Rift of the NecroDancer

just one more song and then i can stop for a bit. just one more song and then i can stop for a bit. just one more-

As a huge fan of the old Guitar Hero and Rock Band series, I've been loving my time with this game. It's quite challenging to get the hang of all the monster patterns but once you nail it down, it's a blast to play and I'm very happy about being able to play it with one of my old Guitar controllers. The music is superb and the fact that you can create your own tracks is *chef kiss*. This is gonna be my comfort game for years to come.

Probably the best rhythm game I've ever played An incredibly unique game where reading the chart is half the battle. The way it adapts Crypt of the Necrodancer mechanics and enemies into it's gameplay is so clever and makes it a treat for people coming from Crypt, and an incredibly fresh experience for rhythm game fans coming in from your traditional guitar hero/ddr style "hit the arrows/notes" gameplay. Every single monster has a different rhythm and method for being taken down (aside from basic skeletons and green slimes who are identical) and just like original crypt the gameplay is about quickly and efficiently remembering an enemy's patterns and dealing with it. It's complex, and can be very difficult, but the game features a good easy mode selection as well as an incredibly well done practice mode that allows you replay sections of a song from the exact beat. The music is all very good, and it gets regular content updates in the form of paid and occasionally free dlc updates. The pizza tower pack especially is really fun. The story mode is.. It has really fun minigames and boss fights but i saw a review call it "Mobile game writing" and I can't really say I disagree, it's charming at best and just kinda bleh at worst. But if you're playing a rhythm game for the story i'm not really sure where your priorities lie. Best of all is the extensive workshop this game features, it's got easy chart creation tools and hundreds upon hundreds of custom charts to try from all sorts of songs, even supporting features like custom portraits and stuff! I myself have even made a few custom charts already. Overall it's an all around great game and I highly recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in the rhythm game genre

Rift of the NecroDancer is a rhythm-based action game developed by Brace Yourself Games, known for their previous title Crypt of the NecroDancer. This game combines the rhythmic gameplay of its predecessor with a more accessible and engaging experience, featuring a compelling storyline, an impressive soundtrack, and various gameplay modes that cater to both casual players and rhythm game enthusiasts. In Rift of the NecroDancer, players control Cadence, the protagonist from Crypt of the NecroDancer, as she navigates through a mysterious rift that spawns monsters. The game's mechanics involve pressing buttons in time with notes that appear on lanes, similar to games like Guitar Hero. The notes are represented by enemies with various movement patterns, adding a layer of complexity to the gameplay. The story mode serves as a guided way to tackle the music, with difficulty increasing as players progress . The soundtrack is a standout feature, featuring over 30 original tracks composed by Danny Baranowsky, FamilyJules, Alex Moukala, Josie Brechner, Sam Webster, and Nick Nausbaum. The music spans various genres, including EDM, chiptune, and synthrock, ensuring that each track is engaging and complements the rhythm-based gameplay. The game's visuals are vibrant and cartoonish, with lively character animations and fun enemy designs that enhance the overall experience . Rift of the NecroDancer offers several gameplay modes to keep players engaged. The story mode provides a structured experience with increasing difficulty, while Remix Mode introduces procedurally generated beat maps that challenge players in unexpected ways. Daily Challenges offer unique, one-time-only beat maps for players to compete against others globally. Additionally, the Custom Music Mode allows players to import their tracks and create personalized rhythm maps, adding nearly limitless replayability . The game also includes various accessibility features, such as color blindness adjustments, background animation controls, static portraits for better focus, early/late hit indicators, and audio and video latency calibration. These settings make the game customizable, ensuring that both hardcore and casual players can enjoy the experience . In conclusion, Rift of the NecroDancer is a rhythm game that successfully combines engaging gameplay, an impressive soundtrack, and various modes to cater to a wide range of players. Its accessibility features and customizable settings make it an enjoyable experience for both newcomers and veterans of rhythm games. Whether you're a fan of the original Crypt of the NecroDancer or new to the series, Rift of the NecroDancer offers a compelling and entertaining rhythm-based adventure. Rating: 9/10

Rhythm games were a big part of my childhood. This is one of the best I've played. The songs are amazing and has workshop support for custom songs as well. Haven't finished the game yet but I highly rec this if you miss the days of great rhythm games.

A great rhythm and puzzle game (learning monster patterns). I especially like the art-style and animation effects. The songs also get stuck in my head and want to play another song or retry where I can. There are also fun minigames and the storymode gives an additional layer of depth.

3 months - 19 dlcs, game constantly reminds you you're missing content by shoving dlc songs in your selection menu. game offers almost 0 content outside of the dlc's. None of the basic songs are enjoyable or worth playing at all. They're good songs, good as OST for Crypt of necrodancer, not as standalone song for rhythm game. Whilst the selection of DLC songs is great (excpet Miku and Celeste) they're overpriced AF, to get all of the dlc's costs more that the main game. (almost 3x) And yes,the game has workshop support, it doesnt excuise the production of overpriced dlc's for a hollow base game. Outsourcing filling your game with content to the community that you milk with DLC's if baffling. I cant understand how people can defend such feat, how people justify the lack of content in the base game with workshop that is filled with content of questionable quality. The gameplay itself is... confusing. Readability of the notes is medioce at best , whilst the design of monsters (notes) and their color is distinguishable enough, i cant say the same for the offbeat monsters, which differ only in shadow shapes, good luck reading SHADOWS of notes on 19+ speed. if you itch to play QUICK PASED PUZZLE game, (not a rhythm game, since on most of the songs ((except dlc's)) notes struggle to accompany the song ), or want to jam to the HOLOLIVE or PIZZA TIME music i suggest you pirate to avoid giving money to a company that milks their community for money with dlc's and lock MP option behind the paid dlc (yes, i look at you crypt of the necrodancer miku dlc) or wait a year or two for heavy discounts

I quite enjoy this game and love how much content the workshop gives it but I am unrecommending this game because it tossed a pop up under my cursor, sending me to the store page to buy DLC. Not cool. I understand wanting to advertise new content that players might enjoy, but that kind of aggressive marketing is tacky and borderline predatory.

Quite a fun rhythm game. I'm bad at anything past hard, but still had fun nonetheless. Plus, the "Rhythm Heaven"-like minigames were cool as well; just wish there was more of 'em.

such a fun game to play, the music is so good, and honestly i think the concept is really unique. totally recommend!

VERY fun rhythm game, the story mode isn't too incredibly long, it took me about 4 hours, but the base game music is what you'd expect from a Necrodancer game and the DLC songs are mapped with just as much quality. Bring in workshop for modded charts, and you have a rhythm game you can play for many hours trying to master the music.

It's very similar to DDR (dance Dance revolution) and FNF (friday night funkin). however, it's more complex with a wide variety of enemies acting as the notes to hit. Combine that with minigames and boss fights, you get Rift of the NecroDancer!

This is a new game brought by the studio that developed crypt of the necrodancer (a critical acclaim from 2015). It is also a rhythm game but a bit more classic : you press directions according to a chart displayed by the game that follows the music. Notes are represented as monsters and the twist is that different monsters require different input. The game proposes various difficulties from very easy to really hard. If you look at a video online of a difficult version of a level (notably the impossible difficulty), it may look very confusing and not very welcoming for the beginner. But this is an illusion. If you are like me who hasn't played many rhythm games over the years, you can start at default difficulty and still have a lot of fun. The songs are all original compositions (some of them from Baranowski) and usually pleasant. At the time I’m writing this review, a lot of custom charts have been published by the community providing a lot of additional content to the game (for free) and some of them are really good and very creative. Is this game replayable? Yes, definitely. When I started playing this game, I thought I would never be able to beat the harder versions of the levels (I would usually lose after a few seconds) but I started progressively to become better and I can now comfortably play all the difficulties (except for a very few songs) even though I didn’t have much experience in rhythm game beforehand. What helped me continue playing this game was the pure fun it is (and the fact that there is a lot of additional content from the workshop). I highly recommend this game for everyone who wants to play a rhythm game (or is open-minded to trying one).

A genuinely fun rhythm game that has options for people who aren't very good at rhythm games yet as well as having difficulties for rhythm game pros. The fan made levels are also super fun and easy to access

My first rhythm game outside of beat saber and I'm addicted (although I've played a little muse dash too). I see some people complain that reading the charts is too difficult but thats the entire point, it makes my ADHD brain go brrrrr. Also, I'm absolutely developing carpal tunnel from this, there's no way I'm not.

Probably the best rhythm game i've ever tried out. Artstyle is inspiring and the gimmicks are simple yet the skill ceiling is pretty high. The fact that the game uses primarly 3 buttons instead of 2 or 4 is a really nice thing. Thank you Brace Yourself Games for another title which i couldn't 100% on its achievements.

Quickly becoming one of my favourite games of all time. The best rhythm game I've ever played. Innovative, runs well, plenty of content.

this game is peak. i'm in love with the soundtrack, the art, literally everything about it- plus the minigame and boss fight sections add to my love for this game even more <3 also the necrodancer is so fine and nobody can convince me otherwise

This game is an exemplar of the genre. It has a cool style and great original tunes, and exciting mechanics. It has just the right amount of challenge to invite you in and then captivate you. Give this game a shot if you like rhythm games, it won't disappoint.

Best Rythm game ever. Also it has cadence (the true god of this world) in it NAUYOUAHGZUGAHC and MERLIN AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

This is by far the BEST rhythm game i have played so far. The soundtrack is amazing and i love how the notes work. The notes can be very hard to get the hang of but once you do, the game flows amazingly. i also really like that you can create your own tracks and the community has created so many fun songs to play! also there is miku, meatboy, celeste, AND pizza tower.

Very stylish and fun. Art and music are fantastic as well. Hatsune Miku and Suisei.

solid rythm game with great music, fun characters, and just overall great heart!

It's a good game but, I think it could use some quality of life additions. I would love the addition of a button in the pause menu that takes you from a song straight to practice mode. It shows up after you fail the song, there is no reason it shouldn't be in the pause menu too. It could even start you at the point in the song where you paused. Additionally there should be a button in practice mode to return to the song. I shouldn't have to quit to song selection to return to the song I'm already practicing. I wish there was an option to turn off the count down when restarting a song in practice mode and remove the long lead up to the first notes. It isn't a huge amount of time between the restart and the first notes but, it's long enough to really interrupt the flow in a such a fast paced game. The time being eaten up really starts to add up when you are practicing a hard portion of a song over and over. It's even worse if you slow down the pace of a song, it makes the countdown and lead up to the first notes so slow. There is already the ability to start the song wherever I want, I can give myself as much of a lead up to the portion I want to practice as I need, I don't need the game to give me a 10 second lead up every time I restart in practice mode. I would love to be able to use the mouse for menus, let me scroll wheel through songs and click on things. In practice mode let me drag the bar that determines where the practice starts/ends. Everything about the game play is really good, everything outside of it is a little clunkier than I would like.

Had a hard time memorizing the enemy mechanics at first but once that became second nature the game was way more fun. I love it now!

Hololive songs were added so I actually played some of this game and its fun as shit

An absolutely fantastic rhythm game with amazing DLC so far, with fan-made content built in via the steam workshop.

very fun and challenging rhythm game. i absolutely love the pizza tower dlc, its super fun to play. and the custom songs you can get from the workshop are awesome sauce

I have very mixed feelings about this game. It's fun and the music that comes with it is great. It's nicely familiar to those who played Crypt of the Necrodancer and it's such a refreshing take. The controls are... workable. I'm glad you can change settings but I feel odd that I've pretty much changed every setting against the defaults because of how it just didn't click with me. I had invert on, I had to turn down the grating miss and combo break cues because a distraction here and there pretty much spells game over even on good runs. When you're in the rhythm, it feels really good, and beatmaps that aren't on the threshold of confusion is generally very very fun and addicting. The armadillos... ugh. They're enough to push me to write this review, and honestly, close to making me hit the thumbs down button. Same goes to diamond and star base enemies that are off beat. Feels like I have to just give up on combos and button mash when I see these. I wish there's an option to just see fewer rows and just accelerate the board. I'd rather have off-beats be on their own track in between than being visually in line with normal beats. I recommend this game because ultimately, it's fun and well-built and they have some good music collabs added in, like the Hololive tracks, but yeah, you may want to try the demo first and see if this is your jam.

This game is honestly so fucking fun it doesnt even matter if youre good or not. I started out doing a bit of medium and turned it up to hard and VERY SLOWLY made my way through story mode. When I got to playing the DLCs and custom songs with very high bpm, I found that charts feel SO FUN to play, it feels like my fingers are dancing and playing DDR!

This is a good game with smooth animation and great music. If I get to nitpick, its annoying to get popups on a game and the tutorial versus the story mode is like that math teacher in school that would show you and easy example during class and when the assessment came they would ask you to prove the Drake equation. That aside, if you are a fan of rhythm games, by all means get this one.

Incredible Rhythm game that has some of the most unique notes in any game of this genre that are presented in the form of enemies from crypt of the necrodancer. Solid selection of music albeit some of the dlc can be pricey but it is well worth it especially when on discount. There's also steam workshop which allows for an infinite amount of songs to choose from for free. You can always try the demo if you aren't sure.

im not too into osu mania style games but this game is so cool, i love it! it takes a while to get used to the monsters and what they do, but once you do, this game is super fun.

Thought only having three lanes of notes would make this boring, but the movement of the enemies keeps you on your toes. Fun take on the Guitar Hero style game-play with mini-games scattered throughout as sort of an intermission.

I have always enjoyed rhythm games since Bust-A-Move on Playstation. This is fun and I like that each monster gives you different beats, so you have to pay attention rather than just basic 4/4 counts haha! To be honest, I really love the Hatsune Miku DLC. I would definitely recommend to anyone who also enjoys rhythm and music games to give it a go.

Great rhythm game, never tried something like this, but I liked it, its challenging and fun.

TLDR; If you love rhythm games, then this is a must buy. I'm a huge fan of rhythm games, having been playing them heavily for over 20 years, and Rift of the NecroDancer is a fresh new take giving me something that hasn't been done before. Leaning into the music style that helped make Crypt of the Necrodancer so addicting, this gives you a fun take on those characters to introduce you to a pretty decent selection of original songs. The game then uses monsters from the Crypt of the Necrodancer to create creative note mechanics that really force you to both pay attention the beats in the song and the various queues to help you plan and identify what you'll need to hit. There are traps that move monsters around, skulls that burst into skeletons (chords), monsters that require multiple hits, some that skip beats, and the on/off beat is indicated through shadows and bobbing of the characters rather than a color. All in all - I'm very much enjoying my time in this game, have completed story mode, and see myself spending a lot of time in the future mastering each of the songs. The main drawback when of this game when compared to others is that the judge window to hit beats "perfect" is super tight - probably the smallest window of any rhythm game I've seen. I'm not sure most people, including myself, will ever "perfect" a song like I can in most other rhythm games, but the benefit is that the leaderboards aren't just flooded with hundreds of people with identical perfect scores so there is always progress to be made, even when you can easily full combo a song.

I love this game. Do yourself a favor and play this game especially if you love song heavy games. The most fun I've ever had with this genre

Its a good game that scratches the Guitar Hero itch. I don't totally love it just because some of the special enemies and combinations of enemies coming down the highway make me go cross eyed and I fumble a lot of the more intense songs. Really like the custom song mode with Steam Workshop. Worth the price of entry.

Good game, I highly recommend it if you're still searching for a rythm game to play after ditching 400 hours in the masterpiece "Persona 4 dancing all night". Music is outstanding but the game suffer from a lack of clarity sometimes. Bonus points for the great mini games.

I played the heck out of Crypt of the Necrodancer, as well as Cadence of Hyrule on the Switch. Now Rift of the Necrodancer is different from those other 2 games, but I plan to play the heck out of this game too! I love how they continue to add songs from other fun IPs I love, especially the recent one with songs from my favorite Hololive talents!

Honestly while this game references Crypt of the NecroDancer almost too many times, it still manages to charm me. The soundtrack is well made with multiple talented artists, gameplay gets really fun when there is good level design, and the artstyle feels really lively. I would recommend anyone wanting to play this to get acquainted with Crypt of the NecroDancer first. All in all I would give the game a solid 8/10

Really unique and fun rhythm game, I haven't had this much fun since I was a kid playing guitar hero! <3

Incredible game. If you are intimidated by rhythm games, don't worry and give it a shot-- this game has very fair and adaptable difficulty settings, which all feel just as fun. Very customizable game in terms of options, a fun story mode, great art and visuals, fun minigames, an amazing soundtrack, and solid mod support. 100% check it out.

Really fun mechanics and charts, a good community content mode, great visuals, fun side modes, cool collabs, and a wide range of songs and difficulties, is there really anything this game is missing?

I'm leaving a thumbs up because for the price it's a lot of fun, and Brace Yourself always puts a lot of heart into their games that really shows. But there's some pretty major issues I have with the game design and I wish I could give it a neutral. Also as an aside, I'm not a big fan of the DLC method, even though the songs have been amazing. 2 bucks (CAD) a song seems pretty egregious unless the owners of the music are demanding a certain amount of cut. But for the main issue I have, I think the design that works really well in dev's other games doesn't work so well in a pure rhythm game setting. Lots of monsters having different move types works really well in the combat of Crypt/Cadence because you don't need to be perfect (for most characters) and you can recover/respond to things around you more easily. Plus in those games even if the music does half-notes the player still moves on full beats. In a pure rhythm game, it becomes a lot more frustrating because it's insanely difficult to look at the chart and predict what it'll look like in the next few beats (during the time limit of having to press buttons at least). It can be hard to see which monsters are on half-notes, or to remember what the pattern for the gold armadillo is when one is barrelling towards you, or to see which column the swordmaster is going to come from when he's 5 rows away... Funnily enough, the Rhythm Heaven style minigames work way better in this game, and I bought it assuming they'd appear more than 4 or so times. I was hoping for a lot more focus on the rhythm minigames. But! The music in this rhythm game is top-notch, the collab songs themselves are well-done even if they're a bit pricey, and there's a lot of heart and love put into this game. If you're a *really* casual rhythm game player who sticks to easy or medium difficulty, or a rhythm game nut who can muscle-memory down all of the quirks, you'll probably love this. If you're in the middle it might get on your nerves.

It is so lovely to do a song well. It is very pleasurable to play well, and it has a good practise mode

just clocked 100 hours, decided I should write a review. If you're a rhythm game savant who has all the fundamentals under lock or new to the genre as a whole, this game brings alot to the table for you either way. Half the battle in this game is interpreting enemy's movement patterns as they come down the highway. This unique premise is executed gorgeously, with hand crafted charting for songs that feel amazing to play and learn, and almost always leaves you knowing "if I just keep practicing, I'll see the forest for the trees and learn to recognize what these enemy patterns want from me without even having to think"—except for Progenitor!! On Impossible it has some of the most chaotic charting I've seen in this game! It is hand crafted to be as unsightreadable as possible! but I digress. The DLCs bring alot to the table, even with the active workshop. they showcase alot of variety in the song collabs along with their charting. They're consistently fresh compared to the base game and even the other DLCs, and have a dependable competency that can be rather hit or miss when looking at community charted songs.

This might be the best indie game I played this year. Story mode was alright. The music is great and the gameplay can be a bit hard. But the best part about this game is obviously the custom songs from the Steam Workshop (I spent more time on those than i did for the story and main songs). It even inspired me to make my own workshop item for this game. Huge props to the devs of this game. 8.5/10 and two thumbs up! Time to check its predecessor: Crypt of the NecroDancer

There’ just so much love and care put into this game. Couldn’t recommend it more. If you like rhythm games, this game is for you. + Miku.