Alongside new characters and mod support, Synchrony adds online multiplayer. Up to eight players can play in co-op or partake in Versus. The new characters include Chaunter, who can possess enemies; Suzu, a speedster; and Klarinetta, who wields a two-handed sword. There are also new weapons, enemies, traps, items and spells to experience.

A new Weekly Challenge mode is also available and features characters, zones, bosses, and more created by the community. Leaderboards track completion times and high scores for solo and co-op play, but the best part is that you can replay previous weeks whenever.

Despite reported layoffs at Brace Yourself Games, a sequel, Rift of the NecroDancer, is also coming this year. Head here for more details.

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.

https://twitter.com/Cryssylol/status/1659600037461250048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1659600037461250048%7Ctwgr%5E1f6fe23c708b62243bb550c29648507295184feb%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamespot.com%2Farticles%2Fcadence-of-hyrule-developer-reportedly-lays-off-workers%2F1100-6514396%2F

Rift of the NecroDancer will feature different monsters to fight, with each enemy having different attack patterns and rhythms. It will also feature boss fights, as well as special mini games for its five character storylines.

Rift of the NecroDancer was originally announced back in August 2022, and at the time was believed to be a sequel to rhythm-based dungeon crawler Crypt of the NecroDancer. Alongside Rift of the NecroDancer, Brace Yourself Games had also unveiled a major update for Crypt of the NecroDancer.

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

Synchrony brings three new playable characters: Chaunter—who possesses enemies and can fight using their powers, Suzu—a speedy character with an invincible dash attack, and Klarinetta—who uses a huge two-handed sword for combat.

The DLC also brings 8-player multiplayer to Crypt of the NecroDancer. The multiplayer modes feature both co-op as well as versus options. Other features of Synchrony include full mod support, an integrated mod portal, and new weapons, spells, items, and enemies.

Alongside the release of Synchrony, the studio has also begun teasing the sequel to Crypt of the NecroDancer—Rift of the NecroDancer. Currently little has been revealed about the sequel aside from its name and logo. The sequel is also teased at the end of the trailer for Synchrony.

While Crypt of the NecroDancer is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, and even the PS Vita, the Synchrony DLC seems to be exclusive to the PC for now.

I hope you didn't think the new DLC was all we had up our sleeves pic.twitter.com/GKz6acxTNS

— Crypt of the NecroDancer: SYNCHRONY OUT NOW! (@NecroDancerGame) August 4, 2022

This is probably the “something bigger” teased when Update V3.0.0 dropped recently. One could assume this to be a new expansion or but we’ll have to wait for more details. The latest update already added tons of new features and quality-of-life improvements like No Beat Mode which sees every character playing like The Bard and a new level editor.

Dynamic view scaling and independent beatmaps for local co-op, save and quit at anytime, Steam Deck support and much more were also added. Crypt of the NecroDancer is available on PC, PS4, iOS, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Android. Perhaps the upcoming announcement will involve PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions as well. Stay tuned in the meantime.

Update V.3.0.0 is still hefty, adding new features like No Beat Mode that allow for every character to control like the Bard. Players can save and quit at any time while load times have been “greatly reduced.” Steam Deck support has also been added with improved controller support. Co-op also sees some improvements with dynamic view scaling for local co-op sessions, independent per-player beatmaps and more.

Arguably the biggest new addition is the new level editor. It provides various tools for placing tiles and objects, selecting and moving entire sections, and much, much more. You can also modify boss levels from custom dungeons in the editor after they’ve been generated and reroll freshly generated levels with a different seed while keeping the same settings.

For more details, check out some of the patch notes below. Update V.3.0.0 is currently available for PC but should be released for other platforms soon. Stay tuned in the meantime.

List of New Features in v3.0.0

EDIT:

• Fixed a big that granted achievements for No Beat Mode (sorry)

No Beat Mode

• Added No Beat mode, enabling Bard-like gameplay for any character. Yes, even Aria for anyone who would like to experience the game’s story in an easier way!

Save and Quit Anytime

• Added a Save and Quit feature to allow exiting the game and resuming the session later.
• The session is also automatically saved when closing the game window.
• Suspended and resumed runs can be submitted to the Deathless, Story and All-Characters leaderboards.

Greatly Reduced Load Times

• Greatly reduced loading time when starting the game by streaming more resources on demand.

Updated Controller and Steam Deck Support

• Added improved controller support via Steam Input, with gamepad-specific button symbols and Steam Deck support.

Controls and Input Improvements

• Added various improvements to the controls and input system.
• Added the ability to assign multiple keys or buttons to the same action.
• Added support for custom multi-key combos for any in-game action.
• Most menu controls can now be customized.
• Mouse buttons can now be assigned to in-game actions.
• Added a menu for quickly switching between keyboard/controller schemes for co-op players.

Custom Music Overhaul

• Added an overhauled custom music system with the ability to save multiple playlists and switch between them.
• Audio files in the MP3, OGG and FLAC formats are supported.
• Beat detection is performed in the background, allowing more songs to be selected in the meantime.
• Special tracks (story bosses, training, tutorial) can also be customized.
• Imported songs and their beatmaps can be previewed directly in the Custom Music menu.
• On Linux, a native file chooser dialog is now used in place of the in-game selection menu.

New and Improved Co-op

• Added dynamic view scaling for local co-op sessions when players move away from each other.
• Added independent per-player beatmaps in co-op mode: play any combination of Cadence, Bolt and Bard!
• Each player tracks their own rhythm: the presence of a Bard or Bolt does not transfer their effects to all players.
• Adjusted the behavior of all enemies to follow the rhythm of the nearest player.

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.

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.