DEAD OR SCHOOL

My first impression of DEAD OR SCHOOL was that someone had poured genuine affection into a project that the rest of the industry would walk past without blinking. Studio Nanafushi is literally three people who ran a bar between coding sessions to keep the lights on. That backstory matters, because it explains so much of what you feel while playing: the spark is real, the polish budget was not. The core loop is a 2.5D side-scrolling action-RPG set across zombie-overrun Tokyo districts - Shinjuku, Asakusa, Akihabara, Roppongi - each crawling with mutants you need to clear before Hisako, your underground-raised protagonist, can dream of going to school. Structurally it sits comfortably in Metroidvania territory, with exploration-heavy levels, predefined enemy encounters you can learn and prepare for on subsequent passes, and save points that refill your health and ammo as natural waypoints. Hisako carries three weapon slots at all times: a melee arm (fencing sword and war hammer handle entirely differently from each other), a ranged gun aimed on the right stick, and a launcher for crowd-clearing explosions. Each weapon type has its own skill tree, and while the passive upgrades deeper in those trees are on the thin side, the loot system underneath them has real bite. Weapons drop with innate passives, accept two modifier slots, and can be upgraded at save-point crafting menus using modification cores and weapon cores. There is no single correct loadout, which is the best thing a game like this can say about itself. A Bayonetta-style dodge mechanic rewards precise timing with a slow-motion window, and a "torn uniform state" triggered by taking enough damage briefly pushes your attack and defense upward - a small touch that fits the frenetic tone perfectly. Here is where honesty costs me something: the game has legitimate problems and they are not small. The UI is overbuilt - character portraits and menus physically crowd the action, and picking up weapon drops is manual rather than automatic, which becomes an irritant mid-fight. The English localization is rough in places, with dialogue that reads like an early draft run through a translation pass that nobody proofed. Enemies in the field are repetitive, and some reviews point to a soft gear-reset feeling each time you enter a new zone, where the level curve forces you back into grinding before the next major challenge. The story itself swings between charmingly earnest and just plain awkward. These are not bugs you patch around; they are structural. And yet. The Steam community - over 2,800 reviews - sits at 86% positive, which is a number earned by players who had fun and felt it was worth saying so. The character art for Hisako is genuinely lovely. The soundtrack is good throughout, even if the loop timing leaves occasional gaps of silence. Boss encounters are distinct, rematches are supported, and the moment-to-moment combat, tight controls and weighty hit-feel, lands with a satisfying thud that bigger-budget games sometimes lose chasing spectacle. If your tolerance for jank is calibrated by years of playing obscure Japanese action games on limited hardware, this game will give you back something that feels handmade in the best sense. DEAD OR SCHOOL is for the player who roots for the underdog project, who finds something moving in a three-person team clearing 86% approval on sheer gameplay instinct. It is not for anyone who needs a smooth UI, a polished localization, or a story that earns its ambitions. Go in knowing what it is, and the combat will hold you longer than the rough exterior suggests it should. Kai, Scout Team