Crypt Of The Necrodancer

Crypt of the Necrodancer: Rhythm & Roguelite

I have a roguelite itch. I’m really taken with the genre, and I tend to pick them up as impulse purchases, but I usually don’t play for more than five minutes. In fact, after my most recent roguelite purchase, Crypt of the Necrodancer, I put my foot down. No more roguelites until I clear out my library.

The games have permadeath and are repetitive by design. You play procedurally-generated/randomized maps again and again and again, and die again and again and again, until you get better. Sometimes you lose everything when you die and sometimes you keep your money and can buy permanent upgrades. I really like having permanent upgrades and an end-game, which is are two things that set roguelites apart from roguelikes.

Crypt of the Necrodancer is rhythm-based. You can only move in time with the beat. At first I wasn’t too sure about it, but it is a lot of fun once you get the hang of it. When How Long To Beat says Necrodancer takes 20 hours to beat, I assume what that means is it takes 20 hours to get good enough at Necrodancer to finish the story mode. It only utilizes the directional arrows. Arrow combinations allow the use of items. The game auto-attacks if you are facing (or otherwise within range) of an enemy and the keystroke matches the beat. Honestly, I think the game appeals most to my twitch/rhythm-based sensibilities. 

I’m a bit under the weather so I like having something mechanics-focused to play with. There is a story but it’s silly. (Cadence’s heart is stolen and she has to journey deep into the dungeon to get to back, or something like that). One of the reasons I bought this is because it has a female protagonist. Thinking back to my library, I think this may actually be the only roguelite I own that has a female or non-white protagonist.

Aside: Sunless Sea is available for free play on Steam this weekend. It takes place in the Fallen London universe and is on my wishlist, but Rules Must Be Followed and I don’t want to get into a game I can’t buy yet so I’m passing.