Dead Cells
Year: 2017
Rating: T
Time Played: 10+ hours
For years, I saw many people praise Dead Cells for its flashy, fast-paced gameplay. I stayed away from it for a long time because I wasn’t used to playing roguelike games and didn’t like the idea of losing all my progress when I died. Eventually, Dead Cells went on sale on the Nintendo eShop, and I picked it up. Then I didn’t put it down again for days. It turns out the right roguelike structure is an addicting combination of steady progress and mastery of the gameplay.
The fact that you “lose progress” in Dead Cells is a bit of a misnomer. I appreciated the upgrade system that allowed me to eventually win enough times to get all the way to the end boss and defeat him, thus unlocking even more of the game. Of course, I had to grind for a while to “get gud” before I could even finish the first level (at which point I could spend my cells on upgrades). From that point onward, I began to remember the enemy patterns in later levels, which led to my one, ultimately fulfilling run to the end.
Of course, as is the case with roguelikes, RNG can make or break a run. If I find one of my favorite (or overpowered) weapons or assist items early on, it can carry me quite far through the dungeon. I appreciate the rewards for killing a ton of enemies or progressing quickly through the dungeon, as they were the main reason I could collect enough cells to upgrade my equipment. Fortunately, the slightly retro-styled visuals are fantastic, and the gameplay is fun enough that I kept coming back for more—one more run to see if I could progress further out of the dungeon.
An addicting and visually flashy roguelike, I give Dead Cells 4.5 stars out of 5.
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