Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania is the fourth paid DLC pack for the main game. It follows The Bad Seed, Fatal Falls, and The Queen and the Sea. Each expansion brings a plethora of new content into the experience, from new characters, levels, and weapons. The thing the previous DLC packs lacked was nostalgia, though.
The Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania trailer that premiered during The Game Awards show in 2022 was beyond hype. There’s nothing players love more than cross-promotional material when it makes sense, and Castlevania content indeed makes sense. Of the many new additions and changes made to the core game, these are the best to highlight.
This list includes some spoilers
7 Classic Character Cameos
The initial trailer for this DLC revealed Richter and Alucard helping the nameless hero in the core game. They do indeed appear as cameos in this DLC and with plenty of dialogue. Alucard, out of all the cameos, perhaps has the most lines in the game. Another big cameo is Shanoa from Order of Ecclesia.
She takes the place of the normal vendor in the upgrade room of Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania. Who else is in the game? That would be spoilers, but they are all great on some level and should get that nostalgic blood pumping.
6 Costumes To Play As Your Favorite Heroes
There is another cool thing about the cameos. Most of the core heroes can be unlocked as costume skins in Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania. One of the first ones players can unlock is Maria from Rondo of Blood, although she looks more like the Symphony of the Night version. She can be rescued in a prison within Dracula’s Castle as long as players obtain a key.
After rescuing her, players can then get Maria’s costume as a blueprint to unlock with Shanoa. Other prominent hero skins include Trevor and Sypha from the third game, Dracula’s Curse.
5 Richter Mode
Not only does Richter appear in the DLC, but he is also playable. Unlike the other costume skins, getting Richter will unlock his very own mode. The self-entitled Richter Mode will turn Dead Cells into an even more Castlevania-like adventure.
The control scheme, for example, will change to the more classic action platformer entries before things went in a Metroidvania direction with Symphony of the Night. This new mode doesn’t feature new areas on top of the already new content, but it is an interesting addition, to be sure.
4 New Levels
Dracula’s Castle is the biggest addition to the game as it is one of the aforementioned levels. It’s a level within several levels. Players can activate the DLC by running into Richter within the starting prisoner area of Dead Cells. Richter will tell the player what’s going on and to head past him.
Past Richter will be an exit to the castle’s outskirts, which then leads to the core of the castle. It’s a great reimagining of this classic castle from the Castlevania series. Those two levels are the biggest, but there are stages for bosses as well, along with side areas within each of these examples.
3 New Bosses And Enemies
There are two big bosses within the game, and they are the obvious ones. Players will get to fight Death along with Dracula in two forms. Death will stop players from reaching Dracula in Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania initially, which is when Alucard will explain the way to circumvent Death’s grasp. Dracula’s addition is great because he will randomly appear to taunt the player once they are inside his castle.
Dracula will even pull Psycho Mantis-like moves from Metal Gear Solid to mess with the player, like flipping the castle upside down. There are some mini-bosses as well, along with a plethora of classic enemies from the series. Plus, there are Easter Eggs for other bosses, such as the Legion boss which has shown up in several Castlevania games.
2 New Weapons
One of the best reasons to get Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania is for the new weapon unlocks. Players can get costumes as was mentioned already. They can also get weapons like the Bible, Throwing Axe, and other iconic Castlevania weapons to fight through hordes of monsters.
One of the coolest weapons in the game is Death’s Scythe, which can be obtained after defeating the boss. Killing an enemy with Death’s Scythe will turn them into a ghost that will then attack other enemies. Those are only the surface-level Mutations in Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania, but there is so much more to love.
1 Classic Castlevania Music Remixed
Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania features several new arrangements of some classic tunes from the series. For those wondering, yes, “Vampire Killer”, “Bloody Tears”, and “Beginning” are covered in Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania. “Vampire Killer” is from the first game which featured Simon on the NES.
“Bloody Tears” is from Simon’s Quest, also featuring Simon Belmont, although his sprite design changed between sequels, so it is kind of hard to tell. “Beginning” is from the third game, Dracula’s Curse, which is where Trevor Belmont came into play. It’s also the game the Netflix Castlevania anime adaptation is based on. Pretty much every Castlevania game in the series gets a musical nod in this DLC.
Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania was released on March 6, 2023, and is available on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
