Brace Yourself Games has just released their newest rhythm-based game in Rift of the Necrodancer, the sequel to their original turn/rhythm-based hit, Crypt of the Necrodancer. But on first glance, this new game appears to be a massive departure from the first, despite their shared world and characters. So just how well does this new game stack up to the original?
Rift of the Necrodancer
Developer: Brace Yourself Games, Tic Toc Games
Platforms: PC (Reviewed on), Nintendo Switch
Release Date: February 5, 2025
It cannot be overstated that Rift of the Necrodancer is, by all rights, a different game than its predecessor. Whereas Crypt of the Necrodancer is an extremely unique, rhythm-focused take on a dungeon crawler, Rift is much more easily described in basic terms as a rhythm game. There are “notes” coming down a track and you must press the corresponding buttons in time with the music. It won’t take a hero of the guitar to recognize a similarity to other popular games in the genre. That said, even though Rift sacrifices some of the creativity that made Brace Yourself’s first game so popular, it more than makes up for it with its incredible style, fantastic music, and addicting gameplay.
Graphics and Presentation
While the original game paid homage to the old-school dungeon adventures it echoed by taking on a crunchy, pixelated art style, Rift of the Necrodancer has updated its graphics as well, growing from its pixel roots into something more colorful and cartoony. This update not only makes sense ludonarratively, as the game’s storyline centers around the characters from Crypt of the Necrodancer being brought into the modern world, but also serves as a visual metaphor for the evolution of the series. These slick new graphics and animations are much more at home in a bouncy rhythm game than they would have been in the tactical adventure that Crypt presented.
More than anything, though, they just look great. Brace Yourself’s art team is to be commended on the visual update of their character roster, having given every new character a more modern-age-appropriate outfit and attitude that still perfectly matches what little presentation of personality each was given in the sparse dialogue that was afforded Crypt’s characterization. Cadence, in particular, looks nothing short of fantastic, having ditched the drab orange tunic and bandana for a vibrant red and blue jacket and headband that befits her firebrand attitude and matches her original key art aesthetic.
Not to be outdone, the enemies that serve as the note patterns have also received a top-tier makeover, maintaining enough of their classic style to be instantly recognizable (which, to be fair, isn’t hard when your monsters are things like slimes, skeletons, and zombies) while also fitting perfectly into the more modern visual themes that everything else has been updated to as well.
The general presentation of the game is just as nice as its graphics, too. The user interface is clean and easy to navigate, though I find it at least somewhat odd that the option to play the Story Mode is as far down the main menu as it is. This is especially strange considering the Story Mode gives the players the most holistic view of the game that Brace Yourself has to offer, combining multiple art set pieces with multiple full-body renders of the characters in various poses to express their emotional states. The story is told through mostly through text, though there is a smattering of voice acted lines that punctuate many of the text bubbles. It’s once again, just enough to add a splash of extra color to the characters that really brings out their personalities.
Music and Audio
You simply can’t have a good rhythm game without good music, and its safe to say that Rift delivers on this aspect. In a game where so many aspects were overhauled from Crypt to Rift, the music is a clear throughline that proves Rift a true sequel to the original. Superstar composer Danny Baranowsky is back with the same musical style that made Crypt a breakout success, but ditches the more chiptune-adjacent instrumentation for a more guitar-focused ensemble. Additional composers like Alex Moukala, Jules Conroy, Josie Brechner and more round out the track list, which tops out at an impressive 32 different songs, ensuring that it should be a while before you’re tapped out of tracks to try out.
The rest of the game’s audio is likewise an aural treat, which should come as no surprise at this point. Most of the little sound effects for picking between options in a menu or choosing songs from the list are going to sound familiar enough to fans of the rhythm genre, for sure, but they all feel sharp and chunky enough that they posses their own charm. The real standout, in my opinion, are the monster noises. As mentioned, the monsters of Rift serves as the notes from more traditional rhythm games, and when “defeated,” each monster gives off a unique sound. This, in conjunction with the backing track, breathes even more life into each already-fantastic song, providing what could almost be considered a vocal track to the song composed entirely of dying beasties that really makes each note pop. Speaking of vocal tracks, for fans of Crypt, be sure to try out Shopkeeper mode for a little blast from the past.
There’s not much more to be said about this aspect of the game that wouldn’t start to feel just like gushing, really. That said, I’ll leave you with this: of the 25 songs that comprise the Story Mode that I played through, not a single one was anything less than stellar. Not one! There were songs that had me grooving a bit more than others, but every single song was a pure delight to play through, even when I was struggling in the later sections. In fact, there were more than a few times that the song quality was so good, it ended up being a major factor that kept me coming back to try and try again!
Gameplay
I saved this section for last for a few reasons. First, the praises of the graphics and audio of this game are quite plain to see and hear, respectively, making most of what I had to say about them ultimately little more than a formality. The artists and composers truly put their heart and soul into the creation of this game, and its obvious in the level of quality that came out of it.
But it is a game, after all, and in my opinion, it is the gameplay above all other things that truly makes or breaks a game. This is further confounded by the fact that, as stated before, Rift of the Necrodancer has eschewed its dungeon crawling roguelike roots for something that trends in a much less unique direction. In full disclosure, the first time I turned on Rift and checked it out, I hated it. How could they take something so unique and make it into something so generic? I couldn’t understand why they would want to go from what they had to something that seemed like little more than Just Another Rhythm Game.
But then I kept playing.
Rift of the Necrodancer is, essentially, just another rhythm game. Yet, its application of the formula provides a unique experience that few other rhythm games can boast. As mentioned, the enemies from Crypt have become your notes in Rift, but each enemy has its own path and pattern, much like they did in the original game, that changes up which buttons you press. Bats, for example, take two or three button presses to fully “defeat,” jumping from one note track to the next after being hit in a pattern predictable by their color scheme. Zombies hop from note track to note track, forcing you to predict where exactly they will be once they reach the bottom of the track. As the game progresses, the monsters become more complex in their mechanics, and the beatmaps become more complex in their compositions of monsters. Even the trap squares from Crypt return in this game, providing an additional layer of movement and confusion to further complicate matters.
The end result is that each beatmap obscures a great deal of its notes within these monster patterns, making each track a puzzle that has be figured out as you play. In isolation, a blue slime is “just” two notes played on-beat, but when its paired with other monsters that occupy the same beat, it takes a steady hand and collected mind to keep track of which buttons to press at which time. The later tracks are brutal in this regard, offering such an eclectic mix of creatures that interact with each other in strange ways that that will challenge even the most experienced of rhythm masters.
While the meat of the game is largely found in these “rhythm rifts,” the Story Mode offers a number of additional diversions to the core gameplay in the form of minigames and boss battles. Minigames are extremely reminiscent of Nintendo’s Rhythm Heaven series, both in gameplay and in their brightly animated charm. The boss battles are, perhaps, the least interest aspect of the gameplay, if I had to choose one. They are still fairly entertaining, but unlike the minigames, which all feel fairly unique, each boss fight largely feels like a slightly more involved version of the last with new art and animations going on in the background. They’re not bad, but not the reason anyone’s going to want to play Rift of the Necrodancer.
If all of that isn’t enough for you, don’t worry, the party is far from over. There are daily challenges to test the most seasoned of rift wreckers, as well as a procedurally generated series of beatmaps in Remix mode, changing up the opposition in different ways every time you play to ensure a new challenge each time. Once you’re tired of the basic 32 tracks, Rift of the Necrodancer even supports a built-in level editor for custom songs, and already boasts an impressive library of new options in the Steam Workshop from users around the world.
Simply put, the options available are as entertaining as they are limitless. I’d say that Brace Yourself has absolutely outdone themselves in making a game that can be enjoyed for years on end, but considering the latest DLC for Crypt was just released last year, I think it’s more accurate to say that they’re creating a strong tradition of extended love and support for their products.
Final Thoughts
As I’ve said before, I’ll say again: I was not going into Rift of the Necrodancer expecting to be a fan. I enjoy rhythm games well enough, but Crypt was such an interesting take on two different genres, rhythm and roguelike, that I enjoyed, that I couldn’t begin to imagine what Brace Yourself would be gaining by completely abandoning one of them.
What I found, however, is that, by abandoning the roguelike aspects, Brace Yourself Game was able to really drill down into what makes rhythm games fun, addicting, long-lasting slices of our game libraries. I found that, even without dungeon crawling, Rift of the Necrodancer still managed to provide an experience that was surprisingly similar to Crypt even when distilled down into three buttons on a note track. I found that, despite my initial frustrations, I was hooked on the total package – the cute characters, the crisp graphics, the unique take on rhythm-based gameplay, and a track list packed from start to finish with absolute bangers.
Even if you have some of the same hangups I did, I would implore you to give Rift a chance. Who knows? Maybe we’ll see a more proper dungeon-crawling sequel to Crypt in the future. But until then, I know I’ll be having tons of fun with this one.
