What is a man" A miserable little pile of gooey cells, apparently. In Dead Cells, you are some kind of sentient slime, inhabiting corpses and trying to escape a dungeon. This is easier said than done, because this self-styled roguevania wants you dead.

If the term roguevania doesn't make you cringe too hard, you'll find that the game has a lot going for it despite having just launched as an Early Access title. Around 40% of planned content is already implemented and a little more of everything planned for the final release in 8-12 months. Don't let the game's unfinished state keep you from learning its devious ways, though.

Developers Motion Twin clearly understand that responsive controls and fluid movement are the way to go here, and Dead Cells delivers. It plays like a dream, allowing you to zip around and fight gracefully. While the game certainly evokes comparisons to other "Souls-likes", it ups the sometimes plodding pace of these games, turning fights with multiple enemies into fast-paced, tense encounters.
The basic idea is that you fight your way through the procedurally generated castle, killing all the creatures you encounter for their cells, which can be used to unlock new stuff. Eventually you'll face bosses, who are bigger, meaner versions of regular enemies and who give you new ways of traversing the levels. New equipment can be found or bought on the way, too.

And then you die. Again and again. No savegame is going to save ...