Stupid Never Dies Review: The Wildest Roguelike of the Year

Every now and then, a game drops that takes a completely absurd premise and injects so much frantic energy into its loops that you can’t help but get hooked. Developed by GPTRACK50, the studio founded by former Capcom producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi and co-published by Sega, Stupid Never Dies is precisely that kind of chaotic, high-speed trip.

Blending stylish, cel-shaded cell aesthetics reminiscent of Borderlands with a frenetic, over-the-top design philosophy this 3D action-RPG roguelike is bizarre, hyperactive, and genuinely difficult to put down.

The Setup: A Frozen Romance and a World Gone Wrong

You play as Davy, a remarkably cowardly and weak zombie living in a post-collapse world where humanity has been practically wiped out (hovering at a meager 1% to 2% remaining) and monsters run the show led by the villainous KOM. Davy wants nothing to do with the war between species, having run away from the conflict entirely.

That all changes when he stumbles into a shopping mall and discovers Julia, a human college student preserved inside a freezer and falls head over heels in love at first sight. Think the creep factor of the movie Passengers, but with a deadpan zombie falling for a cryogenically frozen college student.

Things get delightfully weird immediately after Davy finds and eats a “Phoenix Egg,” (we discover later it is not an egg, something far worse). Consuming it grants Davy an immortal status: he cannot truly die, as the Phoenix resurrection loop ensures he always returns. But all he wants is to be with Julia.

Soon, an eccentric crew of allies, including the arrogant “supreme intellect” Dr. Frank, a badass biker zombie named Bessie, an immobile clairvoyant gargoyle named Goyle, and a slick Chihuahua-man body hacker named Acelino are encountered. They task Davy with a monumental mission: take down the evil monster lord KOM, absorb his core, and use that intelligence to thaw out Julia.

Davy jumps at this option to save Julia but this one sided Romeo-and-Juliet dynamic carries a heavy dose of creepy stalker energy, complete with unlocking text messages, photos, and social media logs from Julia’s smartphone as you progress. This was the part of the game I struggled with and leans into a bizarre, voyeuristic vibe that might make some players squirm.

The Gameplay Loop: Fast, Frantic, and Exponential Growth

Story aside at its gameplay core, Stupid Never Dies operates on a snappy, high-octane 10-to-15-minute dungeon run structure. You dive into shifting dungeon floors with a strict ticking clock meaning speed and aggression are everything.

Initially, Davy moves and speaks at an agonizingly slow, painful crawl, a form of a joke on the players that makes those first few minutes feel like a chore. But once you hit the dungeon proper, the game transforms entirely making Davy capable and fast moving.

The progression system in Stupid Never Dies forms an addictive loop between the surface hub and high-speed dungeon dives. Back at the base, players utilize features like Bessie Burger for skill unlocks, Frank’s Database for rewards and stats, and Ink on the Brain to secure overtech gear.

From there, you drop into 10+ minute dungeon runs defined by frantic combat loops where you rip, bite, and absorb enemy cores. Every kill fuels an experience multiplier that compounds upon your return, allowing you to jump levels in seconds and unlock elite monster styles through the Phoenix resurrection mechanic.

The game’s standout mechanic is its Bite and Absorption system. When you defeat named monsters, like werewolves, harpies, ogres, skeletons, knights, and the undead, you can devour their cores to temporarily take on their specific combat styles for a limited number of floors. The standouts for me were:

• Werewolves: Blazing fast movement and ferocious claw strikes.
• Harpies: Aerial mobility and sweeping dive attacks.
• Ogres: Hulking brute strength and massive sweeping ground pounds.
• Will-o’-Wisps: Lethal ranged projectile attacks.

Even better, your customized Davy aesthetic stays intact: whether he’s a giant ogre or a flying harpy, he’s still wearing his signature baseball cap and open jacket. Playing as these creatures is terrifically fun and adds an addicting hook to each run allowing different playstyles each time.

Presentation, Sound, and Rough Edges

Aesthetically, Stupid Never Dies is gorgeous. Built in Unreal Engine 5, its cell-shaded, hyper-vibrant pop-punk visual identity pops off the screen, evoking memories of classic Suda51 titles. The audio design matches this frantic energy with an eclectic, frenetic soundtrack composed by Varon Chase Bantug, Rei Kondoh, Haruno Ito, and Yuta Yamaguchi, alongside a functional DJ booth hub that lets you spin unlocked battle tracks.

However, just like the wild swings taken by other similar games like Let It Die and Romeo is a Dead Man, the game isn’t without it’s headaches:

• Camera Issues: During chaotic, high-speed encounters, the camera can occasionally lose tracking, forcing you to blindly mash attack buttons to clear space.
• Enemy Balancing: Certain enemy types, particularly Vampires and Murfolk, feel noticeably more frustrating and sluggish to fight, and fight as, compared to the fluid pacing of the werewolf or harpy styles.
• Narrative Whiplash: The stalker-esque undertones of thawing out an unwitting frozen college student are intentionally bizarre and unsettling, which may alienate players looking for a more traditional hero’s journey.

Final Verdict

Stupid Never Dies is an explosive, wildly creative swing from GPTRACK50. While its narrative themes are undeniably cringy and its combat can occasionally descend into frantic button-mashing, the sheer satisfaction of its exponential leveling loops and monster-transformation mechanics make it an absolute blast. If you love fast-paced action RPGs with bags of style and zero regard for convention, this is well worth your time.

We received a code for PS5 for review purposes and Stupid Never Dies is available right now on PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam.