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A sorcerous little game about janitorial service and the hereafter , Crypt Custodian take exception you to literally beat and bash undead baddies as you cleanse up purgatory . While not what I would call fabulously advanced for the literary genre , Crypt Custodian is cute , fun , full of spell , and trusted to succeed you over easy .
Crypt Custodian follows the chronicle of a little cat named Pluto who cope with an inauspicious and tragical ending after escaping from its home one evening . Awakening in the afterlife , our feline protagonist is instantly told that they are to be adjudicate based on how they inhabit their life . If they were good in life , they ’d be send to The Palace , an everlasting paradise . If they were bad , though , they ’d be draw to live just outside the castle in a land full of monsters and implied woe ( in all probability for the most part due to the goliath . )
After finding a Scots heather and clearing out some statues that blocked our path to judgment , our protagonist has the book of their animation reviewed and found that they were wholesome and right , as all small house cats should be deem . Nothing in our kitty - cat ’s biography warrants anything other than redemption . The afterlife , however , is a trivial different . It turns out breaking those statue on your way to judging was somewhat rude , and as punishment , you are deny paradise and made to be the afterlife ’s janitor instead .
Crypt Custodian is surprisingly wholesome for a game about a cat meeting an untimely dying and being fate to a devil - infested purgatory forever .
It can easily be said that the conceptual subject issue of Crypt Custodian is … heavy . However , the secret plan never really dwells on it , at least in my experience , not in any way that feel spectacular or melancholy . It deal the afterlife playfully , with Pluto being doom to custodial obligation for the rest of eternity , never being portrayed as anything other than tough luck .
The game ’s artistic creation style helps a lot with this , with everything portrayed in a very cartoony , cute to expect at style . I especially enjoyed how unconstipated animals become anamorphic in death . While the secret plan reckon precious , and the artist for sure know how to draw an endearing cat face , I also matte as though the art had a moment of sombreness to it , be it the color pallet or the formulation on the case of your jackpot - cat somebody at save shrine . It just felt like there was a little spot of hidden sadness in the biz that wants to portray end and the afterlife as no big deal .
The plot give way you plenty of chances to meet other so - called “ unfit ghosts , ” and each time , the character feel wizardly and appealing , even during abbreviated central . My favorite was the Crow bartender . The concept of a cluster of unredeemed souls creating a bar is fun , and it remind me of the sort of outlook on last and the hereafter that Tim Burton’sCorpse Bridehad .
If you ’re a frequent lector of my reviews , it should come as no surprise that Tim Burton is a big aspiration of mine .
A Brobdingnagian part of Crypt Custodian is also the music , but I ’ll leave that for you to disclose yourself . What I will say is that in parts of my playthrough , I found myself completely zone it , simply staring out my office window and contemplating life while I listened to the secret plan ’s OST .
When it comes to gameplay , Crypt Custodian is a Metroidvania - type platforming heartbeat - em - up with some Legend of Zelda inspirations .
The gameplay mainly go around around you traversing a large map comprise of several zone , with progress ahead blocked by various undertaking or requiring some exploration to grab central items ( sometimes literally a tonality . ) Along the way , you ’ll be scupper by various enemy , who you bash with your broom until they fall apart and reward you with cash money ( in the form of gross bits of bushed souls . )
The opposition types in Crypt Custodian are likely my favorite aspect of the game . They just have so much variety and are so interesting to look at , from little pots with calculative eyes peeking through cracks to actual skeletal spider - goliath things that are decease to be in my nightmare after . Despite the biz ’s generally light-colored tone , they allow some aspect of trunk repulsion and the theme of death to slip into their opposition innovation , and it ’s something I really appreciate .
The main currency in Crypt Custodian comes from clean up the dead , aka bashing enemy with broom and wiping up mounds of mordant tarry bone left around the map . Doing so leave you to swop gathered bits for a series of climb and special attempt .
I found the amount of rising slope and special onrush available in Crypt Custodian to be middling good . There are not as many as , say , a roguelike statute title , but there are enough where you are constantly work towards a raw upgrade destination , crap gathering sludge an actual worthwhile experience .
Crypt Custodian , being a Metroidvania title , is pretty heavy on platforming . normally , this is my least favorite aspect of the genre . Something about sidescrolling and constant platforming puts me off from these games . Crypt Custodian , however , subverts this by being a sort of horizontal plane where you may move freely rather than a sidescrolling secret plan . I thought this made the platforming and scrap a bit more fun and kept me interested longer than most Metroidvania titles manage to .
While Crypt Custodian does n’t feel like it reinvents the wheel mechanically , it is unequaled enough in its presentation and pleasant in its gameplay . It ’s certainly a secret plan worth playing through and one that is certain to stupefy with you whether or not you see it through to the end .
The Final Word
Crypt Custodian take a relatively dark patch and makes it impulsive , showing an at - multiplication scary yet mostly wholesome version of the afterlife . With self-colored , intimate Metroidvania mechanic , bully artistry , and play characters , Crypt Custodian is sure to win you over .
Try Hard Guides received a microcomputer review codification for this biz . Find more detailed aspect at pop and coming title on ourGame Reviewspage ! Crypt Custodian is available onSteamandNintendo Switch .
