Dead Cells

 Switch
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 439 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 358 out of 439
  2. Mixed: 48 out of 439
  3. Negative: 33 out of 439
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  1. dawnwanderer
    Apr 23, 2020
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Hi, I want to say only good things about this game but a glitch prevents me from removing the characters head at the fountain at the end of the game. the r button seems stuck making this option available for the whole game as a prompt without actually working at all. Hard to enjoy a game that wants you to playthrough repeatedly when you can't trigger the endgame. Seen it online and also beat it once before the glitch showed up, so I know how it's suppose to work. Tried to contact the developers, no response.… Expand
  2. capedavenger
    Oct 7, 2018
    4
    I don't know. It's not for me for sure. I totally fell for the hype, realising too late that it's one of those self generating map games - yuk. The graphics are well made, but somehow I even get bored by those...I have the same problem with Steamworld dig (which I also couldn't get into). It's well made, but I have zero desire to advance in this or let alone beat this game. Not for me
  3. Sunshadow87
    May 8, 2020
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Es uno de los pocos juegos que me arrepiento de comprar en switch. No soy fan del genero roguelike, pero he disfrutado de juegos como "Enter the dungeon", "Crypt of the necrodancer", "Slay the spire", o "Binding of Isaac". Si que amo los metroidvania y esperaba más de este juego y más con toda la fanbase que tiene detrás.
    El juego me gusto bastante al principio, mi desencanto absoluto con él que destroza toda mi experiencia es cuando llegue a entender las mecánicas ocultas del juego. Generalmente, en este tipo de juegos intentas ir consiguiendo power ups para ir mejorando a tu personaje, y conseguir una combinación de items que te permita realizar un buen combo para hacer frente de cara a los niveles más dificiles. El problema esta, que este juego en realidad lo que debes hacer para ser más poderoso es apenas coger power ups... lo cual rompe con esa sensación de mejora que si tienen otros juegos.
    Explico: tus power ups van decreciendo los aumentos de poder que te dan de manera logaritmica, pero sin embargo los enemigos mejoran cada vez que tu adquieres un power up, y lo hacen de forma lineal... de manera que hacer más fuerte a tu personaje se convierte en un suicidio muy muy pronto. Optimizar el tiempo de partida para llegar a puertas abiertas de tiempo, lootear para power ups, etc... se convierte pues en una trampa mortal.
    Para mi gran parte de la gracia de estos juegos se pierde en este titulo. El juego es excelente en el resto de apartados, pero si me paga con frustación (especialmente porque estas mecanicas ocultas no son explicadas en el juego) y no con diversión ni sensación de mejora... pues eso es la nota que considero se merece.

    Esta review esta realizada sobre el lanzamiento original, no sé si cambiaron las dinámicas del juego en posteriores actualizaciones.    … Expand
  4. guatoman
    Nov 18, 2018
    4
    don't make my mistake: read reviews carefully. I thought it was a good metroidvania game, instead it's one of those games where you keep on dying and the map changes so you don't learn from your mistakes to go on. I don't see what's so funny in keep playing. I hate that there's no refund for purchase in eshop. can't even throw it from the window cause it's a digital game.
  5. MrTusks
    Sep 3, 2020
    2
    I am sick of procedural generation. Procedurally-generated worlds feel so dead and pointless. Why do I want to explore a world with no soul, no intent behind its making? An endless widget search? Watching numbers go up? These might satisfy my gamer lizard brain, but they quickly get boring. In a game like Dead Cells, it is nominally to keep the challenge fresh, but each generation of theI am sick of procedural generation. Procedurally-generated worlds feel so dead and pointless. Why do I want to explore a world with no soul, no intent behind its making? An endless widget search? Watching numbers go up? These might satisfy my gamer lizard brain, but they quickly get boring. In a game like Dead Cells, it is nominally to keep the challenge fresh, but each generation of the world is so bland that it fails to make an impression. If I can't even remember the last nonsensical string of gates and platforms, what's the point of giving me a new one?

    The point, of course, is to inflate playtime. It's the perfect way to stretch a 10 hour game across 100 hours, making for a more "epic" experience. Oh yes, you'll do the first two or three maps many, many times, because the randomness of the enemies and powerups means you'll just have to hope that this run deigns to give you a somewhat balanced experience. It may trick you into thinking you're doing well in the first two or three maps, but it will obliterate you in the next one, telling you that you need to grind out more of the few permanent powerups until you stand a chance at progressing. You will do this over and over. Oh, and there is a Dark Souls progression loss mechanic, because of course there is.

    Don't let the masochistic sycophants fool you, this is not fun. Combat is twitchy and trial-and-error. Putting a cooldown on your dodge in a game like this should be a crime.

    The beauty of a Metroidvania is in the layout. If the layout is the last priority, the game will suffer. This game suffers hard.    … Expand
  6. ElleryHQ
    Nov 28, 2020
    4
    Игра однообразная и быстро утомляет. Не понимаю таких высоких рейтингов.
  7. b00lpr0p
    May 7, 2019
    3
    Too bad I spent my money on this overrated hyped game. The fact of dying and totally losing your progress and power ups is just stupid, it makes you feel that all effort you did exploring and collecting items was for nothing. Doesn't worth the price, which is expensive.
  8. samside
    Jul 19, 2020
    0
    Awful game and community. Do not recommend to anyone. There are many better rouge lite games out there. This is just poor man's dark souls
  9. AndyInfin
    Oct 3, 2020
    2
    I can take 2 points to this game for really good art-direction and smooth controls. And that's all the pros that game have.
    On the other side this contras:
    - endless grind, that quickly became boring - "procedural generation" of game levels that really is a fake. On 3rd game levels and next you can easily see that they don't differs so much from time to time. - lot of items, that you    I can take 2 points to this game for really good art-direction and smooth controls. And that's all the pros that game have.
    On the other side this contras:
    - endless grind, that quickly became boring
    - "procedural generation" of game levels that really is a fake. On 3rd game levels and next you can easily see that they don't differs so much from time to time.
    - lot of items, that you can unlock, but... Much of them you will not using any time
    - you have a real chance to be killed by one enemy's punch, no matter how much stats you have. The game generate situations, that you really can't beat sometimes. And of course you should play again from the start after this. Why? Because devs think this is "hardcore". But they wrong, this is not any kind of hardcore. I call this "we want to make you think our game is hardcore, but we don't want to work on game balance".
    In result, we have visually beautiful game, that looks and controls really cool, but with broken gameplay mechanics, that kills all the fun of this game.    … Expand
  10. Natedog1985
    Jul 15, 2021
    0
    Remove the glitches from the switch version. You never know when it's going to crash. I have never played a game that crashed so much.
  11. Nintendist
    Jun 30, 2022
    0
    this game is so empty with no good options. the lack of content is HUGE here
  12. lucinhagamer
    Aug 26, 2022
    0
    this game is so annoying. the game is very empty with a big lack of content
  13. Mogmog000
    Aug 21, 2023
    0
    No exhilarating action, the map is difficult to understand and monotonous.
    Terrible system that returns you to the beginning when you die.
  14. OberiousLocke
    Dec 1, 2020
    3
    I've been playing this game on and off, for some time, and despite many gripes like many weapons such as the Spartans Sandals being entirely unreasonable to use, I've generally enjoyed it.

    At least until I got to the Slumbering Sanctuary and had any love for the game violently sucked out of it by the Caster and Golem enemies. Both of which can knock off upwards of 75-80% of your HP in a    I've been playing this game on and off, for some time, and despite many gripes like many weapons such as the Spartans Sandals being entirely unreasonable to use, I've generally enjoyed it.

    At least until I got to the Slumbering Sanctuary and had any love for the game violently sucked out of it by the Caster and Golem enemies. Both of which can knock off upwards of 75-80% of your HP in a single hit.

    The Caster can teleport across entire sizable rooms if you try to get within melee range, while throwing fireballs that can be painful to dodge between frequently having several things to deal with at once.

    The Golem, on the other hand, if you get within in a mile of it, *will forcibly teleport you to it* endlessly, while obliterating your health with it's near-zero windup attacks, making it incredibly hard to deal with, considering you get maybe two seconds after a teleport to hit the deck before getting punished for existing.

    It's a special moment when I get the urge to uninstall the game on tilt, and fairly unprecedented that I actually follow through with it. Considering you are required to go there at least once to get the a rune, such poorly designed and generally inexcusable enemies are not something I can tolerate. If you can look past these issues, along with the aforementioned issue where some weapons exist only to be unlocked, disabled and forgotten in custom mode, I could recommend this. However my time with the game is done for the foreseeable future.    … Expand
  15. GRAFAIAI
    Sep 1, 2022
    0
    this game is so bad. the gameplay looks very cheap and lazy. you can have fun with this one

Awards & Rankings

10
#10 Best Switch Game of 2018
13
#13 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
89

Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 36
  3. Negative: 0 out of 36
  1. Nintendojo
    Jan 7, 2019
    83
    Dead Cells likely won’t convert any roguelike detractors, but it’s a wildly creative and fun title nonetheless. Its game world, characters, and enemies all drip personality. The combat is fluid and gritty, there’s a ton to upgrade and unlock, and it’s easy to get lost for hours within Dead Cells‘ world. While a more prominent storyline and some memorable set pieces would go a long way towards elevating this to being one of the premier platformers of this console generation, Dead Cells remains a must-have. I can’t wait to see what Motion Twin does next.
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  2. CD-Action
    Dec 4, 2018
    90
    If you want to see what an exemplary roguelike looks like, look at Dead Cells. It does everything right – the controls, the level design, the combat, the character progression system, the pace – and collecting cells remains a joy even after dozens of hours. [10/2018, p.58]
  3. games(TM)
    Sep 6, 2018
    80
    Incredibly punishing, impossible to put down. [Issue#204, p.80]
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