Dead Cells The End is Near has finally arrived, marking the end of one of the best roguelikes ever made. Between Motion Twin and Evil Empire, the Metroidvania spin on the genre has been supported with free and premium content for almost a decade. So while it’s devastating to watch it end, Dead Cells is still going out with a bang.
There’s a lot to unpack, so I want to start with the overhauled and expanded curse mechanic. Up to now, curse meant that you’d die in one hit. You need to outlast the effect, and if you do you’re greatly rewarded for the rest of your your run. It’s the roguelike’s ultimate test of skill, so it’s fitting for it to be part of Dead Cells’ final patch.
The End is Near adds three new enemies centered around Curse: the Sore Loser follows you and curses you when you kill it, the Doom Bringer adds two stacks of curse with every hit, and the Curser throws a projectile that adds five stacks of curse. There are also three new weapons and mutations centered around being cursed, which help you blitz through runs but extend the mechanic’s effect – so don’t get hit.
The enemies, weapons, and mutations are all part of the new Cursed Biome. If your run is at Boss Cell level two or higher, these biomes appear and add nine of the new mobs, but you’re rewarded for taking them on. Every item dropped in the biome is one gear level higher and cursed chests appear 10% more of the time, but the number of cursed biomes in your run is limited by the Boss Cell level – in other words, the curse mechanic has been overhauled to offer even more challenge the harder Dead Cells gets, while offering up even bigger rewards.
Curses aren’t all that Evil Empire has added to Dead Cells, though. There are 40 new heads to customize your prisoner, new routing between biomes that means you can do both Return to Castlevania areas in one run, and a slate of accessibility options. Evil Empire breaks down all these changes in the patch notes, which you can read in full here.
Both Motion Twin and Evil Empire leave Dead Cells with one final message, thanking everyone for supporting the roguelike for almost a decade. “To the players – Thank you for everything. Thank you for all of your dedication, passion, and feedback. Dead Cells wouldn’t be what it is today without all of you. And a huge thanks to everyone who worked on the game, from previous Motion Twin members to everyone at Evil Empire.”
With Dead Cells finally coming to an end now’s the perfect time to dust off your Panchaku, blaze through some Boss Cell runs, and kick in as many doors as possible.
If you want more after saying goodbye to Dead Cells there are plenty of excellent Metroidvania and indie games you can play right now too.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.
