Dead Cells has been a hit since its first release and after multiple waves of DLC, the developers still find new ways to get fans excited, and what better way than a crossover with the series that provided inspiration for Dead Cells? Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania is a love letter to Konami’s series and manages to show why fans have loved the series for so long. The interesting thing about the DLC is the way the new biomes are added, as you cannot experience them all in a single run.
The DLC sees you encounter Richter Belmont, Alucard, Maria Renard, Shanoa and more from the series while taking on multiple classic enemies and visiting iconic locations from the series. From the werewolf to the axe armor, there are multiple familiar faces. You will even encounter some surprise boss fights from the franchise during your playthrough besides the advertised ones.
You will only be able to encounter half of the biomes are first, culminating in a fight with Death, but on your next run, you will be able to enter a different part of Dracula’s castle and take on the series’ big bad himself. The fight with Dracula itself will call to mind many of the classic games such as Symphony of the Night and character interactions with Dracula will occur before the fight. There are also multiple costumes to unlock and the costumes will open up different dialogues with Dracula, so seeing his reaction to all of them is a reason to keep playing.
The music from the Castlevania series has been beautifully replicated for the various stages, and you can choose from a wide range of series songs to play through in the main game as well. This is all before we even get to the various unlockables you will come across in the DLC. As mentioned, there are a number of costumes, but there are also multiple weapons and abilities to acquire, such as the Vampire Killer itself, a whip sword, a bible, Medusa Heads, and of course the cross, all of which are incredibly fun to use.
The costumes are also a neat touch in another way, as they will make the beheaded look exactly like Alucard, Richter, Simon, Hector and more, rather than just being a themed outfit. There really was a lot of care and attention to detail put into this release, and the hidden secrets are also amazing. You can even find a room that lets you play a stage as Richter Belmont in a completely different style of gameplay than the main Dead Cells experience, which was a very welcome thing to see, though can throw you off at first.
This is a DLC done for fans, by fans and lives up to the hype that was put into it. This is the largest DLC yet and is packed with content to keep you coming back for more, and you never feel bored as there is always something new to try and consider. It would be very interesting to see Konami let Motion Twin make a full Castlevania game, considering they have shown they get the series and what makes it work so well.
Dead Cells: Return To Castlevania is a must-play DLC both for Dead Cells fans and fans of Castlevania as it combines the best of both series, taking the game to new heights. The future remains bright for Dead Cells, and one can only wonder what the next DLC will bring. Until then, the morning sun has vanquished another horrible night.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
[…] Our review of the Return to Castlevania expansion can be seen here […]