Stupid Never Dies Review A Wild PS5 Roguelite

Stupid Never Dies is a run-based action roguelite from Japanese developer GPTRACK50, reviewed by Push Square editor Sammy Barker on a European PS5 Pro build. You play Davy, a pop-punk teen turned shuffling corpse at the end of the world, who flushes himself down a toilet to confront an evil deity named KOM in a bid to resurrect a frozen woman named Julia. The game layers monster absorption, perk shopping and body-part loadouts over a layer-by-layer descent through the earth's demonic core.

For Malaysian and Southeast Asian players, the practical takeaway is narrower than the premise suggests: the source review confirms a PS5 release only, with no Malaysian SRP, no physical edition confirmation, and no language-support breakdown disclosed. The review positions the title against a crowded roguelite market, citing Hades and Saros as structural peers, and flags No More Heroes as the closest tonal reference point.

Key Facts

The following table consolidates every verifiable specification from the supplied review text; fields the source does not address are marked as unconfirmed rather than estimated.

Every specification in this dispatch is drawn from a single PS5 Pro review build; no Malaysian pricing, localisation or physical distribution detail has been confirmed by the studio or publisher.

What Is Stupid Never Dies and How Does Its Roguelite Loop Work?

Stupid Never Dies is a layer-based action roguelite in which each run sends Davy deeper into the earth's demonic core, pummelling enemies drawn from disparate fantasy realms. Defeated monsters can be eaten so Davy absorbs their powers, and repeated clears accelerate levelling, producing the genre-standard "one more go" retention loop.

The structure is deliberately dense. Barker notes the opening hours are "overstuffed with exposition," and that boss clears repeatedly yank the player back to the hub for fresh narrative and system tutorials — a pacing decision he describes as restrictive early on. Progress is persistent in the ways that matter: perks purchased from a burger vendor named Bessie expand build options across runs, while body parts found in certain layers carry statistical attributes and active modifiers. One discovered head part, per the review, surrounded Davy with landmines whenever he was knocked to the floor.

Stupid Never Dies gates run variety behind a burger-vendor perk system and collectible body-part modifiers, with boss clears forcibly returning players to the hub for exposition.

How Does Combat and Monster Absorption Work?

Combat is loose in Davy's default form but tightens considerably once he masquerades as absorbed monsters such as werewolves, cyclops and harpies. The review describes the base-form feel as negative on first impression, improving with transformation, though still short of a dedicated character action game's impact.

Enemy design creates friction points. Barker singles out flying harpies as "a little irritating to deal with," and argues Davy's movement "could have been tightened up a touch." The counterweight is a steady power curve: the more enemies pummelled, the faster the level-ups, and the more mechanics stack into subsequent runs. The review credits the game with "a good power curve and enough mechanics to keep you coming back," while warning that systems and narrative sometimes obstruct the act of playing.

“With a scribblecore aesthetic and a story so unhinged it'd make even Suda51 smile, Stupid Never Dies is not your average roguelite.”

— Sammy Barker, Editor, Push Square, reviewing Stupid Never Dies on PS5 Pro

Davy's default-form combat is described as loose, with transformation into absorbed monsters such as werewolves and cyclops delivering the stronger feel.

How Does the Game Perform on PS5 Pro?

The review was conducted on a European PS5 Pro build, but the supplied text contains no resolution, frame rate, load-time or file-size data. Any performance claim beyond "it runs on PS5 Pro" would be unsupported by the source, and Malaysian buyers should treat technical targets as unconfirmed pending a publisher spec sheet.

What the review does document is presentation behaviour rather than rendering metrics. The hub area is staged as a mall packed with pop culture references, including shop signage bearing the names of the families from Romeo & Juliet. Sticker-bombing overlays scatter across the screen, and unlocked perks visibly layer up around the top-right user interface — a UI accumulation effect the reviewer highlights as a deliberate design flourish rather than clutter. A Roomba unlock lets Davy zip around the hub, cutting the frustration of his default zombie shuffle.

Push Square's PS5 Pro review discloses no resolution, frame rate or file size figures, leaving all technical performance targets officially unconfirmed.

Will the Scribblecore Art Style and Humour Land with Southeast Asian Players?

The aesthetic is explicitly polarising. Barker describes the presentation as chaotic and "bordering on ugly in places," and states plainly that if doodle art and homemade punkzine styling do not appeal, the game will not land. Humour swings between juvenile and surreal, including characters breaking into musical numbers.

Regional taste mapping matters here. The review's own comparison set — No More Heroes, Suda51, PS2-era oddities — describes a cult audience that exists in Malaysia and Singapore but is not the mass-market roguelite demographic served by Hades. Barker's verdict is that the kitchen-sink approach helps the title stand out in a market where "many games can start to look and feel a bit samey." He also concedes the loop becomes repetitive once players reach the core content, and that the vibe is an acquired taste with genuinely variable mileage.

Push Square explicitly frames Stupid Never Dies as an acquired taste whose doodle-art presentation and juvenile-surreal humour will divide players rather than universally appeal.

Southeast Asia & Malaysian Collector Verdict

Malaysian buyers currently have no confirmed landed-cost basis. The source review discloses no SRP in RM, USD or JPY, no physical SKU, and no localisation matrix, so the honest position is that digital PS Store purchase is the only verified route and even that pricing is unannounced. Import planning via Play-Asia or Japanese retailers should be treated as speculative until a disc SKU and an English-language confirmation appear.

Three practical checks should precede any pre-order. First, confirm whether an Asian or Japanese physical release exists at all — the review references only a European PS5 build. Second, confirm English subtitle and voice inclusion on any import disc, since PS5 discs are region-free but localisation is not guaranteed across SKUs. Third, compare the Malaysian PS Store digital price against an import landed cost including shipping and customs, because a physical disc at import rates typically carries a 15 to 30 percent premium over regional digital pricing on comparable PS5 titles.

Hardware context: PS5 Pro enhancements are unverified in the source, so base PS5 owners should not assume a degraded experience, and handheld players on Steam Deck or ROG Ally have no confirmed path to this title — no PC version is referenced anywhere in the review text.

No Malaysian SRP, physical edition or localisation detail for Stupid Never Dies has been confirmed, making digital PS Store purchase the only verified acquisition route.

Common Questions

Is Stupid Never Dies coming to PS5 in Malaysia?

The review confirms a PS5 release reviewed on a European PS5 Pro build, but discloses no Malaysian release date, publisher or SRP. Malaysian players should verify the PS Store listing directly rather than assume a simultaneous regional launch.

Does Stupid Never Dies have a physical disc edition?

Unconfirmed. The supplied review references a European PS5 review build provided by GPTRACK50 and mentions no retail disc SKU. Until a publisher announces physical distribution, treat import cartridge or disc listings as unverified.

Is Stupid Never Dies suitable for players new to roguelites?

Partly. The review praises a steady sense of progress and strong "one more go" pull, but criticises overstuffed opening exposition and boss-triggered interruptions. Players tolerant of repetition and surreal humour will adapt faster than genre newcomers.

Push Square's review confirms a PS5 release but discloses no Malaysian launch window, retail SKU or localisation data of any kind.

Sources and Methodology

This dispatch is derived exclusively from the supplied Push Square review of Stupid Never Dies, written by Editor Sammy Barker, conducted on a European PS5 Pro build with a review copy provided by GPTRACK50. No developer interview, press release or storefront listing accompanied the source text, so publisher identity, release date, pricing and language support remain unverified.

No currency conversion has been applied because no base price appears in the source. Malaysian Ringgit figures, import landed costs and Play-Asia availability are therefore absent by design rather than omitted in error. Where the review offers qualitative judgements — combat feel, pacing, aesthetic — those are attributed to the reviewer and presented as critical opinion, not studio specification.

Verification was limited to the supplied Push Square review text; no independent storefront, publisher or regional pricing check was possible from the source material.