New player and bought all DLC

[ViciousSatyr]

Is there a way to play the base game? It seems like it just started me out in Castlevania, though I also have the other DLCs. Is there a way to switch to the Original Dead Cells and get the Full Experience?

[Jerem / Ta'i'o's]

You choose where you want to go, you have several zones accessible at every area. You may have chosen to go to the castle that's why you're experimenting the castlevania dlc from the start. But look everywhere and you'll find the base game areas as well. All dlcs are perfectly included and add more stuff, but do not alter the base game content that is still here

[ViciousSatyr]

Originally posted by Jerem / Ta'i'o's:

You choose where you want to go, you have several zones accessible at every area. You may have chosen to go to the castle that's why you're experimenting the castlevania dlc from the start. But look everywhere and you'll find the base game areas as well. All dlcs are perfectly included and add more stuff, but do not alter the base game content that is still here

Ahhh ok, thanks!

[Spelunkaria]

You might've gotten that idea from the menu, as the Castlevania DLC is the only one that changes it. As the other user said, the DLCs all blend in seamlessly so no worries there.
I recommend exploring the first area thoroughly each time you pass through it for some great references and unlockables.

[Mirai]

It seems to me like since I bought the Castlevania DLC, I always find the entrance to that area the fastest, usually dead ahead a short way .. where is that used to be the second zone of the "normal" game. If I wanna go there, I have to hunt around for it now. But also, even if you don't own the DLCs, you still encounter the paths to them. I don't have two of them and I still find those paths but I can't enter them, at least for the others. I bought the Castlevania DLC pretty much right away, so I never saw the game after the DLC got released, but without purchasing it.

[iGPUGamer]

I have the opposite question. I bought Dead Cells with everything on the Nintendo Switch and it starts me off in the base game with no clear way to access Castlevania. How did you access that DLC?

[Mirai]

Originally posted by iGPUGamer:

I have the opposite question. I bought Dead Cells with everything on the Nintendo Switch and it starts me off in the base game with no clear way to access Castlevania. How did you access that DLC?

I'm not sure about the Switch version but here on PC, in the starting area there are branching paths that lead to the other DLC areas but you can only enter them if you have the correct DLCs for them. The doors/paths should be there even if you don't own one of the DLCs.

[iGPUGamer]

Originally posted by Mirai:

Originally posted by iGPUGamer:

I have the opposite question. I bought Dead Cells with everything on the Nintendo Switch and it starts me off in the base game with no clear way to access Castlevania. How did you access that DLC?

I'm not sure about the Switch version but here on PC, in the starting area there are branching paths that lead to the other DLC areas but you can only enter them if you have the correct DLCs for them. The doors/paths should be there even if you don't own one of the DLCs.

Must you have completed the game at least once before these branching paths appear?

[Aumires]

Once you have the DLC activated, a new path appears in the first stage after your very first run. At least, that's what happened with me on my new file after I installed all of them.

The DLCs don't quite disrupt the game flow. Although if you don't know the paths, you might end up somewhere else other than the main base path. Most of them are also on alternate paths and require some movement runes.

The one that requires the Crowned Key also doesn't appear outright either. And the game itself warns you that it is a hard path. I haven't cleared that boss myself, or the Castlevania final one... even in a base setting, the boss is a menace and certainly requires practice in training.

Forest path, ruins and cavern DLC areas though were cleared. Those are more standard difficulty ones.

[iGPUGamer]

Originally posted by Aumires:

Once you have the DLC activated, a new path appears in the first stage after your very first run. At least, that's what happened with me on my new file after I installed all of them.

The DLCs don't quite disrupt the game flow. Although if you don't know the paths, you might end up somewhere else other than the main base path. Most of them are also on alternate paths and require some movement runes.

The one that requires the Crowned Key also doesn't appear outright either. And the game itself warns you that it is a hard path. I haven't cleared that boss myself, or the Castlevania final one... even in a base setting, the boss is a menace and certainly requires practice in training.

Forest path, ruins and cavern DLC areas though were cleared. Those are more standard difficulty ones.

That explains it. I haven't completed the first run.