mark cerqueira well-rounded nerd

Cadence of Hyrule

Some say Avengers: Endgame is the greatest crossover of all time, but Cadence of Hyrule - an unlikely mash-up between the indie roguelike rhythm game Crypt of the NecroDancer and the Legend of Zelda - is definitely in the running in my book.

Music-themed baddies

The game visually looks like A Link to the Past (one of my favorite Zelda games) and has an absolutely amazing soundtrack. Candence of Hyrule is a short romp: it took me six hours to complete. It even has a leaderboard for speedruns; someone has beaten the game in under seventeen minutes! If you want to do a speedrun against a friend you can even input a seed to get the same map.

My procedurally generated Hyrule

The overworld (procedurally generated) isn’t huge and there are only five main dungeons. While it is a roguelike once you get a longsword and some health potions it’s almost impossible to die. And while it’s a rhythm game you can disable the rhythm stuff or you can just suck it up and eventually you won’t be nearly as bad as you’re imagining.

Bass guitar power

Overall, for a game that literally came out of no where, I’m massively, massively impressed with this game. I would’ve love to have something a little meatier, especially at the $24.99 price-point, but this was a no-regrets purchase and I highly recommend this game to anyone who is into The Legend of Zelda.