The last thing I’m sure Dead Cells’ the Beheaded wanted to deal with was a resurrected vampire lord and his castle of goons, but alas he’s roped into some Belmont crusade to rid the world of evil in the latest Dead Cells expansion “Return to Castlevania”.
Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania
Developer: Motion Twin
Price: TBA
Platform: PC / PS5 / Switch / XSX
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review
Return to Castlevania brings us full circle from Dead Cells’ initial Castlevania inspired design by introducing a new collection of biomes inspired by the titular game itself. Whenever you begin a fresh run you’ll be able to run into Richter Belmont himself who asks for your help in defeating Dracula. Along the way, you’ll also run into Alucard who joins in your mission and you’ll come face to face with the big vamp himself.
Return to Castlevania’s new biomes it introduces are spliced into the game’s regular rotation, and while it only brings two new ones (another two are exclusively boss areas so it’s technically four total) those two biomes are probably some of Dead Cells’ biggest areas. Dracula’s castle in particular is a gargantuan thing to explore. Also included are nine new enemies, three bosses, over a dozen weapons, and a slew of outfits for the Beheaded. All of this is pulled directly from various Castlevania games so you’ll fight Death, get weapons like the vampire killer or Alucard’s shield, or dress up like Simon or Sypha. On top of this are the 50+ Castlevania tracks to jam out to while you brave Dracula’s castle.
The entire DLC is just *stuffed* with references to the series, like a corner of the castle where you can find the Ghost Dancers having a sweet little moment. To the point where the DLC even works in the final area of Dead Cells (the Clocktower) into its story in a similar method to the clocktower in Symphony of the Night. There’s always some visual or musical treat for fans of Castlevania to find all over this DLC and it really shows how giddy Motion Twin was to be able to work on this.
Also included in the DLC is “Richter Mode” where you can play as the man himself. After a certain point, you’ll be able to find a caged-up Richter who, after being freed, will allow you to swap to playing as him. Ritcher comes with a fresh set of gear and different controls as well like a dash instead of the usual roll, and a backflip instead of a double jump. It doesn’t flip the game of Dead Cells on its head or anything, since I still prefer playing as the Beheaded, but it’s a really fun inclusion in the DLC.
The Final Word
Return to Castlevania is a lovingly crafted expansion for Dead Cells that fans of both games shouldn’t miss out on.
– MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
