i really thought i'd like this game, i loved Rogue Legacy but this just isn't doing anything for me. i don't like the combat, it's too frantic. i wish the Switch gave refunds. am i the only one that doesn't like Dead Cells? should i check out The Messenger instead?

@nick: Man I really tried but I can't find my way into Dead Cells either. I just played about 70 hours worth of Hollow Knight and loved every minute of it, but the gameplay, music, and environments in Dead Cells just feel average at best. Feels like a weird remnant of a Summer of Arcade, Dishwasher or something. Glad lots of people are into it but its not for me.

I think it's a good game but just as a quick 1-2 run challenge if I have some time to kill. It's definitively not grabbing me as much as I hoped it would, which is a bummer, but I'm not regretting the purchase in any way.

@nick: I tried to get into Rogue Legacy multiple times, but something about how the character moves rubs me the wrong way. I also bought Hollow Knight and I love the aesthetics of it, but it's confusing as hell, the map system in particular, after about two hours I gave up on it - maybe to try again later, but hearing how hard it is I'm not sure I will. With Dead Cells I spent a good couple of hours every day since launch and I often had that "one more run" thing that stretches for many many runs and eats hours. Last time I got in a Rogue-ish game like this was Enter the Gungeon. I didn't play The Messenger though, so I can not comment on that one.

I find it to be too single note for a run based game. The combat is really strong, but that’s all there is and I get bored of it even before I finish a run. The variety of other roguelikes doesn’t seem there, I have beaten the first boss 3 or 4 times now and I don’t want to do it again, let alone do the levels that come before.

I’m surprised by the incredibly positive reception. Everyone have the right to enjoy the game, I’m not saying it’s a bad one, but I thought there would be some backlash against its repetitive nature.

Too me, Dead Cells feels a lot like Diablo 3 in some aspects regarding combat: the variety of weapons/items makes experimentation fun, and the combat feels fanatically breezy. Everything just blows up in a hit or two, and that's pretty Diablo 3 like. These things, coupled with the nice art and a soundtrack that I personally am not bored of, keeps me coming back for more not too long after I take a break.

I enjoyed it well enough, but it's nowhere near the masterpiece I was led to believe.

@csl316: You don't enjoy it, therefore you were misled. Makes perfect sense.

Between this and Diablo 3 among other things year 2 of switch is becoming about as good as year 1. Waiting for Smash Ultimate is becoming painful.

@inresurrection: I absolutely love the game, but I have seen a lot of people calling it a Metroidvania. The game isn't anywhere close to a Metroidvania beyond having a map.

There are cases of people comparing it to Hollow Knight for instance. There couldn't be two different games and I'm glad they addressed that on the Bombcast. I'm worried the game's hype is getting ahead of it, like Undertale's did.

Nah, I didn't like it either. I opted for the Steam version since the Switch version reportedly has performance issues - played it for about 20 minutes then got my refund. Not my thing.

@inresurrection: But I do enjoy it.

@burncoat: I do wish that the comparisons between this and Hollow Knight need to stop. It's not doing either game any favors by potentially establishing expectations within a prospective consumer of either game or both games that are straight up wrong.

I get WHY it happened, of course: side scrolling, dark art style. Still, these are different games, as you and others have said. An exploration platformer and a side scrolling action game.

Yeah, and the runes, which open up different paths, but that's a super minor thing in the structure of this game.

It's a good game. But it's not 'oh my God, this is all I can think about right now' good. The combat is great, but I just find it too repetitive at times. Then again, I've felt that way about nearly every rogue-lite I've ever played. I just don't understand the love and fervor some have for this genre.

I enjoy it but I'm with Vinny. I can usually only do a couple runs before putting it down. The runs themselves aren't vastly different (so far) unlike with BoI or Spelunky, where specific items items either make your runs super broken or really hard. With Dead Cells every weapon seems viable, so there's a bit of monotony to the runs. Granted I'm still fairly early and haven't unlocked many weapons, so my opinion on that could change.

I'm in the 1 or 2 run camp. I find myself wanting to come back to it, but don't enjoy it in long bursts.

And a run for me is about 10-15 minutes, because I try to speedrun it. That aspect I feel is perfect for how I play games. I think I got to the 3rd timed door with 9 minutes+ remaining. Anyways my point is I don't en joy playing it for longer than 30 mins.

Also, seemingly unlike many people, I don't enjoy most combos of items. I find certain weapons to be absolutely trash every time I pick them up and try them, while other ones are always great. Balanced Sword is seemingly the most-guaranteed very-good weapon. I've found the best combo to just be 1 good main weapon and 3 ice attacks, namely Ice Blast and 2 ice grenades. For bosses it's better to have turrets rather than grenades, but I've never been a person who enjoys putting down turrets; I prefer to just do all the damage myself. Speaking of, I really hate that they capped the damage on bosses.

I'm liking it more than I thought I would for being a roguelike. I don't really like any roguelike games, but this one I play 1 or 2 runs and then come back later in the day and do 2 more runs. It's such a great fit for the Switch.

the more i hear the guys talk about Hollow Knight on the bombcast the more i think it's what i'm looking for, and not Dead Cells. i'll have to go see if there's a Quick Look for it.

I wish there was more permanent upgrades in the game. Base hp for instance. I love the game, mostly for the extremely nice controls (they are sooooo good) but as my progress is slowly halting because there are some runes I just can’t seem to find (wall jump and groundbreak specifically) the feeling of the game getting old is somewhere out there on the horizon and that bothers me.

I enjoyed both but I do think Hollow Knight is the better game. It does become very frantic later on though.

I felt like I "got it" more after a few runs. I need to get used to stuff like teleporting enemies and some other things, but I'm digging it. Not sure if by frantic you mean too much stuff going on, enemy movement, or what, but I guess I sort of had that initial impression.

@nick: I also had high hopes for this game.. not to say it's not good at all but I definitely get bored after playing it probably 4-5 runs consecutively. I've only managed to clear it once in roughly 90 attempts. My main issue is I'm getting burned out doing the first like half of the game repeatedly. It does get tedious and the level layouts, though random, are honestly too modularly similar to feel interesting, the first 2 bosses are fair but then the final boss is always a shit storm. I find I lose my patience and end up speeding through and hoping for a decent gear setup, personally the only time I have a good run is when I get decent Legendary item drops, decent amounts of upgrades, or any actual good weapon (there are so few I find functional) with a shield if I'm lucky and grenades/amulet for % damage reduction. I find a lot of the gear unpleasant to use, so I'm regretting unlocking so many blueprints. I seem to need around 70-100% damage reduction to stand any real chance in the final battle - maybe I'm not that good at the game but those are my best runs when I can actually take more than 2 hits without exploding. I don't know man, the fighting mechanics are fun, the game is ok.. it feels good for like the first 2 runs of the day but then I just don't want to touch it for another 24 hours it seems, it gets old fast imo - lol. The Messenger was pretty good, it costs a lot less too and stays interesting for much longer than Dead Cells if you decide to play it continuously. I found it pretty satisfying, I enjoyed mastering the mechanics of it. I don't want to spoil anything but bosses feel good, music is good and the only thing that annoyed me was the upgrade you get for getting all 45 power seals didn't seem that great to me, lol (just a heads up if you do :P). The Messenger took me about 18 hours to clear. I think I enjoyed it more than Dead Cells honestly.

I think Dead Cells controls well but is structured badly. Every level up until the first boss is so easy and repetitive that I end up just wanting to run past everything, which means I probably don't get enough upgrades to do well later, or I can meticulously comb a level for 30 minutes to find everything which ends up being boring since the enemies are so basic and there is almost no risk of dying. It also feels like there is not much variety between runs, sure I'll find different weapons but the core gameplay loop is still the same spamming attacks and rolling regardless of if I'm at range or using melee weapons; everything kind of feels the same. I was playing Enter the Gungeon shortly before Dead Cells and the run variety in that game is huge with a ton of side stuff to do and unlock.