DYING: Reborn
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for DYING: Reborn
Despite its interesting puzzles, DYING: Reborn struggles to be much more than a poor example of horror; the scares are few and far between, the plot and its characters are horribly played out and given how generic it can frequently be, it's alarming how seriously it takes itself.
Dying Reborn is an escape room game with some creepy elements to it. The story has an interesting premise, but quickly becomes uninteresting and confusing. Some puzzles feel rewarding, while far too many feel obscure and annoying.
Dying: Reborn isn't a particularly scary game, especially since you can't die. But it does possess a delightfully odd atmosphere and lots of fun puzzles to solve. This style of game, with all its indie seams and quirks, won't be for everybody. But if you can attune yourself to its quirky presentation (or just want those easy Achievements), Dying: Reborn won't kill your good time.
Dying: Reborn is a textbook example on how to set up the groundwork for an 'Escape Room' experience, but it largely feels unfinished and content is repeated in order to fill in those gaps.
On a system bursting with great horror games, you can safely side-step Dying: Reborn. While we appreciate the attempt, the production values just aren't in place to create the tension that's intended here, and even though there are a couple of decent puzzles on display, there's not enough meat on this murder mystery's bones to make it worth the price of admission.
Despite this generous clutch of problems, there is an odd charm to the game. Its schlock is part of its allure, and each time I loaded the game, I felt as though I was returning to a well-thumbed piece of pulp horror trash or sliding an old VHS B-movie slasher into the machine – its cheap ghouls awash with scan lines.
I wasn't compelled by the story, the characters, or the atmosphere. I didn't feel any sense of tension or immersion with Mathew and his plight. The presentation of the game from graphics to on-screen font to voice-acting was very generic and lackluster too, making the whole experience a struggle and not very enjoyable. Without a walkthrough, I probably would not have pressed on because I just was not finding the experience worth my time and effort.
DYING: Reborn is a flawed game with good intentions. Gameplay feels clunky and outdated, and the voice acting, unfortunately, fails to put you into a terrifying experience. But the game did keep me busy and won me over with its smart puzzle design, which is the core of the game and the most important part.
