CotND: Amplified - A review by 6 community members

Hello. When i heard of the DLC coming out, i immediately thought of getting some members of the community and getting their first impression reviews all together in a nice blog post. Now that time has come. I have rounded up 6 reviews from me, AlexisYj, who's one of the organizers of CoNDOR tournaments, Bacing, who's known as the necroscientist, because of his knowledge of the game, Sponskapatrick, who won CoNDUIT 17 and then TicTacFoe and Necrorebel, who both raced in the Necrodancer World Cup and have been active members in the community for a while. And without further ado, let's get into the reviews

Saakas0206:

I am a giant fan of the base game and it's the reason I started the blog. When the DLC trailer first dropped, i got hyped like never before. With the days nearing release, I looked for more and more info. It all changed two days before release, when the early testers were allowed to stream the game, and DannyB spoiled the new songs. Since I didn't start playing, until the base game had gotten out of early access, I had never experienced that before. All of this new and amazing stuff, that i had to wait for. It's the first time I have ever been so hyped, that it broke my emotions. I couldn't decide, if to cry from happiness or laugh.

When the DLC released, I was one of the first on the Necrodancer Discord server, who found out of the release, because the DLC launched an hour and a half early. I rushed to buy it and play. I got definatly the second, maybe even the first non early player Nocturna clear in the world.

After speedrunning through the game, i started to slow down, and enjoy the experience. Figure out the new items and enemies, test for changes, do science, listen to the music and so on. I can say with certanty, that the DLC, even in early access, has passed my already high expetations in more ways, that i thought. Nocturna is easier, than Cadence, but still fun to play. The feeling you get from zapping a bat cave and a couple of skeleton eggs in one clean sweep is amazing. The new weapons and items are interesting and different from the base game ones.

Now to the music. Danny has outdone himself with the new tracks so much. Even after tens of listens, i still get chills from the 5-3 riffs. And then there are the remixes. The DLC added the Oc remix, which only stands second to the amazing remastered Familyjules7x cover, which still amazes me as a violinist.

There are OP stuff, like the warhammer, freeze familiar and the ring of frost, but they are fun to use, and the warhammer still has it's downsides, like the snag factor.

In conclusion, the DLC is an amazing one, and I'm exited to see, what more the early access has to offer.

AlexisYj:

They told me I could have new items.

They told me I could turn into a bat.

I told them...

... I was already hyped.

I've been playing Necrodancer since the base game launched in Early Access, only for a bit, but then a lot (almost everyday) for the past year and a half. It really seems like I can't get tired of it, there is so many different ways to play and now with the DLC there's even more.

When it was first confirmed a DLC was in the works my hype levels got through the roof, but I still had a little apprehension, what if things changed too much? What if I didn’t like the new zone? After playing Amplified, I’m happy to say I still love this game.

The new art is great (I wanna hug that ice familiar) and I can’t even find words to describe how good the new music sounds.

The feeling of zapping enemies using the zone 5 conduit is so satisfying, Nocturna with the z5 bleed and the swarms really puts it into light. But my favorite new thing is playing Dove with a dove familiar, being able to teleport enemies constantly may be too powerful but it feels great to predict their movement and move accordingly so your familiar teleports them.

I was really looking forward to the new challenge modes, for now only no-return is available (and it’s a good challenge!), I hope more will be added soon. Because yes, this is only Early Access. I wasn't super involved when the original game was in Early Access, so I can’t wait to see all the improvements made to the DLC.

To finish, and because, to me, the Necrodancer community is a big part of why I still play and love the game, I’m eager to see future community events. I wonder how we’ll see the racing meta evolve as everyone's figuring out new ways to play the game.

Sponskapatrick:

First off, I'm a huge fan of the base game... with roughly +650 hours into the game :P

Anyway, hearing first of Amplified got my HYPED, but also just a tiny bit worrysome... Like what would happen if certain items got removed/changed. Will Z5 be waaay too hard ?

Nocturna is one of the new available characters featured in the DLC, AND OH MAN, is she fun to play Well... only that she might be a little bit too easy, as her Cutlass pretty much gives her infinite invincibility if used correctly. Still really great character design from my end :P

Weapons - every weapon is a solid choice and something new, with the Harp and Axe being my favourite ones.

Rings - I love every of the new rings, although I think the ring of ice might be a little bit too op, as it pretty much allows to two-shot every enemy.

Familiars - Love em, with the dove being the best and most fun with just teleporting enemies away. (They are also a great red-chest find too)

Now to Z5... it feels great to use the conduits on the ground and just zap tons of enemies at once :P

- The Music of every remix in Z5 is gorgeous,so great work DannyB + others.

- The enemies, there are pretty much no copies to older enemies in Z5, with everyone of them being very movement based.

... I love it.

Looks: Phew, everything looks great. I love the look of Z5, including enemies, items and visual effects. (Shoutouts to Snow Familiar)

Also can't wait for more challenge modes (No return being the only one atm).

Well, that's pretty much it with my impressions... can't wait until BYG adds even more stuff into the dlc, and fixes the old ones *points at mana-freeze*. Huge shoutouts to BYG for making such a great game and also for the Necrodancer community for being suuuper nice :P

Necrorebel:

My basic first impression of Amplified is simply "complex." Most of the enemies in zone 5 (or, as it is apparently called now, "depth" 5) have very complex, technical movement patterns, the majority of the new items seem designed to be more technical than the existing items, and even the new character Nocturna's special effects seem to be built with that in mind.

For the most part, z5 feels like a combination of the fast pace of z3 with the complicated battles of z4, which is great fun and quite challenging. The new weapons are quite interesting, though a couple of them seem a bit overpowered. Nocturna is much like in a way, but stronger for the most part. Overall, I don't think Nocturna is going to be a particularly unusual character, which might mean that she'll get more play than, say, Dove , Dorian, and Eli.

As far as the music goes, I enjoyed it for the most part. The z5 music is quite good, with a clear beat that I found quite easy to follow despite its relatively fast pace. I was, however, disappointed by the theme of the new boss. Every track in the game is instrumental except for Fortissimole's, which has lyrics, and I found that distracting. Maybe there'll be a reason for that once the new cutscenes come out, but for now, I don't like that one track much.

TicTacFoe:

Back into the Crypt, or maybe we never left. Crypt of the Necrodancer’s DLC, Amplified, hit the scene a few days ago, and I already foresee hundreds of hours spent in the Crypt! Personally, I came for the gameplay, but I stay for the music.

Music is a key aspect to Necrodancer, a game based on keeping the beat to move the protagonist. Amplified added a new remix, by OverClocked Remix, additional remixes by the original cast of Necrodancer musicians, and 20 new tracks to account for the new Depth 5 and Boss Fortissimole. I sway more towards the FamilyJules soundtrack, but the variety that these remixes offers is continual variations each time the game is played. I’ll forgot about a certain remix, hear it during a run, and be instantly brought back into the magic of the game.

Speaking of magic, the new items bring a new sense of wonder to the game. The combination with pre-existing items itches my sense of exploration and intrigue. I’m constantly exclaiming “For Science” during my runs, just to figure out how everything interacts. A new depth, enemies, and boss are icing on the cake.

Death is constant. How you fail is infuriating and entertaining, a balance hard to manage in games. The “infuri-tainment” Necrodancer provides is something I haven’t experienced in a game since The Binding of Isaac: Wrath of the Lamb. So many attempts end with me laughing myself into a tilt for minutes. My favorite items in the DLC include, the Dove familiar, Ring of Pain, and the Torch of Walls.

How I spend my time with video games has become very important to me. I don’t have as much free time as I used to have, so I need to choose my games wisely. If I feel like a game is cheapening my time, I will stop playing it. Bloodborne is a fantastic game, but I couldn’t justify the time to pleasure ratio so I stopped playing. Necrodancer balances my expectations well. I can jump in for 30 minutes and get the same enjoyment as I would if I spend 4 hours.

So how do I wrap up my first impressions of the DLC? I could say, “go buy it, you’ll have fun” or explain how my views are biased because I have nearly 500 hours in the original game. What I’ll leave you, the reader with is find something you enjoy and immerse yourself in it. NecroDancer’s music, puzzles, and humor is that for me.

Bacing:

I have just clocked about 1782 played hours in Crypt of the Necrodancer, counting the original game and the DLC together. Of the games I’ve kept track of, this is the most I’ve played, maybe only surpassed by some childhood addictions of the past. It’s almost hard to explain all this game brought about to me, and how much it is bigger than the sum of its parts.

The DLC presents a new set of challenges, characters, enemy patterns, mechanics, bosses and songs to dive into, even though it’s still just an Early Access (EA). It’s exciting to think that there is already this much content, and that even more is coming. For those of you who, like me, are sometimes skeptic of the concept of Early Access, Crypt shines as a perfect example of a game that uses EA to its best potential.

A cornerstone of this installment is the new playable character, Nocturna. This bat girl is very friendly for newer players. Necrodancer is quite a hard game and her healing and parrying capabilities are a great asset to deal with all the dangers. On the other hand, she offers an extremely high skill ceiling for hardcore players that want to abuse her i-frame techs to quick kill bosses and weave through enemy swarms (and she has plenty of those). Her voice acting is superb, and the new cutscenes are very exciting. Also, TRANSFORM.

Of the many new mechanics, one of the most striking is the use of familiars that completely change the way the player approaches movement and attacking enemies. Another one is the use of electric wires on z5 ground tiles to kill many enemies in a few hits, with clever planning. Combining the zaps with the new songs is a very rewarding experience, and it’s hard to explain how cool it feels until you do it yourself.

The z5 theme songs are extremely addictive, and the addition of a full new OC remix soundtrack for all zones is even more exciting. You also might catch yourself trying to rap along Fortissimole, the new Crypt rapper. If you don’t know him yet, it’s because he is a bit of an underground artist…. sorry.

As the game is still in development, things are often nerfed or buffed, but it always feels like it’s done just right to make the difficulty fair and exciting for the player, and improving the gameplay.

If I had to name anything I disliked, the only things would be that zone 5 layouts seem to be harder to read from a speedrunning perspective, which could maybe become frustrating as the leaderboards get more competitive. The removal of ring of phasing also made me a bit sad, even if it is logical. I hope it makes it back like shrine of No Return did, as a separate game mode. As much as some people describe it as boring because it broke the game a bit, I legitimately had fun and found it challenging to go fast with that item, and I imagine others did too.

So in conclusion, the DLC plays to the original game’s strengths, and is an extremely enjoyable hype experience. I’ve already played it dozens of hours and can’t wait to play it for hundreds, even before the rest of the content comes out.

Hope you enjoyed reading through the thoughts and different points of view

Thanks for reading

#DLC #Review