Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the Necrodancer featuring The Legend of Zelda

Genre: Rhythm, Roguelike

Original Release: June 13, 2019

Developer: Brace Yourself Games

Publisher(s): Spike Chunsoft, Nintendo (overseas)

Platform: Nintendo Switch

I have never played Crypt of the Necrodancer, but I have seen so much of the DLC for it and a little bit of the gameplay. Honestly, the game kind of won me over the minute I saw that there were playable Danganronpa characters. But this piece isn’t about Crypt of the Necrodancer, it’s about Cadence of Hyrule.

From what gameplay I’ve seen, Cadence is Crypt of the Necrodancer with Legend of Zelda elements incorporated into it. While you start as Necrodancer’s own Cadence, you soon unlock Zelda and Link and can swap between the two at the Sheikah Stones scattered throughout the land. Each can use any of the items in your inventory, but only Link can use shortswords and shields/spin attacks, and only Zelda can use rapiers, but forgoes the shields for a few spells. Beyond that, it’s up to you to decide who you prefer playing as. Personally I really enjoyed Link, but that may have been because I found a broadsword that healed me for every couple of kills, and I’m not particularly good at thinking out a strategy and moving at the same time. I got hit a lot.

I’ll be honest, this game might have passed me by if it hadn’t been for tweets from Adriana Figueroa and Jules Conroy (both of whom worked on the game, and I’ll be linking a track that Jules worked on to close this piece out because I love it that much) talking about it and mentioning that they helped in the production. And while I might be a little biased because I really enjoy their work, I think they did an excellent job alongside Danny Baranowsky.

And if it hadn’t been for them? Well, I wouldn’t be here talking about Cadence of Hyrule, now would I? I died a lot, but that’s the nature of roguelikes, and *almost* every death helped me learn from my mistakes. A few of them made me stop playing for a little bit, but the game is kind enough to provide diamonds that can later be used if you die in order to equip yourself for a fresh run. You just need to clear a screen for them, but the game is really good about teaching you the basics when you first start.

As I stated earlier, my knowledge of Crypt of the Necrodancer is incredibly limited. I don’t even have the game in my Steam library, but I might have to fix that in short order. In the interim, if Cadence of Hyrule seems like your cup of tea, might I suggest downloading it? It’s an excellent game that incorporates and remixes music from Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past and creates some excellent variations in the process. For example, here’s the Cliffs area combat music (the extended version because I like it that much):

It’s Zelda, it’s Necrodancer, it’s just plain good. Give it a look!