I'm currently in Zone 4 as Cadence (and I also have it unlocked for everyone else*) so I think I am prepared to give some trademark Thoughts™ about Crypt of the Necrodan, Sir.
The main thought is that it is VERY GOOD. This game was a hot topic everywhere I looked back when it came out but for some reason I'd ignored it. I think I was firmly nestled in Contrarian Mode back then, so a bunch of people talking too much too positively about something made me reflexively ignore it. I am very glad I'm not like that anymore because it means I no longer miss out on as much cool shit. Turns out when a bunch of people are saying something is good, it's actually good and not an accident.
When I talk about roguelikes and their quality I think of it like this: "is that death the game's fault (unfair), the player's fault (fair), or the player's inexperience (fair but you complain about it)" and so far Necrodancer has had given me very very few "unfair" deaths, I think. Being able to avoid any enemy's damage as long as you know its pattern is fantastic. I think this rates it as standing equally in 'fairness' with Spelunky/Spelunky 2 in my eyes, except instead of having to be good at platforming games, you just have to remember patterns. In that regard, I may consider Necrodancer more approachable, though the beat-matching may make it less so for those who can't do it well.
Speaking of the beat-matching, when I first started playing, the beat-matching made this game feel kind of like a "turn based but in real time" game, and was very amused to find that was apparently what the developer was trying to make before he introduced the music element to the game. The music is also great. They have been a carousel of different ear worms for me. Danny Baranowsky does it again, news at 11.
I think the only times I've felt frustrated by the game are just mishaps due to how switching weapons works. Finding a new weapon and then trying to fight off enemies when there's loose weapons on the ground and picking them up on accident leads to a lot of spinning plates dropping. But it's rare enough that I'm not bothered by it.
Video game good, in other words. Actually, video game great
