Sorry We're Closed Review - Love and Terror Collide With Angels and Demons In This Must-Play Game
Sorry We're Closed is a low-poly survival horror where angels, demons, and love collide. With Silent Hill-inspired gameplay and a haunting soundtrack, see why this indie game is a 2024 must-play!
Hello everyone, welcome to the Good Game Lobby review of Sorry We’re Closed. Become friends, foes, or lovers with celestial beings rich in lore in this decision-based single-player survival horror game with multiple endings.
Break Ups Are Tough
Let’s start with the story and how we got here.
The game begins with Michelle closing up the convenience store where she works after watching a TV show, The Dying Petal, unfortunately starring her ex-girlfriend. On her way home, she encounters friends and acquaintances who shed light on her life and recent split, like Darrel, who is the biggest douchebag in the whole city and doesn’t have a redeeming quality about him, or Clarissa, the sweetest and cutest character I fell in love with immediately.
Michelle heads home to get much-needed rest when she experiences a surreal and haunting encounter with The Duchess, a celestial being who invites her to a mysterious destiny.
Transported to a dreamlike state, Michelle encounters a dream eater who chases her awake, only for her to be saved by a stranger. The next day, she tells a friend about her "dream," only to realize it was real. She has been cursed by The Duchess with a third eye that reveals an inverted world to discover mysteries between life and death. Michelle must navigate this curse and uncover a way to reverse it, all while being pursued by The Duchess, when all she wants to do is get back together with her ex-girlfriend.
The Duchess is a unique character, and I want to touch on their backstory to explore why someone with such immense power would go through this for the love of a mere mortal.
The Duchess is an ancient being searching for love to replace the divine affection they lost eons ago, before humans were even a thought. Their relentless quest for validation sets the stage for Michelle’s journey and the decisions you make to progress the story in the game. You learn that Michelle is just one of many The Duchess has used and abused for their own happiness. They see something in Michelle that is stronger than anyone who came before her. Will you take on The Duchess with this cursed third eye, or will you give in to her love? This is the true setup for the game.
Are You A Fighter or a Lover?
Let’s talk about navigating this world through its gameplay.
Most of the game is a top-down view of Michelle with fixed camera positions, and combat is the only way you can change the perspective. When you aim your axe, handgun, or shotgun to fight demons, you are thrust into a first-person view, similar to what you’d find in Silent Hill or Resident Evil, but the game it reminds me of the most is Killer7.
This is because, when putting yourself in the third-eye vision, enemies who walk into the inverted world become silhouettes of themselves, only showing a heart, which is a point of interest like in Killer7. You need to shoot at the heart to successfully defeat them. With each perfect hit, a blue meter fills, and once full, it activates your Heartbreaker—a charged shot for defeating bosses and low-level enemies. Everything around you freezes for a moment, allowing you to highlight the crystal heart and fire the Heartbreaker. Filling the Heartbreaker meter with each perfect hit is a fun and rewarding experience, especially if the Heartbreaker can defeat an enemy with one hit. Some mid-level baddies will drop a glowing circle that even lets you refill your Heartbreaker completely, making for a quick and satisfying battle.
The combat can get difficult at times because you are in third person, but when you aim, you are thrust into first person and must quickly react to enemies closing in on you. Triggering your third eye at the precise moment stops an enemy in their tracks, giving you a window of opportunity to strike first. I had some difficulties, but I think that is expected, or the game would come off as too easy. Though I was frustrated at times, I chalked it up to my inexperience because I had a hang of it by the end, killing demons and bosses with ease.
As much as combat is a big focus, the other side of the gameplay is the rich story and its decision-based progression. You are speaking with many characters throughout Michelle's journey. You find out later that some of your friends and mutuals are either demons or angels trying to sway your newfound power to either help you break the curse or assist their best interests. It’s up to you to make the decisions that play out. With multiple endings, the game offers many replay ability options. I recommend saving at key points on another file to revisit and make different choices, as I did. I am looking forward to seeing what happens following Clarissa's story arc. She easily became my favorite character, and I can't wait to see where things lead.
Low-Poly Is So 2024
What stands out visually are the loud colors of the characters' clothing, hair colors, accessories, and the designs of the places you visit, which liven up the desolate streets and dark, moody themes. The game’s Silent Hill 1–style low-poly graphics fit a recent trend in indie gaming, familiar to fans of titles like Mouthwashing, Grunn, or Crow Country, giving a nostalgic, welcoming feel that I love. I hope more games are influenced by this style.
When using your third eye, you have a circular area around you that inverts the look of the world. If you are in a disgusting, old, beaten-down aquarium, the third eye will show you what it looked like when it was nice and fully functioning, and vice versa. This visual is a nice touch, and I admire the hard work behind it. You have to imagine it's used throughout the entire game in all rooms and areas you explore. This means the team had to design a dark and light theme across every single area of the game, essentially creating two versions of the world in Sorry We’re Closed.
The enemies either show up as ghosts in the real world—visible only to you—or as demons in the inverted world, with inside-out flesh, claws, and unsettling walking behaviors, making them even creepier as they approach to kill you.
Some cutscenes that progress the story and provide tools to cure the curse follow others who were in your position. The story plays out in beautiful shots of the characters frozen in time while the camera moves around them. It’s refreshing to avoid overly flashy visuals and keep the focus on gameplay and Michelle's story. These cutscenes often highlight the lingering faults of those chosen by The Duchess before you, emphasizing why Michelle is unique.
The bosses you fight in each chapter have grotesque yet wildly creative designs. Honestly, they’re so cool. They gave me the nostalgic feeling of older N64 games, both in their visuals and how the battles played out. This game is truly a nostalgia trip for anyone who grew up on the Silent Hill or Killer7 franchises.
Another nice visual touch is the portraits of the characters you see when speaking to them. Though the game uses a low-poly aesthetic, the character portraits are beautifully detailed, giving off a vibe reminiscent of depictions of gods and goddesses.
Artistic Integrity
While researching C. Bedford, the creative director’s artwork and itch.io page, I noticed that Robin, one of the main characters from the game, appeared in one of their graphic novels, 13. Naturally, I wanted to know if these were connected in any way.
I reached out to find out if they were tied to the game, and they let me know:
“The comics I made were a while before we even thought of making a game, so SWC definitely came after the fact. There are shared characters between the two, but they definitely don't take place at the same time…It's a weird mesh between it being both the same world and an alternative reality as well.” - C. Bedford
The artwork alone is so beautiful, and considering how in-depth the story of SWC is, I’m keen to check them out. The link is down below to the C. Bedford’s Gumroad account.
Hip Hop and Avant Garde
The music is haunting throughout the game, with beautiful tones for certain scenes that fit its moody look and feel. What makes the soundtrack stand out, though, is the full songs with lyrics and rapping during boss battles, which help build the world even further.
“Dying Petal’s Theme” feels like the intro to a Blood Orange song you can check out below. The town’s theme has a dark, vibe-filled setup with vocal echoes, dogs barking, moans, and marching-band-style drumming. I loved it all. With avant-garde electronic hip-hop tracks, where it feels like TV on the Radio meets Run the Jewels, every song played a huge role in the experience.
Two songs in particular that I loved were “Okumura Matilda Aquarium Boss” and “Devix - Toll (Dinner with the Duchess).” Check them out below!
Must-Play
This is a brilliant game. It took me roughly seven hours to complete one of the endings, where—spoiler alert, if it wasn’t obvious—I broke the curse and freed Michelle. The influences of Silent Hill and Killer7 gameplay, low-poly visuals, avant-garde hip-hop soundtrack, and beautifully designed characters are front and center. I loved every bit of it, especially the rich lore and fascinating decision-based story.
This type of indie game isn’t something we’re blessed with often. I love that the developers took artistic freedom to showcase their skills, delivering a beautifully emotional experience. Sorry We’re Closed is easily a must-play and one of my favorite games of 2024. If you are looking for more low-poly games with a spooky look and feel then I recommend checking out my reviews of Grunn and Mouthwashing.
🎮Sorry Were Closed | Steam
📔Thirteen | C. Bedford | Gumroad
🗓️Release Date | Out Now!
I've had my eye on this game for some time now, and this is making it look super dope.