Rhythm games, especially those combined with FPS gameplay mechanics, seem to be getting pretty popular. We've seen the launch of two of these games, both in very similar vein – with BPM: Bullets Per Minute, and Metal: Hellsinger more recently. While this is a relatively new formula – clearly inspired by the Doom series – these kinds of games already existed as dungeon crawlers, with Crypt of the NecroDancer being one of the most popular ones.
So popular in fact, that in 2019 Nintendo itself approached developer Brace Yourself Games for a crossover, succinctly named Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda. And now, after five years since its launch, the original rhythm-based dungeon crawler received a massive update.
"Yup. You’re seeing this right. After 1,721 days, Crypt of the NecroDancer is getting another update. And it’s a big one," says the blog post. "You might be saying, “Brace Yourself Games, it’s been 5 years. Why are you updating now?"
"Well, let’s just say this is a precursor to something bigger coming your way, and we want to make sure that we address some of the community’s most significant feedback before we get there."
As for what the update includes, the blog post notes that it makes changes in all of the areas that fans have been asking for – loading times, difficulty spike, custom music, controller support/control inputs.
New features to the game include a No Beat Mode, which will allow players to explore the dungeons and the story without having to worry about timing their movement to the beat. A similar mode existed in Cadence of Hyrule as well. A Save and Quit function now allows you to save a run and continue it later, instead of having to start from the top if you need to end your playthrough for the time being. The Custom Music feature overhaul now allows the game to accept MP3, OGG and FLAC formats, and the customization of special tracks.
Additional changes and improvements have also been made to co-op mode, replay system, leaderboards, and speedrun timer.
We don't yet know what the "something bigger" the blog post mentions could be. But gauging from the fact that the devs are improving the base game, it could be a content expansion of some kind. Maybe Link and Zelda will visit Cadence this time.