Stupid Never Dies caught my eye from the very first reveal at The Game Awards 2025. From the bright, colorful pop of the visuals to a soundtrack inspired by the pop-punk genre (my personal favorite) and striking character designs that I immediately came to appreciate, it struck me as the kind of game I’d fall in love with.
After spending time with it, I can confidently say that the presentation is every bit as incredible as I’d hoped. Unfortunately, while the visual style and music are extraordinary, the gameplay loop struggles a bit in comparison.
Graphics & Visual Presentation – Aesthetic Overload!
If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this review, it’s that Stupid Never Dies is STYLISH. AS. HELL. Think zombie apocalypse set in the 2000s era of MySpace culture, meets classic pop-punk music, colorful characters, and a sense of personality that is quirky and memorable.
The game makes an impact from the very beginning, using multimedia-style storytelling in its introduction. Davy’s narration in the intro is accompanied by childlike crayon scribbles, enemy introductions come with a snapshot-and-graffiti sequence, and comic- and magazine-like cutouts are used as overlays during animated cutscenes for an almost cut-and-paste photomanipulation look.
Altogether, this creates a strong visual identity that feels distinctly its own. It reminds me almost of how Arcane, the Spider-Verse films, and The Mitchells vs. the Machines combines 3d animations with 3d overlays and hand-drawn effects to create something truly striking.
This is brought to life further by the soundtrack, which is absolutely brilliant. Classic pop-punk-style music steals the spotlight for most tracks, with riffs that make each punch and kick thrown in combat even more satisfying. I must admit, I never expected this genre to be the soundtrack of a zombie apocalypse, but here we are, and I’m loving it. Even the boss themes and mall tracks are super groovy.
The music has so much personality that it pretty much elevates everything it accompanies. When paired with one of those cutscenes brimming with artistic flair? That’s when Stupid Never Dies shines.
The character designs are equally brilliant and are bursting full of color and personality. From zombie boy Davy, who looks like he stepped right out of 2008, to the wacky professor, Gargoyle entity, “chihuahua” inventor, and more, there’s so much flair packed into the world.
The presentation alone makes Stupid Never Dies a game I’ll remember for a long time. Sadly, I can’t say it’s the same case for the combat, progression, and gameplay loop.
Gameplay Loop & Combat – Die, Die, Die!
Underneath all the style, Stupid Never Dies offers dungeon-diving combat with roguelite elements. Players expecting a traditional RPG may find the roguelite structure frustrating, so it’s important to understand what you’re getting into before flushing yourself down the shitter and taking that dive into the dungeon. (Yes, that’s literally how it happens)
You explore dungeons with randomly selected enemies, collect random loot drops, and attempt to make it to the maximum dungeon layer before your time runs out. If the timer expires during a run, Davy will fall. And this game is slow to begin with. When you’re starting out, be prepared to die. A lot.
Thankfully, death doesn’t mean failure, and nothing is a waste. Each run contributes to making Davy stronger, even if you fail, which gives you a reason to keep pushing forward. Combat can be genuinely satisfying when you have the right styles and abilities, but if you rush in recklessly or miss your parries, then be prepared to be punished for it.
There’s also plenty of customization to experiment with. Davy can unlock limb modifications that introduce new passive effects and abilities to his kit, with spinning dashes, charged strikes, and AOE damage being just a few of the many options. The Devour mechanic is also another interesting addition, allowing Davy to take the form of monsters he’s defeated (Styles) and use their abilities to further his run.
The different combat styles are all fun to experiment with, and some offer additional traversal abilities such as flight and wall jumping, which can help you reach otherwise inaccessible areas and discover more loot.
However, not every encounter feels equally enjoyable. Flying enemies (ahem…Harpies) in the early game can be extremely tedious when you don’t yet have access to aerial attacks – especially if you do not have the Werewolf form for that run. Eventually, I unlocked an arm mod that summons blades sweeping around Davy, meaning I could jump into the air in zombie form and use that to deal AOE chip damage to the Harpies. It worked, but the fact that these encounters felt like such a drag beforehand highlights how much of a sluggish start it has – in other words, until you have yourself set up with the right unlocks, endless dungeon diving can be a bit of a chore.
There’s also a bit of a pacing issue. While the individual mechanics are interesting, the repetition of the dungeon diving loop began to feel monotonous over time. Personally, I found the most enjoyment when playing for a few runs at a time, but my focus fell off big time during extended sessions.
To be fair, there is essentially an ‘easy mode’ setting you can toggle that makes Davy much more powerful. You can use this to blitz your way through the initial slog, but it does feel like a bit of a cop out if you’re seeking properly balanced fights.
Story & Characters – Love at First (Frost)bite
The story is so cringe (and honestly a little creepy), but in a very specific “God, that’s so 2000s MySpace/pop-punk/emo era” kinda way.
Zombie boy Davy discovers the remains of a frozen human girl while limping around the freezer room in a mall and falls in love at first sight. Now he’s embarking on a grand mission to defeat a powerful foe, not only to prevent her from thawing out and decaying, but also to try and bring her back to life. It’s a ridiculous premise, but that suits the game’s over-the-top aesthetic perfectly. The story doesn’t exactly have a lot of depth to it, but it’s the melodramatic way it is presented that makes it stand out.
If one thing is for sure, it’s that this isn’t your subtle, grounded love story, nor does it seem particularly interested in being one. The relationship between Davy and Julia makes me cringe, and it would certainly have me waving red flags around if this were anything other than a fictional situation.
Seriously, our boy Davy here has an instant infatuation with Julia, and it is a little unsettling when you think about it. I mean – technically speaking, she isn’t even really Julia anymore. He’s just fallen in love with Julia’s frozen remains and taken on a heroic quest in her name without ever actually meeting her. He has taken to scrapbooking and sticking cutouts of their faces over photos, often falls into cinematic daydream adventures and dates literally featuring her frozen corpse, and the professor even goes to the effort of restoring data from Julia’s phone for Davy to go through.
Yet, this over-the-top obsession reminds me of that era with all of the little emo characters and memes about hopeless angst and dramatic love…so it also kind of has this odd charm to it? I mean, I can recall literally thinking, “this whole thing feels like it was ripped right from a MySpace profile”.
Whether their romance (or Davy’s obsession, if you’d rather label it so) actually wins you over will depend on how much patience you have for that brand of melodrama, but it’s certainly every bit as eccentric, quirky, and bold as the visual side of Stupid Never Dies.
Stupid Never Dies – Final Thoughts
Stupid Never Dies is a game of interesting contrast. The strong visual identity is phenomenal, the soundtrack is an absolute banger, and the quirky characters and ridiculous premise make it incredibly memorable.
The combat offers enough customization to experiment with different approaches. Yet, the gameplay loop doesn’t quite match the quality of its presentation. Repeated dungeon runs, while encouraged, can become tedious. While I enjoyed playing for shorter stretches, I struggled to stay involved with longer play sessions.
That’s not to say gameplay is fundamentally flawed, though. I can absolutely see how some players could get hooked on the progression cycle and find enjoyment in gradually building Davy into a strong fighter, enduring longer dives. For me, though, the music, aesthetics, and overall wacky personality consistently outshine the actual moment-to-moment gameplay.
Even so, I don’t regret my time with Stupid Never Dies at all. It’s a wonderfully weird, visually striking experience that knows exactly what it wants to have. I only wish the gameplay had kept me as captivated as the presentation did.
If you love punk-pop, eccentric characters, and games that aren’t afraid to lean into the cringe a little, then Stupid Never Dies is worth checking out. Just be prepared to die a lot, embrace the grind, and maybe even feel the need to take a few breaks between dungeon runs.
CHOMPIN’ REVIEW
Our Final VerdictA beautifully weird zombie adventure bursting with 2000s vibes, a phenomenal pop-punk soundtrack, and some of the most distinctive visual design I've seen in recent years. While Stupid Never Dies offers unforgettable artistic presentation and creative brilliance, the rest of the experience doesn't quite measure up. Ability customization and roguelite progression offer moments of satisfaction, but repetitive dungeon runs, sometimes tedious encounters, and a slow, sluggish start somewhat dampen the experience.
A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review.
Reviewed on: PC
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