Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC review: gothic roguelike nostalgia

Dead Cells’ development studio, Motion Twin, has never been bashful about leaning into the roguelite’s Castlevania-inspired roots. From the 2D side-scrolling medieval levels to the Metroidvania-esque exploration systems that hinge on finding new exploration abilities, it’s obvious that Dead CellsGames like these are a big part of our lives. Castlevania Symphony of the Night. It is therefore not surprising that Konami was convinced to give the Castlevania licence to the team to fully integrate into the world of Dead Cells.

It’s a big step for Motion Twin, which, thus far, has only teamed up with other indies for costume collaborations. The integration of Castlevania, a well-known franchise is a whole new level. The studio manages to pull it off flawlessly.

The Return of Castlevania: Dead Cells is the fourth paid DLC for the game, and, at $10, it’s also the most expensive of the bunch. But for lovers of Castlevania, there’s a cornucopia of glorious fan service hiding within.

Like with Dead Cells’ past DLC packs, Castlevania: Return adds a new path through the game, bringing you to the outskirts of Dracula’s castle, over its well-worn drawbridge, and into the depths of despair that lie within. In practical terms, it consists of basically two new “biomes” inspired by the outer walls and the inner sanctum of the castle made famous by dozens of Castlevania releases. Similar to the biomes found in Dead Cells, there’s some random level generation at play with these new areas, so it’ll be somewhat different each time you make your way through. Within these zones, you’ll spot plenty of familiar sights, like skeletons throwing bones, haunted sets of armor hurling axes, and various other nods to the franchise.

This video recreates the Castlevania atmosphere with its new visuals Dead Cellsaesthetic uses a pixel style that is more precise than the original material. Yet, it retains the same landmarks like Symphony of the Night’s bizarre floating geometry to indicate a save point, are instantly recognizable. A new soundtrack is used to help sell the illusion. Dead CellsIt is made of the classics of Castlevania’s history, and you can enjoy them wherever you may be. You can play the game,Not just for the new biomes.

Image: Motion Twin, Evil Empire

These areas are kept lively and tension-filled by Dracula’s boss fights. In the lead-up to Dracula’s fight, for example, he might randomly appear and flip the entire castle upside down (in another hilarious nod to Symphony of the Night). Such touches fit perfectly withDead Cells’ tone, which, for a game where you play as a beheaded character, has always been surprisingly silly, and has never taken itself too seriously.

Image: Motion Twin, Evil Empire via Polygon

I’ve been enjoying Dead Cells since it first launched, and thus far I’ve been thrilled about Castlevania: Return. It’s one of the most polished and well executed of the game’s post-launch content. Castlevania lovers also have plenty of things to love, including numerous references to the series and a large number of unlockable costumes that you can discover. Dead CellsAlucard and Richter are the mainstays. We can only hope that Motion Twin will be able to partner up with long-defunct franchises in order to create similar passion projects. This is the The Bubble Bobblex Dead CellsA mashup just begs to be created.

The Return of Castlevania: Dead Cells The game was launched on March 6, on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (Windows PC), Xbox One (Xbox One) and Xbox Series X. Motion Twin provided a prerelease code for PC review. Vox Media is an affiliate partner. Although these partnerships do not impact editorial content, Vox Media could earn commissions from products sold via affiliate links. Here are some links to help you find. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.