It's been nine months since Dead Cells received its last update. That's perhaps the longest the game has gone without getting an update, and it seems Motion Twin knows it. That's why the new Practice Makes Perfect update seems perfectly designed to get lapsed players back into what's possibly the best Metroidvania game ever made.
First, there's the new Training Room where players can take on bosses and mobs they've already encountered. The Training Room is just before the Prisoner's Quarters and features a big button at the entrance. Set what baddies you want to fight and then press the button to have them re-animate from the statues on the floor. Motion Twin has also included a biome preset so you can fight one of each monster from each biome.
The boss room is at the back of the Training Room, with each boss given their own specific door. Just head inside to be transported to the boss.
Second are the new Aspects, "optional super-strong buffs equippable at the start of a run that make the game a lot easier." Consider Aspects to be Dead Cells way of making an easy mode interesting. Rather than just make baddies easier to kill and less numerous, Aspects provide the player with targeted boons that improve their preferred playstyle.
There are 13 Aspects in total, with Motion Twin treating us to five previews. The Assassin Aspect causes the first attack from an invisible player to instant-kill non-boss targets, while the Firestarter Aspect increases flame damage by 100% and violet flame damage by 200%. The Shatter Aspect improves damage to frozen targets, while Toxin Lover actually heals the player while inside a gas or poison cloud.
The only downside to Aspects is you cannot gain new Boss Cells while an Aspect is in use or unlock flawless boss achievements.
Finally, perhaps the biggest update to Dead Cells in years is the new World Map. This can be accessed on the map screen for your current biome and shows all previously discovered biomes connected by level. If you can't remember where you were when you last stopped playing Dead Cells, this will help you get back on track.
There are a few other tweaks and QOL improvements in Practice Makes Perfect, which you can read about in the patch notes here. Practice Makes Perfect is live on PC and consoles now.