Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Offline)
Few games have enjoyed such strong, high-quality post-launch support as Dead Cells has received over the past six (!) years. Motion Twin churned out wave after wave of updates, some free and some paid, filling the already amazing base game with a dizzying amount of new biomes, weapons, cosmetics, and more. And it all seems to have led to the new Return to Castlevania DLC. Although this new update from partner developer Evil Empire, a studio made up of “former Motion Twin team members and new recruits”, technically only adds a few hours of additional content to the base experience of Dead Cells, every inch is clearly laid out. with love and care for Konami’s spooky vampire slayer franchise.
You can interact with the new content early on by simply talking to Richter Belmont in the prisoners’ quarters and following the stairs to a new door that will take you outside of Dracula’s castle. Obviously, the goal here is to climb into the castle and defeat the newly resurrected Night King himself, with help from allies like Maria Renard and Alucard. Still, Dracula has also brought some friends, and you’ll have to battle Medusa and Death himself for a chance to take on the eternal villain.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Offline)
While it only takes a few hours (depending on difficulty level and your skill) to climb and put old Drac to sleep for another hundred years, there’s a decent amount of content here to unlock and take with you into the rest of the game. game . As you fight your way through Werewolves and Knights of Armor, enemies will sometimes drop blueprints, much like the two Sorrow games, which you can then invest cells in for yourself provide access to useful weapons and abilities. Basic secondary weapons like holy water and the throwing ax are of course up for grabs, as well as interesting new weapons like the death scythe or Medusa’s head. Then, of course, there’s cosmetic armor, which lets you dress up as characters like Simon or Alucard.
Perhaps the greatest thrill of Return to Castlevania is that the developers were keen to pack this DLC with as many references and easter eggs as possible. Enter the passage between the biomes and you will find that the Collector has been replaced by Shanoa, the star of the Order of Ecclesia. Enter a new biome and you’ll see its name briefly flash on a title card similar to levels in Rondo of Blood. Talk to Maria about her cat and she’ll tell you her name is Byakko, but that depends on who you ask, referring to her many appearances throughout the series. It seems like most of the content in this DLC is inspired by Symphony of the Night (duh) and Rondo of Blood, but there are still plenty of references to the wider Castlevania series. everywhere.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Connected)
In terms of presentation, Return to Castlevania does a great job of adapting Castlevania’s iconic visuals in a way that keeps track of the Dead Cells universe, feeling like a fitting fusion of the two. Whether you’re watching the eerie castle towers silhouetted against a massive blue moon or watching the smiling face of death as he pulls out his massive scythe, there’s a palpable sense that the environments and enemies here are truly different. things you’re familiar with. you imagine I find in the rest of the game. Meanwhile, stepping into a biome to hear a new rendition of “Vampire Killer” or “Bloody Tears” is magical, and it’s even better when you realize that the passage of the 8-bit music brings back the original tunes in all their chiptune glory. .
The only downside to this DLC is that it is, well…just a DLC. As a relatively small part of a much larger game, Castlevania’s content is high quality and memorable, but there really isn’t This lots to see. Makes sense, of course any additional content would risk turning Dead Cells into a weird backdoor reboot of the Castlevania series, but we couldn’t help but wish there was more to see after so long since we saw him for the last time. . wield the whip. Between the carefully crafted biomes, bosses, and various unlockables that carry over to the main game, this DLC is absolutely worth the ten bucks it costs to unlock, but it seems like ten bucks is the most it could cost without feeling too expensive.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Offline)
It’s also worth mentioning that aside from a nice section where you can play as Richter, this DLC plays exactly how you’d expect Dead Cells to play. That same fast, crisp combat is there and to the right, the environments of Dracula’s iconic castle are randomly generated with every run, the expansive and exploratory elements – the ones that merge with Metroid to form everyone’s favorite genre term – are right there present. to the slightest degree, and you will still die a lot. It might seem obvious, but we just want to clarify that this expansion looks like Dead Cells with a Castlevania skin, not Castlevania with a Dead Cells skin.
This distinction is important, because any Castlevania fan who left Dead Cells for one reason or another may be disappointed to learn that what soured their interest in the base game is also present here.
conclusion
If you liked Dead Cells, it’s a no-brainer must Grab the Return to Castlevania DLC as soon as possible. It may be short, but it’s a brilliantly intense and nostalgic journey into a spookier world that fits well with the broader content offering in the base game. Seems like it’s mostly made for Dead Cells fans who also love Castlevania; it’s unlikely to convert Castlevania fans who don’t get along with Motion Twin’s roguelite. In any case, we loved it and it’s nice to see Castlevania again in video games. Hopefully Konami takes heed and chooses to give us a full revival soon.