Shadowcat on 7/9/2015 at 10:35

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This is what I'm currently playing, and it's pretty great. Is anyone else playing it?

(http://www.necrodancer.com/)

It's an inspired mash-up of a rogue-like dungeon crawl, and a rhythm game.

What that means is that there's a beat to the music*, and you want to be doing something (move, dig, attack, cast a spell, etc) on every beat -- and <em>only</em> on the beat.

As long as you keep the rhythm, you'll keep your multiplier up which brings various benefits (especially when you have multiplier-based vision/damage/armour). Lose your mojo and those perks fade while you work to get it back.

Most of the enemies have a predictable pattern to their movements and attacks, and it's up to you to learn the patterns and then sync up with them to take them out (with your current weapons and other artifacts naturally mixing up the details).

I don't have vast numbers of reference points for the rogue-like aspects, but it's not dissimilar to the Binding of Isaac in that any given (permadeath) attempt will likely result in you acquiring some new option (or permanent upgrade) for your future attempts (you do this by finding gems in-game with which to purchase things between games), so you start out a bit confused and rubbish, but then as you get better at the game, the game gets more awesome as well.

You can also purchase things in-game using gold you've acquired in that attempt, by visiting the shopkeeper in each level. It's hard not to love the shopkeeper.

The game doesn't have the sheer variety and quantity of stuff that Isaac does, but the rhythm aspect <em>really</em> sets this game aside, so that when you're in the groove it's tremendously satisfying and fun.

(*) You can even use your own music, although I've not yet tried that, so I'm not sure how well it works. And because I couldn't figure out where else to put this comment, I'll add here that the production values are really good! There are even multiple versions of the soundtrack (in different styles), with some of the unlockable characters apparently getting their own individual take on the music. I don't think I've ever heard of that feature in another game?!

Shadowcat on 8/9/2015 at 12:35

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That's really hard to say. The rhythm aspect makes it very different to any of those games, but it's equally rooted in rogue-like elements, and maybe asking it to stand tall on only one of those foundations is optimistic.

FWIW I really liked Isaac; really liked TeleGlitch; came to dislike FTL very quickly; and I haven't played Spelunky.

NecroDancer is absolutely a game you can dip into for short periods (if you can resist the just-one-more-game allure) -- and indeed all games are time-limited as each dungeon ends when the song finishes, and each level has a fixed number of dungeons.

If I had to make a recommendation, I would probably err on the side of caution (at least for a full-price purchase). If TeleGlitch is the nearest thing that's appealed... well... this isn't much like TeleGlitch.

Shadowcat on 22/9/2015 at 15:29

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Woo hoo!! After oh-so-many failed attempts at Level 4, I just beat the game (with Cadence) !

Hello new character... the story continues... Onwards/downwards we go! :)

I'm still digging this just as much as before. Every level has its own enemies (and combinations thereof) to handle; and the equipment you might end up with on any given run mixes up the patterns you need to employ against them. And it's just really satisfying doing things in time to the beat. As I said before, the genre-mix is quite inspired.

Al_B on 29/9/2015 at 12:03

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Just started playing this and really enjoying it. I'm a fan of Danny Baranowsky's music so that's definitely part of the attraction. I'm staying away from any guides so I'm still at the "being a bit rubbish" stage but I am starting to getting a handle on the enemies and not dying on the first floor all the time :).

Shadowcat on 7/12/2015 at 08:09

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Too brutal, as it turned out. I'm a little disappointed that I won't see the end of the story, but I've officially given up.

I really enjoyed the game prior to this, and I don't dislike playing as Aria, but there's no longer any reward for the effort I was putting into it. The game just beats me constantly, and I don't have time to dedicate to attempting this over and over and over again with basically no margin for error. I never even reached the boss with this character, let alone had a shot at beating it.

I don't object in the slightest to the game having uber-hard modes for the players with the crazy skills, but it kinda sucks that the end of the story is locked away behind them.

Regardless of that, I still recommend the game... just be aware that it might be a game that you don't finish.