Hey everyone, We're back with another indie crossover update - Everyone is Here Vol. II! We've added more weapons, skills and skins from our favourite indie games, so thanks to all the studios that let us add a piece of their creations to Dead Cells. Watch out for a bundle going live in the next few hours, more on that below... So, who's in the update? [previewyoutube=A_kmohIc-b4;full][/previewyoutube]

Terraria

I'm not sure if we can really call Terraria an indie anymore, but they definitely started as one! In any case, we're introducing 'The Guide' and the heavenly sword Starfury! Striking enemies with this gloriously pink sword causes fragments of stars to fall from the sky, dealing critical hits to other enemies around you. The drawback is that it's a relatively slow and static weapon, but chuck a few dodge rolls in there and you'll be fine.

Shovel Knight

Yeah yeah, we know we've already got a shovel in Dead Cells... But luckily the King Scepter exists, so Shovel Knight will be shoulder bashing your enemies to launch himself into the air, then spinning around the screen drilling enemies into the ground with critical hits. Bouncing on an enemy let's you charge again, so see how long you can keep the chain going! We needed to make it a bit tricky to keep hitting enemies from above as it could be too easy to cheese enemies with it (cough Pure Nail cough), so the movement is quite sensitive to make it hard to master.

Hotline Miami

Breaking down doors and pummelling the dazed enemies on the other side just got even more fun! Jacket and his trusty Baseball Bat are swinging into Dead Cells, with not one, not two, but three different masks. The Baseball bat crits on stunned enemies, so you're basically required to hit enemies while they're down... Look out for the damage number VFX pulled from Hotline Miami too!

Katana ZERO

Another head scratcher for us - we've already got a majestic katana in-game so what could Subject ZERO possibly bring to Dead Cells? Well, simply put, the answer is throwing stuff at people! Throwable Objects stun your enemies, allowing you to close the distance and get some shots in, or give you time to charge the katana's dash attack... You've only got 3 charges of throwable stuff, so you'll need to kill enemies to refill your stash.

Slay the Spire

Translating a deckbuilding card game into Dead Cells was pretty tricky but, after several days of tearing out their hair, the devs managed it. The Diverse Deck translates each of the 4 classes from Slay the Spire into one complex skill. You will initially gain a passive power from one class. You can play with this passive for as long as you like, then activating it provides a one-off boost effect, and the skill moves on to the next class. You will start with Barricade, which gives you an amount of permanent bonus health for the period that this 'class' is in play. Each successful parry grants bonus health for a short period of time. On activation, all current bonus health is removed and damage is dealt depending on the quantity removed. Then the skill moves on to Catalyst. Catalyst makes your melee attacks poison the enemies they hit. On activation, nearby enemies lose all their damage-over-time stacks, and are dealt the remaining damage of these effects in one blow. Next up is Electrodynamics, which creates a lightning orb that circles around you, dealing electric damage on impact with enemies. Each time you use the skill that you have in your other slot, an additional orb appears. On activation, all your active orbs are destroyed and one lightning strike hits a nearby enemy for each orb destroyed that way. After this, the skill moves on to the final class... Foresight lets you avoid the first instance of damage every few seconds. On activation, you become immune to all sources of damage for a period of time, then the skill goes back to Barricade and the cycle keeps going. It all sounds a bit complicated but in practice it's pretty intuitive!

Risk of Rain

Last, but definitely not least, one of the great roguelites of the last few years is arriving in the form of The Commando wielding the Laser Glaive! The Laser Glaive is irresistibly drawn to enemy after enemy, rebounding around the screen dealing damage to as many foes as possible. It gains damage after each extra enemy it hits and will start dealing crits after hitting multiple enemies. Not bad for crowd control...

Where do I get all this?!

The book of clues in the Prisoner's Quarters has mysteriously gained new pages - figure out these new riddles then complete the challenges to unlock the outfits. Just like last time, bizarre-looking lore rooms have appeared throughout the island, containing these strange & powerful objects from other worlds...

Bundle

We're running a complete-the-set bundle with all the games included (except Terraria & Hotline Miami) for just one week! It's right here so if you're missing a couple of games in your library or you have a friend who you want to get into some great indie games then check it out! If you want the complete details of everything in the update, with bug fixes and all that stuff, then go check out the full patchnotes on our site. We're also aware of a couple of issues which we're working on a hotfix for:

• Crash with Diverse Deck in custom mode
• Glow issue with some outfits and Assault Shield
• Generation issue with campfire lore room
• Crash when using key to unlock Cavern biome

That's it for now, this update was a ton of fun to work on, so we hope you like it as much as we liked creating it :D We can't quite believe that this insane line-up of games all allowed us to pay a little tribute to them in Dead Cells, you've gotta love the indie community! We haven't forgotten about adding more 'pure' Dead Cells content, that adventure will continue in 2023 and keep an eye out for some news in December... Cheers, Matt, EE & MT

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[ 2022-11-07 15:10:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Roguelite? Metroidvania? Roguevania!

You grew up with the roguelikes, witnessed the rise of the roguelites and even the birth of the roguelite-lites? We'd now like to present for your consideration our RogueVania, the illegitimate child of a modern Roguelite (Rogue Legacy, Binding of Isaac, Enter the Gungeon, Spelunky, etc.) and an old-school MetroidVania (Castlevania: SotN and its ilk).

Features:

• RogueVania: The progressive exploration of an interconnected world, with the replayability of a rogue-lite and the adrenaline pumping threat of permadeath.
  
• 2D Souls-lite Action: Tough but fair combat, more than fifty weapons and spells with unique gameplay, and of course, the emergency panic roll to get you out of trouble.
  
• Nonlinear progression: Sewers, Ossuary or Remparts? Once unlocked, special permanent abilities allow you to access new paths to reach your objective. Opt for the path that suits your current build, your play style or just your mood.
  
• Exploration: Secret rooms, hidden passages, charming landscapes. Take a moment to stroll the towers and breath in that fresh sea mist infused air...

Interconnected levels and progressive unlocking of access to the island provides you with a real incentive to explore your surroundings. Add in a degree of evolution for your character and permanent weapon upgrades and you can see where Dead Cells borrows from the long line of MetroidVanias that precede it.

At the end of the day though, it’s YOUR skills as a player that matter most! Roguelites are about constantly getting better, until what was an insurmountable obstacle becomes a walk in the park. Unforgiving combat wed to the absence of any kind of safety net makes for an adrenalin pumping ride each and every run and unrivaled replayability.

Dead Cells left Early Access on August 7th 2018 and comes with:

• 13 Levels - Each one with its own atmosphere, foes and secrets to discover.
  
• 4 Bosses - Made by the most sadistic of the devs, raised on the salt of the testers.
  
• 90 or so weapons and skills - Spears, swords, bows, freeze blast, etc.
  
• 4 special powers, unlocking new areas and paths (metroidvania gear lock items).
  
• 1 epic responsive, fluid and fun to play combat system.
  
• 1 Daily Run Mode Complete with leaderboards for lording it over your mates.
  
• Hours of fun (depending on your skill, anything from 10 to 30 hours or more).
  
• A few rage-quits, Ok a lot of rage quits… But you’ll git gud… Eventually.