I absolutely love rhythm games. We just started this blog and one of the first posts my wife and I put up was my review of Kingdom Hearts Memory of Melody. So when Nintendo showcased Rift of the Necrodancer during their March direct I just needed to grab it ASAP. I remember playing the previous game Crypt of the Necrodancer quite a bit so this game was a no-brainer. So how good is this game? Well, let me give you a taste in this quick-fire review.
So the story…
…is alright. Let’s face it, this is a rhythm game, so the story is absolutely secondary. Put simply, the narrative features our dungeoneering heroine Cadence suddenly get transported to another realm. And it is not just her! All the people she met along the way during her first outing are here too – in a strange modern-day urban setting. Her shovel may have been transformed into a guitar, but she will still use it to whack the enemies that stand between her and her objective: to get herself and her friends back to their home world.
In the story mode, Cadence goes through several chapters highlighting the plight of her friends and how she comes to their aid with her trusty guitar. It’s a rather simple formula, but it works at putting the songs and characters into a cute story that, while it may not be particularly memorable, is a fun experience nonetheless.
One thing the story mode does, aside from introducing you to the songs that are clearly at the center of this experience is provide you with small rhythm minigames. These rhythm minigames have you making burgers and participating in yoga classes. I know the developers meant for these minigames to be a fun little diversion between the lengthy songs. However, I must say that they don’t really do much for me. Sure, you tap your button to the beat for a minute or two but the novelty doesn’t last long before you realize that the quality of these games just doesn’t compare to the proper songs. In addition to this, each chapter ends with a boss battle.
The boss battles are something of a mix between the minigames and a standard song. Without spoiling anything with a video or screenshot: these fights are boring. Overall, while the story mode is a cute way to spend your time with the game, ultimately I ended up sticking to the standard “Play” mode where you just pick a song and go for the high score.
Gameplay is king
One reason I adore rhythm games is that they are completely fair. Assuming the developer syncs the button presses to the rhythm properly and has good visual clarity, there is never an unfair moment. You see the notes come at you, and it is up to you to read them right and react. In that sense, Rift of the Necrodancer is very good. Unlike its predecessor Crypt of the Necrodancer, this game employs a top-down style that’s similar to Guitar Hero. However, Rift mixes things up by introducing enemies that require the player to react on the fly. Enemies will come at you, such as the green slimes or the white skeletons, that act as simple notes.
Press the button corresponding to the lane the enemy comes at you once and you succeed in taking them down. However, just like in Crypt Cadence will have to face off against enemies that are much more difficult to take down. Take blue bats for instance. Hitting a blue bat once makes it move to a different lane before you can take it down. Golden skeletons may lose their heads with the first hit, but the rest of the body will come back later to haunt you. All of these enemy types are clearly communicated to the player resulting in a very complex and unique take on the rhythm genre.
It’s all in the music
It’s a rhythm game – the music is key! Nobody wants to play through songs over and over and over again if the tunes are boring. Thankfully, just like Crypt the songs here are bangers. For roughly 20€ you get over 45 tracks to play through featuring just about every genre you can think of. EDM, funk, synthwave, almost everything is represented here. Even after restarting a song for the 50th time to chase that leaderboard-worthy high score the songs don’t get boring or repetitive. To get a better idea of what awaits you, please check out the soundtrack!
One aspect that deserves special mention is that the game has a rock-solid (pun intended) calibration mode that you can pull up at any time. Spend 30 seconds with some pre-determined tunes and the game will calibrate your experience to as needed. Whether I use my Bluetooth headset to play, or the switch speakers, I always felt like I was hitting my notes properly.
Conclusion
Rift of the Necrodancer is a rhythm game that is unlike anything I’ve played before. Just like its predecessor, it blends the gameplay of a dungeon-crawling adventure with a classic rhythm game to create something unique. Yeah, the story is nothing to truly write home about. But who cares! I for sure don’t. As a fan of rhythm games, I can’t really imagine this game disappointing anyone.
