It’s tough to review games like Dead Cells. It requires a lot of time, plus getting good weapon and equipment drops on your winning run. I didn’t feel like I could post a full review yet since I haven’t seen everything, but I wanted to get some thoughts on the website after playing Dead Cells for over 15 hours.
Dead Cells is a 2D platformer with roguelite and metroidvania elements. Similar to other roguelites, the goal is to see how far you can make it on each run. By defeating enemies, you’ll collect cells that you can deposit after each level you complete. These cells can be spent on permanent upgrades, on weapons and equipment you find during the run, and abilities. The idea is that each time you progress and unlock an ability or item, it makes subsequent runs longer. But, like other roguelites, your success is pretty much determined by the equipment that’s available during each run. This means that success is relied upon by your skill and ability to adapt with the equipment you pick up.
I’m still trying to figure out the lore in this game. All I really know is that a plague of some sort has taken over a prison that is on an island, and you play as a regenerating blob of some sort that inhabits dead bodies. The goal is to get off of the island that this prison and castle is on, and to do so, you have to get past the three keepers of the prison. There are 14 different levels in the game, and after a few levels, you’ll go up against one of the keepers. At first they are really tough, but after you start to upgrade your character, getting past the first keeper is usually an attainable goal each run. As of this writing, getting past the second boss is becoming more common now as well. There are a few things that keep me coming back to Dead Cells, and the feeling of actual progression is one.
Another thing that keeps me coming back to Dead Cells is how quickly you can get into a new run. It’s the equivalent of “one more day” in the Civilization series. The first day I loaded up Dead Cells, I played for six hours straight. I haven’t had a gaming session like that in a long time. Each run takes anywhere from 10 minutes to 30+ minutes, and I’ve only made it to the level past the second boss. I’m guessing a full run would be closer to an hour. String a few successful runs together, and next thing you know, two hours have past. But then you respawn at the beginning of the run, and you think “eh, I’ve got time for one more.”
It helps that the pace of the game is incredibly fast. That’s why you always feel like you can squeeze in one more run. It doesn’t feel like it is going to take 30 minutes. The ultimate thing that keeps bringing me back to this game is the gameplay. It is incredible. The movement is fast; the combat is challenging and rewarding; and the game is so beautiful. It is some of the best pixel art I’ve seen in an indie game. It is a game that feels like a lot of love has gone into developing it.
It’s the little details in the game that stand out. The soundtrack in Dead Cells is phenomenal, but then you realize that it has to be phenomenal, because you listen to the same songs over and over. The developers knew the music had to be incredible or else the player would get annoyed. There are little quality-of-life touches all around that game that stand out, and it’s something that makes this game stand above all the other roguelites I’ve played.
Dead Cells also describes itself as a metroidvania, and it plays like a metroidvania. In addition to the three main bosses (the keepers), some levels have mini-bosses that grant permanent upgrades to the player upon victory. These upgrades open up new areas in the levels, and paths to alternate levels.
Since Dead Cells is a roguelite, the level design is procedural, but there are some aspects of levels that carry over between runs. You start to memorize the levels, even though they are randomly generated for each run. But they all contain similar aspects. For example, each level has a time door. The HUD has a timer running during each run, and if you make it to a level in a certain amount of time, you can open the time door for a decent amount of cells, gold, and character upgrades. It’s a beautiful mechanic that encourages players to play the game at a quicker pace, leading to more runs. This is one of my favorite mechanics of the game, and keeps me playing quick.
Those time doors show up in similar spots throughout all the levels. So when you get to a new level, you know how to quickly navigate to the time door, even though the level is random. It’s amazing how you get a familiar sense with each level.
So far I’m really enjoying Dead Cells. I’ve never really been motivated to finish a roguelite, but Dead Cells I feel like Dead Cells is going to change that, and it is going to be very exciting to finally finish a roguelite.
Expect a full review in the coming weeks, but I wanted to pass along my initial impressions of the game before I forget anything.
