Dead Cells

Released on August 7, 2018 for the Nintendo Switch by Motion Twin, Dead Cells is a Groundhog Day-like action platformer, featuring permanent death, though with an element of retaining certain progressions from the previous tries into the next.

"Roguelike" and then later,"roguelite." I've been avoiding these genres like the plague since I first played Star Wars: Yoda Stories for my PC in 1997.
"Wait," said my sweet sixteen year old self. "The levels are different every time? They're random? And made by the computer?" Why weren't the levels designed by humans? The cold logic of a computer couldn't possibly design a satisfying level like a human can!

See. "I don't know. I kind of like rats." A perfect, logical place to go from what I just said.

I held out for more than 20 years, until last month, when I saw Dead Cells on my local video game store's shelf. I don't know what happened. Sometimes when I go with my son to the video game store and buy him something, I feel impulsive, compelled to buy something for myself. I was actually going to get Sonic Mania, and then somehow I was walking out with the shelf copy of Dead Cells.
Thankfully, within minutes of playing, I felt a kinship with the game. The main character falls from the ceiling as a ball of slime, inhabits a corpse, and breaks from a jail cell he doesn't know why he's inhabiting. There are a couple weapons near the entrance, a sword, bow, and shield, and the player picks them up and starts fighting the monsters, which are blocking his exit from the underground prison. Then bam, not fully aware of what is happening, or what the player is supposed to be doing, he dies. I say "he" because Dead Cells' main character is male. The player can of course be any gender, not just "he"...perspective is difficult to define.

Uh, here's some kittens. Again...perfectly logical.

And then the player is immediately sent back to the jail cell. Exactly where they started. Ah, yes, "they." Let's use that pronoun from now on. The player picks up the weapons and start sagain, but everything is just a little different. The look and feel of the level is the same...but the layout is changed. That's how I feel every day when I wake up in the morning! And I feel like I just keep dying and getting put back in my cell. So frustrating!
Dead Cells features action combat from a 2D perspective. It is considered "roguelite" as a opposed to "roguelike" because you can actually carry over certain forms of progress from one one game to the next. When about every fourth enemy is killed, a blue cell will drop from its corpse. The player can accumulate these throughout the level and bring them to "The Collector," a backpacked figure who hangs out between stages.

 

Not this backpacked guy. Another backpacked guy! Dammit, I promise, humans are totally more proficient at a logical layout! I don't know why I can't find the right pics!

Dead Cells keeps a permanent record of how many cells have been handed to The Collector, and whatever they've been spent on. The Collector sells the player numerous permanent upgrades, like an extra dose from the health flask the player is also allowed to fill up between each level. Other permanent upgrades include the ability to hang onto certain amounts of money after death, which can be used to buy weapons from a salesman lurking in every level, or upgrades to already owned weapons from a blacksmith also hanging out in that between-stage zone.
There's also another cute little backpacked monster in that safe area, offering one mutation to the character per stage beaten, though only three can be activated at once. These mutations include the ability to come back once from death, or to increase attack power when certain conditions are met. If you don't like what you've picked, you can pay him to let you start picking again (enemies also drop gold, which are used to reset mutations, buy weapons, and more). While the weapons the player picks up and mutations they select don't carry over after death, the ability to acquire them does. Blueprints for new weapons and mutations are floating around each stage. Pick them up, and make it through the level without dying, and the player can hand these over to the collector, who will give themthe opportunity to purchase their existence in the game with cells.

 

I give up. Oh, well, here's a badass picture of me slashing up a zombie.

Yes, "existence in the game" is an accurate description, as weapon placement, and which weapons are placed where, is randomized. The player might go through a complete run of the game without picking up their favorite. That's why the name of the game is adaptation. Okay, the name of the game is Dead Cells, but to make it through, you've got to learn how to adapt. The game features numerous sorts of weapons, from giant powerful broadswords that are slow to swing, to weaker knives that swing quickly and make combos more likely, to bows that inflict damage from a distance. The player gets two weapons slots, and they can always drop and sell what they don't want when they find what they do.

Man, this picture of all these dead bodies would have fit perfectly when I was talking about dying.

There are also two spots for traps, like turret guns and clamp traps the player can lay for the enemy, while hiding around the corner. Each stage also contains several upgrade scrolls, with the option to increase the player's brutality, tactics, or survival stats, colored respectively red, purple, and green, with certain weapons corresponding to each color, as well. This way, the player has the choice to strengthen their character to match their style, though enemies also upgrade in the same way. Also, the player gets additional hit points added to their life-meter with each upgrade, but less and less for each time a certain color is chosen. So you might choose tactics over and over again, until your turret traps could shoot a hole through the sun, but you won't be adding any hit points anymore.

 

See! A picture of my turrets blasting bad guys! I told you humans make more logical things than computers!

If this sounds confusing, the fact is, the game implements everything so perfectly, words can't do it justice, especially in this seemingly randomly generated review.
The thrill of the combat in Dead Cells, which also involves a dodge roll, and the ability to stomp down once one has jumped, is enough to sell the game. The way that the game forces you to learn and improve at its mechanics is a masterstroke. Sure, the designers could have designed each level meticulously, a complaint I've often hurled at this type of game, but then each level could be memorized. As I've said, this game isn't about memorization, but adaptation. Learn how to fight, learn how to best play the hand you're dealt, as far as weapons available and enemy layout goes, and see what you can do. The game's story actually justifies its rogue-ness, as well, as the changing layout of the island seems to have a direct connection to the protagonists continued death and rebirth.

Added bonus: You get to stab this guy to death an infinite amount of times, no matter where he's spawned.

I just wish there was a little more payoff to that story--Dead Cells throws hints about genetic experiments, and fast-spreading disease throughout the game, back never directly explains what is going on. While I am fine with subtlety, the fact that the game's ending is simply circular, and explains nothing, robs it a bit of emotional heft. After all, I put in 35 hours of death and rebirth, failing and learning, before I finally toppled the final boss (the game's bosses are a treat). While I felt some sense of fulfillment in finally taking him down, I wish there was some type of narrative reward. Instead, there are simply increasing difficulties made available (with some off-setting rewards as they're unlocked), every time the game is completed. I don't think I ever said once during my first play-through, "Man, I really wish this was harder!" so this doesn't quite feel like a bonus.

Gonna need a bigger boat.

That's really my only complaint with Dead Cells. The narrative and ending are a bit bungled. Contrast this with last year's Breath of the Wild, which has a similarly minimalistic story, but still gives a significant and well earned sense of completion when the game is conquered.
Outside of the feeling of failed narrative execution--which again, as far as my life goes, I can identify with!--I really feel that Dead Cells is perfect.

Hopefully this map will lead me to the end of this review.

Complimenting the finely-honed gameplay is a colorful, highly detailed pixel-art style, and an immersive soundtrack. Despite the grim setting, the game's world is full of color, and high energy music that incorporates elements of eastern music, as well as western action films, and classic video game music scales, along with some delightfully chill pieces that increase the good vibes of Dead Cells' safe spaces.
Overall, I can't recommend Dead Cells enough--it's difficult, but its gameplay rewards persistence and attention to detail. It wonderfully embodies a never-give-up sentiment, as every death I experienced, no matter how deep I'd made it into the game, was followed by an even greater resolve on my part to finish it. The rogue-lite elements I feared actually enhance these qualities.
What a treat to hand out so many high scores this year. 2018 has been an insanely fruitful one for high quality Switch titles.  I wish there was time to play them all!

SCORE: 9.5/10