‘Crypt of the NecroDancer’ gets first massive update in five years

The rhythm-based roguelike Crypt of the NecroDancer has received its first update since 2017 and it’s a big one.

Entitled 3.0.0, this update adds several new features, quality of life updates, bug fixes and adds Steam Deck support.

In a Steam update post for the game, developers Brace Yourself Games explained their rationale for updating the game: “Yup. You’re seeing this right. After 1,721 days, Crypt of the NecroDancer is getting another update. And it’s a big one.

“You might be saying, ‘Brace Yourself Games, it’s been 5 years. Why are you updating now?’ Well, let’s just say this is a precursor to something bigger coming your way, and we want to make sure that we address some of the community’s most significant feedback before we get there.”

One of the most welcome features to be added is the ability to save and quit mid-run. Previously, the player could only save their progress between runs.

A No-Beat mode has been added, removing the game’s primary gimmick in exchange for easier runs. Achievements will not be enabled for no-beat runs, however.

Load times have been greatly reduced as the game will now stream more resources when demanded.

A fully functional custom-level editor has been added, allowing players to build their own stages from scratch.

Crypt of the NecroDancer now has a built-in mod loader, allowing the player to customise mod load orders and override priorities, making modding much easier.

A custom rule menu has been added which allows players to tweak their in-game experience, this does disable achievements as well, however. Included in this menu is the ability to add old gameplay quirks which have since been patched out.

Players can now import fully custom playlists into the game, and Crypto of the NecroDancer will calculate the beats per minute of the new music in the background.

Other quality-of-life additions include updated controller support, an improved co-op mode and a redesigned replay system.

Brace Yourself Games were thorough with this update, it may have taken five years but the developers have listened to five years worth of feedback and implemented it. As for what their big plans are, they are as of yet unknown.

In other news, Ubisoft is attempting to bring awareness to climate change issues using in-game events in their game Riders Republic and their upcoming title Skull & Bones.