What is Crypt of the Necrodancer?

Crypt of the Necrodancer was developed by Brace Yourself Games and released in April 2015. It is a top-down, rhythm-based roguelike where players explore a dungeon-like crypt. As of the release of Crypt of the Necrodancer: Amplified in 2017, there are 5 differently-themed zones that each contains some unique enemies. To progress to the next zone, players must explore three different floors and defeat a mini-boss at the end of each. There is a boss at the end of each zone. The difficulty of the boss scales depending on how many zones have been completed previously.

However, what makes the game unique is the rhythm aspect. Every input must be done to the beat including moving, attacking, and spellcasting. Enemies also move to the beat. Each enemy has a different movement and attack pattern. To succeed, you must learn how to slay or dodge enemies by watching their patterns and playing around them. Every playthrough is randomly generated, like most roguelikes, and ensures a new experience every single time the game is played. Enemy spawns, items, weapons, and even the bosses are randomized. Dying is permanent and you cannot return to the exact same generation (in most cases). Dying causes all progress to reset, and you have to start the game again from the beginning.

What does Cadence of Hyrule take from Crypt of the Necrodancer?

Because Cadence of Hyrule is a spin-off from the original Crypt of the Necrodancer, several concepts are taken from the original game and were kept in Cadence of Hyrule.

The Beat Bar

The beat of the music (unless playing in fixed-beat mode) determines the timing of every movement in the game. Killing enemies powers up the beat bar’s multiplier, which gives better item drops from enemies and strengthens Obsidian weapons. Taking damage or missing a beat will reset the multiplier. Increasing or decreasing the multiplier will not change the number of actions per beat.

Enemy patterns

Several enemies in Cadence of Hyrule borrow movement patterns and properties from the original Crypt of the Necrodancer. For example, Bokoblins follow the 2-beat pattern of Skeletons. The first beat they hold their arms up into the air, and the second they leap one tile towards the player.

Weapons

Many of the original weapons from Crypt of the Necrodancer return in Cadence of Hyrule. Those who have played the original Crypt of the Necrodancer will notice some similarities and differences.

Weapon Materials

The original Crypt of the Necrodancer portrays different weapon strengths and properties with the material the weapon is made from.

• Titanium: Adds +1 unconditional damage to the weapon.
• Obsidian: Starts at the base of 1 damage but keeping the beat and killing enemies will power up the weapon. Killing 1 enemy powers it up to 2 damage and maximizing the beat multiplier brings it to 3 damage.
• Ruby: Has a life-stealing property. Killing a certain number of enemies will restore ½ of a heart container. Ruby is known as Blood in Crypt of the Necrodancer. In Crypt of the Necrodancer, a player using a blood weapon at 1/2 a heart of health would be able to instantly kill anything.  In Cadence of Hyrule, however, this feature has been removed.
• Glass: In Cadence of Hyrule, a 3-damage weapon that breaks upon taking damage. In Crypt of the Necrodancer, Glass weapons did a total of 4 damage.

Footwear

Some feet equipment have returned in Cadence of Hyrule, and some have changed properties.

Rings

Only the Ring of Piercing, Ring of Defense, Ring of Charisma and the Ring of Courage have returned in Cadence of Hyrule. However, there are a plethora of new rings that have been introduced that replace the items in Crypt of the Necrodancer that did not make it to Cadence of Hyrule.

Random generation

Cadence of Hyrule randomizes several parts of the game, including the overworld map, enemy and item placement, and complete randomization inside dungeons. Dying will make you lose all rupees and small keys. Dying inside a dungeon or leaving some parts of a dungeon midway through will completely re-randomize the dungeon. Items found in big chests will pull from a pool of 3 random inventory items, which will constantly reshuffle in future big chests until all of them have been obtained.

Boss Progression

In the “All-Zones” mode of Crypt of the Necrodancer, the player must complete all 5 zones in 1 run without dying. In order to keep the difficulty at a steady pace, bosses have a different level of health and damage output depending on which zone the player is currently on. One of the bosses, Deep Blues, for example, has only 3 health if faced during the first zone. In the fourth zone, however, the boss will have 5 health instead. Cadence of Hyrule has a similar progression for its bosses, but the difficulty of each boss will change depending on how many bosses you have previously defeated.

Tom Ling

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