Gadgetory

what's up internet Kevin here now I want to start bringing us more content and one of the ways I plan on doing that is i'm gonna start covering a lot more indie games particularly those that are available on PC through Steam and today I'm going to talk about crypt of the necrodancer now first off just to be clear this is a game that is still in early access meaning that it is not a complete game just yet so this isn't exactly a full review because well i don't have my hands on the final product instead this is just a look at how the game is currently shaping up what kind of condition it's currently in and whether or not it's worth playing waltz and early access or if you should at least keep an eye on it for when it gets fully released later sometime this year now that we've gotten that out of the way what is crypt of the necrodancer well this is a fusion of two very popular genres in the indie scene with a very unique sort of flavor and that's the combination of rhythm games and roguelikes the basic idea is that you have to explore and survive a number of randomly generated dungeon floors all the while only being able to move and act along with the beat of whatever music is currently playing hitting a key off beat will cause zero movement and failing to maintain movement with the rhythm will lose you a valuable coin multiplier allowing you to get high scores and more gold for useful equipment what's beautiful about this game is its mixture of simplicity and complexity controlling the lead hero navigating the dungeon is done with just the directional keys attacking enemies consists of just moving into them and using items or spells is the result of hitting a combination of two directions so the whole game is played through just four buttons or if you have one on hand can even be played using a dance pad now that being said while the control method is really simple there's a whole lot of different mechanics going on here that make the entire experience a lot more complex playing the regular version of the game consists of enemies that move along with the beat all of which have patterns that you can learn and figure out how to predict making it possible to get through whole floors without taking any damage if you're careful but in the hecticness of staying on beat this can become a lot harder than it sounds along with encountering and dealing with a number of enemies and boss Type monsters dungeon floors will also consist of traps different kinds of movement tiles and treasure chests that contain a number of different useful items such as one time use healing items spells that cool down equipment that reduces damage or alters how you move or new weapons which not only modify how much damage you deal but what squares you attack as well for instance the spear allows you to hit enemies that up to two squares away rather than just one right up front while the broadsword hits a line of three squares in front of you and they even come with various different special properties like glass weapons that deal more damage but break when you get hit or blood weapons that drain health with every so many enemy kills each floor will also host a single merchant room who will have three different random items on sale which can be purchased with gold gain from killing enemies and do also features by far one of the game's best little flavorful bonuses singing along with the original soundtrack of each level now speaking of the soundtrack this is of course one of the most important aspects of any rhythm based game and thankfully crypt of the necrodancer is absolutely fantastic each song is memorable and enjoyable especially when the merchant is thrown into the mix and there's a steady progression in speed between each floor and song that just feels natural the game also does give you the option of uploading your own music and assigning songs to individual levels with it adjusting the beat of each level to fit the song now it's a nice little feature and I'm glad they made an option for those you out there that like to use your own music with rhythm based games but in all honesty I really personally preferred playing this game with its base soundtrack there's just this really great natural progression that it has and if you don't use the base soundtrack you lose out on that awesome little fun bonus of the merchant singing along now the customizable music is just one of the many bits that really makes up one of this game's biggest strengths the sheer number of options that it provides you with along with just playing the regular game you also have the ability to play a hardcore mode with no upgrades available and having to deal with every single floor one after another and there's a daily challenge mode to try and ranked in top scores there's also side rooms that let you practice fighting certain monsters so you know how to better handle them when you encounter them in the dungeon and there's even local co-op so you and a friend can try to tackle the crypt together the game also offers multiple playable characters but only some of them being currently available so far since as I said earlier the game is still in early access now some of these characters just offer a more difficult version of the base game while others can completely change it for instance the bard whose movements dictate the beat rather than the other way around which in all honesty is basically the super easy mode of this game so to sum things up the really two things that make crypt of the necrodancer a great game so far first off it's simple yet really addictive and really unique form of gameplay and second off just the sheer number of options the game gives you in terms of its customizable music all the different game modes to try out and just the number of different items you can try out with each randomly generated run also it's worth noting the difficulty of this game is just plain unforgiving the first level by itself isn't all that bad as you learn the basics but each new level after that ramps up the difficulty big-time giving you a great challenge to try and complete it as I said earlier this is an early access game so there's still some work that needs to be done here we don't have the fourth and final level just yet and a number of playable characters are still missing but what's completed so far is excellent I personally find it to already be worth its asking price of $15 on steam if you're still unsure that though or you just aren't a fan of buying early access stuff this is definitely a game to keep on your radar for its full release date planned for sometime later this year so that was just a look at crypt in the necrodancer and how it's currently shaping up in its early access stages if you guys enjoyed the video please make sure to let me know by hitting that thumbs up button I always appreciate it and if this is your first time checking out the channel and you like what you saw that hit that subscribe button as well because I've got more content on the way you can also stick around for the very end of this video where I link to my last vid if you want to check out some more content you guys can also follow me on twitter at kevin kenson where you can hear my up-to-date thoughts of what games I'm playing as well as my responses to different little tidbits of gaming news I hope you see you guys soon with more great content but until then I'm Kevin Kenton and I'll see you later