Sorry We're Closed Review

As the year is winding down to a close, I couldn’t finish 2024 without reviewing a new favourite indie title of mine, Sorry We’re Closed. Set in gay 1990s London (from context clues I may have over-read), you play as recently-dumped convenience store clerk Michelle, cursed by a six-foot-something leather mummy demon named The Duchess, who only desires her eternal love and affection. You must find a way to break the curse with the help of your devil-in-disguise gal-pal Robyn and others Michelle meets in her travels, all while chopping, shooting, and fetching things for manifestations beyond the veil. 

Sorry We’re Closed is a flow of well-written dialogue, settings, and backdrops as eclectic as the many characters and enemies you encounter, and finally, the easy-to-learn-but-hard-to-master combat, all enhanced by the Demon Vision Michelle possesses at the end of the tutorial. Like a third eye, you snap your fingers, and the veil is lifted, revealing a glimpse into a hidden world within the radius around Michelle. Run-down subways and dirty alleys are cleaned, apparitions of angels and demons become solid and intractable, and allow Michelle to see through illusions when in a dream state.

The Demon Vision is also heavily used in combat, as you enter first-person to cleave and/or shoot demons. Once enemies are in the radius, their weak points open up in the form of coloured hearts to be hit to stun and kill. The key is to learn each monster’s heart location, and a rhythm will follow, but it is easier said than done. Items like water bottles used to heal you and ammunition can only be obtained in the third-eye state, including drinking from taps, which grants free health.

Sorry We’re Closed’s gameplay is inspired by 90s survival horrors, mainly from the PS1. The developer even made a mock-up magazine feature for the game’s promotion in the style of late 90s/early ‘00s PS/Xbox mags, as I’d guess staff from à la mode (the developer) and GameGrin (us) would have devoured in their younger years. Possibly even wrote for.

Though, the all-round gaming experience of the title plays more like a port of a Nintendo 3DS game. While playing, I thought to myself: if this was released a decade ago, it would have been an excellent title for the release of the Nintendo 3DS XL. With the success of Bayonetta on the Wii U and more games for mature audiences released by Nintendo in 2015, Sorry We’re Closed as a launch title for the upgraded handheld wouldn’t be too far-fetched.

The game is visually and artistically beautiful in so many ways. Major characters have their own portraits in the style of the artworks, vinyl covers, and posters in-game (showing off their personalities) and the grimy London nighttime juxtaposed with the clean Victorian dreamscape interiors. Character designs are also influenced by bubblegum pop, goth, and luxury London fashion trends, to name a few. Furthermore, Sorry We’re Closed is unique with its blend of divinity and theology, with a story about depravity, loneliness, and the search to mend broken hearts. 

All this is topped off with an award-winning soundtrack of original rap scores and atmospheric mood-setters that I’ve been listening to Bandcamp thanks to publisher Akupara Games. My favourite track, and is the best song to summarise the feeling, themes and the song used in the game trailer, Dream Eater (Palace Boss). Lyrics illustrate the synopsis of the game to a harmony of choir music and rap beats. Absolute killer in my book.

What could put some people off playing Sorry We’re Closed is the not-so-subtle teratophilia, meaning sexual attraction to monsters (the term originating from ancient Greek) spelt out in bright neon lights with a caller handing out flyers to passersby. The angels and demons are at most wearing what preachers think BDSM looks like, and at least, a software engineer with an immaculate skincare routine. 

My comeback to this would be: that there are no sex scenes (that I’m aware of) in the game, and having such attraction to the characters really depends on the player, for the most part. You can’t wag your finger at the developers for making the angels and demons too sexy, you horny devil. 

Getting back on track, Sorry We’re Closed is a hell of a way to sign off a year of highs and lows in the year’s releases. If this game interests you, I’d also recommend Golden Light, an FPS rogue-like with Prop Hunt gameplay in a similar grungy pixelated graphics and designs.