[3] Play consists of crossing lava pits by jumping across platforms, circumnavigating other hazards, fending off enemies such as spiders and bats, and defeating bosses.

[5] Don't Look Back is a combination of two separate ideas, one of which was what Cavanagh termed as "a silly shooter or something like that",[5] which would be "redeem(ed)" by a twist which would show the player's actions in a different light.

[9] Madeline Blondeau of Paste magazine complimented the game's minimalist aesthetic, stating that it allowed for open interpretation that invoked personal feeling in players.

She also pointed to the fact that the difficulty of the game elevated it in a way that was impossible for traditional accounts of the Orpheus myth (opera, sculpture, painting, and literature).

[11] Blondeau offered a similar viewpoint about the difficulty adding to the game's experience, claiming that the mechanic of traversing through the underworld backwards represented a diegesis in its gameplay.