Crystal Savin has revealed that she was laid off from the studio after working there for only four months. Savin has also revealed that the studio has cut its staff by around 50%.

The studio had announced its next project—Rift of the NecroDancer—back in April. In a departure from its dungeon crawling roots, the upcoming title focuses more on lane-based combat and storytelling.

The game was first unveiled alongside a DLC that was released for the original Crypt of the NecroDancer, which among other things, brought 8-player multiplayer to the game, and three new playable characters.

Rift of the NecroDancer doesn’t yet have a release date aside from a 2023 release window. It is slated for release on PC and Nintendo Switch.

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WARGROOVE

Position itself as a spiritual successor to the fan-favourite Nintendo series Advance Wars, Wargroove had a lot to live up to, and for the most part, it met those expectations expertly. And among the many things that endeared Chucklefish’s strategy title to the masses was its difficulty- Wargroove is a challenging game, and nearly every fight, every skirmish in the game is an uphill battle. And while Wargroove does occasionally become a bit too harsh with its difficulty, by and large it maintains a pretty healthy and consistent balance.

This year saw Nintendo get pretty inventive with one of their biggest franchises. The Legend of Zelda got a big musical makeover when the franchise was handed over to Brace Yourself Games and mixed up with Crypt of the NecroDancer. It was a lyrical romp through the land of Hyrule, and now it’s time to come back with free DLC.

Out of nowhere, a new story based DLC called Octavo’s Ode dropped today. The new content follows the game’s villain, Octavo, and sheds more light on his intentions in trying to take over the land of Hyrule with new dialogue and battles.

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer is available now exclusively for Nintendo Switch. Octavo’s Ode is free and live to download now as well. If you’re curious about the game but haven’t tried it out yet, there is a a demo for you to try it out.

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Kronika – Mortal Kombat 11

In terms of power, Kronika is easily at the top of the pecking order in the Mortal Kombat pantheon. This prowess is reflected in battle as well – Fatal Blows aren’t effective against her (only the initial hit does damage) and she has insane juggles and quick movement. She’s also capable of “rewinding” a fighter with homing projectiles, disorienting and setting them up for more damage. And of course, in terms of disrespect, her endlessly looping Fatality takes the cake.

Of the many announcements at the Nindies Showcase, Brace Yourself Games’ Cadence of Hyrule was easily the most unexpected. The gameplay of Crypt of the NecroDancer meets the setting, visual style, and heroes of The Legend of Zelda? With Link and Zelda being playable? Five years ago, such a game would have seemed impossible.

What’s even more interesting is that it represents a shift in Nintendo’s thinking when it comes to collaborations. IGN recently spoke to Ryan Clark from Brace Yourself Games and asked how Nintendo agreed to have the indie studio work on one of its most coveted franchises.

Clark revealed that he initially wanted to make DLC for NecroDancer. “We were considering making a new Nintendo Switch project and we imagined how cool it would be to have Zelda characters appearing in NecroDancer; say as DLC,” he said. However, Nintendo’s interest quickly saw this evolve into a full game.

“To our surprise, Nintendo was extremely interested in the prospect, and before we knew it we were working on a completely new title, mashing up NecroDancer with The Legend of Zelda!”

Kirk Scott, the manager of publisher-developer relations at Nintendo of America, added, “Developers are always reaching out to Nintendo to include IP in their games. When you look at a case like Cadence of Hyrule, there’s special cases in some instances where our Japan team see content and see titles that they want to work with and [the interest is] a two-way street, really.”

Cadence of Hyrule is slated to release this Spring for Nintendo Switch. It’s actually the second Zelda game coming out this year – Nintendo previously announced that a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening would also be coming to Switch in 2019. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

Although the Switch has been a veritable gold-mine for indie game developers and their games, Nintendo took their partnership with indie developers to the next level when on Wednesday, they announced Cadence of Hyrule. Cadence of Hyrule is a brand new game using the Zelda IP, developed by indie developers Brace Yourself Games, the folks behind Crypt of the Necrodancer.

This was a historic moment—-in the past, Nintendo has often lent out its iconic IP to third party publishers, such as Ubisoft with Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, but this is the very first time an indie game developer has gotten to play with Nintendo franchises. Hopefully, it won’t be the last—a sentiment shared by Nintendo’s head of publisher and developer relations Kirk Scott.

Speaking to VentureBeat, Scott said on the possibility of seeing more indie collaborations, “I hope so. I totally hope so. Yeah, this is great. I think this is validating for a lot of indies out there.”

As Scott noted, this is validating for indie game developers—this tells them that for Nintendo, they are as important as major AAA publishers, and worthy of being handed keys to the Nintendo kingdom. It fosters loyalty, and in the long run, should help Nintendo cement its position at the top of the indie world.

Nintendo and Brace Yourself Games had one last surprise for the recent Nindies Showcase. It started off looking like a sequel to Crypt of the NecroDancer. However, Link and Zelda from The Legend of Zelda quickly made their appearance and thus, Cadence of Hyrule was revealed. Check out the trailer below.

As a rhythmic action-adventure title, Cadence of Hyrule essentially features the same gameplay as NecroDancer, but with the art-style and setting of Zelda. Players can control Link or Princess Zelda and embark on a journey through the randomly generated world of Hyrule. Fans can expect remixes for 25 classic Zelda songs.

You’ll also spot some classic bosses and enemies, including Breath of the Wild’s Lynels. Players can utilize classic Zelda weapons along with spells and weapons from NecroDancer to vanquish their foes. Cadence of Hyrule is currently slated to release in Spring for Nintendo Switch.