By now you must have heard of Dead Cells. If you own a Switch, you will likely have heard murmurs of this Steam hit making its way to our beloved console. Well, surprise: it’s a perfect fit for the Switch and it’s damn good! There, I’ve spoiled this entire review. You can cut to the chase, scroll down to the bottom, and see that it got a 9.5/10, too, if you’d like. However, if you want to know why it’s so good I’d suggest you keep reading!

Developer: Motion Twin

Publisher: Motion Twin

10+ Hours Played // Review Copy Provided // $19.99 (early)/$24.99

Dead Cells is an action-packed, rogue-lite, side-scrolling game with procedurally generated levels. Progressively punishing, procedurally generated levels, I might add. Who really knows WHAT you actually are, but that doesn’t really matter. You play as a deadly assassin with flames for a face that for some reason, keeps reincarnating. You make your way through each level, acquiring cells from your enemies as you progress. You’ll use those to purchase permanent power-ups, such as weapons, skills like turrets and traps, and other types of powerups. There is a lot to unlock here, and it all helps you succeed in future runs.

As you progress through those levels, you’ll stumble upon scrolls along the way that give you the option of leveling up one of three different tiers of your combat prowess. Do you boost your brutality, likely increasing the DPS of your main sword, or do you increase your skill level with survivability and focus hard on setting those new traps you acquired? Every run is different and can lead to different build focuses.

Repeatedly Dead Cells

Speaking of runs, there will be plenty of them. You’ll die. Hell, you’ll die a lot. Dead Cells is a difficult game. However, the fluid combat will have you gladly coming back for more each time you perish. Eventually, you’ll start unlocking abilities, weapons, and items that will keep you in the fight long enough to beat Dead Cells’ difficult bosses and your hunger to see more of the game will never be satiated.

When you die, all of those cells, and your equipment, will vanish. However, with every section that you conquer, comes the opportunity to invest those cells into ever-important powerups. You’ll also be given the opportunity to use game-changing mutations (like an extra life, extra hitpoints, shorter skill cooldowns, etc) between levels, thus allowing a certain level of strategy you wouldn’t normally expect from a rogue-lite Metroidvania.

As the game randomly generates its levels, so too does it randomly allow weapons to drop. Sometimes, you’ll get lucky enough to acquire a pair of weapons that form some impressive synergies. This can allow you to deal massive amounts of damage or set you up to inflict incredibly destructive one-two punches. Because Dead Cells randomizes this aspect, it forces the player to come up with new and unique strategies with the cards you’re dealt with, which leads to some truly memorable gameplay moments. One of the first such moments for me was when I combined an auto-crossbow turret with a flame-disseminating semi-grenade to amazing effect, allowing me to finally beat that first boss. It felt great!

Pixel Van Gogh

Meanwhile, Dead Cells‘ slick and fantastic pixel graphics will suck you in and never let you down. Not only are they detailed and incredibly attuned to the mood of the game, but the character animations, including the combat moves, jumps, acrobatics – you name it! – are all of the highest quality. You simply don’t see pixel art this good very often and when it’s combined with great animation and moving textures, you can’t help but appreciate it. Half the fun of the combat is just how fluid and smooth it feels, a direct result of the animation sequences.

The superb presentation continues with a great soundtrack and hard-hitting sound effects which really match the atmosphere. The totality of it all is so visceral and, well, fun, that it is no wonder you’ll be willing to go back again and again, delving deeper and deeper into Dead Cells‘ secrets. Obtaining a few more cells to obtain that next powerup is just a blissful bonus as you continue your blade and bomb ballet across Dead Cells procedural levels.

Is it all great? Well, yes, it mostly is, actually. However, a few things keep it from reaching the very highest echelon of video gaming stardom. First, the game does take a little too long to hit its stride. It will easily take a few hours before you’re truly gaining enough power and weapons to make moderately significant progress. That will likely be a positive quality to a lot of people, but for me, with less time on my hands, it did feel a bit discouraging.

Perfection is Impossible

Otherwise, the only other real complaint that I have is that shields felt pretty worthless, especially considering how maneuverable and agile your character is. Not to mention that the RNG of the weapon and item placement could be a bit cruel sometimes, almost guaranteeing that I wouldn’t make it very far some runs. That’s just the luck of the draw, however, and foundation of the genre, I think.

But those complaints are nearly insignificant when weighed against the amazing action, fluid controls and animations. Let alone the fantastic progression system that Dead Cells employs. It’s not often that a game will shatter your already-high expectations, but Dead Cells has done just that for me. Anyone that enjoys beautiful pixel art, visceral and responsive combat, and the ability to selectively choose how your character improves and becomes more capable of progressing will enjoy Dead Cells a lot. It’s a game that deserves to be at the very top of your “to buy” list. It perfectly encapsulates exactly what the indie movement is capable of.

Now excuse me while I have another go at it. I just unlocked another potion slot and think I can finally tackle the next monstrosity in my way.

UPDATE: Here’s some video for you, if you’d like to see it in action:

It’s likely that if Dead Cells sounds up your alley, you’ve probably heard of Hollow Knight. If you haven’t tried it, Zeno wrote a few hundred words as to why it’s a game worth all of the hype. If you like something a bit more silly and, well, easy, then The Adventure Pals might be a better fit. Lastly, don’t forget to consider our Patreon or support us on Ko-Fi. We work hard here for free and could really use the support.