'Sorry We're Closed' is a real must-play indie experience for 2025.a la mode gamesWhen it landed on PC in October 2024, Sorry Were Closed completely passed me by. After finally catching up with it ahead of this months release on Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch, Ill never forget it even though the honor comes a year later than it should, its a real indie GOTY contender.Sorry Were Closed is one of the most unique titles of the last five years, and another example of British studio success one that follows in the footsteps of the oppositely named Thank Goodness Youre Here! with another eccentric and idiosyncratic (and sometimes very funny) experience. Its also among the best modern send-ups of survival horrors from the fifth and sixth console generations, without ever being anything but itself.Its surprising but understandable that something so brilliant yet quirky is a debut game for its studio, la mode games: indie duo Tom and C.B. Bennett, who met through Phantasy Star Online in 2006 before finally experimenting with game development during the pandemic, leading to this mindboggling escapade.From dream to nightmareSorry Were Closed begins as a story within a story a TV show called Dying Petals plays out high drama between lovers Epiphany Oxblood and Canary Rouge. You break away from the action to reveal that you, Michelle, are an unlucky-in-love convenience store worker. Whats more, one of the actors in Dying Petals is your ex-girlfriend. Womp womp.Dying Petals sets itself up as a sub-story to the broader tale, like Watchmens Tales of the Black Freighter, and thats just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Sorry Were Closeds bafflingly compelling narrative, which only gets weirder and more complex with every turn. Even your grimy London suburb feels unsettling, but then again, its plagued by spooky goings-on: disappearances, violence, and wayward theories (specifically from your friend Marty) that theres a demonic element to it all.Of course, this proves to be absolutely the case when, in your sleep, youre visited by a weird, gangly, sexualized, and horrific-looking neon creature. Shes an obsessive stalker and wants unending love. From you.NOPEa la mode gamesLuckily, your friend Robyn, who you never knew until now was a demon, has committed to saving you from her inevitable grasp and near-certain death. What first seems like a fever dream suddenly turns into a very real nightmare thats a cross between Killer7, Silent Hill, and Eternal Darkness, if it was produced by David Lynch.So begins your three-night tale in which you have to escape from her clutches, but also explore relationships with other key players: angels, demons, and regular folk, navigating themes of love, greed, fixation, heartbreak, and self-loathing. Each character has their own goal, shaping the story to one of four distinct endings, and its up to you to make what you believe to be the right decisions not an easy task, considering the rapid normalization of horror fantasy taking place around you.Using your minds eyeThere are two levels you deal through: normal reality, and the strange one granted by your third eye, which is given to you by The Duchess. This is the common addition your doting demon gives to all of her potential love interests, and by clicking your fingers, you can see another world in a small radius around you.Using your Third Eye is a blast from the past.a la mode gamesIt works in a lot of weird and wonderful ways. For exploration, it shows you a glimpse of the past, when things were nicer a reverse take on Silent Hills Otherworld but also allows you to navigate past blockages or access interactive elements from the other side, like a simpler version of Effect and Cause from Titanfall 2.Then theres the social element, in which using it reveals hidden demons, or shows you the real personas of apparent humans around you. A particularly wonderful use of this is with Cerberus, a trio of heavies, who act like regular tough guys in their usual form but are revealed to be humanoid dogs in your demon vision, with different (canine-centric) dialog to boot.Still, the Third Eye is central to the games incredibly inventive combat system, which subverts the limitations of old-school survival horror with a modern twist.Third-person adventure, first-person shooterFor the most part, exploration takes place through classic fixed cameras or the occasional hovering view, which tracks you down, say, a long corridor. However, your Third Eye view allows you to look at absolutely anything from first-person perspective the only caveat being that you cant move as you do so.Sorry Were Closed combines this with aplomb with its combat system. You start with an ax, before later getting a pistol and shotgun. As enemies slowly advance, you can switch to first-person mode.The heart-shooting combat mechanic is tricky at first, but a really unique idea.a la mode gamesYou can just shoot them until they die wasteful and less harming, but sometimes necessary in a pinch or use your Third Eye to temporarily stun your foe and unveil glowing hearts inside them. Shooting these does maximum damage, like the Infrared Scope used to kill Regenerators in Resi 4. The tougher the enemy, the more you need to shoot, and in succession.Often, its about reading the room before planning your line of attack. You even get a superpower relatively early on which can be a real boon in a pinch. The whole combat element takes some getting used to, but once it clicks, it feels incredibly satisfying.The gift of sound and visionSorry Were Closed is a beautiful game that manages to squeeze everything out of its low-poly aesthetic, simultaneously making enemy designs, Otherworld landscapes, and focal cutscenes both unsettling and mesmerizing. The art direction evolves at a rapid pace, meaning each new day brings a whole different experience.I'd be lying if I said this meat grinder/lift combo is as weird as it gets.a la mode gamesThis is coupled with a superb array of sound effects. The characters are non-verbal, but their dialog is accompanied with just the right amount of emotion from gasps, grumbles, and giggles to set the mood. Demons have extra depth from noises that range between tortured and mournful. The developers even sourced the perfect atmospheric noises, including the likes of London Underground trains, which add way more atmosphere than youd expect. Then there are the goofier SFX you dont expect but love to hear my personal fave being the pistols reload noise, which combines a cash register bell and a growling dog.Finally, the soundtrack is perfectly balanced a mixture of tried-and-tested lo-fi mood music, choral, dramatic classical tunes, carefully executed pockets of silence, and boss battles underpinned by Okumura, a stupidly talented game-loving hip-hop band with a love of gaming (who also performed on the equally barmy No More Heroes 3).Thankfully, were openThere are a couple of things that Sorry Were Closed fumbles. Many people wont like the combat, and a couple of the boss fights are a little clunky. These gameplay issues feel planned by the developer as a feature rather than a bug as a send-up to the past but some sections can rely on lightning-quick reflexes, or a bit of luck.Sorry Were Closed also has a narrative pacing problem that affects certain sections and characters, meaning you struggle to make connections with people or feel the need to help them, simply because you dont know why you should (or, occasionally, who they are). Chamuel, Clarissa, and Lucy, in particular, are remarkably difficult to read.Maybe I... will?a la mode gamesStill, thats where a la mode games plays a blinder. Once everythings said and done my first playthrough came in at just over six hours youre offered a New Game + mode, carrying over your purchases, discoveries, and upgrades. By this point, youve already totaled up the number of missed opportunities and forgotten corners to explore, as well as collectibles, bugs to squish, and a good handful of the 60+ achievements still left on offer. Having digested the madness that came before, youll be raring to go for another playthrough and explore these routes, knowing what you know.That said, theres a good chance you still wont know what the hell happened. Sorry Were Closed will be interpreted by fans for weeks and months after they finish it, however many times they complete it. At least theres one constant: the world has a new icon of thirst with The Duchess, a femme fatale even more alluringly deadly than Resident Evil Villages Lady Alcina Dimitrescu.