Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania Review: Plenty to Sink Your Teeth Into

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania is the latest sensational expansion to hit the nearly five-year-old roguelite. With improvements in every facet of gameplay, music, and visuals over the original game, Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania will capture your attention immediately and have plenty for you to sink your teeth into.

Before The Fangs Come Out

Before jumping into the details of Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania, it seems important to reference my experience with both franchises for context. I reviewed the original Dead Cells in August 2018, where I gave it one of my highest-scored reviews in my near ten-year history of writing in the games industry. As part of my tagline I mentioned that “Dead Cells is an edgy, enticing, and exciting game that I simply can’t stop playing. The incredible roguelite loop of survive, fight, die, repeat is nothing new, but is exponentially enhanced by Motion Twins.” I’ve dabbled in the game since, but have not invested a substantial amount of time since the weeks following its release.

In terms of Castlevania, I’ve always been aware of the franchise but never played more than a few minutes of any particular game. However, instead of playing the games, I more recently fell in love with the Netflix animated series. The storytelling, art style, and score encapsulated my attention and all I wanted to do was experience more of the lore. I’ll play those games eventually, but first, let’s jump into Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania.

What We Do In the Shadows

Like the original Dead Cells, this latest addition to the game is an incredible mix of class Metroidvania and modern roguelite elements. With this quest, you discover that Dracula has returned with his castle and it’s up to you to defeat him before he destroys everything. Along the way you’ll encounter familiar characters like Alucard and Richter Belmont (as well as several others hidden throughout). In order to access this portion of the game, you must attempt three runs before a doorway opens at the beginning hub of the game. For new players of Dead Cells, this seems like a perfect opportunity to gain a fundamental understanding of movement, timing, and gameplay within the classic Dead Cells levels before venturing into the DLC. Once that requirement is satisfied, you’ll see Richter Belmont near the main hub where he will explain the dangers that lie ahead of you. Once I entered the first location, Castle’s Outskirts, I heard the swell of the classic Castlevania theme and progressed towards the moat leading towards the castle. This moment felt familiar and new at the same time - reminiscent of the build up within the animated series of Castlevania and also perfectly paralleled to the pixelated visual fidelity of the levels within Dead Cells. 

Bring Your Blades and Whips

Throughout the Castlevania levels, most of the gameplay is identical to the standard levels already in Dead Cells; progress through the level, defeat enemies to earn currency for weapons and upgradable abilities, and exit the biome in hopes of reaching the next one. Luckily, there are enough tweaks and adjustments to keep things interesting for all players. With adjustments in the platforms and several new enemies to encounter, I felt a gust of fresh air with the variety as well as the challenge of unexpected outcomes and projectiles from these new creatures. I noticed that the enemies seem to pack a bigger punch than the standard Dead Cell enemies, but this only encouraged me to focus on upgrading permanent buffs and abilities for future runs in order to maximize my success (the big roguelite element of the game). Within a few runs I was able to maneuver the levels with ease and feel completely in sync with these levels in a fun and captivating way.

In addition to the new levels, storyline, and music, Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania boasts more than a dozen weapons and abilities inspired from the Castlevania franchise. As I progressed through my runs I kept finding the blueprints for unlockable items and was pleasantly surprised by the vast variety. Compared to the more classic Dead Cells items, these DLC items were much more unique and distinct from each other. Sure, some are obviously similar projectiles or melee weapons, but there may be others that can provide powers or abilities that mirror characters from the franchise and really change the gameplay for the run.

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania even goes one step further, allowing you to play as Richter Belmont, the main character from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Though I wish you could play as him earlier in the game, his play style is quite different compared to your typical Dead Cells character. But, by allowing players to change their protagonist to a Belmont, they’re able to live the dream of playing a modern Castlevania in its truest form.

From Dusk Til Dawn

With all this, Dead Cells has also added numerous customization features at some point after its original launch in 2018. With sliding scales for enemy damage, protagonist damage output, and infinite lives, players can tweak the experience to exactly what they want to get out of it. There’s also numerous accessibility options for mappable buttons, bolding enemy characters, and adjusting dialogue sizes. There’s even a vegetarian option for certain food items in the game. The team at Motion Twins has done an excellent job with these options and allowing all players to enjoy the game in whatever fashion they’d like.

Breakdown

Game: Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania

Developer: Motion Twins

Availability: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Reviewed on PC

Pros:

+ Incredible visuals with artstyle and cinematic views

+ Satisfying blend of Dead Cells gameplay and Castelevania lore

+ Engaging gameplay to keep each run entertaining and varied

Cons:

- DLC sections are a bit hidden until you find them the first time

Final Thoughts

Dead Cells is already a masterful game with precision gameplay, visuals, and music, but Return to Castlevania not only highlights these fantastic features but elevates everything with the addition of the Castlevania franchise. The 6-8 hour quest is an absolute delight from start to finish, and just like the original Dead Cells, the loop is drawing me back in for one more vampiric-infested run…

Reviewed by Harry Loizides