Rift of the NecroDancer Review – The Rhythm Game That Hits Different!

Rift of the NecroDancer is a rhythm-packed adventure blending Guitar Hero and Rhythm Heaven-style gameplay with epic music battles! Join me as we dive into its story, gameplay, visuals, and soundtrack

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• Rift of the NecroDancer

• Studio: Brace Yourself Games

• Publisher: Klei Publishing

• Platforms: Steam

• Completion Time: Approximately 4 Hours with plenty of replayability

• Price: $20.00

• Genre: Rhythm Game, Animated, Mini-Games, Guitar Hero

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Hello everyone and welcome to the Good Game Lobby review of Rift of the NecroDancer, a rhythm game filled with mini-games reminiscent of Guitar Hero and Rhythm Heaven. Let’s strap on our guitars and shred the enemies filling the rift.

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From Crypt to Rift

Brace Yourself Games released Crypt of the NecroDancer way back in 2015 to critical acclaim—it's sitting at 22k+ reviews and is overwhelmingly positive. It was a roguelike rhythm pixel dungeon crawler, but this time around, we are given the same characters in a new setting with familiar music-based combat.

Crypt of the NecroDancer GIF Released 2015

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Riffing the Rift

Let’s get into the story!

A rift has brought Cadence to a new world where everyone from her world is now adjusting to life in a big city. Your friends are doing yoga, and your enemy is flipping burgers at the local burger spot. Nothing is as it seems, and rifts keep opening up, sending you monsters of all types that you need to destroy. With each new rift, you learn more about why you are here, who you can trust, and how to get back home.

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How to Shred 101

Let’s get into the gameplay. I want to start off with a nice feature the game includes.

The audio and video calibration is refreshing for a game like this. This is a great touch that truly puts the quality of your timing on you and not on the game itself. I mostly play games on my Xbox controller on PC, but I opted for my keyboard because it felt more natural. You are given a beat to tap to, and it will measure your audio and keyboard/controller latency to assist in how you play.

At first glance, the game looks like a typical Guitar Hero setup, but what makes this unique is that each monster has its own style. A green slime is one hit, but blue is two, and red is three hits, all back-to-back on beat. For instance, skeletons of certain colors either need more hits over time, move back up the rift, or even sometimes have a shield you need to double-tap.

With each enemy having a unique style to defeat them, it makes for a truly engaging and difficult gameplay style that pushes you to your limits. I am not the best, so at times I was moving from medium to easy difficulty. I have a feeling those who grew up with Guitar Hero and DDR should be just fine.

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A Cartoon-Like

Where the original Crypt of the NecroDancer had a pixel-art design, Rift of the NecroDancer has a more visually appealing look, like it has matured over the years. It looks wonderful, and the design is smooth and polished, making it look like a cartoon come to life. The way everyone bounces to the beat or how the main character flinches when you hit off-beat is a nice touch.

The Rhythm Heaven-styled mini-games show the characters in a more animated style, making me feel like I’m playing a Cartoon Network show from the Powerpuff Girls era. The colorful world and electric gameplay make for a truly wonderful visual experience.

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Beat To The Beat

The sound design is great, as it should be for a music-focused game. With years of experience in this space, everything fits perfectly. The soundtrack is wonderful and filled with great jams and beats from amazing gaming composers.

It’s no secret that Sam Webster is one of my favorite gaming composers. His work on Grindstone, Guncho, and Faraway Fairway is constantly on rotation in my house. He has teamed up with Nick Nausbaum for five songs, which are all my favorites from the soundtrack.

Danny Baranowsky is the lead here, having worked on the previous NecroDancer soundtracks and being famous for his work on Meat Boy. The quick-play version even includes three songs from the Meat Boy franchise to play along to.

Here is one of my favorites by Sam Webster and Nick Nausbaum—"Suzu’s Quest." Enjoy!

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Must Play On Beat

Rift of the NecroDancer is pretty straightforward—if you grew up with Rhythm Heaven-styled games or even Guitar Hero, you will have a fun time with NecroDancer. You can play the story mode if you are familiar with the franchise for some entertaining back-and-forth with main characters from previous titles. Or, if you just want to jam, you can jump into quick play mode and unlock diamonds to play new songs.

It took me roughly four hours to complete the main game, and I spent about an hour just going through songs in arcade mode. I played on medium settings because, while I love these games and have great rhythm, I still wanted to enjoy the game and not make it a competitive nightmare. For $20, it seems fitting for the amount of content and songs packed into the game. I hope they add additional songs over time—or who knows, maybe a DLC? They did add three to the last game, including a Hatsune Miku DLC!

Rift of the NecroDancer is a fun, rhythm-thumping game that will have you dancing along to the beat, fully immersing you in the experience. With a polished visual aesthetic and one of the best soundtracks of the year, it’s a must-play for me.

As I was writing this review, I also remembered that they made Cadence of Hyrule, a spin-off with Link and Zelda. Being the huge Zelda fan I am, I’m realizing I need to play this ASAP.

Thank you to Lurkit for the review key.

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