Crypt of the NecroDancer could be described as one of the most, if not the most difficult (well known) roguelike to get into. That’s not really a subjective statement either; the steam achievements suggest that less than 5% of players have completed what could be considered a “full” (All Zones Mode) run with any character. Whether this is due to the rhythm element, the initial difficulty wall that players inevitably face when they start, or some other reason, what awaits the players who eventually click with the game is undoubtedly an almost unlimited world of mechanical fun and challenge.

Believe me this struggle is not something I’m unfamiliar with myself. I first played this game in 2017, only to struggle with Zone 2 for a while before calling it quits. Despite how much I admired the game, it wasn’t clicking yet, and I wouldn’t give it another shot until early 2023 when a friend of mine was achieving big things in it.

As mentioned earlier, NecroDancer (ND) is hard. Initially, at the least. It will take even a great game player a non trivial amount of time to complete Zone 1 due to the nature of its gameplay. Movement is restricted to the laws of the world, the tune of the tomb… the rave of the grave… the…mix of the….styx… the… script of the crypt? YOU MOVE WITH THE MUSIC RIGHT?! And so do the enemies! If you don’t know what they’re gonna do then I gotta be honest with you buddy, you won’t stand a chance getting past the… the beat of the fleet… of monsters. Pattern recognition is the name of the game here. If the item pool isn’t favouring you, then you’ll need to lock in and make up the difference yourself… or just try again until you get a build that’s really broken. Except not really? OP runs in ND are VERY losable compared to other roguelikes ESPECIALLY depending on which character you are playing. One wrong move at any time can be your unexpected downfall, and trust me you’ll feel the true depth of shame when you lose a run like this.

But it’s made fair and well. ND would not be nearly as successful as it is if there wasn’t plenty of thought and testing put into how smooth it plays. Yes you have to make your inputs on time, but sufficient leeway is given to not make it a complete nightmare. If something catches you off guard you’re given just enough time to think it through and feel like a wiz of a magician after pulling it off. The heartbeat in your peripheral vision helps you notice when you might be losing the rhythm a bit and the red outlines of the beats that i often fail to see due to colourblindness will let you know when the song is almost over. These are just some examples of well thought out features that I feel are a little underappreciated, but go a long way in making sure all of the challenge that the game feeds you is fun and interesting challenge.

How have I come this far without talking about such a fundamental piece of the puzzle? In ND, the soundtrack represents something much more than just the music you listen to; it governs your playstyle and the pace at which you think and analyse. Whether it’s to your taste or not, you gotta admit Danny Baranowsky did a cracking job composing some super catchy tunes that you can’t get too tired of and fit all the individual zones and bosses so very well. I’m no musician but composing these while also being restricted to certain BPMs (and be of sufficient length) to match the intended difficulty must not have been easy. As I like to say however, limitations breed creativity, and that’s undoubtedly what happened here. Personally I love the whole thing, cheers Danny. And if you don’t, then luckily there’s like what, 6 alternate soundtracks to choose from?? Some of those soundtracks done by well known musicians like FamilyJules and Jake Kaufman, even a Danganronpa themed soundtrack (idfk why), if you don’t like any of those either then I’m going to assume you’re just out to cause problems. EVEN THEN, there is an option to insert your own music! It’s a piece of cake just throw your mp3 file in and it’ll calculate the tempo for you and change the gameplay accordingly!
What else? Oh yes, the names of all the tracks are musical puns based on where the track plays, I don’t know how they did that but it’s awesome, my favourite has to be the name for the lobby music, “Rhythmortis”, hehehhehe get it???

Hand in hand with the soundtrack comes everything that completes the style of ND. Unique and creative enemy designs, especially bosses (a freakin chess board dude), good variety in zone theming, a retro feeling art style with some charming cutscenes, iconic sound effects and voice lines, clever items. It’s all just fun and cool, and that’s all that needs to be said.

So you made it, you beat all of the zones with Cadence, probably learned most of the enemies patterns and witnessed her journey. Congrats! It wasn’t easy. As a reward you take a look at steam and realise you've got maybe 5% of the achievements... Right. So, I've barely done anything? Pretty much… Beyond this there are plenty of characters with their own individual gimmicks that will make you rethink how you play the game completely. Some easier than Cadence, but a lot of them harder…horribly harder. This is where the real game begins, rise to the challenge, you got this.

If all of this wasn't enough of a glazing session for how much enjoyment ND has brought me, let me praise the dev team more. ND released in 2015 and still receives updates to this day. It really is Brace Yourself Games’ baby... Bug fixes, balance changes and quality of life updates are always coming in. Two MAJOR content DLCs were released in 2017 and 2022 respectively. And just a couple weeks ago Hatsune Miku jumped into the game with a cool moveset and unique soundtrack. What the fuck?? This community is spoiled!

My friend and I would say there's phases to ND brainrot. At one end you have NecroBabies: players who have yet to beat all of the zones with Cadence, going up to NecroDead: players who have beat all zones mode with most of the characters, and NecroUndead: players who unlock and play Coda (the hardest character (you're a lunatic)). My 200 hours of playtime makes me very NecroDead and NecroUndead feels right around the corner.

Thank you NecroDancer, you really are one of a kind.