I once visited a Blockbuster Video in the early 2000s, and while browsing the horror section, I came across a film called The Killer Eye (1999). The sleazy cover art promised a giant killer eyeball, creeping away from a scantily clad dead woman. “This should be fun”, I thought to myself as checked it out at the clerk’s desk, and eagerly scampered off to watch it on my PS2.

As I watched The Killer Eye unfold, I was overwhelmed with regret and remorse. Sure, I got a killer eyeball movie, but I was not prepared for the lengthy and lingering shots of barely dressed dudes and overtly gay undertones. The Killer Eye is a film intended for a very specific subculture, a terrible portal I had mistakenly stared into.

Sorry We’re Closed is the second time I encountered this portal. I had once again been fooled, but this time I was lured in by promises of classic 90s survival-horror gameplay, intense imagery, and shifting fixed camera perspectives. If there was ever a video game example for the “writer’s barely disguised fetish”, this is it. What can gamers expect? Find out in our Sorry We’re Closed review!

Sorry We’re Closed
Developer: A la Mode Games
Publisher:  Akupara Games
Platforms: Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch (reviewed)
Release Date: March 6, 2025
Price: $24.99

The story of Sorry We’re Closed centers on Michelle, a down-and-out convenience store clerk who lives in a rundown part of London. She’s enduring bouts of loneliness and despair after a bad breakup with her girlfriend, spending her nights wallowing in her filthy apartment, every night blurring into each other into a haze of neon, porno, and sex weirdos who frequent her store.

Strange occult phenomena have been occurring lately, and she attracts the attention of a demonic entity calling itself “The Duchess.” The demon is lonely, too, and curses Michelle with a third eye that allows her to see beyond reality. She has three days to break a curse or else face damnation while trying to contend with gen Z drama of how love changes a person.

The game unfolds with bouts of walking-sim-like sequences where Michelle is free to explore her town, talk to the locals, make dialogue choices, and participate in side stories. The other module is plumbing the depths of what can be best described as dungeons, which are what most survival-horror fans would recognize.

The dungeons in Sorry We’re Closed are very Silent Hill-like in their execution. There’s a lot of key searching, puzzles, and exploring. You can even play with tried-and-true tank controls for the full effect. Michelle’s third eye is the two-world mechanism; she doesn’t exactly go to a new place, but a field around her reveals the other world as she roams the 3D space.

The third eye effect is marvelous and leads to some striking imagery as it reveals some humans to be demons and fluidly changes the world around Michelle. It’s also how enemy weak points are revealed when fighting and you’ll need it because combat is risky.

Getting into scraps with monsters is tense, like a back-up-against-the-wall sensation because Michelle is stationary when aiming and the POV shifts to first-person like in Killer 7. Heaven Smiles’ attack patterns would vary and change depending on the foe and if you’ve blown off a limb. Monsters in Sorry We’re Closed are more basic and lack Killer 7‘s dynamism.

Where Sorry We’re Closed lacks in mechanical depth, it makes up by inundating the player with absurd amounts of foes. Fighting a couple of enemies is manageable, but going up against five or more becomes a tedious battle of attrition. Expect a lot of cheesing tactics to get by or to see Michelle moshed to death.

It seems that the developers also had no faith in their combat system and added an option to enable an infinite healing item. It has its dedicated item slot so players won’t even feel it impacts their item management. This toggle in the option has no consequence and can be used in the hardest mode, defeating the point of the difficulty entirely.

There was potential with the combat system, but it was woefully undercooked and unbalanced. There needed to be more meaningful encounters instead of swarming players with fodder.

The visuals are striking and are best described as Club Kid meets Silent Hill on PlayStation, with some Shin Megami Tensei flourishes. Sorry We’re Closed is undeniably a unique-looking game, combing detailed artistic textures to low poly models gives it an uncanny style.

The demonic imagery ranges from unsettling to comedic. Angelic characters look appropriately bizarre and off-putting. The character designs have the “post-Tumblr stink” about them.

Some deliberately unappealing character designs were likely meant to ground the setting in some perceived understanding of real life, but the end result is too absurd to take seriously.

The way the story characterizes demons (and angels) ascribes to the “fabulous slay queen” ethos, rather than any true understanding of demonology. It’s a very superficial and trite approach that makes the writers look grossly narcissistic. Every character only cares about finding love and “living their truth”.

Unless you’re an emotionally stunted gay Gen Z’er who constantly mopes about being alone, you probably won’t connect with Sorry We’re Closed. Its message is hollow and relies on the player being narcissistic and consumed by validation. It’s nice to be loved, but it isn’t that big of a deal in real life.

There are no scenes of Michelle with her ex. You are told everything through tedious, clumsy, and skin-crawling exposition. There was potential here if the developers took a less-is-more approach and kept dialogue to an absolute minimum and had symbolic imagery tell the story vaguely. It would make for a less alienating experience and draw gamers deeper into the scenario.

What disappoints me most of all is that Sorry We’re Closed had potential. The survival horror gameplay is competent and the audio/visual presentation is inspired and driven by a confident vision. The horrors of alternative lifestyle choices could hit a raw nerve for its intended audience and regular people if the writer/director took the chance to trust the players.

Sorry We’re Closed caters to a very specific crowd. You’ll know if you are its intended audience just by the look of the game. If the imagery and premise entice you, just be warned that the combat system is not well thought out, and expect to cheese through most of it or chug an infinite supply of life-giving water.

Sorry We’re Closed was reviewed on a Nintendo Switch using a code provided by Akurpara Games. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Sorry We’re Closed is now available for PC (via Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.