Dead or School

Dead or School (Japanese: デッド・オア・スクール) is a 2018 hack-and-slash video game made by indie developer Studio Nanafushi for Windows and published by Marvelous Entertainment for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.

Dead or School
Developer	Studio Nanafushi
Publishers	Studio Nanafushi Marvelous Entertainment (console)
Producer	Yujiro Usada
Platforms	Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows
Release	Windows WW: July 13, 2018 Switch, PS4 JP: August 29, 2019[1] EU: March 13, 2020
Genre	Hack-and-slash
Modes	Single-player, multiplayer

Synopsis

Gameplay screenshot depicting blood

Set in post-apocalyptic Tokyo, the game follows Hisako, a girl who lives underground and wishes to see the surface after a war forced her grandmother underground 70 years prior whose only memory of the real world were schools.

Along with hack-and-slash, Dead or School also has action RPG and platformer elements. The goal is for the player, as Hisako, to defeat monster enemies throughout Tokyo (Shinjuku, Asakusa, Akihabara, Roppongi).^[2]

Reception

Dead or School received a mixed critical reception with an aggregate score of 65/100 on Metacritic.^[3] In a positive review, Pete Davison of Nintendo Life praised the stages, style and narrative, but noted a number of "technical jank".^[4] Digitally Downloaded wrote that "Being a budget game it struggles to maintain a consistency in tone and experience, but a solid loot and upgrade system, some great boss fights, and a good sense of humour, all help to see it through."^[5] MANiAC scored it 68%.^[6]

Both the PS4 and Switch versions received 31 out of 40 on Famitsu.^[7]