Death Must Die

Introduction

Death Must Die sends a Greek-mythology-inspired hero into the underworld to hunt down Death himself, blending Vampire Survivors-style horde survival with Diablo-flavoured gearing and a Hades-style pantheon of god powers to build around. Developed by Realm Archive, it entered Early Access 14 November 2023 and, nearly three years later, remains there. It sits at a lifetime Very Positive 90.1% across 21,673 reviews, with recent sentiment holding at an equally strong 91.1%. This review reads a substantial share of both samples across that full history and finds a formula this review's own sample repeatedly calls genuinely excellent, increasingly weighed down by one specific, well-documented concern.

A formula reviewers keep comparing to genre giants

Where this review's sample agrees almost universally is on the core loop's quality. Reviewers independently describe the same three-way blend — "gameplay: vampire survivor, inventory: diablo or similar, characters: hades" — and the comparison holds up as a genuine compliment rather than a lazy shorthand. One widely-upvoted review states plainly that Death Must Die delivered "more meaningful play time, entertainment and FUN" than the entirety of Diablo 4, a striking claim from a NZ$10.49 Early Access title against a full-price genre flagship. Build variety, synergy discovery and the satisfaction of assembling a genuinely broken combination draw consistent praise across years of reviews, and value is essentially undisputed — reviewers routinely report 100-plus hours from a purchase that costs less than a coffee run.

A finish line that keeps moving

Set against that, this review's clearest and most consequential finding concerns pace. Reviewers across 2024, 2025 and into 2026 independently describe the same frustration: roadmap timelines missed repeatedly, long stretches with minimal communication, and a development cadence that feels increasingly at odds with how well-loved the existing content is. One 2026 reviewer states the game "is developed at such a slow pace that it might as well be abandoned," noting the original planned release date has been missed "by years." Another, checking in after roughly two years away, reports "nothing has changed since that time" and specifically declines to recommend what they call "abandonware," despite personally still enjoying it. A gap of six months without developer communication drew a specific complaint in October 2025. None of this reads as players turning on the game itself — it reads as growing frustration with a promise of completion that keeps receding.

Content updates that some reviewers say made things worse

Compounding the pacing concern, several reviewers report that the game's more recent content acts specifically move away from what made earlier content fun. A 2025 review describing the Act III update calls it "a BIG step but in the wrong direction," arguing the genre's core appeal — fast, free movement and a genuine power fantasy — has been replaced by slower, more punishing pacing. An earlier reviewer makes a near-identical point about Act II, describing "exceptionally grindy content" with enemies whose attacks are difficult to read or anticipate. This is a more specific and more concerning pattern than slow development alone: it suggests the additions themselves, not just their pace, are drawing genuine design pushback from the existing fanbase.

Final Verdict

Death Must Die built one of the more genuinely beloved hybrid formulas in this library's roguelite coverage, and at its price, the content that exists remains an excellent value on its own terms. What keeps this review from scoring it higher is a real, well-documented and increasingly urgent concern running through years of its own review history: a development pace that has repeatedly missed its own targets, content additions some longtime fans say actively undermine the game's core appeal, and a growing chorus of previously enthusiastic players openly wondering whether it will ever leave Early Access. Buy it for what exists today and you'll likely get real value; buy it expecting the finished game its roadmap has promised for years, and this review's own sample suggests tempering that expectation considerably.