I give Christmas presents to my brothers, even though we all are adults. I'm usually sending games through Steam and I'm also usually  getting some games from my brothers too. My younger brother, however, gave me a set of dice this year. 7 dice from d4 to d100. I don't even play role playing games, but I think they are awesome. Now I can pretend to be ~~a role playing virgin~~ cool.

![20200105000243_1.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/apsu/DjW3rFyI-20200105000243_1.jpg)

However, I got two games from my older brother. Dark Souls 2 (we all are usually going for discount games) and Dead Cells. As Dead Cells was much faster to download and install, I started with it. I hadn't heard anything about the game and I was honestly a bit surprised with the game! The game was pretty to look at, music was nice and I really enjoyed the controls of the game. The game is suggesting that I should use a gamepad, but I'm happy playing with keyboard and mouse.

![20200102195550_1.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/apsu/21KofAuh-20200102195550_1.jpg)

But again, I've played quite many different games and in some games, the movement is plain clunky. In Dead Cells, it's a pleasure to run and jump around. Especially in the combat! Fighting monsters is really fun and the monsters actually need very different approaches to be beaten. At best, the combats are very fast paced but still smooth and fun. It's rare to see such fun combat system, especially as you just can't stand still and win battles by clicking one button.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXzLchBBN4g&feature=youtu.be

![20200108201357_1.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/apsu/qoFjJ0gS-20200108201357_1.jpg)

The weapons and skills are very different. Not only based on their damage, but you need to build a strategy based on the weapons you have or might have. The long term progress in the game can be achieved by unlocking new weapons or upgrades, while shorter termed progress comes from upgrade scrolls. They allow you to level up one of the three stats, increasing weapon damage and hp. The weapons can have one or two of the three colors, all of which represent one of the stats. If you increase brutality (red), then the red items will have increased damage. The weapons with two colors will benefit only from the higher stat, but all stat upgrades will increase your health.

![20200108202955_1.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/apsu/jVpf5mdX-20200108202955_1.jpg)

The bosses are still a challenge to me. I've completed the game with normal + hard difficulties, but I still think only the first boss is somewhat easy. The difficulty levels make the game enjoyable even after the first playthrough, even though constant dying with very hard difficulty is hardly enjoyable.

The game has also alternative maps/routes for the playthrough and when you've unlocked special runes, you can play the game through alternative levels with additional challenge.

There's also a daily challenge mode, in which you'll have to complete a map within a time limit while collecting points during the playthrough. Fun for a short run.

![20200108202451_1.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/apsu/PfRnLBbw-20200108202451_1.jpg)

The game doesn't have a very deep story. It does have a story behind it all, as there has been an outbreak of a disease called "Malaise" on the island. The king had tried to supress the disease using some quite violent methods, but with poor luck, as it appears. The monsters are everywhere, statues of the king have been desecrated and humans are very <b>very</b> rare. The dungeons contain some special rooms meant for treasures and lore. Be it a laboratory of The Alchemist or an empty prison cell with a letter left by the prisoner, they give small clues about what happened on the island before the player entered. 

![20191229205042_1.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/apsu/pyBaG4Zf-20191229205042_1.jpg)

I'm usually going after story-driven games, but luckily Dead Cells is made well enough to be enjoyable even without a focus on the story. The game has a nice atmosphere and it's pleasant to play. It's more than enough for a game to be enjoyable. The difficult curve might be too much for some players, but I'm glad we're still having difficult games in this era of "pay-to-win" -games.

![20200108202317_1.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/apsu/bDISeghO-20200108202317_1.jpg)

The most important feature of the game, however, is the ability to eat bread. You have multiple alternatives for the appearance of the healing food items. My favorite one is this one, which makes the healing items to be croissants and baguettes. So far I haven't played the game with any other option, so I don't even know what the food items look like with the other options.