Metroidvanias are a dime a dozen in 2024. In a genre so inundated with games that release multiple new releases every week, charm and a unique setting are what can help your game stand out. Thankfully, Crypt Custodian won’t be swept away by the competition, because that’s exactly what it has.
You play as Pluto, a cat beloved by her family. However, you just died. After a terrifying encounter with the Guardian of the Afterlife, Kendra, in the Afterlife Palace, you are banished by a divine death and condemned to sweep and clean up in the Underworld forever.
This includes eliminating all the ghosts lurking in the various grounds surrounding the palace, sweeping them away with the broom, and also getting rid of the real trash that no one wants. The alluring setting and story, as well as the cute nature of the characters, are the standout aspects here, delivering an unforgettable world and aesthetic that shines thanks to charming animations, beautiful lighting, and varied environments.
Small details, like the little run Pluto does as they explore the world, make Crypt Custodian a delightful little Metroidvania. Special praise goes to the music, which manages to strike a balance between haunting (to match the fact that Pluto is dead), whimsical and catchy. It’s a beautiful backdrop for your adventure.
Outside of the main story, which required us to find a way back to the Afterlife Palace, we met a diverse group of characters during our playthrough, all of whom are just as adorably animated as Pluto himself. Some of these characters we simply walked past, while others act as vendors and traders, improving Pluto’s combat skills and powers with the junk you collect on your journey.
Speaking of combat, Crypt Custodian offers a really solid, fun combat foundation here too, with a fairly basic set of attacks and dodges. Pluto’s moveset consists of rolling, jumping, normal attacks, and special attacks (which can be found throughout the world). Combat is fast and fluid. Dodging and avoiding attacks is as precise as we could want from a Metroidvania, and these special attacks range from standard area explosions to more situational abilities like the ability to leave a trail of damaging mines behind you that damage enemies who walk on them. There’s a decent selection, but not so many that the game was constantly throwing new powers at us and we only got to try each one out for a brief moment. Character development felt fantastic, and combat is elevated thanks to the diverse selection of enemies and bosses – imaginative and memorable, while also fitting the aesthetic and mood of the world.
Additionally, Pluto can unlock new character passive abilities that have a far greater impact overall as they stack depending on how many skill points you have available and find in the world. For example, we could create a damage field around Pluto and allow ourselves an extra hit, making her extremely resilient, or we could stack damage boosts to make Pluto exceptionally powerful. This was by far the more interesting upgrade system in the game as there is a wider range of options here, allowing us to make more drastic customizations and create entire builds based on the passive abilities we want.
The more traditional Metroidvania upgrades that offered ways to get around and access new areas feel a little less inspired and won’t surprise anyone familiar with the genre. However, the puzzle design and exploration are much stronger. The former offers solid brain teasers without becoming too challenging, while the latter rewards you with tons of upgrade points and collectibles like jukebox CDs to change the background music.
However, the game does suffer from some pretty drastic difficulty spikes and drops that can make parts of the game quite frustrating. Bosses can be the biggest problem here, as they have incredibly busy attacks that result in lots of projectiles and effects on the screen, make precise jumps and dodges difficult, and are frankly just overwhelming. This also happens in some of the more densely populated areas with regular enemies, but is far less common.
Additionally, we experienced some noticeable framerate glitches and stuttering during our playthrough in handheld and docked modes. While they didn’t have a drastic impact on gameplay, they did disrupt the flow of the game, as the game would often freeze briefly and then jump forward again when we entered new areas or took on large groups of enemies. This didn’t happen all the time, but it happened often enough to be frustrating when it did occur.
And finally, there are two nice bonus additions: a full Boss Rush mode that unlocks once you’ve defeated your first boss, allowing you to pull off the perfect run. Second, there’s a Speedrun mode in the settings menu, which those looking to challenge themselves even more will definitely appreciate.
Diploma
Overall, Crypt Custodian is a fairly traditional Metroidvania, elevated by its fantastical world, aesthetics, characters, and soundtrack, with solid combat and plenty of flexibility in builds. All of these aspects help to address some visual clutter issues and framerate problems, preventing Crypt Custodian from ending up in the eShop junk basket like so many other Metroidvanias.
