How to mesh genres with perfection
Dead Cells is the perfect combination of genres, it makes you experience the thrill of discovery of games like Super Metroid and also the learning process of a roguelike, making you go through levels, learn the mechanics, probably die on the first couple of tries and comeback each time more prepared.
The game has just the right amount of enemie variety, not giving you hundreds of different pattern to learn but also not being that repetitive from level to level. It strikes a perfect balance of encouraging you to try new weapons and itens, with new upgrade combinations, that can be better for the road you gonna take.
Each time you progress a certain amont, through a certain way, you unlock runes, that give you different type of abilities like being able to teleport on a statue or break some types of floor. So the next time you come across this things you can find new ways to go through or find new blueprints.
The game is also really really hard, it had that souls combat element that if you are not paying attention, any enemy in the game can kill you right away. The further you go, the harder it gets, but also the amount of cells you collect increases.
Cells are used to unlock the blueprints you find in the game, after unlocking it, that item can now appear on your run for you to use it. Same thing as itens, spells, etc. The player can also choose three types of mutations, one each time you go through a level, their help you be more prepared, giving you +30% health, reducing the coooldown of your abilities, things like that.
The weapon variety is just gigantic, and each time you find a certain weapon it will have different stats, making you look for combos to use and create the perfect set for that specific run. You also can use the forge to reroll those stats if you don't like them.
The upgrade system gives you the option to choose between Brutality, that enhances the red itens, Tactics, that enhances the purple itens and Survival, that enhances the green itens. Each item has one or two colors, and they get better if the player upgrades their color. You can also find rare Yellow itens, they are enhanced by the color you have the most points in, giving you some real nice opportunities, when for example if you find a good sword that usually is red and you are focusing on purple/green, if the sword is yellow, it will get the benefits as well.
