Cadence of Hyrule Video Review
Most of The Legend of Zelda games revolve around the same core concept: awaken as Link, defeat Ganon, and save Princess Zelda. But what if one of those games was… dancier? Fusing The Legend of Zelda with the excellent Crypt of the Necrodancer, Cadence of Hyrule is just that — and it’s one of the best Zelda games we’ve played. Click play on the video below to see our full review of this rhythmic, roguelike game you never knew you wanted.
Cadence of Hyrule takes the most lovable elements of Zelda and puts them into a fun, randomly generated overworld map, and procedurally generated dungeon screens.
Like our man Paul said in his review: “Cadence of Hyrule is the Legend of Zelda game I didn’t know I wanted, and now can’t live without. It’s perfect for both bus rides and extended eyebleed caliber play sessions has the raddest soundtrack of the year, and is randomly generated to ensure infinite replayability. It’ll be in my rotation for a good long while, and deserves a place on your Switch wishlist, Zelda fan or not.”
Cadence of Hyrule combines the rhythm-based gameplay of Crypt of the NecroDancer with settings, characters, and music from The Legend of Zelda series. Players play the majority of the game as either Link or Princess Zelda, with other characters such as NecroDancer protagonist Cadence becoming unlocked by progressing through the game or completing certain quests, each with their own unique abilities. Players venture across the overworld, composed of predefined regions and map layouts related to Zelda lore such as Hyrule Castle or Death Mountain, but whose relative placement is procedurally generated for each new save file. This map remains the same throughout the entire game, but certain dungeons such as those found in temples will be randomly generated every time they are visited. Whenever enemies are in an area, the player is required to move and attack in time to the music using the directional buttons, with bonus multipliers and extra rewards available for maintaining the beat. Throughout the game, the player can find or purchase weapons and equipment, such as shovels for digging through dirt or torches that can reveal the contents of chests, as well as recurring Zelda items such as bows, bombs, and hookshots.
