Twin Daggers
Broadsword
Bow and Infinite Arrows

-Random Wisdom brought to you by Dead Cells gear
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So far Dead Cells is a perfect example of „Early Access done right“, this charming mix of Rogue-lite (tough difficulty and permadeath) and Metroidvania elements (exploration aspect and combat system) is already a very entertaining experience and gets frequently updated with additional content and fixes.

The gameplay is solid and fun, it runs mostly smooth (some sporadic stuttering aside – developers are trying their best to fix it though), the pixelated visuals are great and there‘s a good amount of areas to explore and weapons/skills to choose from.

On the other hand, the game still lacks some variety (especially Challenge Rooms), needs some more bosses (only two so far) and polishing/balancing but that's acceptable in an Early Access game.
Overall, It already has a solid amount of content, gets updated quite frequently and the developers really seem to care for the player‘s feedback - from my point of view you can’t go wrong here.
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Oh dear, for quite some time those words leave some kind of mixed taste in most gamer’s mouths, mostly due to all those problems and bad examples of the last years (e.g. Next Car Game, Spacebase DF-9 and probably a thousand others…).

I guess we were kind of taught that you cannot trust developers that easily as some of them do shady business and do not care for their game at all (cash aside) – so most of the time it’s probably better to wait than to join a „soon-to-be-abandoned ship“.
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Luckily, Dead Cells is kind of different here and works perfectly as an example of „Early Access done right“.
Aside from its charming visuals ( the game definitely gets some bonus points for interesting design and style) it uses a well-working mix of the Metroidvania Formula in combination with a harsh difficulty and a permadeath where only little progress stays between the runs.

The gameplay is already a lot of fun and slicing through the enemies and rushing through the areas to access Timed Doors (…and dying because I did not pay attention for 1.2 seconds (Good Lord, those Pirate Captains…)) is as fun as carefully approaching each of the enemies alone and slowly but steadily making progress through the areas while exploring every last corner of the level – at least before I’m dying as well due to unfortunate enemy combinations and/or bad reactions on my end.

The levels feature hidden areas, timed doors, challenge rooms, vendors, several exits and of course lots and lots of difficult monstrosities and sweet, sweet gear.
There’s a good amount of different levels and different paths that lead to the (current) ending – so far there are only two bosses but it will take some time (approx. 12-15 hours at first) before you are able to defeat them both and "finish" a run. And then there are the Daily Challenges as well...
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However, aside from all the positive points that I mentioned above, there are some small things as well that hopefully will be fixed/balanced soon.

One example are blueprints, which unlock new skills and weapons for your character and persist between runs.
Their drops are tied to specific enemies (The Shield Bearer e.g. drops some shield blueprints) but some of them have a drop rate straight out of hell and need a lot of grinding to get (or a ton of luck).
However, the developers already announced some changes here to reduce the necessary amount of grinding.

Another point is that e.g. some Timed Doors tend to be quite useless (open them once to get the unique blueprint hidden there and then ignore them for the rest of the game) and that most Challenge Rooms seriously lack some variety: enemy constellations, layout, traps - approximately 80% of them feel the same.
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In the end, those are quite minor negative points and I’m definitely looking forward to the next updates.
Dead Cells is already very entertaining and the developers are not only expanding the game quite frequently but listen to the feedback they receive as well - and this is definitely a promising combination. Even now after the official release there are frequent content updates.
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This endorsement approved by The Reviewers' Union, providing better standards for reviews and reviewers.

[h1]"Two knives for the price of one, more violence for your dollar!"[/h1] Twin Daggers [h1]"Slow and heavy, but looks badass. The best way to compensate"[/h1] Broadsword [h1]"There is no such thing as "too many arrows"[/h1] Bow and Infinite Arrows [b]-Random Wisdom brought to you by Dead Cells gear[/b] __________________________________________ [h1]Short Summary[/h1] So far Dead Cells is a perfect example of „Early Access done right“, this charming mix of Rogue-lite (tough difficulty and permadeath) and Metroidvania elements (exploration aspect and combat system) is already a very entertaining experience and gets frequently updated with additional content and fixes. The gameplay is solid and fun, it runs mostly smooth (some sporadic stuttering aside – developers are trying their best to fix it though), the pixelated visuals are great and there‘s a good amount of areas to explore and weapons/skills to choose from. On the other hand, the game still lacks some variety (especially Challenge Rooms), needs some more bosses (only two so far) and polishing/balancing but that's acceptable in an Early Access game. Overall, It already has a solid amount of content, gets updated quite frequently and the developers really seem to care for the player‘s feedback - from my point of view you can’t go wrong here. __________________________________________ [h1]Early Access Game. Get instant access and start playing; get involved with this game as it develops[/h1] Oh dear, for quite some time those words leave some kind of mixed taste in most gamer’s mouths, mostly due to all those problems and bad examples of the last years (e.g. Next Car Game, Spacebase DF-9 and probably a thousand others…). I guess we were kind of taught that you cannot trust developers that easily as some of them do shady business and do not care for their game at all (cash aside) – so most of the time it’s probably better to wait than to join a „soon-to-be-abandoned ship“. __________________________________________ [h1]Gameplay and Content[/h1] Luckily, Dead Cells is kind of different here and works perfectly as an example of „Early Access done right“. Aside from its charming visuals ( the game definitely gets some bonus points for interesting design and style) it uses a well-working mix of the Metroidvania Formula in combination with a harsh difficulty and a permadeath where only little progress stays between the runs. The gameplay is already a lot of fun and slicing through the enemies and rushing through the areas to access Timed Doors (…and dying because I did not pay attention for 1.2 seconds (Good Lord, those Pirate Captains…)) is as fun as carefully approaching each of the enemies alone and slowly but steadily making progress through the areas while exploring every last corner of the level – at least before I’m dying as well due to unfortunate enemy combinations and/or bad reactions on my end. The levels feature hidden areas, timed doors, challenge rooms, vendors, several exits and of course lots and lots of difficult monstrosities and sweet, sweet gear. There’s a good amount of different levels and different paths that lead to the (current) ending – so far there are only two bosses but it will take some time (approx. 12-15 hours at first) before you are able to defeat them both and "finish" a run. And then there are the Daily Challenges as well... __________________________________________ [h1]Contra[/h1] However, aside from all the positive points that I mentioned above, there are some small things as well that hopefully will be fixed/balanced soon. One example are blueprints, which unlock new skills and weapons for your character and persist between runs. Their drops are tied to specific enemies (The Shield Bearer e.g. drops some shield blueprints) but some of them have a drop rate straight out of hell and need a lot of grinding to get (or a ton of luck). However, the developers already announced some changes here to reduce the necessary amount of grinding. Another point is that e.g. some Timed Doors tend to be quite useless (open them once to get the unique blueprint hidden there and then ignore them for the rest of the game) and that most Challenge Rooms seriously lack some variety: enemy constellations, layout, traps - approximately 80% of them feel the same. __________________________________________ [h1]Conclusion[/h1] In the end, those are quite minor negative points and I’m definitely looking forward to the next updates. Dead Cells is already very entertaining and the developers are not only expanding the game quite frequently but listen to the feedback they receive as well - and this is definitely a promising combination. Even now after the official release there are frequent content updates. __________________________________________ This endorsement approved by [url=http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/groups/trureviews]The Reviewers' Union[/url], providing better standards for reviews and reviewers.