Sorry We’re Closed Review: Nostalgic Horror Full of Modern Spirit

What would you do if you found that your small artsy corner of London, where you live and work and socialise, had been curiously linked to a world of angels and demons. That a damning curse had thrust you into the clutches of a powerful being, and everyone you know in the neighbourhood has some ties to it? Well, it’s a scenario that Sorry We’re Closed explores from the angle of a retro horror title with clear purpose and style. 

Housing unique art direction, dynamic characters and dialogue, it’s an impressive feat from a two-person dev team. Having checked out the demo at a convention last year, Sorry We’re Closed quickly became one of my most anticipated indie titles, and the full game continued that momentum with only a few minor drawbacks. 

City of Angels, and Demons, I Guess

The game opens with Michelle, a blue-haired, pink coat-wearing shop assistant, dealing with a customer before closing up for the night. She’s grappling with a breakup and is having a hard time coming to terms with it. It’s made even more difficult given the ex-girlfriend in question happens to be the star of a popular TV drama the neighbourhood is obsessed with. Michelle makes her way back to her apartment to call it a night, only to find herself thrust into what she assumes is a dreamstate.

Michelle quickly learns that she is stricken with a curse from a powerful demon called The Duchess, who has identified Michelle as their new object of desire. With only a few days to rid herself of this curse, Michelle finds that her London neighbourhood is now caught between angels and demons, and her fellow residents aren’t quite who she thought them to be. But the residents have their own problems, and Michelle can choose to aid or sabotage their dilemmas on her journey to save herself from an unfortunate demise. 

The game features a lively cast of characters that feel as though they’d be found in the nightclubs of Dalston on your typical Friday night, demons included. The artistic and neon character designs are standouts in the game’s unique aesthetics, boosted even further by each character’s quality writing. Covering the lofty topics that it does, that of love, relationships, and the mortal coil, it would be easy for the game’s writing to verge into corny territory. Thankfully, it doesn’t, and is instead handled with charm and style. 

Weapon of Choice

Sorry We’re Closed takes a survival horror approach to its combat, where players will utilise limited resources in order to defend themselves against the monsters residing in the demon world. Michelle begins with just an axe, however she soon receives ranged weaponry such as a pistol and shotgun. She’s also equipped with the Third Eye, a result of her curse, which allows her to see a creature’s weak spot while also stunning them for a short time once they get close enough. The optimal approach to dealing with creatures is to activate Michelle’s Third Eye to reveal an enemy’s weak spot, then to shoot it with a ranged weapon. In some cases, more stronger enemies would have multiple weak spots that subsequently reveal when the previous one has been hit. Doing so charges the ‘Heartstopper,’ a powerful, single-use critical hit that’s particularly useful against the game’s stronger enemies and bosses. 

Very quickly, the axe becomes obsolete as it means creatures have to get close enough for them to be within melee difference, but it also means they’re within range to attack you. If you aren’t able to manoeuvre yourself away from them (Michelle doesn’t have a dodge, and her sprint isn’t particularly fast), you’ll need to rely on some quick aiming to take down the creature before it puts you on the ground. It’s not so much an issue when using keyboard & mouse, but if you’re using a controller the aim is significantly slower. Now, the devs have acknowledged this as an issue and are working on improvements, but it certainly made combat a little trickier. 

Coupled with this is Michelle’s slightly awkward hit box, which in certain boss fights can prove a hindrance. The second boss fight comes to mind, where Michelle will be boxed in by its tentacles that will attack should she get too close. The enemy’s main body also has a sweeping attack that forces you to move to the side towards the tentacles. You’re left guessing just how close you can get to the tentacles without triggering them to attack, while also remaining just out of reach of the main body’s sweep. It’s easy to misjudge and end up clipped by an attack. 

The game does feature a small amount of progression. There are a few options for upgrades, primarily to increase the strength and ammo capacity of your weapons, but also how many water bottles (healing items) Michelle can carry. These are unlocked by visiting a creature called the Travelling Artefact Dealer (T.A.D.) and selling it various artefacts you’ve collected throughout your explorations for currency. That currency is then used to purchase upgrades. 

A page is taken out of the books of early Resident Evil and Silent Hill in that the game features a few puzzles to solve and items to acquire in order to progress. These puzzles aren’t particularly complicated, often involving finding and using certain items in specific places or connecting pipes to activate functions. But despite their simplicity, it serves as a nice way to path through the game’s main dungeons. 

Survival Horror, Now With Added Flair

Sorry We’re Closed has been cleverly inspired by retro horror titles, making use of a third person perspective from largely fixed camera angles, though switches to a first-person perspective when aiming weapons. The duality of worlds and how they appear is very much reminiscent of Silent Hill and its real-world/Otherworld maps. Depending on where Michelle finds herself, what she sees when using her Third Eye can be different.

If she’s in the Hotel, The Duchess’ domain, the general appearance is lavish and high-class (minus a few blood stains and celestial horrors here and there.) But when Michelle uses her Third Eye, she sees the world in decay, and the true face of The Duchess. The opposite occurs when Michelle is in the demon world dungeons, where everything looks rusted and macabre by default, but clean and realistic when affected by the Third Eye. It’s an interesting way to give the Third Eye more meaning outside of being a combat tool. 

Where the game walks its own path is in its aesthetics, opting for a more neon-infused colour palette and more modernised character designs. It leans into a fun approach, rather than the bleak horror themes of its inspirations. While the atmosphere in the dungeons is certainly creepy, it’s pleasantly offset by its periods of downtime between levels where Michelle interacts with the world’s inhabitants. 

Through these interactions, Michelle can choose who and how to help the locals with their problems, some of which can have a direct influence on the game’s ending. With a fairly short run time, replaying the game to achieve all four endings isn’t much of a chore, either. 

The 90’s Called. They Said ‘Great Job!’

Sorry We’re Closed might be heavily inspired by classic horror games, but it certainly holds its own as a unique title. Its story and style are particular standouts, giving the game a distinctive voice that never overcomplicates itself. Its short run time works in its favour, encouraging multiple playthroughs in order to achieve each ending. Enemy encounters are challenging enough, and invite players to consider their approach — fight or flight. 

Where it falls short is in the combat itself, feeling slow or awkward at times, though updates and patches are on the way. But, classic survival horror games never had the most fluid combat to begin with, and so it’s easy to forgive Sorry We’re Closed for being a little too nostalgic in that regard. Despite this, Sorry We’re Closed is one of the most standout indie titles of the year. A little demon mingling never hurt anyone, right?