Nobody Wants to Die Review Summary

Immersive, detailed noir atmosphere: The game excels in its immersive and detailed noir atmosphere, blending cyberpunk and retro elements. Reviewers frequently mentioned the stunning visuals, captivating sound design, and well-developed world-building, drawing comparisons to classics like Blade Runner and BioShock. This creates a unique and engaging experience for players.

Stunning and detailed graphics: Many reviewers praised the game's graphics and overall visual presentation. The game utilizes Unreal Engine 5 to create detailed and visually stunning environments. This makes the game world more engaging and enjoyable to explore.

Unique aesthetic, fitting soundtrack: The game's unique blend of cyberpunk and retro aesthetics, combined with a well-crafted soundtrack, creates a memorable atmosphere. Reviewers noted the influence of classic films and games, such as Blade Runner and BioShock, in the game's art direction and musical score. This enhances the overall immersive experience.

Enjoyable, interesting premise: The game is enjoyable and has an interesting premise, drawing comparisons to other works like Altered Carbon and BioShock. However, these points are too generic to be of high importance.

Explores philosophical, thought-provoking themes: The game explores thought-provoking philosophical themes related to identity, transhumanism, and the consequences of immortality. Reviewers found the game's exploration of these themes to be compelling and engaging. This adds depth and meaning to the overall experience.

Story: confusing, rushed, unsatisfying ending: The story suffers from a confusing, rushed, and unsatisfying ending. Many reviewers felt that key plot points were unresolved, twists were predictable, and choices lacked meaningful consequences, leading to disappointment and frustration. Some reviewers also found the plot illogical and nonsensical.

Lacks chapter select/manual saves: The game lacks a chapter select or manual save feature, forcing players to replay the entire game to see different endings or explore missed content. This significantly reduces replayability and adds frustration for those seeking to experience all aspects of the narrative.

Overly linear, guided gameplay: The gameplay is too linear and heavily guided, offering little freedom for exploration or independent deduction. Reviewers felt like they were passively following instructions rather than actively solving the mystery, making the detective work feel unchallenging and simplistic.

Choices lack meaningful impact: Despite the game presenting itself as choice-driven, decisions have minimal impact on the story or ending. Many choices only affect dialogue options, with only a few key decisions near the end determining the outcome, making player agency feel limited and superficial.

Repetitive, simplistic puzzles/investigation: The game's puzzles and investigation mechanics are repetitive, simplistic, and lack depth. The game often provides immediate hints and solutions, removing the need for critical thinking or problem-solving, leading to a monotonous and unengaging experience.

Investigative mechanics with time manipulation: A core mechanic involves investigating crime scenes using futuristic tools and time manipulation to reconstruct events. Players use devices like reconstructors, UV lights, and X-rays to find clues and piece together what happened. While interesting in concept, some reviewers found the implementation linear and hand-holdy.

Immortality via consciousness transfer setting: The game is set in a futuristic world where immortality is achieved through consciousness transfer into new bodies. This concept is central to the narrative, exploring themes of inequality, morality, and the consequences of extended life. The story often involves investigating crimes related to this technology.

Compared to Cyberpunk 2077's Braindance: Several reviewers compare the game's mechanics, particularly the crime scene reconstruction, to the "Braindance" feature in Cyberpunk 2077. Other comparisons include Detroit: Become Human, Firewatch, Remember Me, LA Noire, Observer, and Alan Wake. These comparisons highlight the game's focus on investigation, narrative, and interactive storytelling.

Simple, uninspired gameplay mechanics: Many reviewers describe the gameplay as simple, average, or adequate, but not particularly outstanding. Some found the mechanics repetitive or boring, while others appreciated their simplicity and functionality. Overall, the gameplay is seen as serving the story rather than being a major draw in itself.

Clue board for connecting evidence: The game features a clue board or evidence board where players connect clues to form hypotheses and advance the investigation. However, some reviewers found this system to be too forgiving, allowing for trial and error without penalty, or too linear, with the game indicating incorrect choices.

Inconsistent performance, optimization issues: The game's performance and optimization are inconsistent. Some players report smooth gameplay on high-end systems, while others experience significant frame drops, stuttering, and crashes even on powerful hardware. This suggests that optimization may be lacking or that performance varies greatly depending on specific hardware configurations and settings.

Loading times and shader compilation: The game includes shader pre-compilation at startup, and loading times vary. Some players experience fast loading times, while others find them longer than expected. Frame rates can be improved by enabling DLSS or adjusting graphics settings.

Minor bugs and glitches reported: Many reviewers report no significant bugs or crashes, while some encountered minor glitches like texture pop-in, awkward animations, or issues with specific graphical features. The frequency and impact of these bugs appear to be relatively low.

Demanding hardware requirements: The game's hardware requirements are high, demanding a fast PC to run smoothly. Some players report that the game can run on lower-end PCs, but this likely requires significantly reduced settings.

Inconsistent voice recording volume: Some players have reported inconsistent volume levels in voice recordings, with noticeable changes in microphone quality and volume between lines. This suggests potential issues with audio mixing or recording quality.

Purchase on sale recommended: Many reviewers suggest purchasing the game on sale due to its short length and/or flaws. Some reviewers enjoyed the game despite its issues, while others found it boring or disappointing. A few reviewers explicitly recommend against purchasing, even at a discount.

Great for genre enthusiasts: The game is highly recommended for fans of noir, cyberpunk, and detective stories, especially those who appreciate a strong atmosphere and narrative focus. Reviewers often draw comparisons to titles like Blade Runner, Altered Carbon, and Observer, suggesting a niche appeal for those who enjoy these specific themes and settings.

Positive overall experience: Many reviewers express overall positive sentiments, describing the game as fantastic, great, or worth the money, especially considering its price point. Some reviewers give it high scores and consider it a must-play, while others acknowledge minor drawbacks but still recommend it.

Walking simulator gameplay: Some reviewers note that the game is more of a walking simulator with added features, and that players seeking more freedom and deeper gameplay should adjust their expectations. They suggest improvements to environment interaction, investigation elements, and save systems to encourage exploration and multiple playthroughs.

Compared to similar titles: Some reviewers compare the game to other titles like Detroit: Become Human and Blade Runner, noting that it may not be as good or as action-packed. They suggest that those expecting intricate investigation mechanics should skip it unless they want to admire the visuals.

Dystopian cyberpunk-noir New York setting: The game is set in a dystopian, cyberpunk-noir version of New York City in 2329. Key elements include advanced technology like flying cars and consciousness transfer, contrasted with a gritty, retro aesthetic inspired by 'Blade Runner' and 'Altered Carbon'. Immortality is achieved through a subscription-based service, creating a stark divide between the wealthy and the poor.

Short story with multiple endings: The game's story is relatively short, with playthroughs ranging from 2 to 8 hours. Player choices impact the ending, with multiple endings available. Some reviewers felt the intriguing setting could have been explored more extensively.

Inconsistent world-building and writing: While the game's premise is interesting, some reviewers found that certain aspects of the world's setting didn't make sense within the established utilitarian dystopia. The game's writing quality was also noted to vary, with some high points but also inconsistencies.

Detective Karra: haunted, alcoholic protagonist: Players control James Karra, a 120-year-old detective haunted by his past. He grapples with alcoholism and depression while investigating a serial killer targeting the city's elite. His character is influenced by classic film noir detectives.

Localization and English accessibility issues: The game features fan-made Czech localization and official Chinese subtitles. However, some reviewers noted that the English used in the game was not easily accessible, suggesting potential issues with the quality of the English translation or writing.