Dead Cells

Dead Cells chains status effects with conditional damage for combos. Weapons, traps and grenades apply freezing, burning or poison, and other weapons deal extra damage to enemies with those effects. An icy grenade freezes a group, then a sword that does double damage to frozen enemies finishes them.

Mark Brown calls this "a delicious one-two punch where you throw an icy grenade to freeze everyone in proximity". He cites it as an example of synergy between items.

Dead Cells ties upgrades to skill, but persistent power can blur what a win means. Money is lost on death unless spent at an upgrade station, so players must be good enough to reach the end of an area and bank it. Persistent upgrades also flip the difficulty curve: it can feel like you have no chance until you buy more health potions.

That creates a grind before real play begins. After a win, you cannot tell if you improved or the game got easier: "Did you get better, or did the game just get easier?"

Dead Cells builds its combat on deliberate Souls-style fundamentals, not bonfires and souls. It uses the combat that comes from action warm-ups, animation priority and stamina management. It is described as a Roguevania built on those elements.

Let it Die, a free to play roguelike, is cited alongside it as another game using this combat. The point is that this small set of elements can support very different kinds of game.