PAX: Rift of the Necrodancer finds charming fun in focusing on the rhythm

destructoid.com:

It might, at first, seem like Rift of the Necrodanceris going back to rhythm basics. Previous release Crypt of the Necrodancer experimented with a rhythm twist on the roguelite formula to great success, while Rift looks to dive back into the pure rhythm genre. But a combination of great mechanics, variety, and charm all combine to make Rift of the Necrodancer‘s styles harmonize well.

We got to sit down with a demo of Brace Yourself and Tic Toc Games’ Rift of the Necrodancer at PAX East 2023, showing off three different stages of the game. Its core is still rhythm-centric, with extremely good tunes backing the action. The approach, at first, seems like musical routine: slimes roll down the track one beat at a time, and I had to hit the arrow keys (left, right, up) to strike them down, sometimes in combination, or hitting down to hit all three lanes at once. Easy enough, right?

Turns out, not all enemies are simple one-hit-kill slimes. Some are bats, which jump to other lanes after you’ve hit them once, so you’ll need to watch and take note. Some slimes take a few sequential hits on the beat to clear, while skeletons protected with shields need sub-divided bashes, and the undead leap across lanes, and you can start to see how this all escalates.

The Rhythm Rift mode was the first play mode I saw, and definitely the one I latched onto the most. While it has those shades of lane-surfing bops like Guitar Hero or Amplitude, the use of enemy varieties to create quick moments of adaptation and execution feels great. Seeing a bat come down a lane by itself, hitting it once, then seeing it hop over and back a beat to line up with a slime for a double-hit can instill some surprise and excitement, but it feels great to read that and