Death Relives has me feeling a lot of things. So much so that I’m going to jump right into things. Death Relives is the first game from indie developer Nyctophile Studios.
What is Death Relives?
In Death Relives, you play as Adrian as he tries to escape Xipe Totec. Xipe Totec is an ancient deity from Mesoamerican civilizations. The name translates to “Our Lord the Flayed One”. He was a life-death-rebirth diety, and was believed by the Aztecs to have invented war.
Xipe Totec takes Adrian’s mom, and it’s up to Adrian to try find her and save her. The game is set in a mansion, filled with puzzles, and trips into the past. There is also a Death Relives companion app available on Android and iOS.
Reliving something
Death Relives has a very interesting concept, pulling from Aztec history. Truth be told, I only know of one other game that also uses the culture – Curse of the Aztecs from 2013. Unfortunately though, an interesting concept just isn’t enough.
On the graphics standpoint, Death Relives is pretty basic. The graphics aren’t bad, but they also won’t blow your mind. Nothing stands out. Everything is just… there. Honestly, a lot of it could have been pulled from generic asset packs. The only design that seems more original is that of Xipe Totec. As a result, the game is boring to look at. Additionally, the sound design is pretty basic too. Credit where it’s due, Xipe Totec communicates exclusively in Spanish.
Furthermore, the gameplay is weak. A signficant amount of my time playing was spent hiding. Occassionally I could actually do something to progress, but not often enough. Sections involving the god were more of an annoyance than enjoyment. He could catch you extremely quickly, and you died instantly. Subsequently, these moments would erase a lot of progress. Save spots were few and far between, auto-save was massively lacking, and there was no quick save option in menu.
Combat is extremely weak, and mostly useless. The gun takes a while to reload, and you need to get relatively close to even properly land a shot.
On top of all this, the puzzles are severely lacking in intrigue and enjoyment. They do not feel well thought out enough to be such a prominent mechanic. For me, there was no satisfaction on solving. It was just done, and that was it.
For a game that was apparently in production for 6 years, you really wouldn’t think it on playing.
I would choose Death
This is where things get a little spicy. As I mentioned previously, Death Relives has a companion app. Again, this is another solid idea. More immersion, but it is problematic. Extremely problematic. This companion app is filled with generative AI slop. From the screensaver to the fake social media posts, it is rife with this garbage. Friends, I can forgive a bad first gameut using generative AI? That disgusts me more than words can say. It’s pathetic. It also makes me question the in-game assets. It’s sad to see an interesting concept destroyed by so many awful qualities and choices, but it is what it is.
Death Relives is a game I truly cannot recommend to anyone. I hope that the development team will learn and improve on both quality and ethics in the future.
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