Dead By Daylight Stranger Things Review: Is Demogorgon Worth Buying?

Dead by Daylight's Stranger Things chapter is back in the game in 2023 after a year of being gone, with the revival featuring the likes of The Demogorgon, Nancy Wheeler, and Steve Harrington. But are the Stranger Things characters still worth purchasing and playing after all this time? Let's dig a little deeper.

Dead By Daylight Stranger Things Chapter Review

Stranger Things is by far one of the most widely-praised licensed chapters in Dead by Daylight, with many fans of the Netflix series joining the game just to see their favorite characters in action. Now that the chapter is back in 2023 after being absent for a while, that wave of new players is happening once again.

Those who love the show definitely won't be disappointed by the characters themselves; they're perfectly rendered into Dead by Daylight, looking like their true selves, even with small lobby animations to show off their personalities. When playing as each character in the lobby, you'll get to hear a cool Stranger Things-esque rendition of the Dead by Daylight theme. To top it off, each character has several purchasable cosmetics so you can pick your favorite outfit from the show (Scoops Ahoy Steve, anyone?).

Unfortunately, though, Stranger Things' characters don't have any voice lines; this would've been a really nice touch for the survivors, and perhaps a nice surprise for the license's return to DBD. After all, licensed characters like Chucky, The Cenobite, and Nicolas Cage all have their own voice lines; it's been a trend with new chapters recently, and an excellent one at that, but unfortunately, Stranger Things doesn't benefit from it.

The characters look amazing and could benefit from some voice lines, but more importantly, you're probably wondering how they play. Though The Demogorgon hasn't received any balance changes recently, he hasn't particularly needed them; this killer has a wide array of abilities that make him a viable choice for beginners and long-time players alike. He's able to traverse the map quickly with his portals into the Upside-Down (which themselves are an incredibly fun reference to the show), and his Shred is both easy to control and powerful since he can attack from a long distance.

One thing to note, though, is that the Stranger Things chapter in 2023 is the same price as it was when the game first came out - $11.99 -  but now, you're getting a little less value for your purchase. The Demorgon, Nancy Wheeler, and Steve Harrington originally each had three unique teachable perks, like every other character in the game; those perks later became general perks, though, so anyone can now get them for free. (Behaviour says they plan on making the perks unique to the characters again, but this could take some time.) At this point, Nancy Wheeler and Steve Harrington are essentially just survivor skins without their own special powers or perks (although in a later patch, their previous perks will revert to being exclusive character Perks).