Crypt Custodian Review

Crypt Custodian is a very refreshing Metroidvania, not just because of the obvious perspective difference, but also its ability to blur the line between Zelda-like and Metroidvania in this top down adventure with just enough mechanics from each genre to please fans of both in this tale about the afterlife.

GOOD KITTY

You are Pluto, a cat with a cape who has just died and finds himself in the afterlife unsure of how he arrived here. Unfortunately, the news gets worse, as he has also been sentenced to the bad place, doomed to clean up until the end of time. The only way out is to make friends and find a way to escape eternal doom.

Crypt Custodian is loaded with exploration and locations that aren’t technically dungeons, but fill in superbly with puzzles to solve, upgrades to gain, and abilities to learn. The upgrades work similar to the badge system from Paper Mario or the charm system from Hollow Knight and allows you to mix and match them your way. These upgrades and abilities are found through a variety of ways including normal story progression, puzzle rooms and boss fights.

One of the biggest similarities to the classic Zelda adventures is the top down perspective, which is mostly foreign to the Metroidvania genre, which is why with some of the features mentioned, feels more akin to Link’s earlier adventures. Even most Zelda adventures share a lot in common with Metroidvanias, as there are gated areas that require new skills or gear like the hook shot for example.

The inspiration continues with a red cape standing in for a green tunic, a wooden broom in the place of a master sword and in the place of rupees to collect….. garbage, but as they say, one persons trash is another persons treasure and you will be able to spend that garbage for valuable items.

The world kept expanding and every time I thought I had reached the edge, it went further. While the first couple areas felt similar, the variety revealed itself, the further you ventured out from the center. The fast travel system also alleviated a lot of the tediousness of having to go from one side of the map to the other as you have the ability to teleport to a checkpoint at any time. This removed the barrier of wanting to explore an area, but deciding against it because it was too far away. As you meet friendly ghosts along your journey, you slowly unravel their fate through polaroids found around the world, which were more touching than I anticipated and encouraged me to seek out each picture.

BAD KITTY

There are loads of enemies to kill and plenty of decor to smash, but none produce hearts and with limited health upgrades though the game without the use of a charm, this sometimes resulted in frustration as you became farther away from a checkpoint. The silver lining is that once you have flipped a switch or opened a gate, it remains open, which made retreading areas after death less painful.

There is also a upgrade that you can purchase at the hub, should you need a hint for going in the right direction, but it doesn’t always work as intended as I knew who I needed to help, but it required finding three items, which was already known. After searching around for long enough, the decision was made to purchase a bounty marker, but it just highlighted the NPC who needed my help, which I already knew and not the location of one of the three items.

Although Crypt Custodian culminated in a happy ending, it felt as though it came to an abrupt ending with some story threads that didn’t feel fully explored, which would have led to a more satisfying finale.

VERDICT

The top down perspective is much more than just offering something different from the deluge of side scrolling Metroidvanias, as it allowed for the developer to offer unique mechanics and abilities that go outside of the traditional genre scope

With an addicting gameplay loop, the ten hours flew by with constant introductions of new skills to learn, new bosses to slay and new areas to explore. Crypt Custodian is a whimsical, charming and addictive experience. It’s also another feather in the cap of 2024 in what continues to be one of the best years the genre has ever seen.

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