Just Die Already (Nintendo Switch)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): May 20, 2021
- Release Date (EU): May 20, 2021
- Publisher: Curve Digital
- Developer: DoubleMoose Games
- Also For: Computer, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Game Features:
“Old People Mayhem Sandbox”: this is the subtitle to Just Die Already, the latest title from indie developers DoubleMoose Games. And this pretty much sums up the premise of the game. It puts you in the shoes of one of the 4 available old retired boomers posing as the game’s characters (swappable at any time) who has been kicked out of their retirement home after having wreaked havoc in the building. With no millennial offspring to look after you (ungrateful pricks), you’re on your own to find enough JDA tickets to qualify for free retirement care.
That’s pretty much it for Just Die Already’s barebones plot as it acts as a placeholder to get you in the mood to hunt those coveted tickets. To acquire those, you’ll need to complete challenges from your bucket list; and this is not any regular pensioner’s bucket list as it includes entries like blowing up parked cars, sacrificing a human on a blood altar, getting eaten by a shark, mark your territory with your urine or even stealing and consuming medicine from a retirement home (*gasp!*).
As you explore the town you are in and discover new areas and hidden locations, you will unlock more bucket list entries and “side quests” that are specific to those new regions. Of course, given the absurdity of the tasks, their execution is equally absurd and will get you to willingly get hurt, maimed, dismembered and occasionally die. But that doesn’t really matter as you can respawn at will (in bins, where else?!) and how to execute those tasks is left up to you as the game lets you interact with a huge variety of environmental elements. Mattresses, fireworks, guns, banana guns, some passersby, amputated limbs; you can use all of these and more to tick off challenges from your list. Completing entries also unlocks new items that you can purchase off vending machines that will aid you in your pensioner mayhem quest.
As bizarre as those missions sound, the gameplay and controls are equally bizarre. It’s comparable to QWOP meets surgeon simulator with its wonky physics. Hit the R shoulder button to grab something with your right hand and L with your left hand, and you can go off riding bikes, swinging swords or climbing ladders. Some items you hold on to are also throwable with ZR/ZL. If you want to get sneaky or just for the heck of it, you can turn yourself into a ragdoll with B and roll around town like there’s no tomorrow.
Just Die Already sounds edgy, grotesque, cringeworthy or absurd and that’s because it is and other similar adjectives would perfectly describe the game. Within minutes of starting the game, I got my character's limbs amputated with the joints gushing with blood, took a cold shower that ripped off my clothes and went on to scare off fellow pensioners celebrating a birthday (or the demise of someone?). Those are not scenes you’ll find in any other game and Just Die Already has an undeniable sense of originality going for it, I’ll give it that. But it also has a peculiar sense of humor that I see won’t appeal to many.
Some scenes and how to go about to execute some tasks are chuckle-worthy, especially when an unexpected reaction occurs. I also very much appreciated how you need to explore the game’s universe to discover more of what you can do, especially with side quests like reviving a bartender’s love for karaoke or partaking in some basketball dunking sessions.
These were the highlights of the game but they were short-lived as it’s not just the dark humor that will lack in appeal but also the game’s execution in general. The wonky physics plays to the game’s detriment as it sometimes leads to some weird animations and also got me stuck at times while holding onto some items or riding some vehicles (or when trying to ride them). Yes, you can ride vehicles like bikes and speed boats (do jet packs count as vehicles?) in Just Die Already but most of the time I preferred going around by foot as the vehicles weren’t totally responsive to directions I’m pointing to. This can also be attributed to the game's wonky physics.
There’s also an overall bland execution of the game, as although the plot is not the main focus, the game does not define its main goals properly as you’re mostly left to discover new quests by trying some random thing. How many retirement tickets you need or where to find a new retirement home aren’t really laid out in this game even if these are its main goals. A glaring omission is that of a map which would make navigation easier and since you aren’t given any proper direction as to where to head next, a map could indicate an area that has yet to be explored.
You’ll also notice several NPCs are reused, complete with their same assets, behavior and dialogue (how many times did they include that shopkeeper complaining of their student debt or that muscular guy hell-bent on whopping an elderly?). And despite the incredible amount of things you can do in the game (hop on trams, ride vehicles, urinate in public (!), use a variety of items and combine them for some spontaneous effect), the setting isn’t as lively as it should be. This feeling can be attributed to the reused, robotic NPCs (despite a well-varied environment) and also due to the fact that there’s no soundtrack to speak of. I’m not sure if it’s because I had access to a pre-release build but having at least some BGM would liven things up a bit, if only by a bit.
I also came across a bug where I was stuck in a bin when I respawned and had to restart my session, but this happened only once. Speaking of respawning, I’d mention another gripe I had with the game here as I think it would be nice to have a confirmation before respawning as this is done by a single button press and you can easily hit it by mistake.
Yet another issue I’d highlight with the game is that you cannot really pause it. It keeps running in the background with the pause menu overlaid; and as practically any moving object in Just Die Already can run into you, you can just kick the bucket before you want to. I understand it for the co-op mode but for the solo mode, you should be able to pause without any issues.
Oh yes, Just Die Already also supports online multiplayer with up to 4 players and is fully cross-platform too. This certainly adds a layer of fun to the mayhem but I wish local co-op was also an option. But even multiplayer doesn’t help in overlooking the other glaring issues of the game.
With the review code, the development team of Just Die Already sent a note saying that “we put our hearts, souls, and butts into this game and we think there is truly nothing quite like it in the highly non-competitive dumb nonsense genre.” There is indeed nothing quite like it and it’s also a highly non-competitive dumb nonsense genre game but even those unique descriptions of the game don't condense into a standout title it aimed to be.
Just Die Already | Launch Date Trailer
Verdict
- Huge variety of items you can interact with
- Sandbox approach to executing quests makes for varied playthroughs
- Some chuckle-worthy moments
- Cross platform multiplayer adds a layer of fun
- No maps
- General bland execution
- Reused assets
- Lack of soundtrack
- Cannot pause in solo mode
