Resident Evil has significantly shaped the gaming world, serving as a source of inspiration for titles like Dead Space, The Evil Within, The Last of Us, Dino Crisis, Overblood, and numerous others. These games typically have a dark and gruesome theme that fits the survival horror genre. Unlike these games, however, the debut title of developer à la mode games, Sorry We’re Closed, doesn’t follow the usual neon-colored, overtly queer themes. Yet, it shows how effective it can be to stick with established formulas while also venturing off in a unique direction.
A significant part of this game strays from Capcom’s traditional winning recipe, instead offering an RPG experience similar to Persona, where players engage in social interactions within a small town and cultivate bonds with diverse characters such as humans, demons, and angels, each uniquely designed with vibrant colors and eye-catching outfits. The game discards the emphasis on ammo management and tension found in many action games to instead prioritize storytelling and character development. The game showcases its distinct style through numerous side quests that revolve around various romantic disputes, which are thematically linked to the main narrative.
In this narrative, Michelle, a carefree girl with teal hair, finds herself confronted by a formidable and alluring entity known as The Duchess who insists on love… or else. This scenario initiates conversations around the intricacies of love, personal transformations in relationships, and redemption. Many of these stories incorporate supernatural elements to maintain interest, yet they consistently convey a familiar, human experience at their heart. These optional missions during the quieter segments enable players to delve into these themes by deciding on actions that enable them to examine their feelings towards these complex predicaments.
As a gamer, I’ve often found myself playing horror games that try to tell a story, but the narratives usually just blend into the background or are poorly written. It’s when games invest in crafting compelling narratives, with well-developed characters, engaging dialogue, and even side quests, that the experience truly shines. If Sorry We’re Closed had stuck to the traditional survival horror formula and skipped over these narrative sections for more monster-blasting action, its powerful storytelling wouldn’t have been as impactful.
The creature’s shooting style is more conventional, but it manages to express its own flair. Despite using a fixed camera for exploration in third-person view, combat occurs from the first-person perspective. Players have the option to shoot as usual or activate a limited vision mode that highlights vulnerable spots, which are the only way to inflict damage. Hitting these specific targets repeatedly eventually triggers an explosive one-hit kill that annihilates demons in a striking pink burst. These dynamic modifications to shooting mechanics evoke a hint of Killer7, and though the combat system isn’t particularly deep, it doesn’t overstay its welcome and adds another layer of uniqueness to the game.
The significance of this edge lies in the abundance of independent horror games currently available. Two standout games from 2024, namely “Fear the Spotlight” and “Crow Country”, are worthy mentions due to their cautious approach. They draw inspiration from Silent Hill and Resident Evil games of the PS1 era and serve as strong modern tributes to these classic franchises. The worth of such games is evident, as they showcase how contemporary creators are influenced by the classics of a previous generation, fostering an environment where art continues to evolve through imitation and innovation.
In simpler terms, both “Fear the Spotlight” and “Crow Country” are similar to classic Resident Evil games from the PS1 era, while “Sorry We’re Closed” takes things a step further by combining different genres and twisting conventions to create something unique. It’s suggested that more games could benefit from experimenting with unexpected combinations of elements, even if they don’t seem to fit together on paper, as long as they work well in practice. For example, a boss battle against a giant demonic worm with a hip-hop track playing in the background might not make sense at first, but it works effectively here.
If “Sorry We’re Closed” had followed the traditional route, featuring common characters and conventional combat, it might have merely been another decent but forgettable homage to horror games from the past. However, by blending various genre templates and showcasing itself through a daring, punk-inspired aesthetic, it manages to stand out among its contemporaries and grow into something more than just the combination of its diverse, seemingly incongruous elements.
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2025-03-12 04:10