CADENCE OF HYRULE REVIEW
Synopsis: Save the legendary land of Hyrule in a game from the makers of Crypt of the NecroDancer, set to the world and music of the Legend of Zelda series in Cadence of Hyrule.
Publisher: Spike Chunsoft, Nintendo
Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch (played in both docked and handheld mode)
Cast: Elspeth Eastman, Caitlyn Bairstow, Stephanie Martone, Ian Hanlin, Asia Mattu
Developer: Brace Yourself Games
Writing: Ryan Clark, Oliver Trujillo, Kramer Solinsky
Game Design: Oliver Trujillo, Ryan Clark
Programming: Stephen Kiazyk, Alain Carter, Oliver Trujillo
Art Director: Paul Veer
Music: Danny Baranowsky
In recent years Nintendo has been getting a lot better about trusting others with their IPs—from big-budget studios for a Pokémon movie to a smaller indie team for Cadence of Hyrule in Vancouver-based Brace Yourself Games. Their faith is well rewarded: Cadence of Hyrule is not only a great Zelda spin-off, it’s easily the best one.
Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Feat. The Legend of Zelda is as much a spin-off for the Zelda franchise as it is a Crypt of the NecroDancer game, which forms the basis for the game’s mechanics and story. The “Feat. The Legend of Zelda” part is important—this is a NecroDancer game first and foremost, and that’s worth knowing going in.
The game kicks off with Cadence, the main character from Crypt of the NecroDancer, arriving in Hyrule. I haven’t played that game, but the story and its cross-over lore are light, so don’t worry too much. After a quick tutorial you can pick between playing as Link or Zelda (I chose Link, but you can unlock both anyway) and head off on a somewhat typical Zelda adventure—with a big twist in the gameplay department.
Although the game looks beautiful and very much like a 2D Zelda game, it’s got a few new tricks. Your main goal is recognisable: find your way to four dungeons to get items that’ll allow you to get into Hyrule Castle and put a stop to whatever foul nonsense is going on.
Along with Cadence arriving in Hyrule comes her world’s fighting style—combat to the beat. When you enter a screen with enemies, a song begins and so does a beat counter at the bottom of the screen. You must move and attack in time with these beats or take a brief movement penalty, which often leads to getting hit. For those who haven’t played NecroDancer, expect several annoying deaths before it clicks.
Playing with headphones makes keeping to the beat easier, and you can enable controller rumble to help keep time. There’s also a mode that turns off the rhythm requirement so enemies move when you do instead. I tested it—it’s not how I’d want to play, but it’s great for accessibility (hearing disabilities, or if you simply don’t like rhythm games).
There’s a roguelike element here, but it’s minimal. You’ll lose Rupees and temporary buffs on death, but not the mainline Zelda items you find—boomerang, bow, feather and more. Once found in mini-dungeons or bought from merchants, they’re yours to keep. Same goes for weapons. That makes the first couple of hours the hardest, but once you’ve got a shield, a bow and, say, a spear that hits an extra tile away, things get much easier.
I had fun exploring for my first hour—opening as much of the map as I could before tackling story dungeons. When I looped back to them, I was better equipped, which made them (presumably) easier.
Cadence of Hyrule’s dungeons won’t deliver the full puzzle-box Zelda experience, but you still get the core elements—keys, a map, a compass. The more roguelike bit is that dungeons are randomly generated when you enter them, so after you die you’ll face a fresh layout. They’re relatively short—two I cleared in minutes, others took multiple attempts and half an hour or more.
The best parts come together in boss rooms. Baranowsky’s music is fantastic throughout, but it peaks here in lockstep with the gameplay. My favourite track is “Gleeokenspiel Battle,” a Song of Storms-inspired piece from the first boss fight. As in traditional Zelda, learning enemy movement patterns is key—arguably more important here.
I beat Cadence of Hyrule in eight hours. Definitely no speedrunner, but it’s easily doable in four to six without rushing—and speedrunners will drop it under an hour. If you’re experienced with NecroDancer you’ll likely fly. My run felt challenging and just long enough. There’s plenty of replay value too with the RNG elements and several characters to pick from (I won’t spoil any beyond Zelda). Two-player co-op is included as well, though I didn’t get to try it.
Cadence of Hyrule is the best Zelda spin-off we’ve had. It may not play exactly like a Zelda game—because it isn’t; it’s a Cadence game—but it looks and sounds like Zelda through and through. Perhaps that’s Brace Yourself Games’ biggest achievement: they made something you could easily believe Nintendo developed themselves.
