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Dead Cells trailer - Castlevania meets permadeath, a vibrant pixel art "roguevania"

M

Maddrical

Member
Permadeath seems to be misleading some people, I was confused until someone explained it works just like Rogue Legacy.

Anyway, picked it up tonight and played for an hour. Gorgeous game, smooth gameplay & controls. Love the animations. Really enjoying all the weapons & skills so far, but it's only early days. The freeze weapon seems super useful, I progressed up to the
Ramparts
on my second run before getting wrecked by a group of enemies using it. On my third without it I certainly struggled a bit more. I like the way you need to time your blocks with the shield though TBH I can't see myself using a shield much/at all, I'd rather stick with melee + ranged/specialty weapon.

The EA description says 11 levels, 2 bosses, ~50 weapons/skills & 2 character upgrades at launch which ain't too shabby. Looking forward to putting a bit of time into this over the weekend. The last 2 2D 'Metroidvania' games I've played recently (Hollow Knight & Salt & Sanctuary) I got burnt out on pretty quick, hopefully I can get through this. I actually somehow managed to finish Rogue Legacy on my Vita.
 
O

Omegasquash

Member
I have been waiting for this since PAX East, and picked it up yesterday very shortly after it became available.

To my knowledge I've never purchased an Early Access title before (though I have been given access to some via Kickstarters). I regret nothing. Game is good, I love it, I want it portable, want a physical release, a vinyl soundtrack, you name it.

Games like this, RG, Chasm...they really do it for me.
 
R

rybrad

Member
Omegasquash said:
I have been waiting for this since PAX East, and picked it up yesterday very shortly after it became available.

To my knowledge I've never purchased an Early Access title before (though I have been given access to some via Kickstarters). I regret nothing. Game is good, I love it, I want it portable, want a physical release, a vinyl soundtrack, you name it.

Games like this, RG, Chasm...they really do it for me.
Click to expand...
What is RG?
 
J

jet1911

Member
mebizzle said:
Maaaan this looks really cool, but permadeath is just not appealing to me anymore :(
Click to expand...

There is an element of progression though. At the end of each run you start "naked" but when you finish a level you can spend currency to upgrade permanent upgrades.
 
J

jrcbandit

Member
So is the game worth getting this early in EA? I usually hate to spoil myself before the final release, but same games take years to come out of EA lol.
 
M

mebizzle

Member
jet1911 said:
There is an element of progression though. At the end of each run you start "naked" but when you finish a level you can spend currency to upgrade permanent upgrades.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I get that it is like Rogue Legacy, that still turns me off. If it were like Souls, I'd be more keen on it.
 
D

Drain You

Member
jet1911 said:
There is an element of progression though. At the end of each run you start "naked" but when you finish a level you can spend currency to upgrade permanent upgrades.
Click to expand...

Ok, this is something I can get behind. Disappointed with the lack a graphical options though, even for a game like this. Played for a bit on a friends Surface Pro 3, which is pretty much the exact same as mine, and it ran like ass.
 
C

Colonel Mustard

Banned
petrvs said:
And why not?

Bring it on Switch devs!
Click to expand...

Port beg away. It's clearly something the devs are working toward.

C_enckAXkAA3IXE.jpg
Click to expand...
 
J

jb1234

Member
It's been proving to be a fun game to play in little segments. That's not usually how I game but it's working here.
 
drotahorror

drotahorror

Member
Strange that one of the best games in the rogue-lite genre is basically not talked about on gaf. A few days after it had released I noticed it had about 3-5k sells on steam.

As of today, it's the #2 seller on steam and has around 40-50k sells. Getting very good word of mouth.

The combat and animation is spectacular. I think the combat might be the best I've ever played in a 2D action/platformer like this.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
drotahorror said:
Strange that one of the best games in the rogue-lite genre is basically not talked about on gaf. A few days after it had released I noticed it had about 3-5k sells on steam.

As of today, it's the #2 seller on steam and has around 40-50k sells. Getting very good word of mouth.

The combat and animation is spectacular. I think the combat might be the best I've ever played in a 2D action/platformer like this.
Click to expand...
People got scared away by 1) "buzzwords" and 2) the notion of procedural levels in a metroidvania-esque areas. Maybe

And yeah the combat is fantastic. It's so satisfying getting a good loadout with good synergy. I particularly enjoy the twin daggers + throwing knife combo
 
drotahorror

drotahorror

Member
More_Badass said:
People got scared away by 1) "buzzwords" and 2) the notion of procedural levels in a metroidvania-esque areas. Maybe

And yeah the combat is fantastic. It's so satisfying getting a good loadout with good synergy. I particularly enjoy the twin daggers + throwing knife combo
Click to expand...

The low cooldowns on your spells and your ranged weapon really add a lot. Spamming a dagger, rolling and slashing someone feels great. Same as throwing 2 bombs at someone at the same time, or using a damage buffer to basically smash an elite in 2 seconds. Or using a knife storm with an 'enemies explode on death' affix and watching every enemy explode on screen (provided they're lesser enemies and not the harder ones).

The game just feels really good. They definitely should work on making a few of the weapons better/ more viable. One of my main gripes.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
drotahorror said:
The low cooldowns on your spells and your ranged weapon really add a lot. Spamming a dagger, rolling and slashing someone feels great. Same as throwing 2 bombs at someone at the same time, or using a damage buffer to basically smash an elite in 2 seconds. Or using a knife storm with an 'enemies explode on death' affix and watching every enemy explode on screen (provided they're lesser enemies and not the harder ones).

The game just feels really good. They definitely should work on making a few of the weapons better/ more viable. One of my main gripes.
Click to expand...
My main gripe is those starting minutes; I wish the weapons available at the start were randomized, instead of always being the bow and shield

Ice blast and turret is also a really effective combo
 
L

Lulubop

Member
drotahorror said:
Strange that one of the best games in the rogue-lite genre is basically not talked about on gaf. A few days after it had released I noticed it had about 3-5k sells on steam.

As of today, it's the #2 seller on steam and has around 40-50k sells. Getting very good word of mouth.

The combat and animation is spectacular. I think the combat might be the best I've ever played in a 2D action/platformer like this.
Click to expand...

Looks great, but early access
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Lulubop said:
Looks great, but early access
Click to expand...
It is a roguelike/lite though; that is basically the best genre to get into on Early Access

Mainly because it's a genre based on distinct runs rather than cumulative progress, so updates come across as expansions on an already solid foundation rather than constructing something from a skeleton
 
E

Easy_D

never left the stone age
I don't get what makes this Castlevania-like at all since progression is linear. The map is similar, I guess? Apart from that it looks super fun
 
L

Lulubop

Member
More_Badass said:
It is a roguelike/lite though; that is basically the best genre to get into on Early Access

Mainly because it's a genre based on distinct runs rather than cumulative progress, so updates come across as expansions on an already solid foundation rather than constructing something from a skeleton
Click to expand...

The fun with a roguelike for me is the variety of tools you can get, and it seems like they haven't implemented half of what they planned on yet.

I agree tho.
 
Diseased Yak

Diseased Yak

Gold Member
I'm absolutely loving it. Will buy again for both PS4 and Switch.

The sense of control is amazing, something that I didn't feel as comfortable with as in Salt & Sanctuary. I also love the progression. It feels perfect, and I can't wait until more is added to it.
 
A

Ashtar

Member
Saw some gameplay on ign looked fantastic, looking forward to it
Switch port would be clutch (not begging as devs posted pic)
 
C

CertifiedFP

Member
Ashtar said:
Saw some gameplay on ign looked fantastic, looking forward to it
Switch port would be clutch (not begging as devs posted pic)
Click to expand...

Y'know I find it interesting that these guys have a devkit but several legendary-tier indie developers with complete titles they'd like to put on Switch are struggling to negotiate for one.

Unless, of course, they were being asses and photoshopped a screenshot onto a Switch...
 
drotahorror

drotahorror

Member
More_Badass said:
My main gripe is those starting minutes; I wish the weapons available at the start were randomized, instead of always being the bow and shield

Ice blast and turret is also a really effective combo
Click to expand...

They are random if you buy the perk. Lightning whip is considered a bow so you can get that even. You can get ice blast too as a bow.
 
S

spineduke

Unconfirmed Member
Lanrutcon said:
Nah. The only persistent stuff is the upgrade level of weapons. So you don't have to grind stats...but you'll get 1 shotted often.
Click to expand...

I don't mind getting one shotted in that situation, it's not like the game expects you to grind up enough to avoid getting one shotted as a solution. I have never been turned off a game as fast as I was with Rogue Legacy.
 
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