Dead by Daylight: Chapter XVII: Descend Beyond Review (PC DLC, 2020)

This review is based on the PC release.

It makes me so happy when I get to praise a long-running game for finding ways to improve. Chapter XVII: Descend Beyond, Dead by Daylight’s newest DLC, is one of the best DLCs the game has ever released. It’s on the level of Chapter V: A Lullaby for the Dark, which gave us Huntress, and Chapter XIII: Stranger Things, which gave us Stranger Things content and expanded the world of the game to allow non-human killers.

Dead by Daylight, in case you didn’t know, is a 4v1 asymmetrical horror game available on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Steam. As a survivor, you work in a team of four players to repair five generators, open the exit gates, and escape the trial alive. As a killer, you hunt down the survivors, knocking them to the ground and placing them on hooks to sacrifice them to the Entity.

What makes Chapter XVII: Descend Beyond so great? First up is the graphics update. While there have been some improvements since the game’s initial release in 2016 (a few lighting passes, changes to the fog and how objects in the distance render, the head turning mechanic actually be reflected in gameplay), so much of what we see in the game is straight from the beta. The new chapter gives us brand new animations for working on generators and opening chests. These are accompanied by major design upgrades to lockers, pallets, generators, medkits, and chests on every map.

Further, the Yamaoka Estate and Springwood Elementary maps received complete graphic overhauls. Everything from the ground you walk on to the sky above has been changed. These maps are beautiful and haunting in ways the game has never seen before. They teased a similar update for Lampkin Lane on the PTB (public test build) for the new chapter, but that didn’t quite make the cut this time.

Frankly, the only downside to this is that we did not get a new map connected to the Descend Beyond characters. Not every chapter comes with a map, though this is the first time Behaviour Interactive did not release a new map with original characters. Still, I’ll sacrifice a new map or realm for a significantly improved gameplay experience.

Next up are the new characters: The Blight and Felix.

The Blight is built around event lore. His origins can be traced to the first Hallowed Blight Event in 2018. Canonically, every fall, a strange crop of oozing plants called Pustula flowers bloom and infect the Realm. Killers become poisoned with their serum, developing glowing characteristics like rotten plants. Survivors can harvest the serum for their own benefit, though the lore back then warned of the addictive and dangerous properties of the serum.

Fast forward to 2020 and we meet Talbot Grimes, aka the Blight. He was a brilliant chemist who was experimenting with compounds that could allow soldiers to withstand more pain. Unfortunately, he grabbed the attention of the wrong people and was forcibly injected with opium to numb his mind and cause addiction. Eventually, he cracked the secret of his formula in one of his dream-like states and the fog of the Entity transformed him into a killer driven by the Putrid Serum of the Pustulas.

The Blight’s power is a combination of super speed and a resistance to pain. When activated, the Blighted Corruption lets him rush forward at incredible speed. He cannot attack while in this state, but he quickly covers great distances to find survivors. If he slams into a wall or object, he can activate a Lethal Rush. This allows him to absorb a stun, change direction, and potentially strike a survivor who gets in his way. He can chain one Rush with four Lethal Rushes, which is more than enough distance to get from one side of any map to the other.

The Blight is by far one of the coolest killers Dead by Daylight has ever released. It’s speculated that he was inspired by the so called “Bump-Billy” build for the Hillbilly. This was a combination of add-ons that allowed Hillbilly to hit the edge of a wall and keep going for a distance rather than be stunned and lose the chase as originally intended. That quirk is the actual feature of The Blight and it’s fun.

There’s a high skill cap to his ability and he does struggle in narrower environments like a pallet loop or certain wall combinations. He mostly feels balanced, though I do think the increased turning rate add-ons allow a little too much side to side mobility in a chase. He can basically curve like a bowling ball if you stack the stronger turn add-ons. Otherwise, he feels like he’s in a good place.

Then we reach Felix. Felix Richter is an architect. He struggled to advance in his career and life until he planned every detail about his image and manners to fit in with more successful people than him. As a teenager, he watched his father and a bunch of other adults get taken by the fog of the Entity, sacrificing themselves for their children. Now an adult himself, Felix tries to use his intelligence and talent to improve the quality of life for all members of society with his architectural projects. He’s eventually hired to work on a massive development project in the same area he witnessed his father disappear. One night, Felix sees his father escape the fog. Felix is happier than he’s ever been, but his father looks first confused, and then incredibly depressed at the sight of his son. Felix’s father chooses to walk back into the fog, and Felix chooses to chase after him.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The writing team at Behaviour is doing an incredible job on the lore of this game. I know there are people who do not like this style of horror writing, but I love it. I grew up reading the kinds of stories and novels they’re emulating with the tone and structure of the lore and I’m all in.

Felix’s story in particular expands on our understanding of the Entity. We know that the survivors and some killers are taken from anywhere in the world and anytime in history to compete in the trials. They can only escape in two ways. They either become so corrupted by the trials that the Entity makes them a killer, or they lose all hope and fade into the darkness of the Realm itself.

Felix’s story changes this in two ways. One, this if the first time we’ve ever seen someone escape the Entity. Felix’s dad may choose to go back, but he somehow found his way into the world of the living. Could someone else actually return to our world?

Two, Felix is the first survivor to choose to enter the Entity’s Realm. Everyone else gets there by accident. The closest to an active participant before this was Yui, and that’s only because her motorcycle propelled her into the fog. Felix is our first survivor to not only escape the reach of the fog, but willingly choose to enter it later on.

I’m actually going to break off my usual look at the new perks and potential builds into a separate post tomorrow. For now, I’ll leave you with this. I have not had this much fun with Dead by Daylight in a long time. I’m not alone in this. There are streamers who have reinstalled the game to play it again based on the response to this chapter. The game is definitely on an upswing and Blight and Felix bring a lot with their mechanics, perks, and lore. You can benefit from the graphics updates just from playing the game as usual, but I think the level of fun Blight and Felix can offer is worth investing in the DLC.

Dead by Daylight: Chapter XVII: Descend Beyond is available on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. You can pick up the core game through my Humble Bundle affiliate site for 10% off. Descend Beyond is also 10% off.