Dead Cells

Dead Cells is an action platformer from French studio Motion Twin that earned the label roguevania because it combines randomly generated levels and merciless death with the structure and abilities familiar from metroidvanias. The player controls a shapeless mass that comes to life inside the body of an executed prisoner and hacks its way again and again across an island full of mutated guards, dungeons, ramparts, and sewers. After every death you return to the start, losing the weapons and upgrades you gathered, and keep only the permanently unlocked abilities and items you managed to pay for.

Combat is the core of the game. Controls are exceptionally precise and fast, the dodge roll is safe within a precisely defined window, and every weapon has its own reach, speed, and side effect, from setting enemies alight through freezing to bleeding. You build your character out of whatever the game offers you, since the loadout is determined by chance and effective combinations emerge on the fly. The pace is unusually brisk, a run through a level takes tens of minutes, and the game rewards boldness, since the richest chests sit behind doors open only for a limited time. After completing the story, so-called boss cells accumulate, ramping up the difficulty into genuinely brutal territory.

Graphically the game combines hand-drawn-looking pixel characters with modern lighting and fluid animation, so on PS4 it runs perfectly smoothly and stays legible even when the screen is full of enemies. The electronically tinged music supports the pace and shifts mood with every biome. Reception was very favorable even during early access, and the game held onto players' attention thanks to years of free and paid expansions. Alongside new content, a range of options for adjusting the difficulty also arrived, so today the game can appeal even to players who would otherwise avoid the original's uncompromising form. Dead Cells today ranks among the most influential representatives of the genre, and many later action roguelikes openly acknowledge a debt to its combat system and its approach to unlocks. On PS4 it's an ideal title for both short and long play sessions, since a single run fits into a single evening.