Sunday stream game :) Completion is defined as "reaching the credits", though I stayed on a while to do the postgame stuff.
!! Spoilers below !!
It's an action game! Which is to say...I'm bad at it. I think it's not more difficult than the standard Hollow Knight experience, but still pretty hard for me, a person who sometimes walks off perfectly normal paths. Certain enemies I've still not quite developed a strategy for dealing with. The responsiveness is great though, and I've pulled off some VERY tight dodge rolls, so I know that my trouble with battles is a skill issue rather than a game one.
That said, I consistently feel that boss battles last way too long - they go past the point of demonstrating that I've learnt the boss's mechanics, to the point where I start losing focus and panic. In comparison to Hollow Knight...I think the only time I really felt that the boss fight was dragging on was with NKG, but maybe I wasn't dealing enough damage. There's less room for customisation in Death's Door, so if I wasn't dealing enough damage, it was likely not my loadout/upgrade status...This isn't so much a criticism as a "maybe this game isn't quite for me" feeling, though.
There are some puzzles involved, though these are very simple in general...I think the most memorable one to me is the Frog King boss, actually. It combined the stage mechanics with the boss fight in a way that was both intuitive and very satisfying, without being overly difficult as a battle. Probably the only boss I defeated on the first try.
Also, I couldn't figure out how to use the flipping panels until I looked up a guide - not sure if it was ever mentioned anywhere in the game. I did remember that you can slam down in mid-air, but it didn't occur to me to try it on the panels...
Lastly I think it'd have been helpful if there was a map, because some areas are really big and I just kind of get lost.
The themes of the story don't particularly speak to me, but I feel that the plot was brought to a satisfying conclusion. It doesn't try to be too edgy or too moralising, it just...is.
Not much moves for most of the story, until near the end when the crows all leave, and aside from the crow relocation not that much about the world changes (aside from being able to flip night/day). I think the strength of the story is in its backstory and worldbuilding, actually...it tells many stories about things that happened in the past, that were probably a lot more exciting then, and as the player you find these hints in the world about those events, and little details about the other characters.
Also you get to play as a crow...my favourite part. The animations are SO cute.
Speaking of! The art is really good. The environments are mostly gentle on the eyes and there's this really pretty contrast with the bright pink soul cracks on enemies. The Grey Crow's battle is the one extremely high-contrast exception and it has really good visual symbols, from the crossing chains, to the tiny birds that slow you down. Visually, gorgeous game.
It's missing a personal connection for me to give this 5 stars, but it's otherwise a very solid game. I'd recommend it if you like Zelda-like action games (you'd have to be decent at action games to enjoy it) and would also like to play as a bird. Don't expect an epic-length story - it's fairly straightforward (for reference, I have clocked 20.6 hours on it so far).