When comparing Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead vs Dead Cells, the Slant community recommends Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead for most people. In the question“What are the best roguelikes/roguelites on PC?” Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead is ranked 3rd while Dead Cells is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead is:
Get taken back to when games were completely made of ascii letters and your imagination. Venture forth as an @ and survive the wild. With the classic ascii art, it is hard to ignore that this is not a graphical powerhouse, but of course that is part of the fun, allowing your imagination to fill in this void.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Classic computer gameplay that offers a lot of nostalgia
Get taken back to when games were completely made of ascii letters and your imagination. Venture forth as an @ and survive the wild. With the classic ascii art, it is hard to ignore that this is not a graphical powerhouse, but of course that is part of the fun, allowing your imagination to fill in this void.
Pro Open source and very moddable, making for a game that anyone can change to their liking
The mod community is pretty active on this game, and you can create some really cool things with the tools they already provide. This way anyone can change their game to how they like.
Pro Super involved gameplay that allows the user to dive deep into the mechanics of the game
Everything from weather to crafting to martial arts are accounted for in Cataclysm. You can spend hours mastering the depths of this games systems that allow you to play however you want.
Pro Being in constant active developed allows the game to constantly grow
Experimental releases exit a few times in a single day. Many people are working on finding bugs, and developers are quickly fixing them and adding new features. This makes for a situation where the game is constantly growing and improving.
Pro Free for anyone to download and try, which leave no one out
The game is free of cost as well as open-source, meaning that anyone can download the game, install it and play it.
Pro Graphics can be used instead of ASCII, for those that would enjoy something more visual
Not supported on every version of the game, but you can have a graphical experience if you want by using a graphical tileset for the game. This will need to be done manually.
Pro Brilliant game design that presents a good challenge
All the little details come together to make Dead Cells incredibly rewarding to play. Making one mistake can mean death, which makes the game challenging but also fun as you learn how to take on certain enemies with different sets of weapons and skills. Also, every level is procedurally-generated, so even when you die and have to restart it feels unique and different every time. This keeps the game from ever getting old, even after you finish the game on the highest difficulty level.
Pro Satisfying combat with a good amount of depth to it
Dead Cells encourages fast-paced gameplay and requires quick reactions. The hits are impactful, the controls are super-responsive, and it's overall very fluid. The game has a good variety of weapons, skills and enemies that all change how the game plays out. Some weapons work best if the enemy is bleeding, some skills hurl enemies at you, some enemies are immune to attacks from the front. Which items you find and decide to keep will change what approach to combat you need to take.
Pro It's hard
If you're a veteran of the genre then this is a must-have.
Pro Beautiful pixel art graphics
The pixel models for your character and the enemies manage to feel modern in the way the animations flow swiftly from movement to movement. The colorful art design is a nice throwback to the retro games that inspired Dead Cells. It goes hand-in-hand with the side-scrolling gameplay, with a cool look to the monster and gadget designs. The reds, blues, and greens especially pop a lot to give the game a distinct look to help it stand apart from others in the same genre.
Pro The developers put a lot of love and care into the game
Throughout its time in Early Access, the creators of Dead Cells consistently updated the game with new features, adding entirely new areas and weapons each time. The game could have honestly been released a while ago and fared decently, but they kept making it better. Even more importantly though, the developers took player feedback into account many times. The devs love the game and the community and it shows through their work.
Cons
Con Lacking hardcore survival feel
The game gets to be rather easy once you spend a little time with it. Basements full of everything one needs to survive in every other house, and stores that look like they were left as seem out of place since in a disaster scenario most items would probably have been taken already.
You can tweak the options to suit a more hardcore experience if you so desire. The options allow for a wide variety of difficulty and playstyles.
Con Difficult to learn at first
This could be a pro for some but for many this will turn them away from the game.
Con Frustrating for players new to roguelikes
If you're new to the genre, this may not be the best place to start. The game gives you one life (except with a certain perk), so if you die, then your whole run is over. This would be fine if it wasn't so easy to lose all your health in an instant and fall back to level one. This makes it frustrating if you spend a lot of time on a run only for it to all go down the drain from a small mistake. The punishing difficulty can be pretty overwhelming for newcomers unless you're really looking to push yourself.
Con Shallow story
The story feels totally inconsequential. There isn't much going on with the plot, and what little is there is pretty forgettable. You feel motivated by the progression of the game rather than any emotional connection to the story. If you're looking for something with a stronger narrative to go with the good gameplay, this isn't it.