Game #1346: Dead Cells - Return to Castlevania

  It comes crashing down.

 Well.... this is the fourth time I've purchased Dead Cells, but Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania is the most complete version yet. I've already talked at length about Dead Cells, no, really, so I'll just focus on the new and the changed.

 So... last time I played the game I had spent over 70 hours in it, and gone through Rise of the Giant and Bad Seed... this one includes 3 more DLCs, Barrels of Fun, a new biome, The Dead Sea and the Queen, which adds two new bosses and two new biomes, as well as the Castlevania DLC, which adds 3 new biomes, I think, and a two phase-boss. Of course, there's also a ton of new weapons, as well as reworked weapons. And don't even let me get started on the costumes, as there's an obscene amount of costumes now.

 As per usual, all the new additions are fantastic, I was particularly fond of Death's Scythe, which turns fallen enemies into explosive souls that home-in to nearby enemies! The game is just as fun, and I had a blast going through the new areas... so much so that I sunk in another 30 hours into the game on a four-day period.

 They also added a new feature... Assist Mode. Now you can tweak the game to make it easier, going as far as decreasing the damage you take, as well as enemy health by 80%, so I was finally able to get all five Boss Stem Cells, get to the true boss and get the true ending. Not bad! Plus, playing like this makes you feel so powerful, and it's so satisfying having enemies explode all around you, it's glorious and makes the game more approachable for anyone and everyone.

 So, yeah, on of my favorite games of all time is still one of my favorite games of all time... but this rerelease is not perfect, as the game has now become prone to crashing. Every two runs, or run-and-a-half, the game will crash. Which can be quite painful when it happens after you find a blueprint for a new item and now you have to start the biome from the start, but hey, every time it happened I got the blue print again AND each stage is so short that it's not TOO unbearable... just a little.

 But yeah, crashes aside this is the best Dead Cells has EVER been. And mind you, the game was a blast from day one, but the amount of content this beast holds by now.... it's a thing of beauty.

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