Dead Cells is both difficult and rewarding, and the pace of its gameplay is excellent. By that I mean, being a rogue-like, you make small but meaningful progress towards permanent upgrades that make sub-sequent runs easier in various ways, and its one of the best roguelikes in terms of meaningful progress and upgrades. Plus, importantly there is a constant feeling of getting better at the game, and the game getting more and more difficult.
There are a few notable mechanics that separate it from other rogue-likes. There is a Dark Souls like dodge, that is fairly lenient, and a higher skill parry ability that staggers foes when timed well. Otherwise, when using shields, you can choose to favor blocking to only reduce the amount of incoming damage instead of avoiding it entirely.
There is an abundance of map variety, so every run will feature distinct enemy placement, item locations, and even hidden secrets. Despite there being plenty of similarities, all of the levels are hand-crafted, according to the games own developers. When I first played this game, I fell in love with it in its entirety. It had my attention immediately, and held it for many hours. The silent protagonist interacts with doors, items, notes, and key locations throughout the levels, and gives off a sense of personality.