Info about Dead Cells: Rise of the Giant:

Official game description:
After the development of Dead Cells, we were completely blown away by the amazing reaction of the community. Without your support and feedback we wouldn’t be where we are today. Rise of the Giant is our way of saying thank you. Here’s a free DLC with a bunch of new content, mostly aimed at the people who have been hanging around since day 1, it’s high level and should offer more challenge than most sane people would think reasonable.  
Features:
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*   New levels: You’ve got a new level that’s connected to the main level structure and immediately available to anyone who’s finished the game at least once. You’ve got another (poorly) hidden level, for the masochists who know that there is a Boss Cell 5  
*   New Bosses: Mirroring the above, you’ve got a new completely different type of boss available in the main level structure, with another INSANELY difficult boss hidden behind even more ridiculously difficult content.  
*   New content: There are 10 new enemies, 13 new weapons/skills and a bunch of other upgrades to core game systems. There are additions to the story/lore of the game, new secrets, new blueprints and…  
*   Skins: People have been requesting this for ages and we’ve finally found the time to make the necessary changes to accommodate the request. You’ve now got access to female skins, fluo skins and a Christmas tree skin, cos why the hell not.
The difficulty has been rebalanced so that the entry level of the game, while extremely challenging is now in line with the 5 extra difficulty levels available to those who like to suffer.  
We hope that you like Rise of the Giant!

Release date: Mar 28, 2019

Categories: Roguelike, Metroidvania, Action Platformer, Character Progression, Weapon Customization, Boss Fights, Procedural Generation, High Difficulty

Feature scans:
- MTX: score 10; verdict: Fair; summary: The reviews for this game's DLC indicate a generally positive reception regarding its monetization practices. The most notable point is that the DLC is free and does not require additional spending, which is highly appreciated by users. There are minor issues related to DLC management and announcements, but these do not significantly impact the overall positive sentiment towards the game's monetization.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00
  - Reasoning: The evidence suggests that users find the game worth the price, especially when on sale. The phrase 'worth every cent it doesn't cost' implies a high value perception, while 'vale a pena cada centavo gasto nele' (worth every penny spent on it) reinforces this sentiment. The mention of '48真的不亏' (48 really worth it) provides a specific price point that users find fair, indicating a positive sentiment around this price.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 60.0h
  - Story completion: N/A
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The evidence provided indicates significant playtime investment from players. The mention of '300 hours' and '130+ hours' suggests a high level of engagement and replayability. The '60+ hours' quote indicates a substantial time commitment over a few weeks. The 'Replay Value: 11/10' comment underscores the game's strong replayability, which is crucial for understanding the typical playtime metrics. However, specific metrics like game completion, story completion, session length, and endgame hours are not explicitly detailed in the reviews, making it challenging to provide precise numbers.
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes:
  - Veteran Combat Strategist (buy)
    - Motivation: Mastery and replayability
    - Playstyle: Strategic and optimized gameplay
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: Roguelike enthusiast; 2D combat lover
    - Reference games: Hades; Metroid
  - Nostalgic Explorer (buy)
    - Motivation: Nostalgia and exploration
    - Playstyle: Explorative and nostalgic
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: Retro gamer; Metroid fan
    - Reference games: Metroid; Hades; Super Nintendo games


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Enjoyable and well-designed gameplay (weight 0.62): Many players praised the game for its fun and varied gameplay, as well as its good design and cover design. The overall experience is described as enjoyable and well-made.
- High-quality free DLC content (weight 0.53): The game offers free DLC that is praised for its quality and quantity. Players appreciate the new content and expansions provided through these updates.
- Introduction of new weapons (weight 0.52): The game introduces various new weapons and skills for players to master, adding to the gameplay experience and variety.
- Positive reception in different languages (weight 0.51): The game receives positive feedback in multiple languages, indicating a broad appeal and enjoyment among diverse player bases.
- Unique boss designs and weapons (weight 0.49): The game features uniquely designed bosses and powerful weapons, such as the Giantkiller, which are highly praised by players.
- Engaging storyline (weight 0.37): The game features an excellent and new storyline that players appreciate. It also finishes the storyline, providing a complete narrative experience.
- New difficulty levels (weight 0.36): The game introduces new unlockable maximum difficulty levels, providing more challenges for experienced players.
- Positive player experiences and recommendations (weight 0.36): Many players express their love for the game and its updates, highly recommending it to others and enjoying the overall experience.
- New levels and locations (weight 0.32): The game adds new levels and locations, providing fresh content for players to explore and enjoy.
- High replayability and content (weight 0.32): The game offers tons of replayability with a lot of content to unlock and explore, keeping players engaged for long periods.
- Clear instructions for DLC access (weight 0.27): Players appreciate the clear and specific instructions provided for accessing and troubleshooting DLC content.
- Cinematic ending and boss fights (weight 0.21): The game features a cinematic true ending and enjoyable boss fights, including strategies for defeating bosses.
- Positive music and audio experience (weight 0.2): Players enjoy the music and audio in the game, describing it as high-quality and enjoyable.
- Customization and character growth (weight 0.2): The game offers customization features and character growth, allowing players to optimize their gear and develop their characters.
- Community interaction and guides (weight 0.2): Players appreciate the community interaction and helpful guides provided for progression and troubleshooting.
- Secrets and Easter eggs (weight 0.15): The game includes secrets to find and good Easter eggs, adding to the exploration and discovery aspects of the gameplay.
- RNG and gameplay elements (weight 0.14): The game includes RNG elements and detailed gameplay tips, adding variety and depth to the gameplay experience.

Common complaints:
- DLC installation issues on Mac (weight 0.44): Multiple players reported problems with downloading, installing, and accessing DLC content specifically on Mac systems.
- Intrusive DLC promotional audio (weight 0.28): Players are frustrated by a loud, looping audio from a DLC promotional video that cannot be turned off, even when the game is muted.
- Dislike for the new Cavern map (weight 0.24): Some players are not fans of the new Cavern map, finding it unpleasant or poorly designed.
- Frustration with boss fights (weight 0.21): Players express frustration with certain boss fights, particularly the last boss and the giant boss fight.
- Game launching and installation issues (weight 0.21): Players experience problems with the game not launching or installing properly.
- Difficulty with game mechanics (weight 0.21): Players find certain game mechanics difficult, such as the lava head separation mechanic and enemy damage output.
- Difficulty with specific enemies (weight 0.2): Players report issues with certain enemies, such as birds being immune to stun and general difficulty with new mobs.
- Lack of save points (weight 0.15): Players are frustrated by the lack of save points, requiring them to restart from the beginning after dying.
- Difficulty with true ending (weight 0.15): Players find it challenging to achieve the true ending due to high difficulty content.
- Repetitive gameplay elements (weight 0.15): Players find certain aspects of the game repetitive, such as music and forced paths.
- Support and bug fixes (weight 0.15): Players report that support is bad and old bugs are never fixed.
- Game time limit frustration (weight 0.14): Players are frustrated by a strict two-hour limit on game time.
- Pricing concerns (weight 0.14): Some players feel that the game or its DLCs are overpriced.
- Language and translation issues (weight 0.08): Players report that part of the text is in Polish and part in English, causing confusion.
- Negative initial impressions (weight 0.08): Some players did not like the game much at first, but this may change over time.

Gameplay feedback:
- Gameplay mechanics and design (weight 0.95): The game's mechanics, including platform navigation, roguelike elements, and combat techniques, are praised for their design and variety.
- New content and challenges (weight 0.66): The introduction of new weapons, enemies, items, and end-game content adds fresh challenges and ways to play the game.
- Game areas and exploration (weight 0.51): Specific areas like the Cavern biome, graveyard route, and forced paths are highlighted for their rewards, challenges, and exploration aspects.
- Character and weapon variety (weight 0.46): Players appreciate the variety in weapons, shields, accessories, and character customization features that enhance gameplay.
- Boss fights and strategies (weight 0.39): Players are focused on various boss fights, including new bosses and strategies to defeat them, such as the Hammer King and titanic threats.
- DLC access and mechanics (weight 0.38): Players are discussing how to access and troubleshoot DLC content, including the mechanics and requirements for entering new areas.
- High difficulty and grinding (weight 0.32): The game is noted for its high difficulty, requiring grinding and strategic planning to progress, especially in tough areas like the Cavern.
- Unique game elements (weight 0.21): Unique elements such as the Boss Cell system, procedurally-generated runs, and specific mechanics like head separation add depth to the game.

Performance notes:
- Sound loops continuously (weight 0.09): Players have experienced issues with sound looping continuously, affecting the gameplay experience.
- Compatibility issues with MacOS and Linux (weight 0.09): There are reported issues with the game's compatibility on MacOS and Linux systems.

Recommendations:
- Highly recommended (weight 0.34): A significant number of reviews strongly recommend the game to others, indicating a high level of satisfaction and enjoyment.
- Worth the price (weight 0.17): Many players feel that the game provides excellent value for its cost, with some even stating it is worth more than it is priced.

Other player notes:
- Shared account progress transfer (weight 0.16): Players can transfer game progress and claim free DLCs by copying save files from a shared account to their own, given the shared account has established saves. Refunds are possible if done within two hours of gameplay, including time played on shared accounts.
- Polish language request (weight 0.08): Some players are requesting the addition of Polish language support to make the game more accessible to a wider audience.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.3): Players are frustrated due to technical issues such as installation problems, download errors, and bugs preventing access to key areas like caverns and new DLC content. Additionally, gameplay challenges like difficulty with certain weapons, mobs, and boss fights, particularly the lava head separation mechanic and the final boss, contribute to this frustration.
- Excitement (weight 0.24): Players are excited about the new end-game content, which introduces challenging and fun boss fights, as well as new ways to play. The high-quality free DLC, cinematic true ending, and enjoyable gameplay mechanics, including combat feel and music, also contribute to this excitement.
- Disappointment (weight 0.03): Players feel disappointed due to the lack of price reduction over time and ongoing issues with updates and DLC. These issues detract from the overall experience and value of the game.
- Anger (weight 0.02): Players express anger due to poor support, which affects their ability to resolve issues and enjoy the game. This lack of support leads to a negative experience.
- Confusion (weight 0.02): Players are confused because they cannot access certain DLC areas, which hinders their progress and enjoyment of the new content.}