Dead by Daylight Review (Cup of Depresso)
Save your time and your money. Pursue generally anything else. Not worth the time and investment.
Devs don't know what they're doing, and lucked out with famous license killers early on in the game's lifespan. It has a chokehold on asymmetrical games, becoming a titan despite how bad the state of the game might be.
Expect to spend at least three times the price of the base game just to unlock perks to be viable in gameplay. You can theoretically grind in-game to get currency to unlock one character at a time BUT this is unable to be done with licenses; aka myers, freddy, sadako, etc. It means that you're still going to be paying at least 3 times the price of the base game to get all the perks and have more options in terms of perk variety.
Gameplay is EXTREMELY frustrating and has forgotten the core loop/foundation of dbd. Killers can choose to prevent people in particular from playing the game, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. There's nothing in the game to stop the Killer from focusing you right after being hooked, which means if they're petty or just want to eliminate one survivor for the sake of slimy gameplay, then you cannot stop them. You can't stop them because devs have nerfed survivor power into being nonexistant. This core problem of the game is what has me quitting the game over and over again. Imagine coming home from a 9 to 5 job, signing up to play a game that you're realistically only going to play for 2 minutes because the devs give the power for them to tunnel you without consequences.
Killer designs have become so bloated and the consistency makes zero sense. For instance, pseudo-ranged killers have to hold m2 to charge up their power, meaning they're unable to attack you with a basic attack. The Xenomorph automatically gets a pseudo-ranged attack passively, and can m1 you at any time without losing this attack. Meanwhile Demogorgon, Executioner, Nemesis, and a couple more, have to commit by holding m2 and can't basic attack within this window. Chucky, is a killer that plays exclusively in 3rd person during chases, in a game that is fundamentally built on killers playing in 1st and survivors in 3rd. This creates a very big problem in-game because it basically "breaks the rules" of the game, while being a license killer so you can't access without swiping. Viktor, part of The Twins, plays the game in 1st person despite being pretty much the exact same height as Chucky. It's evident here that licenses are getting a bit of favoritism in mechanics design, and it makes the game unhealthy.
A lack of gameplay clarity also makes the game experience poor. I'll give you a scenario; you're on a generator and a survivor just got hooked and the killer is running to your location immediately afterwards. Are you ready to play "What the fuck is happening to my generator?" Did it blow up because the survivor got downed from Jolt? Did it blow up because Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance? Did it get blocked from Grim Embrace? Did it get blocked from I'm All Ears? Did it get blocked by Dead Man's Switch?
Iterating on the last paraphaph, the devs are running out of ideas with perks. They pretty much just make the same effect, but with different trigger conditions. This makes the game a jumbled mess and not really understanding what's going on unless you do college thesis level research. Did the killer get Aura Reading capabilities from; seeing survivor's heal with Nurse's Calling? Hooking a survivor with BBQ & Chili? Carrying a survivor with Awakened Awareness? Opening a locker with Darkness Revealed? Did the game just start with Lethal Pursuer? Survivor standing next to a downed pallet with Zanshin Tactics? Did the survivor escape chase with Predator?
This concept of re-using the same mechanic but with different triggers is widespread all across the game, and has become incredibly stale. All of the Aura Reading ruined stealth gameplay for survivors, while simultaneously making most loops extremely short and unable to be used without trading hits or worse. On top of this, factor in newer killers having some form of anti-loop. Keep in mind that you probably won't be able ot access these unless you card swipe for more at least three times the base game's cost.
Every person who plays or has played this game will tell you they have a love-hate relationship for it. Mostly because it's miserable and they still play because of the Sunken Cost Fallacy. Don't fall victim to BHVR's false hope. The game will never get better because it's already been muddied with poor designs that are unfixable; such as Xeno, Skull Merchant, Knight, etc.
Did you know that Dracula is 3 killers combined into one? Flame pillars = Executioner's line attack. Wolf form = Mastermind Dash. Bat form = Spirit Phasing (Loosely. You can hear people the same way; louder footsteps, scratches, and grunts of pain)
In good faith, I can't recommend this game to anyone. Instead, it's something I would probably recommend to my worst enemy.