Metroidvanias are a dime a dozen in 2024. In a genre so flooded with games, several releases each week, charm and a unique setting are what can help your game stand out. Thankfully, Crypt Custodian isn't going to end up swept away by the competition, as it has just that.
You play as Pluto, a cat beloved by their family. However, you have just died. After a terrible meeting with the Afterlife Guardian, Kendra, in the Afterlife Palace, you are banished from a divine death and sentenced to sweep and tidy up the underworld forever.
That involves cleaning up all the spirits that are lurking among the various grounds that surround the palace, sweeping them away with your broom, and getting rid of actual trash no one wants as well. The alluring setup and story, as well as the cutesy nature of the characters, are the standout aspects here, delivering a memorable world and aesthetic that shines thanks to charming animations, gorgeous lighting, and diverse environments.
Small touches, like the little jog Pluto does as they are exploring, really make Crypt Custodian a delightful little Metroidvania. A special shoutout has to be given to the music, which manages to balance being haunting (to fit the fact that Pluto is dead), whimsical, and catchy. It's a lovely background to your adventure.
Outside of the main story, which tasked us with finding a way back into the Afterlife Palace, we met a varied group of characters throughout our playthrough, all of whom are just as adorably animated as Pluto themselves. Some of these characters we simply passed by, while others act as vendors and merchants to upgrade Pluto's combat abilities and powers with the trash you collect on your journey.
Speaking of combat, Crypt Custodian also has a really solid, enjoyable combat foundation here with a fairly simple set of attacks and dodges. Pluto's moveset is comprised of a roll, jump, regular attacks, and special attacks (which can be found throughout the world). Combat is fast and fluid. Dodging and avoiding attacks is as tight and precise as we could want from a Metroidvania, and those special attacks range from regular area-of-effect blasts to more situational abilities like being able to leave a trail of damaging mines behind you, damaging enemies that walk on them. There is a decent selection to choose from, but not so many that the game was constantly throwing new powers at us and we only got to try out each one for a brief moment. Character progression felt fantastic and combat is heightened thanks to the varied selection of enemies and bosses on offer - inventive and memorable while matching the world's aesthetic and tone.
On top of that, Pluto can unlock new passive abilities from characters that have a far greater overall effect, as they are stackable, depending on how many ability points you have available and find throughout the world. For example, we could create a damaging field around Pluto and allow ourselves to take an extra hit, making them 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 greater variety of options here, allowing us to customise more drastically and create entire builds based around the passive abilities we wanted.
The more traditional Metroidvania upgrades, which gave traversal options and ways to access new areas, feel a little less inspired and won't surprise anyone familiar with the genre. Puzzle design and exploration, however, are much stronger. The former has solid brainteasers without becoming too challenging, while the latter rewards you with tons of upgrade points and collectibles such as Jukebox CDs to change the background music.
However, the game does suffer from some pretty drastic difficulty spikes and declines that can make parts of the experience quite frustrating. Bosses can be the major issue here with incredibly busy attacks, resulting in a lot of projectiles and effects on screen, making it hard to land precise jumps and dodges, and just being overwhelming, frankly. This also happens in some of the more packed areas with regular enemies, but it is far less common.
Additionally, we did have some noticeable frame rate hiccups and hitching during our playthrough in both handheld and docked modes. While they didn't have a drastic effect on gameplay, they did disrupt the flow, as the game would often freeze briefly and then jump forward again as we entered new areas or took on large groups of enemies. This didn't happen all the time, but it happened enough to be frustrating when it did crop up.
Finally, two nice bonus additions here are a full Boss Rush mode that is unlocked as soon as you defeat your first boss, allowing you to get that perfect run. Second is a Speedrun Mode in the settings menu that will definitely be appreciated by those who are looking to challenge themselves even more.
Conclusion
Overall, Crypt Custodian is a pretty traditional Metroidvania elevated by its fantastic world, aesthetic, characters, and soundtrack, with solid combat and a lot of build flexibility. These aspects all help alleviate some visual clutter issues and frame rate hiccups, ensuring that Crypt Custodian shouldn't end up lost in the eShop bargain bin like so many other Metroidvanias.
