#crypt custodian

[courtana]

CRYPT CUSTODIAN (2024) dev. Kyle Thompson

[totallypumpkin]

Personally, when I got to this part of the game, I thought it was fucking hilarious

I'm pretty sure Kendra claiming the players artwork is meant to frustrate the player, for me it just means Kendra is now illiterate

On another note, please pardon my dyslexia I only noticed after

[catpetterz2]

i liked crypt custodian a lot

[dandysnob]

[huandamonia]

I’ve only played two metroidvanias, so I decided to have their protags meet.

[drempen]

Oh thabk god

[doozclops]

Okay now we're cookin.

[dormats-town]

i need to throw hands with kendra AGAIN

[royalclumsie]

[blueeyedrat]

Steam Next Fest, winter 2024. Just when you're starting to get into a groove with a project, something new comes up to distract you. So it goes.

This one was all over the map — some games I really liked, a few that were kind of a letdown, and a few that were just sort of there. I think this is the first time a batch of demos has removed more items from my Steam wishlist than it's added. More detailed (though perhaps less organized) thoughts under the cut.

Okay so Balatro doesn't really count, I've been playing the demo for this game for months at this point, but I want to mention it anyway. It's a deckbuilder in the purest sense: you're given a plain deck of cards and tasked with scoring points via poker hands, accumulating a variety of buffs and modifiers to literally rig the deck in your favor. It is perhaps the most make number go up game I have played in a good while, and it's addicting as heck. I know some folks who will be playing the full version nonstop when it comes out later this month, and I might be one of 'em.

As far as city/settlement builders go, I don't think Synergy is jumping to the front of the queue when it has to compete with the likes of Laysara or The Wandering Village, but it does have some neat ideas. I do enjoy when I get to treat this sort of builder like a puzzle of sorts, fitting all of the pieces together, and the ways this demo asked me to do so on both small and large scale were just interesting enough to pique my curiosity. Might be worth a look in the future.

Now, a quick rundown of the demos that didn't land quite as well: Planetiles and Kamaeru had charming aesthetics, but the UI in both games felt a bit clunky and the gameplay left me wanting a bit more substance. Train Valley World moved away from the gameplay I enjoyed in the previous two entries in the series, in favor of something I'm not particularly interested in. There were a few other games I found while putting together my list this time around, but either bounced off of (Electrogical, Bounties of Babylon) or didn't get enough to pass judgement (Omnibullet, Overmorrow), so I may need to revisit them later.

Somewhere in the middle, I'd say, was Aarik and the Ruined Kingdom, a Monument Valley-esque puzzle game. It was… alright. I liked it, I just liked most of the other stuff I tried more. I need to sit down and play Monument Valley at some point.

There are two games on this list I'm torn on. Flock is a cute exploration game that reminds me of Sky: Children of the Light and charmed me in very similar ways. Customizing a character, flying around, and observing the game's colorful ecosystem was a lot of fun. Botany Manor is a puzzle game somewhere between The Witness and Return of the Obra Dinn, where you gather clues in your environment and use them to piece together answers to a central puzzle — in this case, figuring out how to make various plants grow. Some neat ideas to be had here.

I really liked both of these demos! But both of them ran into the same problem: I get motion-sick kind of easily, and there's a small subset of video games that make me dizzy if I play them for too long (and sometimes "too long" is, like, five minutes). To its credit, Botany Manor acknowledges this and has options to make it more accessible… but if there's a specific configuration of camera settings that doesn't give me a literal headache, I didn't find it. It's really frustrating that some of the games I enjoyed the most in this list are ones I'm not sure I can physically handle in the long term. I'll keep an eye on them, but… we'll see.

Moving on. Duck Detective is another "fill in the blanks" mystery in the vein of Case of the Golden Idol or the aforementioned Obra Dinn. It's a much more humorous and lighthearted take on the idea, and while the demo was pretty short, it gave a decent enough look at the gameplay and style that I'm interested in what lies beyond.

#BLUD immediately stands out for its hyper-cartoony art style, which it definitely leans into (it's got episode title cards, for crying out loud). It backs up that style with some charming writing and a decent Zelda-ish mix of exploration and dungeon crawling. I'm not sure the combat entirely clicked with me, especially early on before your character gets a proper weapon, but I still liked the demo well enough overall.

Crypt Custodian also took some time to grow on me, but when I did get into a groove I wound up having a pretty good time with it. It's a top-down 'vania — my closest comparison would be Hyper Light Drifter, with character progression and looser movement closer to something like Ori or Hollow Knight. It was a bit of a gauntlet at first, and didn't always give you a lot of direction (apparently that's an upgrade you need to unlock), but once I got a few more options for movement and combat it felt like I could handle most of what it was throwing at me. Seems fun.

For a more direct comparison to Ori, we close out with Tales of Kenzera. This was one of the other highlights of the bunch for me. The movement and combat felt good and offered a lot of options up front, and kept adding more throughout the demo — similar to Ori, it's not the tightest and prioritizes spectacle over precision, but the level and encounter design never asks for too much. The art, animation, and voice work are all excellent, and the story (drawing inspiration from Bantu folklore) shows a lot of promise. I'm interested to see where this one goes, for sure.

[legitimatesatanspawn]

This is the second time I'm preparing to get into a fight with god by paying a barkeep for better gear.

[alderdixon]

Game Report: Crypt Custodian

I really enjoyed this cute, cosy little metroidvania. It was much 'kinder' than brutal games like Hollow Knight, so I'd recommend giving it a go if you've bounced off other metroidvanias because of the intense difficulty! The characters are sweet and funny and the combat and puzzles were all really fun and well-balanced. Have fun!

[satoshi-mochida]

Crypt Custodian announced for PC – a Metroidvania about cleaning up the afterlife

Gematsu Source

Islets developer Kyle Thompson has announced Crypt Custodian, a Metrodivania game about cleaning up the afterlife. It will launch for PC via Steam in 2024.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

Crypt Custodian is a charming Metroidvania / Zelda-like about cleaning up the afterlife.

You play as Pluto—a mischievous cat who has just died, and landed in the afterlife’s palace. After a brief and disastrous meeting with the Afterlife Guardian- Kendra, you are banished from the palace and sentenced to clean… forever!

Explore the vast grounds that surround the palace, battle beasts with your trusty broom, and gain new abilities to expand your map. Solve puzzles, discover secrets, and… organize an ambush to break back into the palace!

Key Features

A Charming Cast Of Characters – Meet and befriend all the other bad ghosts who live outside the palace. Learn how they died, and what caused them to face eternal banishment! And then head on over to the local haunt- The Sinner’s Inn- to chat with the ghosts you meet, and upgrade your gear.

Tons of Upgrades – Complete puzzles, battle epic bosses, and clean your way through ruined dungeons in order to collect new upgrades and abilities. Customize your play style by mix-and-matching your upgrades, and use the abilities you collect to expand your world.

A Lively Interconnected World – Traverse a vast landscape with secrets hiding at every corner. Form your own path and discover the afterlife’s many secrets at your own pace.

Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.

Announce Trailer

[csidesummit]

Gotta say. The Zelda-likes are running the game lately.

[dandysnob]

ฅ^≗ω≗^ฅ🧹

[geekcavepodcast]

Geek Cave Podcast 168.2 | GAMING | Astro Bot and the new D&D rules

This month, we take a look at games like Crypt Custodian, Cat Quest 2, Astro Bot, Star Wars Outlaws, Control, and Princess Peach: Showtime, plus an overview of what's changed for Dungeons and Dragons.

Bonus Video: a snippet of our time with The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Full details on our 2024 Extra Life effort for Children's Miracle Network: https://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.team&teamID=66652

Sponsored by Gamefly. New customers can get a 30-day free trial by clicking on the GameFly link at the top of GeekCavePodcast.com.

Download and listen today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, Amazon, Stitcher, Goodpods, and more of your favorite podcast services!