: 92% of more than 22,000 user reviews are positive. On the Steam Deck, the action-adventure is rated "Verified," meaning it is officially optimized for Valve's handheld.

Death's Door normally costs $19.99 on Steam, but it's available with a 90% discount until October 17, bringing the price down to just $1.99. According to SteamDB, this matches its previous all-time low, which was last reached during the Steam Autumn Sale.

Disclaimer: Notebookcheck is not responsible for price changes carried out by retailers. The discounted price or deal mentioned in this item was available at the time of writing and may be subject to time restrictions and/or limited unit availability.

As a child in the 90s, my Gameboy was my steady companion. After school, the PlayStation was fired up. When I finally got my first PC, I was completely hooked. My passion for gaming has never waned since. For me, writing for Notebookcheck means reporting on topics that are really close to my heart - in addition to gaming, I also like to write about e-mobility, photovoltaics and innovative gadgets. When I'm not sitting at my computer, I'm probably on water rescue duty on the Baltic coast or trying to counteract the downsides of my geek life - namely sitting for long periods - at the local swimming pool.