Sorry We’re Closed Is A Perfect Breakup Recovery Simulator, Demons Included

Breakups are obviously hard; they can make it feel like part of yourself is gone, they can fracture longstanding friend groups, they can suck the joy out of everything. And after the initial shock and sense of loss, one of the worst feelings is the often misplaced regret of not having done things differently, of not having been someone else. All of this is true for Michelle, the protagonist of the recently released survival horror/romance title Sorry We’re Closed from freshman studio à la mode games.

Three years later, Michelle still hasn’t moved on from being dumped by her ex-girlfriend, Leslie. Like, at all. She’s still wearing the same clothes, doing the same job. She still has a broken mirror in the corner of her room, a straightforward metaphor for what hasn’t been fixed. She still sees Leslie in her dreams. And maybe worst of all, her ex had to go and become famous by playing the main character of a sapphic soap opera that somehow appears on every TV our heroine comes across. “Ah, sorry Michelle,” her friends say before awkwardly changing the channel. Stuck in a town where Leslie is a local celebrity, Michelle is surrounded by constant reminders of being left behind for bigger and better things.

And then, it gets worse! One evening, Michelle wakes up as if in a night terror to see her apartment door wide open. In comes the Duchess, a powerful arch-demon who gives Michelle an inescapable: their love. Unfortunately for our protagonist, instead of being the bounce-back relationship she’s been looking for, the Duchess’ affection is a virtual death sentence that’s already claimed hundreds of victims. From here, Michelle is forced to make decisions that will affect both her love life and that of her friends as well.

As for how this manifests for the player, the game operates in two modes: you’re either shooting your way through low-poly hellspawn to earn back your freedom against the Duchess, or you’re back in the human world, hanging out with buddies and making decisions that will impact relationships. In either case, everything revolves around romance.

When it comes to the former mode, these survival horror segments are presented via classic fixed-camera goodness, where you cut a visceral path through rusted nightmare dimensions seemingly inspired by Silent Hill’s Otherworld. In each level, the goal is to locate a Third Eye, a “gift” bestowed by the Duchess onto Michelle and previous victims that allows them to see into the demon world. While this power sounds kind of metal, it hasn’t ended well for most, as it attracts unwanted attention from all sorts of blood-thirsty characters. In each area, Michelle has to battle her way through walking dogs, creepy axe-armed zombies, and other monstrosities that hopped out of a Bosch painting so she can face off with a curse bearer and collect their Third Eye. Repeat this process enough times, and she might just have enough power to challenge the Duchess.

While at first blush, these more trigger happy sequences seem detached from the game’s overarching focus on romance and post-breakup psychology, smaller mechanical flourishes tie things together. For one, you’re encouraged to get up close and personal with those you’re battling. Michelle’s Third Eye ability lets her attack enemy weak points, represented by hearts that break with repeated hits. It’s a powerful trick that conserves ammo, but it only works when activated point blank, encouraging you to get intimate with these foes like speed dating gone wrong. If you chain together hits on vulnerable points, there’s a satisfying ascending chirp as you build towards a Perfect Combo that charges up Michelle’s ultimate move, the Heartbreaker, a love-destroying ability that’s her only real hope of stopping the Duchess. From a gameplay perspective, the Third Eye is a clever twist that pushes you towards what you usually want to avoid in this style of experience: being too close to creepy monsters trying to murder you. These tense situations are made all the more personal because whenever you aim, the camera switches to a first-person perspective that puts you in Michelle’s shoes, uncomfortably close to gnashing fiends.

Put plainly, Michelle’s external struggles parallel her internal ones. She literally has to fight a whole bunch of demons to figuratively move on. And much like love, these sequences will absolutely kick your ass if you aren’t careful—there’s one sadistic stretch that requires pinpoint accuracy and quick maneuvering as you power up a generator while fighting endless swarms. While traversing the demon world, Michelle sees memories of other Third Eye wielders whose ideas of love were corrupted by greed, vanity, and other deadly sins, showing how easy it would be for Michelle to similarly double down on her worst romantic impulses and refuse to change in light of her curse.

Thankfully, our heroine gets a break from fighting malicious creatures every once in a while. During the day, she hangs out in the neighborhood, chatting with her pals who are also struggling with relationship problems (mostly with less imminent death involved, though). While you would assume Michelle’s toughest calls would come when up against infernal monsters, her choices in the human realm actually have the most impact, especially when it comes to romantic entanglements. For instance, you’ll make decisions that impact Robyn, Michelle’s demon bestie who’s in a centuries-long relationship with their angelic boyfriend Benedict, Chamuel and his star-crossed better half, and Oakley and his dirtbag himbo partner Darrel.

Each of these queer relationships is distinct and thoughtfully handled, offering a range of depictions beyond the simplistic binary of whether it’s a “Happy Ending” or a “Bury Your Gays” situation, which is certainly a breath of fresh air. There is a mess but also plenty of joy found in these perfect partners and disasters waiting to happen. For instance, Oakley and Darrel always seem on the edge of a breakup because the latter is a bonafide idiot, while the former tries desperately to “fix” him. It’s all complicated by the fact that Darrel genuinely loves his boyfriend but is a terrible person whose actions have gotten lots of people eaten by demons, which is an issue because Oakley would likely be horrified if he knew the truth—you’re put in a tough whether to tell him or not. On the other end of the spectrum, there’s Robyn and Benedict, who are absolutely adorable together, but have to fight external forces that would keep them apart. Benedict is stuck monitoring a door to the demon world in a broken down church at the edge of town, meaning he and Robyn can only be together in these restrictive circumstances.

And this isn’t the only issue. According to celestial law, angels, demons, and humans aren’t “supposed” to mix, which is a problem for Robyn and Benedict, as well as Chamuel and his partner. In a Steam Forum thread where the married couple who created the game very politely answered a bad-faith question about the “DEI” boogeyman (seriously, never go to the Steam Forums), one of the pair mentioned how this “story comes from a queer, interracial couple.” Their partner wrote, “I come from a very mixed family and very mixed friend groups. I wanted to preserve the essence of them in something I created as a thank you for them being in my life.” This sentiment is reflected in many of the game’s pairings; they struggle against societal injustices placed on them because they’re from different backgrounds but still manage to find each other despite it all (unless your version of Michelle is a jerk, that is). It all grants an intersectional angle to these romances that comes across as both specific to their situations while still feeling universally true, even with all the supernatural flourishes. Also, there’s a little rat with a birthday hat named Mimi, so that’s pretty neat, too.

And at the center of this relationship drama is Michelle, who is currently being courted by an ultra-aggressive denizen of the underworld. While the Duchess’ actions are unforgivable, whether it’s their blatant disregard for personal space or the fact they, you know, killed a bunch of people, there’s an interesting overlap between Michelle and her suitor: both have been heartbroken for as long as they can remember. In fact, this is what drew the Duchess to Michelle in the first place.

In the case of this arch-demon, though, they got dumped by God. Many of this world’s demons are fallen angels previously cast out of heaven, doomed to an endless existence outside of heavenly grace. Most of them struggle with this changed status quo, attempting to turn back the clock in any way they can, and the Duchess’ failed attempts at love are very much the same. One of the game’s four endings allows you to take Michelle in a similarly static direction, manipulating others’ relationships to suit your ends as you use dark magics to try and get Leslie back. By giving the player that option, the story presents a genuine choice between moving on or staying stuck in the past like the Duchess, a decision that’s the lynchpin of Michelle’s journey.

Given that Sorry We’re Closed is centered around romance, you’d be forgiven for assuming it ends with your character hand-in-hand with a love interest against a passionate sunset. At least in my ending (one of four), that wasn’t the case. While that may sound anti-climactic, this journey is less about Michelle finding a new partner and more about reaching a headspace where this even feels like a possibility. Just like how the Duchess has to come to terms with being cast from heaven, Michelle must make peace with what happened and finally move on. It’s a central struggle brought to life through thoughtfully conveyed relationships and fixed camera angle gunslinging, making for a narrative that stands out in more ways than one (the stylish neon aesthetic and striking character portraits certainly help in that regard). Dating may be hell, but watching Michelle finally become ready to jump back into that inferno was worth the effort.

Elijah Gonzalez is an assistant Games and TV Editor for Paste Magazine. In addition to playing and watching the latest on the small screen, he also loves film, creating large lists of media he’ll probably never actually get to, and dreaming of the day he finally gets through all the Like a Dragon games. You can follow him on Twitter @eli_gonzalez11 and on Bluesky @elijahgonzalez.bsky.social.