Dead Cells' 'What's The Damage?' Update Is Now Live On Switch And Other Consoles

Cheers for the heads up also…. @damo didn’t know where to ask this but any chance one of you guys can use your contacts to try and find out more about the NASCAR game coming to switch?

Another update? I appreciate the continued support for this game, but that just means that there'll probably be a what...fourth or fifth physical release for this game? Ugh, I'm glad I didn't spring for that sexy Prisoner's Edition.

@Magician exactly why it makes sense to buy it digitally.

I'm consistently reminded that I still need to get this game because it's supposed to be excellent.

@IronMan30 it really is. I was sat on the fence for ages and I got it in a eshop sale for something like £6. It’s just so absorbing, it’s amazing.

@IronMan30 It's a superb game with some of the most satisfying combat in video game history.

awesome! maybe i can finally get one boss cell without custom mode

I love everything about this game except for the fact I can’t survive for more than 10 seconds on the first NG+ and knowing I will never see the end of NG+++++ upsets me.

I really, really need to start this. Had it sat on my shelf for 2 years now.

It belongs in every avid gamers collection. It is up there as one of the best games ever made I swear @IronMan30

@IronMan30 "I'm consistently reminded that I still need to get this game because it's supposed to be excellent."

I'm here to give you a further reminder that this game is excellent and you need to get it

@Eddy9000 I felt the same when I went into NG+ keep at it and you’ll get there eventually

This game taught me that I’m no longer interested in “gitting gud,” at videos games. I’m gud at ones I know, such as dark souls or Morrowind, but Dead Cells was a tad ridiculous and I gave up on trying to learn it. The soundtrack is amazing, so I just listen to that, instead.

Guess it's time to get re-obsessed with this game. Again.

Such a great game, but I hit SUCH a ceiling on it after getting I think 2 cells that it seemed almost insurmountable and wasn't really enjoyable any more. Still fun to go back to though!

I thought dead cells was kind of crap, but good for the people who like it I guess.

Those struggling wait till you get to two boss cells, I was stuck there for months. I'm now stuck on the boss cells and can't beat the last boss at all. Looking forward to update 25 to get the training room so o can practice just that fight without only getting one shot after an hour of playing. Once I first three I think I'm fine, no chance I'm getting good enough to clear 4 or 5.

A quick tip, use the custom game function, turn off some of the extra weapons you really don't be using so you can spawn more of the useful ones with better affixes to get some synergy between your load out. I've taken to choosing a colour and leaving some select weapons turned on with others from the other colours used to make up the 20 I need to still progress. When I get to the shop I can just pick my colour and only get offered a few choices and get so many more affixes to play with to build the synergy.

@SpringDivorce I know this feeling! I bought it when it was on sale for all dlc packages for like 10 dollars or whatever and I have never touched it.

@Everett_psycho that is great tip regarding the custom game mode, thanks for that. And thanks for the heads up about the training room coming later.

I plowed tons of time into Dead Cells, really enjoyed it, but hit a hard ceiling at 2BC. I could handle the mobs, and won a decent percentage against the bosses, but kept getting totally wiped by the end boss. Put it aside long ago, but somewhat intent to try again sometime, net of all these many updates. Though I sense that 2BC and up are still very challenging.

As much as I truly enjoyed Dead Cells, it makes me wonder whether it might be time for game designers to move beyond the conventional trope of:

mobs > boss > mobs > boss > mobs > OMFG END BOSS !!!!!1!1!!

I totally get it, I’ve been gaming since c.1979, arcades for life, etc. But as an older person, and/or a person unable or disinclined to attempt something >27 times(for recreational purposes!), I wonder if there might be different ways to scale difficulty, challenge the player, give variety to the experience, etc.

@sfb update 23 semi nerfed 2BC. It wasn't a major change just changes it to dropping health flasks every other transition instead of only twice. Annoying my first run through on that update I finally beat 2BC without using any of the extra flasks, now I'm stuck on 3BC.and just can't quiet get over the last boss.

I also highly recommend checking out veedotme and psyechie on YouTube that do custom mode runs, they are great players but you can see some good equipment load outs from their runs. If you are struggling there are some really broken builds in this game those guys cover, before the update in this article quick bow or multiple books bow with a hokutos bow and barbed tips was incredibly broken, I no hitted concierge and time keeper in seconds using it, they didn't even have time to attack back properly. I still keep considering restarting from the beginning and buying it on the switch, I'm playing it on gamepass at the moment but it's such a good fit for quick blasts portably the Xbox can't offer.

Still yet to play this game, but, it's good to see it supported so well!
New to switch, and damn, there's just so many good games to play.
Playing Hades at the moment; How do people who have played both think they compare? Is this game worth It if I've played Hades?

@Chrisjames It depends on what you liked about Hadss. Narratively, Hades is leagues above Dead Cells since the latter doesn't really have any story to speak of. Just tidbits of lore as you progress through runs.

If you liked the combat and run-based nature of Hades then Dead Cells has that in spades. I Actually think the combat is better. Its really crunchy and satisfying. There is also progression between runs by using the currency obtained to unlock further weapons and powers.

Couldn't recommend it more. Its a spectacular game. If you are new to indies as a whole then, in my opinion, the quintessential games you need to play are: Hades, Dead Cells, Hollow Knight and Celeste. They are all top, top drawer.

Hi Jey, thanks for the comment, man. Yeah, I agree the narrative is excellent but it's the combat that I'm really looking for. I have just bought Hollow Knight too, so I can't wait to play it, but, think I'll definitely get Dead Cells too. Looks awesome and I love the idea of progressing, even when you die.

@BloodNinja Dead Cells is a game that tries imitating Dark Souls while doing it's own thing, with varying degrees of success if you really analyze both games thoroughly.

However, one thing Dark Souls doesn't do is have more difficulty selections and restrictions within those difficulties.

Like for example in Dark Souls 1, you can enter a new game plus after beating the final boss Gwyn and thus being able to reset the world again with the bosses you defeated being respawned again, only this time they have larger health bars and maybe more souls to collect.

Dead Cells has the same thing to an extent, though different and more powerful enemies are spawned in most areas while you also take higher damage from either their attacks or environmental hazards. And this is something Dark Souls has never done, you're limited on the health flasks you're able to use on top of the perma-death system Dead Cells prides itself on.

So it makes trying to beat the other Boss Cell difficulties a real pain compared to if I wanted to new game plus Dark Souls. Because in Dark Souls, you're presented with a fair challenge (sometimes) that can seem intimidating, but if you play smart and use your reflexes then you can overcome some of the obstacles. You also have checkpoints that you can save at so that if you die unexpectedly, you will always been able to know that you will always be able try as many times as you want so you can finally overcome a challenge.

Dead Cells wants you to as make a lot of mistakes early on so that you can spend all those cell points on most of it's upgrades. Once you do that, then how you progress through the game is up too you. What weapons to get, which one's are good and which one's are bad, committing to a certain skill as too not waste level ups on skills you're not using, approaching some enemies cautiously while aggroing others, simply knowing when to parry and what to parry, etc. Planning on going through the game all the way to the final boss is going to be riddled with trial and error if you go by the game's rules. But I found a way to save scum my way through, this is done by either quitting out of the game through Switch home button once you die so that you restart and the beginning of the stage where the game last auto saved or quitting out of the game and copying a save file where you last were. Since the game auto saves almost all the time, it can be helpful if done right and not mid-stage after wasting some health resources when unintended on higher difficulties.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure if this is cheating or not if it was intended by the devs. Either way, the game frustrates me enough on these higher difficulties that I do it often to try and edge my way to the end of most stages/bosses.

I also really hate some of bosses in this game, the lead developer must've had a real hard-on for bullet hell shooters because most of the bosses in this game are fought in cramped claustrophobic spaces with projectiles and all manner of attacks coming at you at once and the window to parry some of these things can be off sometimes which leads to either make the decision to roll or jump if possible.

To sum up my thoughts, Dead Cells is a good if not a mixed bag of a Souls-like game that has no chill when you try upping the challenge it presents to you later on if you want to persist.

@BloodNinja I imagine the repetition of dying repeatedly and doing the same stages over and over is eventually going to get frustrating for some newer players who don't know what they're getting into.

@Everett_psycho Would it be considered cheating if you abuse the save file system to copy when you last auto saved on a stage and then load it if you die?

@russell-marlow Yeah, I found myself getting overwhelmed in the clock tower, if I remember right. It’s a beautiful game, but yeah, not into rogue style games anymore, since I work 50-60 hours a week. I just stick to games I know and enjoy, and will rarely try a new thing here and there.

For your other post, I speedrun dark souls for a hobby, so I’m pretty well versed in its design LOL but I get what you mean.

Oddly for me, Dark Souls has never been about reactionary skill. I find I need to use reflexes in Metal Gear Revengance, more! Dark Souls is more about planning ahead and knowing game mechanics. Reflexes get you by at first, but knowing what is to come has been more valuable, especially for my speed runs!

@BloodNinja I think I also forgot to mention the animation when comparing both games. You can actually see and get the timing in parries for Dark Souls because you can see the hand travelling with the weapon before it hits you. In Dead Cells, they had to put an exclamation mark and sound trigger before the attack before you're realize the window of timing to parry. Because of the stiff 2D animations of the game it makes it deceiving sometimes to be able to do that precisely.

But yeah, I do sort of agree with what you mean. Have you played Hades, though?

I hear it's more approachable.

@russell-marlow Hades doesn’t look interesting to me, so I never gave it a go. Currently practicing a Ninja Gaiden 3 speed run and getting my arse handed to me, I forgot how tough this game is!! NES version, btw

@BloodNinja Oh yeah, Hades is one of those more approachable rogue-like games with a good story and character dialogue.

But you've mentioned speedrunning Dark Souls and Ninja Gaiden, even though you work a lot. Why do you speed run?

edit: sorry for the late reply

@russell-marlow I speed run because I work a lot, so I don't have as much time for gaming as I would like!