A quirky and fun roguelike with rhythm-based gameplay

Aug 11, 2014 16:45 GMT  ·  By

Crypt of the NecroDancer is a quirky little indie game that has you not only stomping on various dungeon monsters in a roguelike setting, but doing so in style, to the rhythm of some pretty catchy tunes.

NecroDancer is a pretty happy marriage of addictive groove-based gameplay and the complexity and unforgiving nature of roguelikes, realized in a polished experience that offers a lot of fun.

The game is not yet completed, being on Steam Early Access, but it already looks pretty good, and all the base elements (and more) are in place, so I decided to give it a go.

From the first try, the thing that I liked the most about the game was the fact that you can select a character that completely ignores all the beats, essentially transforming the game into a regular, turn-based roguelike, in case you want to play a bit but don’t feel like following the beat.

There are several more characters though, each of them coming with various quirks that can offer you an advantage during your adventures, but you will have to unlock them by showing mastery in the dungeons.

The roguelike part of the game is divided into four dungeons, with three floors each. Every floor has a mini-boss that you have to take out in order to open the exit, and there is a big boss encounter at the end. You get to battle from hulking Minotaurs to fearsome Dragons, peppered, of course, with conga lines of dancing zombies.

The catch and main gameplay feature is the fact that you have to do all your battling and exploration to the beat of whatever song is playing, and missing the beat will cause you to lose an action and stay in place, risking to get hit by the denizens of the dungeon.

Crypt of the NecroDancer uses a pretty strategic approach instead of relying on blind luck like most roguelikes do, by having each of the monsters you face move and attack in a certain pattern that you can learn.

Furthermore, once you come face to face with one of the horrors of the deep, you will be able to go back in town and practice 1v1 battles against them until you master the art of taking them down.

During your adventures, you’ll come across various items that will greatly help your efforts, from pikes that enable you to attack at a distance to greatswords that hit multiple enemies at once or devastating spells.

In addition to this, there are two types of currencies that you can accumulate while venturing into the dungeons, gold, which can be used to purchase stuff from merchants, and diamonds, which you can use to buy permanent upgrades back in town, after you die, which will help you during subsequent runs.

The game is pretty difficult, and you’ll die a lot, but the more you die and discover, the better your chances at succeeding become and the deeper you’ll be able to venture during subsequent runs.

There are many new ideas in the game as well, as developer Brace Yourself Games was not merely content to put out yet another iteration of the same old stuff we’ve been seeing for years, in spite of what the pixelated visuals might have you thinking.

You’ll come across mushroom people who spew deadly area of effect spore attacks, Minotaurs who charge headlong as soon as they get a glimpse of you, wizards that cast spells at you from afar, and the best thing about it is that it stays clear of the supremely annoying instant kills that you get in other such games.

There are no “gotcha!” moments here, just pattern recognition and the challenge to keep to the beat, translating into an experience that is quite fun and rarely frustrating, albeit a bit repetitive due to the presence of a single tune per level.

The addition of further gameplay-enriching mechanics such as digging through walls in search of hidden rooms, daily challenges and a hardcore challenge mode only sweeten the already enticing deal.

Crypt of the NecroDancer screenshots (9 Images)

Crypt of the NecroDancer
Crypt of the NecroDancerCrypt of the NecroDancer
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