Crypt Custodian is a metroidvania in which we play as Pluto, a cat who’s reached the afterlife but is unfairly blocked from reaching the palace, the animal version of paradise.
Pluto has lived a good life and didn’t really do anything wrong during his time on earth, but is sentenced by Kendra, the afterlife guardian, to clean outside of the palace forever for breaking a pot on the way to his audience.
Pluto soon realizes that most of the animals that reach the afterlife don’t make it into the palace, as Kendra always finds some reason to keep them out, and instead focuses on befriending the ghosts he encounters to make the upcoming eternity more pleasant.
Crypt Custodian
Developer: Kyle Thompson
Publisher: Kyle Thompson, Top Hat Studios, H2 Interactive
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows (Reviewed)
Release Date: August 27, 2024
Players: 1
Price: $19.99
After exploring the afterlife for a bit, Pluto meets Grizz, a mischievous cat who is trying to dig his way into the palace for a chance to use the crystal mirror, a special object that allows those in the afterlife to spiritually project back to earth.
The game’s main goal then becomes to make ten friends so you can storm the palace together, giving everyone a chance to find some closure and use the mirror together.
Despite its cutesy aesthetic, Crypt Custodian deals with somewhat melancholic themes, as the mirror doesn’t necessarily allow spirits to interact with the living, simply letting the deceased animals observe their loved ones.
Each area is tied with a specific friend Pluto can make, and their friendship is usually unlocked after defeating a boss, resolving their sub-story. Most of the game’s characters are likeable, although none of them really make a lasting impression.
A good chunk of the spirits have very one-note stories, with very few of them actually feeling like fleshed-out characters. It’s understandable that maybe Crypt Custodian doesn’t want to be dialogue-heavy, but a game about making friends should have interesting friends to make.
Thankfully none of the characters are unpleasant to interact with, so there aren’t any friends the game forces you to make despite not liking them.
Crypt Custodian‘s levels are built as massive interconnected areas, and the game probably takes the prize for being the most straightforward metroidvania released this year. Exploration is completely painless thanks to how the levels are built, and it’s very rare for the player to not know where to go.
Part of this is due to the Legend of Zelda-esque approach that the game takes, making the levels easy to navigate but filling them with challenging enemies and bosses. Don’t let Crypt Custodian‘s cutesy aesthetic fool you; the game is reasonably hard and features a lot of combat and platforming challenges.
One very minor gripe with the game’s exploration is that certain important things aren’t marked on the map upon being discovered, forcing the player to keep track instead. The game only displays very basic info on your map, which makes it annoying to resume exploration after dying or failing a cursed challenge, for example, as the now uncovered room blends in with the rest of the map.
Crypt Custodian‘s levels have a great amount of enemy variety, but the game does get a little lazy with their attack patterns about halfway through. It’s very common for enemies to have similar attacks to each other, just in slightly different shapes.
This does not apply to the game’s bosses, however, which are incredible from beginning to end. Crypt Custodian‘s boss fights are some of the best parts of the entire game and provide a nice contrast to the somewhat casual platforming with very difficult encounters.
Some of the game’s boss fights approach bullet hell territory with how many projectiles fill the screen, and Crypt Custodian would really benefit from having harder difficulty options that give the bosses more moves or tougher fights.
Crypt Custodian‘s powers aren’t the most exciting ones you’ll find in the Metroidvania genre, but thankfully the player doesn’t have to collect that many of them, as the game is pretty light on road blocks.
Most of the powers you collect serve as puzzle-solving tools, which is not necessarily ideal, but in Crypt Custodian‘s case, they also help complement the way you platform and explore levels, so they get a pass. Even if most of the major upgrades don’t affect combat, they do make your moment-to-moment gameplay more exciting.
The game’s combat isn’t completely ignored, though, as there is a sizeable collection of relics that grant combat bonuses. These items are also directly tied into how much you explore the game’s areas, as instead of capping the player on the number of equipped items, each item costs a certain amount of talent points, which are awarded for completing platforming challenges.
Overall, Crypt Custodian is a very straightforward experience that doesn’t waste the player’s time. The platforming and combat sections of the game are incredibly tight, and exploration is always rewarded with new paths instead of dead ends and areas that can’t be reached yet.
The game’s boss fights are the highlight of the experience, featuring very creative encounters that test the player’s reflexes and help give a sense of progression as they are the main method of finishing an area and your current friend’s sub-story.
Crypt Custodian doesn’t deviate far from the very basics of the Metroidvania formula, but it polishes simplicity to the point where you can’t help but be engaged by it. Having a tight combat system, exploration that doesn’t screech to a halt every five minutes, and a pleasant aesthetic is more than enough to create a fun experience, and Crypt Custodian does exactly that.
Crypt Custodian was reviewed on Microsoft Windows using a game code provided by Top Hat Studios. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Crypt Custodian is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Microsoft Windows (through Steam).
