Release Date: 23 October 2020
Date Played: 13 February 2022
Introduction:
Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the Necrodancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda is not only the longest title I've ever seen for a video game, it's also one of the biggest disappointments for any game that I've played in the last few years.
If you've ever read any of my other reviews, you would know that I try to be pretty objective with my critiques of the games I play. I'll go over a brief history of the game, talk about its mechanics, detail the aesthetic choices of the game, before finally giving my opinions in the end. Well... this time I'm not going to do that. I'm going to give my feelings right up here at the top of the review because I'm having a difficult time objectively discerning just exactly what it is that rubs me the wrong way about this game... because on paper, it's seems like it should be magnificent. My only option is to just spew my feelings in some pseudo-stream of consciousness method as I point out all the things the developer did well and why I don't like them for no good reason.
So what exactly is this game? The absurdly protracted title seems to try to answer this. It's Crypt of the Necrodancer featuring characters from the Legend of Zelda, obviously (please insert sarcastic eye-roll). Which means we've got a mash-up game on our hands. Crypt of the Necrodancer was a popular rhythm-based rogue lite game developed by Brace Yourself Games that was released in 2015. While I haven't personally played it, I watched a lot of streamers who did, and it seems like a really fun game. You work your way through procedurally generated dungeons and fight enemies using a music mechanic. You and the enemies all move on the beat and if you can attack them with good rhythm, you get attack bonuses and become more powerful. You collect items to help you build a good run and gain meta progression to make your character more powerful in future attempts. So, pretty standard rogue-lite stuff with a rhythm element. Sounds awesome, sign me up!
So, the title of this game leads you to believe that you are playing Crypt of the Necrodancer with Legend of Zelda characters in it. Right? It literally says Crypt of the Necrodancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda, after all. But what we were given was a straight up lie if you're to go by the title. This game isn't Crypt of the Necrodancer with Zelda characters in it. Instead, it's The Legend of Zelda featuring Crypt of the Necrodancer combat. I'm nonplussed by the whole situation and actually feel a little cheated. There's nothing wrong with what they did with this game, but it's not what I wanted, nor is it what I thought I was getting. I feel the title is specifically misleading despite its verbosity and I don't know why they chose to lead with Crypt of the Necrodancer instead of Zelda as that would have been a much more fitting description. Let me invent and example to further illustrate my point. Say I made a game with this title, Fatality in the Mushroom Kingdom: Mortal Kombat Featuring Super Mario Bros., anyone with a head on their shoulders would think this game was a gory and violent 2D fighting game like Mortal Kombat with Mario characters in it. How could you not? It's clear as day what this game is supposed to be just from the title alone. Now imagine that you're a complete idiot, like I am, and when you pop in the game instead of seeing Yoshi tear out and swallow Peach's heart with his bulbous tongue when he does a fatality, you're instead given a standard side-scrolling Mario game but with Mortal Kombat characters in it. It's just Raiden running to the right across the screen while collecting coins, breaking blocks, and stomping on goombas, koopas, and the occasional miniature Baraka. Still awesome... but not at all what was advertised. Still, I think there might be a little bit of confusion and more than a few upset kids on Christmas morning.
So, enough talking about 2 hypothetical games that would probably be incredibly radicle and fantastic.... and should totally be made someday (you should get right on that), let's get back to the game that actually exists by reiterating my question from earlier, "So what exactly is this game?" Sadly, Cadence of Hyrule is just a bog standard 2D Zelda game with the combat system from Crypt of the Necrodancer.
Gameplay:
I hate that I have to explain how a Zelda game works, but I guess I have no choice. You wander around an overworld that's broken up into a grid. Each screen is one block on the grid and as you explore around, you slowly fill in the empty blocks on your map. You're trying to collect some handful of objects (this time it's instruments to go with the music theme of the game) to unlock the barrier to Hyrule Castle so you can go inside and beat the final boss. Each of the instruments is located in it's own dungeon that has it's own theme like water, fire, ice, etc. They can usually be tackled in any order, and in the case of this game, the overworld is sort of randomly generated so you never know where they'll be once you start a new game. Once you locate one of them by exploring around the overworld map, you get to go inside and do the other half of the Zelda gameplay loop. You kill enemies and solve puzzles (sometimes quite obtuse, mind you) as you wonder around the dungeon until you find the map that shows you all of the rooms. Then you find the compass that reveals where all the important locations are on the dungeon map. After that, you find an item that helps you complete the dungeon (like a grappling hook, raft, power glove, etc.). Then, you find the key to unlock the door that leads to the dungeon's final boss. After you vanquish it (usually using the item you found in the dungeon), you'll get a heart container to increase your maximum health as well as one of the key items in the game (musical instruments in this case). You'll often have to use the items you find in the dungeon to help you traverse the overworld and reach a secret location, or make it across a ravine, or a lake, etc. But, you essentially just repeat this same process over and over until you clear all of the dungeons (4 in the case of this game) and then you go fight the final boss.
It's a classic formula and has passed the test of time because it's still as popular today as ever. Heck I can remember seeing 4 different
Zelda games listed as the "Best Game of All Time" during my life. The original Legend of Zelda on the NES, A Link to the Past on the SNES, The Ocarina of Time on the N64, and Breath of the Wild on the Switch have all carried the honor. And while I don't agree with any of them, I can certainly see why people feel that way and acknowledge their avid fandom.
Cadence of Hyrule follows this exact same formula with very few differences, which is really disappointing to me. I've been playing Zelda games since 1987, and I'm kind of burned out on the formula. Even going back and playing the ones I never finished have been less than stellar experiences and I can rarely push myself to beat them because I get so bored with the process and it's insistence on rehashing the same ideas over and over. So, it's obvious I was frustrated to have to do it all again with this game. Sadly, this game does things even worse than the standard Zelda games. Yes, there are lots of items to collect that are supposed to help you on your journey, but the vast majority of them I never even had to use and really seemed to have no purpose. You might have to use the hookshot to grab a heart piece, or grab and push the occasional block to clear a path. But, in general, most of the items seem pointless. The item locations are all randomized in a lame and half-hearted attempt to shoehorn in some rogue-lite elements, so you never know what it's actually going to be in that purple chest you're so desperately trying to reach. You hope it's the item that will allow you to reach that heart container you saw earlier, but sadly it was just some stupid leaf that pushes away enemies and serves no other purpose in the game. What a waste of 10 minutes.
You have your standard Zelda weapon assortment that you can collect and use throughout the game such as bombs, a boomerang, shields, and your bow and arrow. In addition to this, you have different weapons that have various attack attributes. There's the shortrange dagger, a sword that slashes in front of you, a spear that reaches further, and a flail that attacks to the side. These weapons are a departure from the traditional Zelda games and are a nice touch. You still upgrade your heart containers, gather bottles, uncover secrets, and buy items, like in all Zelda games but there isn't really any meta progression outside of unlocking new characters to use in subsequent playthroughs. Dying in this game really only causes you to lose your rupees and a few assorted consumables and isn't much of a hinderance as you can usually restart pretty close to where you left off and regain any of the temporary items you lost rather quickly.
As for the Crypt of the Necrodancer portion of the game, everything hops around to the beat flashing along with the music and displayed at the bottom of the screen and are set to a tile based grid where every unit occupies once space. You attack enemies by walking into them and striking them right on the beat gives you an attack bonus (especially if you can chain them together). The various weapons attack in different patterns that can allow you to take on multiple enemies at once or keep your distance if need be. They are a nice addition to the game and being able to switch between them at will is very beneficial. All of the standard Zelda enemies are here and they have specific attack patterns that coincide with the music, so you'll have to memorize their attack patterns and lean to counter them while also keeping the beat yourself. There are a lot of enemies on every screen and keeping track of all of their behaviors when you're in a tight situation can be difficult. It's a good combat system and I think it works well even in the Zelda framework but can get a little tedious in some circumstances. After you've cleared the same area for the 20th time, having to sit there and repeatedly tap buttons along with the rhythm can start to feel a little monotonous and like it's wasting your time. To counteract this, you have the Sheikah stones from Breath of the Wild this time around and touching one will turn it into a waypoint on your map that you can then warp to to have to save yourself from walking back and forth across the map.
You'll initially only be able to play as either Link or Zelda, but you'll unlock more characters as you continue to progress and you can switch between them at any of the aforementioned Sheikah stones. They each have their own special abilities that you can take advantage of, however, I found Link's charge slash to be the most powerful attack in the game, so I mainly stuck with him.
Story:
The story is pretty basic. A villain named Octavo has lulled Link and Zelda to sleep and stolen the Tri-force. Cadence, the heroine from Crypt of the Necrodancer is teleported to Hyrule by the Tri-force at the last second for her to save the kingdom. She has to awaken Link and Zelda to help stop Octavo before they can help her find a way to teleport back to her own world. It's a very basic plot and falls right in line with all of the other Zelda games, so that's to be expected. Most people don't play these games for the story anyway.
Presentation:
This is the area of the game where Cadence of Hyrule excels. The game is absolutely beautiful and and is my favorite looking Zelda game of all time. It has a nice A Link to the Past look that has been rounded off and made more pleasantly cartoony. Everything is bright and colorful and and has a real pop to it that is quite endearing. The enemy models are well done and have a nice spin on the traditional Zelda baddies that we've all seen countless times. The protagonists are absolutely precious and are unbelievably cute. My 8 year old daughter is in love with them and just can't get enough. This is cuteness is only intensified by the high pitched but serious grunts, hi-yahs, and yells that they all make. Link's sounds, in particular, have always been appealing, but in this game they are really, really appealing and would be a treasure to have on your smart phone as a text notification.
Finally, we get to the best part of this game... it's music. Danny Baranowsky knocked the music on Crypt of the Necrodancer out of the park and he was brought back for this mash-up. He has provided 25 songs for the soundtrack and every single one of them is magnificent. Many of the songs are remixes of classic Zelda songs (such as the overworld theme) and they sound just as fresh and catchy as ever. It's really remarkable what he has done and he is by far my favorite composer working in the gaming industry today. In case you didn't know, he did the music for Super Meat Boy and The Binding of Isaac as well, two of the best video game soundtracks of all time.
What we're left with is the best looking, best sounding, and most endearing Zelda game of all time. If you're into aesthetics, don't sleep on Cadence of Hyrule because it's really something quite special.
Conclusion:
I know, I know I spent the first half of this review ranting about how disappointed I was by this game and you don't need me to rehash all of that again. But, just because I was disappointed and felt misled by the title of the game, don't think that Cadence of Hyrule is bad. Because it's not. It's actually a pretty good game that packs a fair amount of content and a decent challenge. I just wish it had been more rogue-lite focused and not such a back-to-basics Zelda game like we've seen countless times already. If you are a huge Zelda fan and can't get enough of that same gameplay style, you should play this game because you won't be disappointed. If, however, you were looking for something fresh and unique with a Zelda spin on it, you ARE going to be disappointed like I was.
As for me, I loved the way the game looked and sounded. The Crypt of the Necrodancer style combat was just... ok, and wasn't nearly as fun as I thought it would be. Maybe it's because I'm a musician, but I found it to be a little underwhelming in its execution. Perhaps I would like the original Crypt of the Necrodancer better because I hear it focuses more on the combat and that there are a few more mechanics to flesh it all out. Sadly, the Zelda gameplay loop has completely burned itself out in my eyes. I've seen it done over, and over, and over during the course of my life and it just feels so stale. It's been 35 years that I have been playing the same kind of Zelda game and if that were an old fashioned union job, I would have been retired... almost twice now. I feel like Zelda owes me two pensions for my time put in. Keep that in mind before you chase me into the nearest tower with your pitch forks.
This physical release of the game contains all of the current DLC and is the definitive way to play the game, so if you want to grab a copy, this is the one to get.
Final Status: Beaten
Final Score: 7/10 (good, but not groundbreaking like I wanted)
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