The latest Nindies Direct opened with a bang, as a port of Cuphead was announced for the Nintendo Switch, which brought all kinds of speculation about the growing relationship between Microsoft and Nintendo with it. The Nindies Direct ended with another huge announcement - a crossover game between Crypt of the NecroDancer and The Legend of Zelda, called Cadence of Hyrule. 

Crypt of the NecroDancer is an indie game that combines roguelike random dungeons with rhythm gameplay as the player's combat abilities will be strengthened if they are performed while following the beat of the music. The main character is an adventurer named Cadence, who has her heart literally stolen by the NecroDancer and she must fight her way through his crypt in order to retrieve. Crypt of the NecroDancer was ported to the Nintendo Switch on February 1, 2018.

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Cadence of Hyrule seems to be set in Hyrule, as many of the creatures and locations from the trailer come from The Legend of Zelda series, with a lot of focus on imagery from A Link to the Past. Cadence from Crypt of the NecroDancer returns as a playable character, but she is now joined by Link and Princess Zelda from The Legend of Zelda series, with each character possessing their own powers and special abilities.

The announcement of a crossover between Crypt of the NecroDancer and The Legend of Zelda series might be one of the most surprising game reveals of 2019, but what is even more surprising is that Nintendo allowed one of their most precious first-party franchises to be used by an indie developer.

Nintendo has let third-party developers work on Zelda spinoffs in the past, such as Team Ninja with Hyrule Warriors and Capcom with the Oracle games, but those are established developers with a history of hit titles. Crypt of the NecroDancer was developed by Brace Yourself Games, which has only developed two other games in the past - Industries of Titan and Phantom Brigade. 

It's possible that Nintendo has been more liberal with other companies using their properties in order to bolster their 2019 lineup. Cadence of Hyrule looks like an incredibly fun game regardless of the reasons behind its inception and it may even outsell the upcoming remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, depending on the price point and review scores of both games.

Cadence of Hyrule will be available for the Nintendo Switch in spring 2019.