Dead Cells: Return To Castlevania Impressions – A Reinvigorating Crossover

Dead Cells is one the greatest roguelites that I have ever seen and it was one the top-rated games during the extremely competitive 2018. However, its success is only possible through standing on the shoulders of the giants that trailblazed the genre. Of all the franchises Dead Cells drew inspiration from, perhaps no series was as influential as Castlevania. Because of this, the crossover between the two, which comes in the form of premium DLC for Dead Cells called Return to Castlevania, is a natural fit that not only resurrects Konami’s dormant franchise but gives a nostalgic shot in the arm to one of the best roguelites available today.

Diving back into Dead Cells for the first time in years, I couldn’t help but effortlessly fall back into the hooks of the stellar gameplay loop. Discovering secret biomes and gaining more power and equipment is what I enjoy most. Paramount to that, though, are the permanent upgrades you receive for completing tasks within the world, like helping NPCs, defeating Elite enemies, and discovering new areas. Although you begin each run with very little power, you feel a sense of progress and want to complete “just one more.”

This idea is carried into the Return to Castlevania content. It appears in your regular Dead Cells runs. After you locate Richter Belmont inside the prison, it’s possible to travel to the Castle Outskirts rather than your usual second biome. The music explodes as you reach this level and performs the “Vampire Killer” song. Your Dead Cells run will be a love letter to Castlevania from that point on.

Castlevania characters such as Richter and Alucard were always a delight to me. But they’re only a part of the puzzle. Two new levels make up the largest part of this DLC. Everything about Dead Cells is seen through Castlevania’s lens. The music, enemies and weapons all change to give you the Castlevania experience. To discover new blueprints and secrets, it’s amazing to look at the floorplans of Dracula’s Castle.

My biggest complaint on this front is how quickly you can work through the content if you get a good roll on your gear; even exploring every nook and cranny of the castle, I didn’t spend a ton of time in these new levels each run. While this is the norm for Dead Cells, there was one moment that surprised me to find myself on the other side.

Another run came to an abrupt halt after the ladder I was using to get to the boss battle ended up being too high. I couldn’t continue. It was very frustrating, especially since this happened late in my run, which seemed destined for Dracula’s death. Instead, I had to restart with nothing to spare my gold or cells. That may showcase the woes with the base game’s procedural generation mechanics more than this expansion specifically, though my colleague Kyle Hilliard ran into something similar on his run through the Castlevania content as well.

Being immersed in the content, taking down merman, werewolves, and skeletons with my newly acquired throwing axe is a blast, but my favorite weapon has to be the transforming whip sword. This allows you to have a Dracula-focused experience within Dead Cells. My favorite part, though, was bringing the new Castlevania weapons out of the expansion and wreaking havoc on the base game’s enemies.

There would be no Dead Cells game without the challenging boss fights. These white-knuckled encounters grant you the unbridled exhilaration of victory if you’re able to take down Dracula’s top-ranked creatures and progress. But as Dead Cells veterans know, the agony of a promising run coming to a screeching halt is often the result, making the stakes feel as high as ever. These encounters show a clear understanding of and respect for the Castlevania franchise. That statement can be applied to all DLC packages. Everything feels authentically Castlevania, except that the castle candles cannot be destroyed. This package delivers one of best Castlevania experiences for decades.

Return to Castlevania adds a great and natural element to any run, while keeping the fundamental formula of Dead Cells intact. The moment Dead Cells’ “Vampire Killer”, a Dead Cells remix, blared over my speakers, I couldn’t count how many times I laughed. Konami may have forgotten Castlevania, but Dead Cells DLC shows that there are many developers and gamers who still enjoy it.