Review: Guacamelee! takes you on a fun trip to hell in El Diablo’s Domain

Affordability and entertainment. If you’re wondering whether it’s even worth it to purchase downloadable content for Guacamelee! (which you really should've already played by now), then take those two things into account. No, El Diablo’s Domain isn’t exactly a lengthy piece of DLC, but it’s affordable, and it makes for a great couple of hours. Additionally, if you’re one of those gold medal chasers, you definitely get more than your money’s worth because this extra content is challenging and encourages you to keep playing to obtain a few cool unlockables.

El Diablo’s Domain is essentially a collection of challenge rooms, each tasking you to complete its own unique objective. One room can force you to race to the end while performing dodges to avoid thorny vines, while another will throw powerful enemies at you and require you to defeat them without taking a single hit. Other challenges include accruing a specific hit combo and making your way out of a maze.

While the actual difficulty of each objective varies from room to room, the real challenge is in trying to snag those gold medals. You could get by and simply finish each mission to get a regular old bronze medal, but if you attempt to get the ever elusive gold medals (or hell, even silver medals, which are also pretty tough to earn), you’ll be rewarded in the end.

Aside from the bragging rights that accompany each gold medal, you also obtain new costumes because earning medals grants you skins that alter Juan’s abilities. One skin, for example, allows you to throw enemies with much more force, but your melee attacks aren’t as strong. Then there’s an outfit that lets you deal greater amounts of damage than normal, but the price you pay is taking more damage whenever an enemy hits you. It’s a nice little change of pace that makes you alter your strategy, but these costumes can really pay off if you play well enough.

You can potentially finish all of the challenge rooms in El Diablo’s Domain in two hours or less. If you’re going for those gold medals, however, you can expect to play for much longer. This add-on isn’t exactly better than any part of the regular Guacamelee! campaign, but it’s a lot of fun nonetheless. If you’ve got a hankering for some more lucha-style Metroidvania brawling, it’s hard not to recommend this piece of extra content. You get a good deal for just $3, so if you feel like jumping back into Guacamelee!, El Diablo’s Domain is certainly a trip to hell worth taking.

Want to talk about indie games, Kirby, or cheap pizza? Follow me on Twitter @dr_davidsanchez.