Psychological horror Horror escape RPG Maker horror 2D horror Anime horror

Angels of Death

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A girl and a killer make a promise to escape a sealed building together.

Platforms: PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Stores: Steam
Price: Paid
Rated: Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam (95% of 5,441 reviews); 4.76 of 5 stars from 380 ratings on the PlayStation Store
Length: about 7 hours
Players: 1
Controls: Arrow keys or number pad to move, Shift to run, Z, Enter or Space to examine and talk, X or Esc for the menu; F12 resets the game
Made by: Makoto Sanada
Released: 2016

On PlayStation: one of the PlayStation horror games.

No. 8 of the basement horror games · No. 8 of the church horror games · No. 9 of the hospital horror games · No. 9 of the horror games about memory loss · No. 3 of the horror games with priests

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What frightens Trapped in a sealed building, a girl and a scythe-carrying killer climb through floors each kept by a deranged captor who puts them through sadistic trials and chases; the threat of death hangs over every room.
Content: blood, violence, strong language, chase scenes with sudden deaths, themes of death and wanting to die.

Angels of Death is a psychological horror adventure in four episodes, made in RPG Maker. Ray wakes with no memory in a sealed building and strikes a dark deal with Zack, a killer with a scythe: help him get out, and he will kill her. Each floor is run by a keeper who wants them dead.

About Angels of Death

Angels of Death is a psychological horror adventure by Makoto Sanada, the creator of Forest of Drizzling Rain. It was first released free in Japanese through Den-fami Nico Game Magazine and came to Steam in English on 19 December 2016, published by Vaka Game Magazine. The Steam release holds all four episodes of the story in one package. It reached Nintendo Switch in June 2018 and PS4 and Xbox One in April 2021, each with English text, and the story was also told as a manga and a 2018 TV anime.

Ray wakes in a concrete room in the lowest basement with no memory of how she got there. Looking for a way out, she meets Zack, a bandaged man carrying a large scythe, and the two make a promise: if she helps him escape, he will kill her. Each floor of the building belongs to a different keeper, from a cackling voice over a speaker on a white-walled floor to a priest in a cathedral full of organ music and writing that tells Ray to repent, and each puts the pair through trials meant to break them.

You explore in top-down 2D, read the story through large character portraits, pick up items such as card keys, and solve each floor's escape tasks. Some scenes turn into chases, with a keeper giving you a few seconds' head start before the hunt begins, and a wrong move ends in death. The store page also promises missions that borrow from shooting games. The fear comes from the people in the building and the strange bond between the two leads more than from monsters, and the game shows blood and uses strong language throughout.

It is a story-led game of around seven hours for players who like pixel-art horror such as Mad Father or The Witch's House and want a longer tale told across episodes. The spin-off Angels of Death Episode.Eddie, about the keeper of one floor, is sold separately on Steam.

How to play Angels of Death

Buy Angels of Death on Steam, the Nintendo eShop, the PlayStation Store or the Xbox store; on Steam, change the screenshot key away from F12 first, since F12 resets the game.
Move Ray around each floor with the arrow keys, hold Shift to run, and press Z or Enter to examine objects and talk.
Open the menu with X or Esc to check your inventory of items such as the card key.
Follow the story with Zack from floor to floor, solving each floor's escape tasks.
When a keeper starts a chase, run at once and keep moving toward the way out.

Screenshots

Angels of Death: Ray stands in a dim blue tiled corridor with a dark figure ahead as her portrait says Kill me

Angels of Death: Ray and Zack together in a white tiled room as Ray apologises for making him kill someone as boring as her

Angels of Death: a red-lit industrial floor where a figure gives Ray a 3 second head start before a chase

Angels of Death: Ray in a cathedral with stained glass windows and a pipe organ, saying A church

Angels of Death: Ray in a pale hospital-like hallway, her portrait saying this is not the same hospital as before

Angels of Death controls screen listing arrow keys to move, Shift to run and F12 to reset the game

Tips

Examine everything in a room; the way forward often depends on a small item.
Save often between scenes so a sudden death does not send you far back.
Hold Shift as soon as a chase begins; the head start you are given is only a few seconds.
Read the notes and wall writing on each floor; they explain what its keeper wants.