Cadence of Hyrule
| Cadence of Hyrule | |
|---|---|
| Developer | Brace Yourself Games |
| Publisher | Nintendo (outside Japan), Spike Chunsoft (Japan) |
| System | Nintendo Switch |
| Release Date | June 13, 2019 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Rating | ESRB: E |
Cadence of Hyrule (fully titled Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the Necrodancer featuring The Legend of Zelda) is a rhythm-based roguelike adventure game that was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2019. It is a follow-up to the original indie title Crypt of the Necrodancer and also acts as a crossover with the Legend of Zelda series. The gameplay styles of the two series are blended together.
Story
Cadence's own adventuring has been interuppted by falling through a mysterious portal. This drops her into the land of Hyrule in a time of trouble. A mysterious musician named Octavo has used his Golden Lute to take control of the kingdom of Hyrule. While seeking out a way back home, Cadence ends up enlisting the aid of Link and Princess Zelda to help stop Octavo.
Gameplay
The basic gameplay is that of roguelike games such as the Mystery Dungeon series, in which every movement counts as a turn for a character, and thus all enemies make a movement at the same time as a player. This game combines that with rhythm-based gameplay, as the player is rewarded for moving and attacking in tune with the music. This game also does have an optional auto-beat feature which allows players to play without having to try to match beats. There is also a more challenging permadeath mode in which the player has to complete the game without dying once.
The game is designed to resemble a Zelda game for the most part. There is an overworld and dungeons to explore, as well as various items and Pieces of Heart to find. There are also four dungeons to complete before proceeding to the endgame area at Hyrule Castle. The exact layouts of each dungeon are randomized each time, and other elements such as item locations are also randomized. The player can obtain a variety of different weapons and items from the Zelda series, which can be used to defeat enemies and solve puzzles. Some items (such as the different types of shovels, rings and footwear) have durability meters and break after being used for long enough. There is also a stamina meter that is depleted with the uses of certain items and abilities. Whenever the player loses, they will lose all Rupees, items with durability meters and keys. However, players can also collect diamonds that are retained even after losing and can be used to buy some supplies at a special shop that appears before returning to the game.
The game's playable characters include Link, Zelda and Cadence, as well as one hidden character. The player starts out controlling Cadence for a short portion of the game's beginning and then must choose between playing as Link or Zelda, with the other two characters becoming available later. The game can also be played with two-player co-op and has online leaderboards for the quickest finishing time.