First Impressions: LET IT DIE

Welcome to the Tower of Barbs! The latest game from the legendary Suda51 and Grasshopper Studios went live exclusively on Playstation 4 this morning. A free-to-play hack 'n' slash adventure, LET IT DIE sees the player struggling to climb a massive tower in post-apocalyptic Tokyo. This brutal action game harkens back to the difficult melee combat of Dark Souls while adding a fresh spin of its own.

Aided by Uncle Death, a skater bro interpretation of the grim reaper, you choose a look for your character and start to make your way up the tower. There's said to be treasure at the top! The only issue is that you're not the only one who wants it. Along the way you'll meet all manners of unfriendly brutes, who will stop at nothing to rip you to shreds. The game is played in third-person, with combat taking on a style reminiscent of Dead Rising with a higher learning curve.

The game features a unique spin on the aspect of "permadeath"; rather than actually permanent death, your character is sent to "The Freezer", where it can be revived for gold. As long as it sits in the freezer, though, it can appear as an NPC in another player's game at random (or your own game as well). If your NPC (called a Hater) kills another player, you're rewarded with gold. If you manage to kill a Hater yourself, you'll be able to add that body to your Freezer and use it as your own.

Progression relies on climbing to new areas of the tower, and taking an elevator back down to your safe hub. There you can purchase items, level up with your experience points, or heal yourself at the fountain. Taking an elevator creates a sort of checkpoint which you can return to through the same elevator, provided you don't die. In terms of gear, you can find weapons and armor lying around or on the corpses of those you kill. You can also find and eat different kinds of mushrooms which give you health and stat buffs.

As a free-to-play game, there are some minor issues (or major, depending on how you look at it). First of all, there are microtransactions. Upon death, you're asked if you want to buy "Death Insurance", which will bring you back to life for the price of one Death Metal. Death Metals can be purchased with cash, starting at $5.00 for a pack of 10 (regional prices may vary).

Another issue is the game's polish. While the aesthetic is beautifully strange in typical Suda51 fashion, the game suffers from clunky controls and low frame rate, as well as noticeable frame drops in populated areas. This doesn't make the game unplayable, but it's something to keep in mind. I, for one, can look past it enough to enjoy the game, but I do hope that they have patches in the future.

For now, this game has me hooked. The core loop of gameplay is incredibly satisfying, and challenging to boot. For anybody wondering if it's worth a shot, LET IT DIE is completely free-to-play on PS4. You have nothing to lose!

​-Justin

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