Metroidvanias are a dime a dozen in 2024. In a style so flooded with video games, a number of releases every week, allure and a novel setting are what may help your recreation stand out. Fortunately, Crypt Custodian is not going to finish up swept away by the competitors, because it has simply that.
You play as Pluto, a cat beloved by their household. Nonetheless, you have got simply died. After a horrible assembly with the Afterlife Guardian, Kendra, within the Afterlife Palace, you’re banished from a divine demise and sentenced to brush and tidy up the underworld perpetually.
That entails cleansing up all of the spirits which are lurking among the many numerous grounds that encompass the palace, sweeping them away together with your broom, and eliminating precise trash nobody needs as effectively. The alluring setup and story, in addition to the cutesy nature of the characters, are the standout features right here, delivering a memorable world and aesthetic that shines because of charming animations, beautiful lighting, and numerous environments.
Small touches, just like the little jog Pluto does as they’re exploring, actually make Crypt Custodian a pleasant little Metroidvania. A particular shoutout must be given to the music, which manages to stability being haunting (to suit the truth that Pluto is lifeless), whimsical, and catchy. It is a beautiful background to your journey.
Exterior of the primary story, which tasked us with discovering a method again into the Afterlife Palace, we met a diversified group of characters all through our playthrough, all of whom are simply as adorably animated as Pluto themselves. A few of these characters we merely handed by, whereas others act as distributors and retailers to improve Pluto’s fight talents and powers with the trash you acquire in your journey.
Talking of fight, Crypt Custodian additionally has a very stable, gratifying fight basis right here with a reasonably easy set of assaults and dodges. Pluto’s moveset is comprised of a roll, leap, common assaults, and particular assaults (which may be discovered all through the world). Fight is quick and fluid. Dodging and avoiding assaults is as tight and exact as we may need from a Metroidvania, and people particular assaults vary from common area-of-effect blasts to extra situational talents like having the ability to depart a path of damaging mines behind you, damaging enemies that stroll on them. There’s a first rate choice to select from, however not so many who the sport was always throwing new powers at us and we solely bought to check out each for a short second. Character development felt incredible and fight is heightened because of the various choice of enemies and executives on supply – ingenious and memorable whereas matching the world’s aesthetic and tone.
On high of that, Pluto can unlock new passive talents from characters which have a far higher total impact, as they’re stackable, relying on what number of capability factors you have got out there and discover all through the world. For instance, we may create a dangerous area round Pluto and permit ourselves to take an additional hit, making them extraordinarily resilient, or we may stack injury boosts to make Pluto exceptionally highly effective. This was by far the extra fascinating improve system within the recreation, as there’s a higher number of choices right here, permitting us to customize extra drastically and create total builds based mostly across the passive talents we needed.
The extra conventional Metroidvania upgrades, which gave traversal choices and methods to entry new areas, really feel rather less impressed and will not shock anybody accustomed to the style. Puzzle design and exploration, nevertheless, are a lot stronger. The previous has stable brainteasers with out turning into too difficult, whereas the latter rewards you with tons of improve factors and collectibles equivalent to Jukebox CDs to vary the background music.
Nonetheless, the sport does endure from some fairly drastic problem spikes and declines that may make elements of the expertise fairly irritating. Bosses may be the key challenge right here with extremely busy assaults, leading to plenty of projectiles and results on display screen, making it arduous to land exact jumps and dodges, and simply being overwhelming, frankly. This additionally occurs in among the extra packed areas with common enemies, however it’s far much less frequent.
Moreover, we did have some noticeable body charge hiccups and hitching throughout our playthrough in each handheld and docked modes. Whereas they did not have a drastic impact on gameplay, they did disrupt the movement, as the sport would usually freeze briefly after which leap ahead once more as we entered new areas or took on massive teams of enemies. This did not occur on a regular basis, nevertheless it occurred sufficient to be irritating when it did crop up.
Lastly, two good bonus additions listed below are a full Boss Rush mode that’s unlocked as quickly as you defeat your first boss, permitting you to get that excellent run. Second is a Speedrun Mode within the settings menu that can undoubtedly be appreciated by those that want to problem themselves much more.
Conclusion
General, Crypt Custodian is a fairly conventional Metroidvania elevated by its incredible world, aesthetic, characters, and soundtrack, with stable fight and plenty of construct flexibility. These features all assist alleviate some visible muddle points and body charge hiccups, making certain that Crypt Custodian should not find yourself misplaced within the eShop cut price bin like so many different Metroidvanias.
