DEAD CELLS review - Ex-CELL-ent

 (Reviewed by Melody Werner)

Dead Cells is a 2017/2018 Roguevania action/platformer developed by France's Motion Twin, and currently maintained by Motion Twin's offshoot, Evil Empire. After launching into Steam Early Access in 2017, it was met with tremendous commercial and critical success; heralded as a triumph among the unfortunately abandoned passion projects and Unity asset flips which populate the graveyard that is Early Access. Unlike the many poor, half-baked, and "we ran out of budget, would you please buy this so we can continue development" sort of projects, Dead Cells was widely perceived as easy to recommend during its initial release, and it has only improved beyond its official launch in 2018. Not to mention the continued developments in the form of added mod support, plus substantial paid DLC and free updates--currently under the watch of Evil Empire, a studio created by former Motion Twin devs to continue building upon the exquisite corpse that Dead Cells has now become. Back in September of last year (in the days where I still had a foolish modicum of hope for the future), I posted a short +/- style review based on my experiences with it on Xbox One, but Dead Cells is a game that I feel deserves much more room for more nuanced opinions. Not to mention, but I've since picked it and its paid DLC (The Bad Seed) up on Steam, the game's arrived on the Epic Games Store, and I just wanna talk about Dead Cells again in the middle of this vortex of shit we're all party to for the time being. You can think of this as my bizarre idea of momentary catharsis.

An analysis of Dead Cells would not be complete without talking about the luxurious pixel art and animations. While plenty of people I respect would characterize visuals as one of the less important elements of a video game, I can't say that I agree. I think they're just as important as gameplay or story for setting a scene, making memorable moments, and encouraging improvement in how you play a game. Though I naturally can't speak for everyone, I find myself trying harder at games where I want to see more of the pretty environments--ScourgeBringer, Owlboy, RITE, and yeah, certainly Dead Cells too. This is one of those games with such astounding art direction and pixel artistry that you could grab a screenshot at just about any moment and frame it. Yet Dead Cells is a game that cannot be reduced into moments, frames. Just as high fidelity as the pixel art itself are the animations which breathe life into the cursed world our intrepid Beheaded hesitantly calls home ("The Beheaded" is one of the several enigmatic names for the main character, and how I will be referring to them from here on out). Even just running around in Dead Cells is a blast, as I ogle over The Beheaded's incomparable walk animations. Warping from portal to portal--the game's fast travel system--is an especially iconic scene, owing in no small part to the mesmerizing wave of effects.

Despite a common talking point among Dead Cells fans being "great game, shame about the music...", I must dissent. While Yoann Laulan's grand score is, yes, occasionally whispering on in the background, it is so immense and memorable. Coupled with the game's impactful sound effects, what we have is an outstanding audiovisual masterpiece. Navigating Dead Cells's lands, which vary from pestilent mires to gilded architecture scraping at the heavens, is its own joy. All of that is, I know, I know, a hallmark of Metroidvania titles--but not roguelites. In most roguelites, I scarf down my deaths without an inkling of hesitation; in Dead Cells, I sometimes like to slow down, admire the sprawling, detailed levels, taking screenshots I don't need just cuz.

 

None of this is to say that Dead Cells does not reward the speedy or methodical among us. Rooms between levels where powerful items, blueprints, and cells (the in-game currency which is used to unlock permanent upgrades) may be acquired lurk behind locked doors if you spend too long on a level or take damage before destroying a certain number of enemies. So, the question is, do you take your time farming cells, finding scrolls to boost your stats, and uncovering secrets--or do you run through like a fool, unlocking the speedrun doors? It's all your choice how you pace things.

 

Here's my problem, though: I have gone on these lengthy tirades about pacing and animation quality in a Dead Cells review, before I even get started on the motherfucking combat. If you're big into fast-paced ballets of frost blasts and hammers messing bastards up, you're in for copious amounts of precisely that in Dead Cells. At least, if you play how I generally like to. Synergy is not necessarily essential to a successful build, but you really can build your run around freezing your enemies in place before using the weapon which always crits on frozen foes. But good weapons can only carry you and your Beheaded so far in this. Getting a grip on dodging, parrying, timing your jumps properly to evade traps (none of which are impaired by the tight controls)--that will get you further than any XXXXXVVVVIIIII++ modified weapon ever will. Dead Cells is tough, but fair and accessible. Enemy attacks are clearly telegraphed, and many mutators or mods exist to alleviate issues for those who may hit snags when playing by the default rules. There's no harm in setting on a mod or two, the Dead Cells police won't batter your door down and brutalize you over it.

 

Death is right there in the name, so it's incredibly shocking how inevitable it often seems when playing Dead Cells. Thanks to the game's fairness and roguelite nature in which your power grows between runs, though, death is its own reward. A chance to start anew, try different things, find some rare item that helps you beat the second boss, give an alternate area a shot, etc.. While I'll sometimes be bummed out by a great run that goes awry when I mess things up, it's never something which I can rightly blame Dead Cells for.

 

If you're looking for some Hades or Children of Morta-esque story-driven roguelite, I'll have to stop you right there. While the lore of Dead Cells is interesting, its jokes are pretty amusing, and the prose is alluring, everything is told in piecemeal across many runs. Gameplay is king, queen, prince, princess, lord, vassal, and knight here. And considering how stellar its gameplay is... zero complaints with that from me, y'all.

Dead Cells boasts a wide range of enemies and areas for you to offer your life up to be plundered by, and this is only improved by picking up The Bad Seed--as well as the 2019 free DLC, Rise of the Giant. Neither is necessary for good enemy and area variety, though, so I'd only advise The Bad Seed if you've already figured that you dig the game and want s'more of it--or if you're picking it up in the bundle where it's only $2 USD more than getting the full game.

To say that I love Dead Cells is a bit of an understatement. I have no problems citing this as one of my favorite video games that I've ever played in my life so far--at least in the top ten. It's one of those games where I find myself always returning to it, for maybe half an hour. Or maybe a few hours, if I get lucky or particularly determined. I don't know if I'll ever beat Dead Cells, in the game completion sense. But I do know that I've had more fun with it than tons of games that I got to see the credits crawl by my wary eyes. And I think that's as much winning at a video game as when a game tells you that "you're winner." Dead Cells, predictably, gets a 10/10.

Masterpiece

Summary:

Whether we're talking its immaculate visuals or sublime gameplay, Dead Cells is one behemoth of a kickass time. Now let me go die again, if you don't mind.