Now Playing: Dead Cells

The list of games I'm playing right now will soon expand into an amorphous blob and blot out the sun. There are a lot of games. And I'm engrossed in a lot of them! Dead Cells is one of those games. It has a very accessible pick-up-and-play appeal that keeps me coming back over and over but what keeps me engrossed and from burning out is the unlocking of more and more content as I play through.

Dead Cells is of course a roguelike in which your primary character, a body possessed by some weird goop, repeatedly dies and comes back, perhaps with new upgrades you managed to gain on your last run. You collect cells from slain enemies and use them to pay for new upgrade and weapon options. The ability to buy these weapons and abilities with your collected cells is acquired by finding scrolls in the game's levels. Some of these are hidden in secret rooms and others drop randomly from defeated bosses and other opponents. Most of this is pretty standard roguelike stuff, but Dead Cells sets itself apart by being very satisfying in feel and play style. Weapons have different weights and combos and ranges that really set themselves apart from each other. It's always satisfying to unlock a new weapon because it means you're learning a new style of play entirely.

You have the ability to customize your loadout based on the weapons you pick up in Dead Cells, up to four slots total, mapped to Square, Triangle, L2, and R2. Your Square and Triangle are your primary weapons, divided into melee, ranged, and shields. There's a lot of variety here, spanning from weapons like one-handed swords, sledgehammers, and daggers, to various shields, bows, and magic spells. Some weapons synergize with others better than others. The delay on a certain weapon might synergize perfectly with another weapon or item that stuns or freezes an opponent, for instance. Maybe you use the Spartan Sandal on enemies that you can kick into a wall and watch them burst into a shower of blood and sparks while you rely on a crossbow for enemies that are more out in the open.

Your L2 and R2 items are typically more mechanical in nature, comprising a series of different types of traps, turrets, and grenades. There's room for synergy here too. A carefully placed ice grenade will freeze a group of enemies, setting you up for a follow-up from a fire grenade--or maybe you'll just blast them with an arc of electricity or toss some saw blades their way. There's a ton of weapon and ability combinations to toy with, making the game a sheer joy to play over and over. It's really fun and engaging when you make it far enough in the game's levels to land a really interesting or powerful build, but even when you're not landing the items you want, there's a fun challenge in adapting with sub-optimal gear.

I haven't even come close to making it all the way through Dead Cells but I'm predicting I'll be playing it for awhile. I still have tons and tons of different weapons and upgrades to unlock and I think it's pretty likely I'll be talking about it again.