Crypt Of The NecroDancer Combines DDR, Roguelikes
Back in my day, combining chocolate and peanut butter was the height of invention. Anything beyond that, incidentally, was viewed as witchcraft punishable to the fullest extent of the law – which at that point basically meant having your limbs tied to very determined geese as they yanked you in various directions until it hurt a little. Now, though, we live in a lawless “progressive” society where all sorts of mad alchemical science isn't just allowed; it's encouraged! Case in point: Crypt of the NecroDancer combines Dance Dance Revolution and roguelikes. Madness! Heresy! The end of civilization as we know it! Also, pretty cool looking.
It's definitely rhythmic. I'll give it that. I'll reserve judgment for the roguelike elements until I can examine them in greater detail, but on the whole Crypt of the NecroDancer looks like it could actually, er, work. Pretty well, even! But what actually makes this whole system tick? Well, developer Brace Yourself Games describes it as:
"A roguelike with enforced turn duration. The duration of each turn is the time until the next beat. Also, to cast spells you use DDR-like key combos: To cast fireball, for example, you press the left and right keys at the same time."
As a result, NecroDancer is actually quite playable with a DDR pad, which is something I would never, ever, ever do unless you all promised not to look. Oh, and if you didn't like the music in the trailer, no problem. You'll apparently be able to play to your own MP3s as well. Just, you know, maybe pick something slow to start with. A soulful blues number, perhaps. Or Justin Bieber slowed down 800 percent.
The game doesn't have a release date just yet, but that's probably for the best. I can't imagine that Frankenstein-stitching these two genres together is particularly easy, so I can't fault Brace Yourself for taking their time.