Cadence of Hyrule: The Crypt of the Necrodancer feat. the Legend of Zelda (Switch)

From the Manufacturer:

Keep the beat as you play as Link or Zelda to explore a randomly generated Hyrule and procedurally generated dungeons. In the latest rhythmic action-adventure from Brace Yourself Games, you can enjoy the gameplay of Crypt of the NecroDancer in the setting of The Legend of Zelda series. As Link—or even as Princess Zelda—you’ll explore the randomly generated overworld and procedurally generated dungeons on a quest to save Hyrule. Every beat of each remixed Legend of Zelda tune is a chance to move, attack, defend, and more, so stay one step ahead of each enemy and boss…or face the music.

Pros:

I enjoyed the moment-to-moment gameplay, which mixes strategy and rhythm.
The pixel art looks great, and is detailed enough that each enemy type has an individual attack cue
I like that you can choose to play as either Link or Zelda. I chose Zelda for my first play-through, though I did play as Link in the demo. (Minor Spoiler: in time, you will be able to swap between characters and play as Cadence.)
I enjoyed the music. Granted, I think this was more due to the stature of LoZ’s library of music than because of the remixes on offer in Cadence.

Cons:

The gameplay gets much more of its DNA from Necrodancer than from the Legend of Zelda. This isn’t a bad thing per se, but it is important to mention so that expectations are set appropriately. In other words, the game strikes me more as a LoZ skin for Necrodancer than a something entirely new.
I felt the game reported that I, “missed beats,” even when I didn’t. This doesn’t happen often, and it could have been that I was off. Then again, I was also able to experiment and get way off the beat (to my own ears), and still be considered on-beat at other times during my play. Weird. [NOTE: This happened much less often after I turned off latency adjustment (from 30-ish milliseconds to 0).]
The story isn’t groundbreaking, especially for the LoZ canon. It’s serviceable, but it is little more than the standard, “good triumphs over evil hero’s journey.”
The isometric POV means it is sometimes difficult to parse out the structure of multi-level terrain in the game. This is most prevalent in the overworld, and is rarely a problem in dungeons.
The game was easy for me, and it was more-than-possible to defeat enemies and bosses with little to no strategy (especially after acquiring bottles / health potions and a broadsword). Once I had a winning combination of weapons tools, the game did little to encourage me to, “mix it up.” This also applied to the final boss of the game (who I will not name); I beat said boss on the first try.
The various characters don’t play particularly differently, save minor differences in how they defend and what weapons they can access.

Conclusion:

I liked Necrodancer in its “vanilla,” incarnation, and I like it again with this coat of paint. It is a less punishing version of Necrodancer, though, since the penalty for death is much smaller (you maintain all your weapons and items, for example, and the overworld map does not change). Ultimately, if the premise sounds interesting to you, or if you enjoyed the original iteration of Necrodancer, this one is definitely worth a look.

Check it out here.