Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania is an upcoming mini expansion for the popular action-platformer metroidvania game from Motion Twin / Evil Empire coming early this year.
It was originally announced at The Game Awards 2022 which I covered in my big round-up and now the developer is teasing it more again.
As ridiculously brief as the teaser is, I can't help but feel terribly excited about it. Truthfully, I wasn't even a Castlevania fan until very recently, I never really played the older games and wasn't until watching the truly incredible Castlevania Anime on Netflix that I felt pulled into the world. You really should watch it, truly excellent.
The new teaser:
Direct Link
What the DLC will come with:
- Classic Weapons: Unlock 14 iconic weapons such as the Vampire Killer, Throwing Axe & Holy Water to decimate Dracula's bestiary of monsters and finally the dark lord himself. Each item has been translated into the fast-paced combat of Dead Cells while keeping their original essence.
- Explore Dracula's Castle: Secret rooms. Flame-lit corridors. Gloomy tombs. Beautiful paintings. Food hidden in the walls. Full of original monsters from the series, such as harpies, werewolves & haunted armors, the character of the iconic castle will transport you into the realms of gothic fantasy.
- Classic and Reimagined Music: We're giving you access to an alternative soundtrack made of 51 of the original Castlevania tunes, that can be heard across the entire game. Yes, 51! On top of this, we've taken the 12 most iconic tracks, such as Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears and Simon Belmont's Theme, and reimagined them in the style of Dead Cells as a soundtrack for this DLC, while preserving the Castlevania ambiance of course.
- A New Story: Richter Belmont and Alucard will be by your side throughout your quest to vanquish Dracula, helping you to navigate the maze of Dracula’s Castle and providing you with strong weapons (sometimes willingly, sometimes not). However, where there is good there is evil, so watch out for powerful foes who will try everything in their power to stop you from reaching the throne room.
- Three Boss Fights: Fight against the very essence of evil in two intense duels versus Death and Dracula, both set against a majestic backdrop. If you can survive these gauntlets, prepare yourself for our most ambitious boss showdown yet...
- Castlevania Outfits: Unlock 20 outfits as you progress through the castle, letting you roleplay as all your favourite characters like Alucard, Richter Belmont, Simon Belmont, Maria Renard, Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades or even Dracula himself.
You can buy Dead Cells from Humble Store, GOG and Steam.
With Native Linux support and it's Steam Deck Verified, you're in for a good time even before this DLC release.
Quoting: hardpenguinQuoteI never really played the older games and wasn't until watching the truly incredible Castlevania Anime on Netflix that I felt pulled into the world.Yesss, that show was fun!
Agreed! I held off too long to watch it, I feel.
Quoting: hardpenguinQuoteI never really played the older games and wasn't until watching the truly incredible Castlevania Anime on Netflix that I felt pulled into the world.Yesss, that show was fun!
Quoting: slaapliedjeAgreed! I held off too long to watch it, I feel.
A fair warning - it has very interesting writing in first 3 seasons, but season 4 fell off the cliff so badly - I was extremely disappointed. It's as if the writer sabotaged most interesting story arcs and characters on purpose.
And I haven't played the games either, looking at it simply from standpoint of writing quality and characters I cared about.
It's really something bizarre I almost never experienced before, to have such good potential and start that ends so extremely badly in the finale.
Last edited by Shmerl on 22 January 2023 at 9:38 am UTC
QuoteTruthfully, I wasn't even a Castlevania fan until very recently, I never really played the older games and wasn't until watching the truly incredible Castlevania Anime on Netflix that I felt pulled into the world.Glad I'm not the only one : I binge-watched the whole anime, which led me to the GBA trilogy and that was an amazing experience.
Quoting: ShmerlYeah, sort of like the 'Star Wars Effect' where they decided they didn't need to use any of the vast amount of material made by great writers to create the sequel trilogy... instead they winged it without making a cohesive trilogy, and just did 'nostalgia' mode, as if they could remake the original better...Quoting: hardpenguinQuoteI never really played the older games and wasn't until watching the truly incredible Castlevania Anime on Netflix that I felt pulled into the world.Yesss, that show was fun!
Quoting: slaapliedjeAgreed! I held off too long to watch it, I feel.
A fair warning - it has very interesting writing in first 3 seasons, but season 4 fell off the cliff so badly - I was extremely disappointed. It's as if the writer sabotaged most interesting story arcs and characters on purpose.
And I haven't played the games either, looking at it simply from standpoint of writing quality and characters I cared about.
It's really something bizarre I almost never experienced before, to have such good potential and start that ends so extremely badly in the finale.
Quoting: slaapliedjeYeah, sort of like the 'Star Wars Effect' where they decided they didn't need to use any of the vast amount of material made by great writers to create the sequel trilogy... instead they winged it without making a cohesive trilogy, and just did 'nostalgia' mode, as if they could remake the original better...
The extra bizarre thing about this show is that the same writer made all four seasons. Without knowing that, you'd assume they replaced him in the fourth season with some random writer who decided to mess it up.
Last edited by Shmerl on 24 January 2023 at 6:08 pm UTC
Quoting: ShmerlYeah, that's odd. Well, it's like Game of Thrones. Sure they had some framework of what was supposed to go on... but GRRM only said they could make the show if they could figure out who Jon Snow was, and apparently they had, so at least they were some big fans... but I think after so many years of working on it, and then getting other deals to do, they decided to jump the shark and screw up the last few seasons... or something. Sure seems like they were burnt out working on the show. Wonder if something similar happened here, where he flubbed season 4 on purpose so Netflix wouldn't renew it. Same too, the show was fantastic.Quoting: slaapliedjeYeah, sort of like the 'Star Wars Effect' where they decided they didn't need to use any of the vast amount of material made by great writers to create the sequel trilogy... instead they winged it without making a cohesive trilogy, and just did 'nostalgia' mode, as if they could remake the original better...
The extra bizarre thing about this show is that the same writer made all four seasons. Without knowing that, you'd assume they replaced him in the fourth season with some random writer who decided to mess it up.
Quoting: slaapliedjeYeah, that's odd. Well, it's like Game of Thrones. Sure they had some framework of what was supposed to go on... but GRRM only said they could make the show if they could figure out who Jon Snow was, and apparently they had, so at least they were some big fans... but I think after so many years of working on it, and then getting other deals to do, they decided to jump the shark and screw up the last few seasons... or something. Sure seems like they were burnt out working on the show. Wonder if something similar happened here, where he flubbed season 4 on purpose so Netflix wouldn't renew it. Same too, the show was fantastic.
Yeah, that reminded me Game of Thrones finale mess indeed. Very comparable disappointment.
Not sure if you finished CV show, my favorite was Styria story arc there, and it was messed up the worst in the last season. Characters treated so badly, key themes developed before - ruined, time not given to show character development and etc. while at the same time the season wasted a ton of screen time on repetitive action scenes in general.
Last edited by Shmerl on 24 January 2023 at 8:56 pm UTC
Quoting: ShmerlQuoting: slaapliedjeYeah, that's odd. Well, it's like Game of Thrones. Sure they had some framework of what was supposed to go on... but GRRM only said they could make the show if they could figure out who Jon Snow was, and apparently they had, so at least they were some big fans... but I think after so many years of working on it, and then getting other deals to do, they decided to jump the shark and screw up the last few seasons... or something. Sure seems like they were burnt out working on the show. Wonder if something similar happened here, where he flubbed season 4 on purpose so Netflix wouldn't renew it. Same too, the show was fantastic.
Yeah, that reminded me Game of Thrones finale mess indeed. Very comparable disappointment.
Not sure if you finished CV show, my favorite was Styria story arc there, and it was messed up the worst in the last season. Characters treated so badly, key themes developed before - ruined, time not given to show character development and etc. while at the same time the season wasted a ton of screen time on repetitive action scenes in general.
The burnout is real. Like for book writers like GRRM, at least you can try writing some other stuff, or take a break and decouple yourself from a story. Likely why he's taking so long for the next book... But when you're a TV show writer with deadlines... I can totally see why shows start to suffer the longer they're around, unless they get handed off to other writers, but that can make the show suck in different ways as well. (See shows such as Dead Like Me)
Last edited by slaapliedje on 24 January 2023 at 11:35 pm UTC
Quoting: slaapliedjeThe burnout is real. Like for book writers like GRRM, at least you can try writing some other stuff, or take a break and decouple yourself from a story. Likely why he's taking so long for the next book... But when you're a TV show writer with deadlines... I can totally see why shows start to suffer the longer they're around, unless they get handed off to other writers, but that can make the show suck in different ways as well. (See shows such as Dead Like Me)
Yeah, true. CV show also suffered from internal conflict between the writer and one of the producers which I think made the writer treat certain characters badly out of spite, especially in the last season. Plus then some sort of "me too" scandal with that writer broke out so he was booted from the project altogether (but not before finishing S4 script).
In the last season it feels like he just gives Deus ex machina bonuses to his favorites and short end of the sticks to some others in a very biased / spiteful fashion, which really messed up the story for me.
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