Dead Cells

Dead Cells launched on Xbox One in 2018, fusing two things that hadn't often gone together before: fast metroidvania combat and the merciless randomness of a roguelike. You play as a cluster of cells controlling a headless body, waking up again and again in the dungeons of the same infested island. Every run reshuffles the biomes, in which you gather weapons, shields, grenades, and traps; the combinations differ not just in raw power but in playstyle, since each item belongs to one of three stats that determine how well it pays off. Death sends you back to the start, but the cells you collect let you permanently unlock new gear, so even a failed run pushes the game forward.

Combat is the core of the whole thing, and it's exceptionally well tuned. Dodges, shield parries, and precise timing matter more than raw numbers, movement is fluid, and transitions between rooms are practically instant. The hand-drawn animations were created by converting 3D models into pixel form, giving the characters an unusually smooth motion while keeping the retro aesthetic. On Xbox One the game holds a stable frame rate, which is crucial for a title where decisions are made in split seconds. The music blends electronics with guitars and shifts mood depending on the biome, from quiet dungeons to thundering ramparts. The narrative tone is dry, ironic, and never takes itself seriously.

Dead Cells earned very high scores after release and became one of the titles that brought roguelites to a mainstream audience. Motion Twin and the team that followed kept expanding the game for years with new biomes, weapons, and bosses, including paid expansions, so today's version is far richer than the original. Its influence is visible across a whole wave of action platformers that borrowed its unlock system and optional difficulty scaling through boss stem cells. Even years later it remains one of the best-controlling games of its kind, and on Xbox One it's still a great choice for both short and long play sessions.