Sorry We’re Closed is a singleplayer survival horror game with a unique twist and nostalgia-evoking graphics and gameplay. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Sorry We're Closed Review Overview
What is Sorry We're Closed?
Sorry We’re Closed is a singleplayer survival horror game full of rich lore, characters with unique personalities, and multiple endings to discover. Follow protagonist Michelle in an alternate London where she wrestles with fate in her final days, cursed by a powerful demon called The Duchess, who won’t stop at anything to get her love for themselves. Explore the boundaries between her world and the other world with her unique Third Eye ability, shooting down monsters with her trusty demonic weapons, while also helping (or hindering) the lives of the people around you. Will you tip the scales of destiny, or succumb to fate as The Duchess intended?
Sorry We're Closed features:
⚫︎ An Interesting Take On Survival Horror
⚫︎ Angels and Demons
⚫︎ Intriguing Plot
⚫︎ Charming, Retro Pixel Graphics
⚫︎ An Entertaining Cast
⚫︎ Replayability With Multiple Endings
| Digital Storefront | |||||
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 Steam |
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| Price | $24.99 | ||||
Sorry We're Closed Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Interesting Plot Nostalgic Pixel Art Style Engaging And Colorful (Literally) Cast |
Controls Can Be Clunky Slight Glitches Lack Of A Story Mode |
Sorry We're Closed Overall Score - 80/100
Sorry We’re Closed is an intriguing and stylish survival horror which offers a fun and compelling story to follow as well as a unique twist into the classic survival horror formula. It’s enjoyable to play with its Third Eye mechanic, bringing in the best of both worlds with a snap of your fingers. While titled as a survival horror, it has many instances where its humorous dialogue shines. However, the nostalgia might make the game fall flat for more modern gamers. Nevertheless, still a wonderful blend of horror, humor, the inner workings of love, and ethereal beings, all in one package.
Sorry We're Closed Story - 9/10
The game’s plot is quite intriguing, set in a realm where humans, demons, and angels exist together, and made even better with an engaging set of characters to meet, with their own quirks and personalities. Your choices will also affect the overall storyline, which brings an extra feeling of excitement in completing the whole game to see which of the multiple endings you’ll end up with. Be a heartbreaker or be the matchmaker for others, and find out how that would fare for your own fate.
Sorry We're Closed Gameplay - 8/10
Gameplay is of the standard survival horror kind, delving into dungeons armed with your trusty weapons, then stunning and shooting down hostile enemies with its unique dimension-hopping Third Eye mechanic, with times in between days or arcs to do quests for other characters a la visual novel-style. It’s a solid gameplay loop and is fun to play. However, the classic third-person fixed camera angles may not be for everyone, and can also be a cause for confusion and frustration.
Sorry We're Closed Visuals - 8/10
One thing that stands out with Sorry We’re Closed is the use of numerous neon colors in its art. The mix of dark and eerie dungeons in contrast to the bright flamboyance of the characters’ designs and clothing make for a rather unique view as you play—it’s fun shooting down demons with your bright neon green shotgun while wearing a hot pink jacket and teal hair. The retro, PS1-esque graphics are also charming, and will definitely strike a sense of nostalgia.
Sorry We're Closed Audio - 7/10
While it boasts a great rock soundtrack that plays during important scenes, there’s nothing particularly exemplary about the background audio, and the characters’ lines only come out in forms of grunts and laughs. Even so, the atmospheric “silence” and sound effects during dungeon runs do add to the immersion and suspense of it all.
Sorry We're Closed Value for Money - 8/10
At a $25 USD price point, it seems rather steep but your first playthrough is easily about 5 to 8 hours depending on your skill level, and it comes with replayability to boot because of its multiple endings.
Sorry We're Closed Review: Fun, Stylish, And Punky Horror
Sorry We’re Closed is a rather stylish survival horror game with an interesting plot—however weird it is to call a survival horror game stylish, it very much defines the characters and the overall feel of the game. Players will follow the strange tale of protagonist Michelle, a disgruntled convenience store employee in the heart of a quiet street in London, whose life gets turned upside down when she finds herself entangled in matters with life, death, and love. The plot starts off with Michelle heading to bed after a boring day at work, only to be abruptly awoken in a state of sleep paralysis by a rather horrifying demon by her door…telling (well, commanding, more like it) her to give her love to them. Enraged, Michelle loudly rejects them, but to no avail—The Duchess, as they’re called, only leaves with a simple “You’ll see.” Definitely not the best thing to wake up to. And to make matters worse, it didn’t matter—she was cursed to fall in love with her anyway, now branded with the Third Eye upon her forehead. A “gift”, per se.
As Michelle counts down her final days until The Duchess claims her for eternity, she steadfastly refuses to give up without a fight. After all, it’s too early for her to be whisked away—she’s still waiting for her ex to call back. Will she challenge fate and tip the scales of destiny to her favor?
An Intriguing Plot
Angels, demons, and humans all mix up together in Sorry We’re Closed’s plot, and is intriguing in the way it plays out. Freshly cursed by The Duchess, Michelle quickly scours to find a way to escape from their clutches. And luckily, she finds out that there may just be more than one way to break the curse. It’s exciting to see how everything plays out depending on the choices you make and what path you decide to tread, and there are many twists and turns that come about, keeping you on the edge of your seat until you get the ending you like. Will you follow through with your plan of achieving freedom or will you be unable to resist The Duchess’ allure in the end?
Fascinating Third Eye Mechanic
One of its most unique gameplay mechanics is its Third Eye mechanic. Despite being a mark of the curse by The Duchess lore-wise, it’s overall very useful in exploration, puzzle-solving, and even combat. This dimension-hopping feature lets Michelle the opposite world with the snap of her fingers, revealing hidden paths or objects within. Path-blocking obstacles like large thorny spikes are reduced to tiny twigs, letting you pass through without a hitch, then rewarding you with a health-replenishing water bottle, some pistol or shotgun bullets, or better, a rare artifact! A puzzle looks strange and unsolvable? Just snap your fingers and activate your Third Eye, and the solution will present itself right in front of your eyes.
It’s such a fun mechanic to activate. The attention to detail is astounding as well, with interactable objects changing form with the blink of an eye, with Michelle’s descriptions or comments conforming to whatever she sees. The filthy sink with putrid liquid coming out is suddenly a normal subway sink with drinking water when observed through the Third Eye. Some paintings on the walls also show a hidden message when examined with your Third Eye, leading to some clues or extra lore about the game, which I enjoyed reading.
In combat, it’s pretty much your lifeline, helping you avoid wasting bullets or swings with your ax. Activating your Third Eye stuns the enemy when they’re in range, exposing their weakness in the form of hearts that you must slash or shoot. It felt amazing to use because no normal monster is immune to its stun.
Retro Pixel Graphics And Gameplay
The retro graphics that take inspiration from the early games, as well as the over-the-shoulder fixed camera angles definitely scream nostalgia. While it doesn’t hold a candle to the graphics of present games with all their sharpness and detail, and the fixed camera angles can be unforgiving at times (I may have been killed by the monsters more often that I would have wanted because of the angles), there’s something charming about the old school pixel style that keeps gamers coming back for more. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that this may have well been a very good PS2 game instead of something for the modern PC.
Its inspirations from games like the Silent Hill series and Resident Evil series are apparent, to the point you might mistake a certain area for a dimly-lit corridor in one of those games—if not for the neon-colored protagonist. And in very retro game fashion, while you’re searching every nook and cranny of the room, you’ll get some pretty funny and witty descriptions of whatever you’re looking at.
Brightly-Colored Survival Horror
From the get-go, one can easily notice how bright the characters are, despite being a survival horror, a genre most commonly stereotyped to a gloomy environment and an equally gloomy-looking protagonist (sorry, James Sunderland). Protagonist Michelle is brightly dressed, sporting a teal blue hairdo along her green star-shaped earrings and a hot fuschia pink jacket, and she is only one among the more flamboyant townspeople and friends she surrounds herself with. Besides the characters, Michelle’s mystical weapons are also brightly coloured, as well as the entire UI. The Menu is bright, the dialogue boxes are bright—everything is neon and punchy in contrast to the somber and solemn environments you have in the backdrop.
The parallel contrast is a welcome addition, and it gives Sorry We’re Closed some kind of identity, standing out from other survival horror games.
Endearing Characters
While the survival horror genre usually makes you alone in the whole scheme of things to really drive in the nail of vulnerability and loneliness, Sorry We’re Closed instead features a cast of wonderful characters, each with their own distinct personalities. The dialogues (and banters) are amusing and fun to read, and aren’t cliché or fall flat in their humor. And as said previously with the bright colors dotted all around town in this game, even if it wasn’t their clothes that were showy, it was their personalities. Michelle’s closest friends in town, Robyn and Marty, are outspoken and strong, while sweet diner owner Oakley is a ray of sunshine in a bleak part of town. When you’re hopping to and fro the street during the non-dungeon portions of the game, sometimes you forget that you’re playing a horror title—and for me, that’s alright, more than welcome even. It’s a breath of fresh air from all the suspense and scares you get from delving through the monstrosities in the viscera-coated dungeons underneath.
Clunky Combat, The Price Of Nostalgia
While interesting as it is, combat is still rather clunky. You can’t move while aiming in first-person, which may shave down your health by a bit if you don’t dodge. To dodge, you’d need to exit out of aiming mode, move away from the enemy in third person, then aim again—it’s rather tedious. When you’ve thought you’ve dodged their incoming attack, you go back into first person mode only to find out you’re not facing the right direction—and there goes your last remaining health, whittled away with a punch from a darned rat demon. Engaging with enemies can get frustrating at times, especially during instances when waves of demons can easily overwhelm you. It doesn’t help that some precious healing items and artifacts are protected by several monsters at once. However, this feature may be chalked up to nostalgia and nod to the survival horror titles of old, which it emulates perfectly.
Nevertheless, I was very much interested in the story and wanted to play it out all the way until the end. Perhaps a Story Only Mode or Easy Mode would be beneficial to those who may have difficulty with the combat system in general, or for those who just want to play for the story.
Accidental Bugs Can Ruin Your Experience A Bit
And on another note, I stumbled upon a HUGE spoiler after accidentally activating Michelle’s Third Eye ability during a certain cutscene where she is conversing with one of the characters early on. With Third Eye activated, the character in question was shown through their real world sprite in the background, while their dialogue sprite still showed their otherworldly self as they spoke to Michelle. Although said character does immediately reveal their real world self not long after their conversation, it ruined the scene for me as a whole. For a rather important or shocking scene, the ability to activate Third Eye should have been disabled in order to preserve the AHA! moment.
Is Sorry We're Closed Worth It?
Definitely Worth For Survival Horror Fans And Novices Alike
Sorry We’re Closed is definitely worth a try, both for horror fans and non-horror fans alike. The humor and its bright visuals can be a good entry point for those who are afraid of horror titles like myself, while veterans of the genre can enjoy the unique twist the game offers. Its lore is engaging, and rich, with characters full of life and personalities to get to know. Not to mention that its gameplay is entertaining to play despite some of its flaws. With all its quirks, Sorry We’re Closed deserves a spot on your bucket list.
| Digital Storefront | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam |
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| Price | $24.99 | ||||
Sorry We're Closed FAQ
Is Sorry We’re Closed Multiplayer?
No, Sorry We’re Closed is strictly a singleplayer game.
What platforms is Sorry We’re Closed on?
Sorry We’re Closed is only available on PC at the moment, with no news as of writing as to whether it will appear on other platforms.
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Sorry We're Closed Product Information
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| Title | Sorry We're Closed |
|---|---|
| Release Date | November 14, 2024 |
| Developer | à la mode games |
| Publisher | Akupara Games |
| Supported Platforms | PC |
| Genre | Indie, Action, Adventure, Horror |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | Sorry We're Closed Website |
