Crypt of the NecroDancer launched around 10 years ago, if you can believe that. The roguelike game was an inventive twist on the rhythm genre at the time, with player and enemy movement tied to the beat of the soundtrack.
Following a Zelda crossover in 2019, Brace Yourself Games has returned with Rift of the NecroDancer, a spin-off that drops the exploration elements in favour of a more traditional rhythm game experience.
If you’ve played a Guitar Hero or Rock Band game, you’ll have a fairly good idea of what to expect. Notes scroll down three lanes towards you in time with the music, and you have to hit them to get combos going.
What makes Rift a little different is that the enemies from Crypt are adapted for this game, representing the notes to hit. Slimes are the most basic, but other enemy types are trickier to deal with. Bats and zombies switch between lanes, skulls spawn multiple skeletons, and armadillos need to be hit multiple times at faster tempos. Some skeletons will even move backwards.
For all of them, different colours add different variations to their behaviour. For example, blue slimes and bats need to be hit for two consecutive beats and yellow ones for three beats.
If it sounds like a lot to get your head around, that’s because it certainly can be. And that’s not even mentioning shadows, which indicate which enemies are off-beat, and traps, which can modify how an enemy moves (an enemy on fire will move at double speed).
There’s plenty that you need to keep track of, but it’s a refreshing take on the formula. You’re rarely playing on auto-pilot, and you’re not hitting notes for the purpose of recreating a song but rather using the music to aid you in defeating the enemies that charge at you.
There is more deciphering required when it comes to reading the charts. The downside of this is that it can be overwhelming when dealing with several types of enemies at the same time. With the lanes scrolling at you, you can’t stall if you need a moment to process everything.
I think the reason why moments like these can sometimes feel a little dissatisfying is, when I flub a difficult section of a song, it’s difficult to visually recall the patterns that tripped me up and therefore it takes me longer to understand how I can improve.
It’s often the opposite in other rhythm games, where you can get straight to looking to improve your execution. With Rift, there’s that additional step – understanding the ‘why’ – to take before that. To the game’s credit, a decent practice mode is included and I used it a lot when tackling some of the songs on the ‘Hard’ difficulty level.
However, when you’re in the groove, the game feels really good. It’s consistently engaging, and the variety in enemies and patterns makes each track not only feel unique to play but also have character.
It’s helped by a superb soundtrack – inspired by Crypt but with modern twists – and a personality that always reminds you that you’re playing a NecroDancer game, even though Rift is a fairly significant departure from the previous two games.
This is true of the minigames interspersed across the story as well. They borrow heavily from the underrated Rhythm Paradise games, but also have a great deal of charm to the point where I was always bobbing my head to the beat as I played them.
Rift is another great entry in the NecroDancer series. It may be a more ‘traditional’ lane-scrolling rhythm title, but how the game incorporates Crypt‘s elements to create its own spin on the formula is noteworthy.
Platform reviewed on: PC
Rift of the NecroDancer is out on February 5 on PC and TBD on other platforms.
