Death or Treat Review
If you have read any of my reviews, you know what a roguelike fan I am. In fact,
pretty much sums it up. It is also October and Halloween is closing in so how about a roguelike starring a ghost and other spooky things? The video game equivalent of pairing a fine wine with the right meal, if you will (stay with me here). Right?
Right?
Uhhhh, this one might need a bit more time to digest.
Developed by Saona Studios, Death or Treat is a 2D action roguelite hack and slash. You play as Scary, a ghost, and proprietor of Ghost Mart. Can you make it through Darkchat, Riptok, Deviltube, and Faceboo! and defeat Clark Fackerberg to save HallowTown (ok, these are pretty clever)?
Combat here is a relatively simple affair. It does not get more basic than hack with one button and slash with another. Scary has access to three types of weapons: fast, heavy, and ranged. Each weapon type has its own attack animations but shares a similar moveset. The question becomes, do you want weak attacks that are lightning-fast, powerful attacks that may leave you vulnerable, just hanging back and chipping away at a safe distance? Additionally, Scary can choose from one of three special attacks before each run. Ghost Explosion summons an army of explosive ghosts, Jumpscare turns you into a ghostlike version of the Tasmanian devil allowing you to wreak havoc, and Boo!merang is a projectile that does damage when thrown and upon return. Each attack charges up as you kill enemies.
Unfortunately, no amount of weapons or special abilities can save Scary from truly awful input controls. As with most hack-and-slash games, you may feel inclined to relentlessly smash those attack buttons. All that does is trap you in the attack animation. Need to dodge? Wait your turn. Kill everything but need to turn around for one more guy? WAIT your turn. Well, what if I go slow? Enemies do not appear one at a time. Most sections have you taking on 5-6 at a minimum and hacking through all is the only choice. On top of all that, movement feels unbelievably floaty (on the PS5, movement is bound to the analog stick with no option to rebind). Be prepared to sail past most platforms until you get used to the almost hover-like quality of jumping.
When you die, and you will (most likely from one of the above issues), you respawn back in HallowTown. As this is a roguelite, you bring back all the candy (the main currency) you collected plus an assortment of random drops that are used to rebuild the town and then to buy from the rebuilt stores. Every restart begins at Joe Bite Them (another clever name). Joe can increase the amount of items brought back when you meet your demise over and over. You begin the game with a generous 5 slots and, until any progress is really made, 5 is what you will stick to for a while. Frank Smith operates Frank’s Forge where new weapons can be purchased. Pumpkin Gates operates NecroSoft which sells upgrades to the special powers. Marley works at DetoxBucks and can improve your overall health and health regeneration. The Pumpkin Store allows for the trading of ingredients. Outside of The Pumpkin Store is Jobs…yes, Jobs and Gates are helping you fight Fackerberg (it really is not funny if this premise needs to be explained).
To quote Murder in the Glass Room by Edwin Rolfe and Lester Fuller, “You can never tell a book by its cover.” At first glance, Death or Treat gives off an Ori/Hollow Knight vibe or even channels the more recent Have a Nice Death. The comparisons end there and end quickly. Despite beautifully handcrafted environments and clever humor, technical issues on the combat side of things bring everything crashing down. The makings of a fun roguelite that could easily nail the “one more run” feel of the genre are largely wasted. Your best bet would be to avoid this Halloween scare.
