By Debamalya Mukherjee
Metroidvania games have become pretty popular in gaming, well, since the first Metroid game came out on the NES. The Metroid series of games have been so revolutionary that it spawned a genre of its own – Metroidvania.
Alongside this, with the release of Demon Souls and Dark Souls for the PS3, these titles invented the Souls-like genre. This genre is only meant for hardcore gamers and masochists who love dying every five minutes. Souls games are so challenging that many players do not even attempt to play these games.
However, Dead Cells came out when both genres were at their peak popularity in the gaming community. Fusing the exploration-based progression of Metroid with the severe difficulty of Souls games, the developers created a love child. However, this child also ventured into roguelike dungeon randomization territory, creating an exemplary work of art called Dead Cells.
However, upon playing this game for the first time, many players found it too difficult, with many newbies getting confused about what to do. Many also have difficulty understanding the mechanics of the game.
So how do you git gud at this game? Keep on reading to start correctly playing Dead Cells.
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What Is Dead Cells?
Dead Cells is an action-packed “roguevania” platforming game released in 2017. It was released on Playstation and Xbox consoles, with the PC games, Nintendo, and Dead Cells Switch release following suit soon enough.
This game is a love letter from developers Motion Twin to their main inspirations – Metroidvania, Souls-like, and roguelike games. This game masterfully combined all the significant elements of each of the three genres. As a result, this created a critically and commercially triumphant masterpiece that every gamer needs to try out.
This game follows the adventure of a dead prisoner that gets possessed by a host of dead skin cells, reanimating the corpse. This game aims to explore constantly changing dungeons, which change their layout and enemies every time you die.
How To Play Dead Cells?
Now that you have a bit of background information on the game itself, it is time to start exploring the sewers of the undead prison. Even though you are going to die countless times, you have to treat each death as a stepping stone, learning from each mistake you make.
To start the game, we have the following tips for you to git-gud in this game, They are.
1. Combat
Combat in Dead Cells is highly reminiscent of the Souls-like games. This is because it’s challenging and demands careful planning and skills from the player. Combat is fast and vert fluid, requiring super-precise timing from the player to dodge enemy attacks and deadly traps that can kill you in seconds.
We recommend mastering the art of dodge rolling so that you know how to get out of harm’s way when an enemy is attacking you. Though you can deflect and evade enemy attacks, rolling is the safest option of defending yourself. Also, stay on the offensive because attacking your enemy constantly and dodging their attacks will let you regain some health that you have lost in the fight (influenced by Bloodborne).
The more you explore the various randomized levels of the Dead Cells map, you will be able to unlock multiple power-ups that boost your damage and movement speed. You will also be able to upgrade your current weapons and abilities and even unlock new ones. However, his will make you deadlier in combat.
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2. Exploration
Exploration is crucial in this game. Dead Cells is played in a 2D side-scrolling camera angle, which is pretty popular to be implemented by most Metroidvania games. New areas of the map must be uncovered by careful exploration, which requires players to revisit previously cleared parts of the map after unlocking Dead Cells runes.
It is interesting to note that every time you die, the level that you are playing at this moment gets reset. If you fail to a specific enemy in a particular section of the level, you can come back later to find that the map layout has been completely changed and a new enemy awaits your return.
However, the location of certain fixed items on certain levels remains the same because not all aspects of the layout change. For example, certain rooms stay the same since they house certain NPCs or items, including boss fights.
3. Gear
As you vehemently slaughter hordes of enemies in Dead Cells, you will be able to collect their souls and upgrade your weapon and abilities. This is done by visiting The Collector, who appears at every level. You can trade the dead cells of enemies you have killed so far and use them to upgrade your equipment and even buy new ones.
You can also sell your older and less powerful equipment to The Collector and get more cells in return which you can use to upgrade your other weapons and abilities.
However, not that when you die, you will lose all the cells that you have collected so far. This concept of facing punishment for dying is taken straight from the Souls series. Therefore, always keep your weapons and abilities upgraded to ensure that you can survive the epic boss battles and save your cells for later upgrades.
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4. Mutations
Mutations refer to the various passive and active abilities you can use in Dead Cells. There are safe zones between each area, where you will find a goblin named Guillan. From this little green friend of yours, you can spend your collected cells and access many mutations – passive abilities that grant you various bonuses.
You can equip three of these mutations at a time and be able to swap and upgrade them every time you visit Guillan. Also, it is worth noting that taking the Ygdar Orus Li Ox mutation gives you one extra life, resurrecting you when you die with a small percentage of your total HP (once death, similar to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice). This has become a Dead Cells YOLO joke at this point of time amongst fans of this game.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Q1. Will There Be A Dead Cells 2?
Yes, Dead Cells 2 is confirmed to be released in 2022.
Q2. Does Dead Cells Have An Ending?
Yes, Dead Cells has a proper ending. However, to get that ending, you need to play all of its DLCs.
Q3. What Is The Bad Seed DLC?
The Bad Seed DLC is the first DLC for Dead Cells, released in 2020. It provides an alternate route for you to explore at the start of the game.
Q4. Are Dead Cells DLC Free?
No, Dead Cells is not a free game.
Conclusion
Dead Cells is a must-play game for you if you love playing games where you can explore procedurally generated levels and enemies and challenging but fair combat. If you play this game, prepare yourself to die hundreds of times till you can finally master the combat mechanics of this game and learn how to dodge roll out of danger to save your skin.
This game focuses on you exploring every corner of the map and defeating ten keepers or bosses of this game to free yourself from this undead prison finally. No matter how many times you die, you will always come back more powerful than before, ready to take on any challenge.
If you liked reading about this Dead Cells beginners guide, read our other guides on games like Monster Hunter World and Divinity: Original Sins 2!
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