I love rhythm games!
...And by that, I mean "my very specific, and probably considered boring vision of what I believe a rhythm game should look like."
In the face of my major dislikes in rhythm games, why do I greatly enjoy Rift of the NecroDancer?
I think it's best to be clear about what I like and dislike within the genre. That way, you know where I'm coming from and can best understand my thoughts on the why the game works for me.
- Disclaimer before hitting the Read More: I may incorrectly disparage a game you like. The intention isn't to be mean, but it's my perspective. I'm not the be-all judge of rhythm games, play what you like!
Okay, so what's the deal with rhythm games you don't like?
I hate it when a rhythm game doesn't cleanly display what it wants you to press next.
Project Diva has stuff flying from off screen. Which comes first? Who knows (better players who invested time into this)
I hate it when a rhythm game relies on gimmicks as difficulty.
Certain songs in Dance Dance Revolution and Pump It Up have these, but many other games thrive on this. There's far better examples, but this works best for a static image.
These arrows slowly crawl up the screen at 65 BPM (Beats Per Minute). The song is actually 130 BPM, but it's made slower for intentional clutter.
I hate it when a rhythm game has too many inputs that you can't focus properly.
Jubeat has too many buttons. When I have to search literally 16 different spots for my next move, I'm losing to reaction over rhythm.
What do I like?
Very straightforward, inputs coming down-the-line rhythm games: Pump It Up/Dance Dance Revolution, Beatmania IIDX, DJMax/O2Jam, Amplitude, Bust-A-Groove, etc.
If they mix up this formula, that they do it with a lot of leeway and/or are extremely good in flow (leading you to the next notes by either pulling your eyes to the right place or pattern recognition): Gitaroo Man, Elite Beat Agents/Ouendan, Rhythm Heaven/Rhythm Doctor, Technika, etc.
So why does RotN work?
Straightforward presentation.
Puzzle-y design.
Some may play the game and say, "what gives, Ryyudo? This is gimmicky as hell! The information isn't given cleanly or straightforwardly! And all the enemy movements has to wreck your focus."
I beg to differ, made-up strawman because I'm bad at transitions.
The "GOTCHA" isn't the goal. RotN wants you to learn and react, to the notes given, and gives plenty of leeway to do it with its reasonably forgiving health and recovery system.
Will you be tricked? Yes!
Will you look at a part you were tricked on and realize "I have all the information?" Also yes!
This is why the game works. It's a puzzle game posing as a rhythm game. This isn't a slapdash, meaningless fusion either: The rhythm game puts on the pressure to act on the puzzle.
Similar to early DDR, figuring out how to move your body to do the steps the game is giving you was a quizzundrum in itself. And if you miss, the song marches on with or without you.
As you get better, you begin to see packages of arrows and can intuit what the game wants from you...
... and your body responds on the rails from the rhythm.
RotN has that exact vibe. It hides the message of the arrows with it's enemies and it's up to you to learn what those are. The more I played, the more I began acting instead of reacting.
This satisfaction is one I haven't gotten from rhythm games since I started playing DDR with a community and learning from them.
And, of course, the music so far is fantastic. It features Danny Baranowsky from the original games, and Alex Moukala, a content creator I love and didn't realize he was having a hand in this game until this demo!
The demo is available until June 27th!.
This post isn't sponsored in any way...
...but if anyone from the NecroDancer team wants to get in touch... 