17th March 2023
Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we’ve found ourselves playing over the last few days. This time: vampires, RPGs, and a memorable lair.
If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What We’ve Been Playing, here’s our archive.
Dead Cells, PS4
It’s been an age since I’ve played Dead Cells. Well, five years ago when it launched. And what better excuse to return to those randomly shifting deathly hallways than the release of its new Castlevania DLC.
Dead Cells is something of a roguelike Metroidvania and is indebted to Konami’s series, but nowadays Castlevania feels like a relic of a dusty – probably upside down – and long-forgotten vampire abode. It’s come full circle, then, and this DLC is a wonderful celebration of both games. From the first level, Richter ushers me to Dracula’s castle on an urgent mission, which takes me through brand new areas full of references. The Vampire Killer song kicks in (what a bop!), I meet up with Alucard, and I summon a host of bats to battle on my behalf, before Dracula rocks up to literally flip the world around. It’s a bloody rush.