Guillermo del Toro just got bodied by Dead Cells and now he's begging Motion Twin for an elderly-friendly patch like the roguelike's 2018 launch was yesterday. The 61-year-old director praised the game's world and design in an IGN interview but straight-up roasted the respawn loop, pleading for a no-respawn version "for the older, for the elderly players" because 35 levels in only to restart sucks when you're not built for it.

Motion Twin clapped back politely on X saying they're honored and pointing him straight to the existing Assist Mode that lets you resurrect at the start of the current biome or closest checkpoint instead of full runs. Players on Reddit and X are already memeing it with jokes about "hardcore mode unlocked" and how del Toro's request would flip the entire roguelike formula on its head.

The whole thing blew up after Kotaku and PC Gamer picked it up, turning one filmmaker's casual interview into the latest difficulty discourse battleground. Del Toro's other gaming faves like Left 4 Dead and Death Stranding show he knows good stuff when he sees it, but this Dead Cells beatdown might be the one that finally makes him check Steam for accessibility sliders.