Perhaps you want to have infinite bombs that you can kick at people, because that’s one of their skills. It’s tempting to play as the Bard, because he removes the beat counter, essentially pausing the game until he moves (and it’s rare to see a developer give such freedom for how you play, as this almost goes against the core idea), but you’ll quickly find a preferred combatant. Unlockable characters have their own unique skills, adding yet more depth. One of the first enemies makes this clear: as a skeleton raises its arms to attack, you must move away, then back towards it as you know it’ll drop it’s arms after one tile, leaving it open for you to end it. The crux always remains the same: you need to move in a way that causes your enemy to become vulnerable. Brilliantly, co-op makes an appearance – one player on the arrow keys, the other on WASD controls. There is a story, but in all honesty you probably won’t care about it all that much. A temporary shield can be picked up and activated by hitting up and left, for example, while magic spells can be cast, or bombs can be dropped by quickly tapping a different combination. It goes further still, by allowing you to use bombs, and other offensive and defensive items. One sword will have a larger attack area, meaning you can tackle some foes before they upon you, whereas another sword might heal you as you strike, but be poor at actually damaging enemies. Armour, weapons, and other buffs help you out in a plethora of different ways. The former are spent in the hub world on permanent health increases (and other things), while the coins are spent on the in-dungeon shops. In an effort to counter the difficulty, you can collect diamonds and coins. The difficulty is increased as you progress, and all of these other things make it harder, too. Directional arrows also litter the floor that will automatically bounce you in that direction, bomb-pads make huge explosions appear (get out of the way, quick), and plenty more. It’s magnificent, and it’s utterly stupid – I love it. Simple distractions that you’d seen in other games, like a shop, are enhanced by the shopkeeper singing along to the song. So much is going on as you bounce through the dungeons: each floor has a larger-than-usual enemy that is a sort of mini boss battle (it has more health than standard enemies), and when defeated it’ll open the next floor, and so on. The music throbs, and within ten minutes it’s become so engrossing you don’t even see the lines that indicate the beat, you feel it instead. That’s your beat – and though it’s not actually tied to your health in a mechanic way, it feels as though you are pumping the very lifeblood that creates your character’s pulse. A heartbeat will throb in the centre of the screen, and lines will approach from either side. There’s no controller support (nor should there be), this is the purest of ideas. It’s simply one of the most creative takes on a genre I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of games. Even then, it goes further than it probably needs to, as every enemy encountered has a unique pattern moving on the beat that requires you to learn and approach in a different way. Why in the name of bloody hell has nobody thought of this before? A rogue-like dungeon crawler that removes the freedom of movement, and ties the player to a beat.
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