Guillermo Del Toro Advocates for More Checkpoints in Games for Older Players After Struggling with Dead Cells

Guillermo del Toro, the visionary director known for classics like Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, and Pacific Rim, has always had a keen appreciation for video games. Recently, he shared some thoughts on a common challenge many gamers face as they age: the struggle with difficulty settings.

In a recent interview, del Toro discussed his passion for gaming while promoting the return of Pan’s Labyrinth to theaters. He’s previously expressed his admiration for titles like Left 4 Dead, Red Dead Redemption, Metal Gear Solid, and, of course, Death Stranding—though he might have a slight bias towards that last one.

During the chat, he highlighted Motion Twin’s 2018 Metroidvania roguelike, Dead Cells. While he praised its world design and found it intriguing, he voiced his frustration with its punishing difficulty.

“Dead Cells was really interesting to me, I just hate respawning,” del Toro remarked. “You get 35 levels in, and then you start again…you get faster, but please, please do a version without respawning for older players. I’m available. You can contact me and send it to me. Please, I beg you. Because I like the world, great design.”

This perspective taps into a hotly debated topic in gaming: the need for optional difficulty settings. This conversation often resurfaces with each new Soulslike release, but it gained fresh momentum with Yacht Club Games’ Mina the Hollower, which offers numerous modifiers to adjust the game’s challenge.

Dead Cells does include some of these options, such as an Assist Mode introduced in 2022, along with a “Continue Mode” that allows players to respawn from their last save point instead of starting over. It seems someone should fill del Toro in on these features!