These past few years there have been quite a few rogue-like games who saw the light of day on the Switch. But is Dead Cells part of the good ones? Let's find out.
Gameplay: "Death is only the beginning"
Just like I told you, Dead Cells is a rogue-like. Meaning it never really ends, only gets harder as you unlock upgrades, weapons and new modes. And let me tell you right away: there’s a TON of things to unlock and collect. You start off the game as a skeleton possessed by a strange entity, fighting your way through the different dungeons of the castle and trying to uncover the secrets behind this mysterious sickness called « Le Malaise ». Some dungeons won’t immediately be available as you’ll have to first find new powers to gain access to them. But whatever the road you choose they will all lead to the same place. I will let you discover this by yourself so as to not spoil too much.
What I can tell you though about something I really like is that there’s many different approaches possible in regards of your fighting style. You have three main options for weapons: the melee weapons (swords, shields,…), the ranged weapons (bows, grenades,…) and the traps (skewers, wolf claws,…). So you can be a daredevil, focus only on melee weapons and throw yourself into the fight. Or you can also make traps work for you while you observe from afar. And both feel great! But it doesn’t stop there. Each weapon will have a different color (or a mix of two). Red for Brutality, Purple for Tactics and Green for Survivability. And that’s where Mutations come into action. By choosing a Mutation (up to 3) you are able to modify the stats from the corresponding weapon. So if you decide to choose a Purple mutation, your weapons with a Purple color will have their stats enhanced. Fret not, you can always reset them if you’re not satisfied with them later on during your run. So as you can see it never feels the same since there’s plenty of combinations possible. You can even challenge yourself and focus on only one color!
Concerning the difficulty, I think the game is pretty well-balanced. Enemies don’t get strong too fast, that is as long as you take the time to look for upgrades (which you should). The boss fights are challenging enough, but will leave you frustrated if you didn’t choose the right weapons to face them. Just so you know, the game is absolutely beatable on the first run.
For those concerned about the length of the game, the replay value is bonkers. You’ll have the possibility to up the difficulty multiple times and let me warn you: it WILL be difficult. So you’ll have to farm for cells, which will then be used for upgrades. There’s also various challenges for each dungeon, like clearing the floor in less than 2 minutes or killing X number of enemies without getting hurt. This adds a lot to the game, especially for diehards like me. You’ll also find here and there secrets (I love secrets!) and plenty of jokes, so keep an eye out for possible interactions. Take your time and explore the surroundings.
Music: « Minstrel, do your thing! »
Composed by the very talented Yoann Laulan (Twitter: @ValmontDeRag), the soundtrack has more than 24 songs that will make you travel through time and space. You’ll feel transported back to the Medieval period with kings and knights, castle sieges and jousts while keeping a modern and adventurous vibe . The OST is by moment calm and gloomy, at other moments it will be frantic and will utterly make you lose yourself in the fights. Each dungeon has its own theme and mood. It honestly is a big part of why the game is so enjoyable since the quality is top-notch.
There’s no doubt that after playing Dead Cells for a few hours you’ll be scavenging through the internet to get your hands on that sweet Deluxe double vinyl, which by the way seems to be sold out in most part. So good luck with that! If you want to learn more about the composer and what inspired him, have a look at one of his interviews here:
Conclusion:
I am wholeheartedly recommending everyone to give Dead Cells a try. It is witty, challenging and even endearing. Having played a lot of rogue-like games I can tell when I am confronted with a masterpiece. There’s no steep learning curve as everything feels smooth the further you go on. It gets automatic by mid run and you start enjoying the game more and more. You actually do not get too disheartened when you die and I’ll go as far as to say that it feels exciting to start again. Since you can take different paths to get to the end your dungeon runs never feel boring. Add to that the dark humor that is everywhere (remember the talking masochist chest?) and you’re ready to go for hours. So do yourself a favor and buy this game, you will absolutely not regret this decision.
Motion Twin is an independent studio specializing in online video games. Founded in 2001, the company is a worker cooperative enterprise based in Bordeaux, France. Interact with them on Twitter here -> @motiontwin
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