It is not easy to define what the independent video game landscape has become in the current market, where pearls of immeasurable originality suffocate among the hundreds of titles that under a new and sparkling armor always contain the same concepts ... even referring to much more noble brands. The Metronomicon fortunately it belongs to that category, a real pearl that it combines two real videogame extremes (rhythm games and RPGs), creating a new and amazingly fresh title. The publisher Kasedo Games left to the development team of Puuba unparalleled freedom, allowing the artistic side of the game to take over without restraint and create exactly the title they had in mind. The game is available exclusively on PC, and you can buy it at a price of € 19,99 on Steam. Are you ready to bat at enemy creatures and dance til you drop?
Rain of arrows
The story mode of The Necronomicon is moved by a classic plot, but with bizarre facets: we will find ourselves checking out some newly graduated boys to the academy dedicated to "the art of rhythmic combat", that not even the time to withdraw their title found themselves having to face a threat. These are some dancing creatures moved by an unknown enthusiasm that are infesting the whole kingdom; this is located in a pseudo-medieval location, complete with fortresses and forests. The boys will have to defeat this great threat - which we will gradually discover to be huge - to the sound of dancefloor. In fact, both the creatures and our party will attack exclusively by dancing and going to the music! The game concept therefore merges two videogame genres, so extreme that it was impossible to hold back a "wow" of amazement as soon as I realized what I was in front of. The combat system sees the mechanics of rhythm games resumed at the same level, with the series of keys to be pressed in sequence that gradually descend into the spaces belonging to the characters (placed exactly above them). Each completed colored sequence will trigger an attack or a spell towards the unfortunate monsters we will face, and will be divided into three power levels. Consequently, the damage to the enemies, the heals, the bonuses and the malus, will depend exclusively on the success of our sequences!
Stop the mob, start the spark
Our party in The Metronomicon will consist of 8 characters (4 we will unlock them as the game progresses), and only 4 of them will be able to go down to / on the field / battle / dance floor at the same time. From the level selection menu it will in fact be possible to access the team settings, where we can choose the deployment, equipment, and skills that our heroes will be able to use in battle. obviously each character is unique and with its special abilities, therefore it will be up to us to create a balanced formation, or devoted to the defensive game, or even to the carnage without frills: remember that every choice will have consequences, so always be careful about how you compose the team and related builds. The role-playing component lies not only in this, but obviously even in the statistics that characterize our dancing warriors, like magic power, health and so on ...
Once you step onto the battlefield, magic comes to life. Accompanied by unique tracks created especially for the game, we will have to juggle the art of rhythm. Warning, the game will not be as easy as it may seem, because you can only use one character at a time, and therefore in addition to following the rhythm by pressing the keys of your controller or keyboard, you will also have to be able to change the active character with other keys, and choose who to do the action. It will not be possible to have the same character perform actions twice in a row (once this has been successfully completed), because it takes a certain fraction of time to recharge. Moral of the story? You will also have to dance on the keyboard, attacking, changing, healing, reciprocating, and so on. I don't deny that checking many things at the same time could be frustrating in the initial stages, how to keep an eye on your life bar (in common among all) placed on the left of the screen, or the objectives and the timer placed at the top right ... often even laughing at the funny and simply splendid monsters that we will find ourselves against will be complicated .
As in all classic rhythm games, also in The Metronomicon we will obviously be able to select the level of difficulty before undertaking any activity, which is not limited to the simple story mode and free play, but also to a special one arena mode that will put players in front of completely unique challenges… and more difficult than normal! On the other hand, there is no real multiplayer mode, where the only excerpt of interaction is limited to the online ranking (always present for any challenge) and in your personal collection of achievements. At the end of each playable area, as in all self-respecting RPGs, you will have to defeat the boss, which will have special abilities like normal mobs, but will be much more powerful than them. Obviously many of the missions will reward you with pieces of equipment, items, experience, and of course credits to use as currency, called "respects".
Can't stop movin '
In addition to an extremely solid gameplay that manages to satisfy a slice of users not just, The Metronomicon manages to give its best even under the artistic and functional level. First of all, we would like to point out that the deafult keys are quite comfortable seen as a whole, but yesthey are also fully customizable from the options menu. We repeat that the game is not easy, and comfort is one of the keys to being reactive and immediate with the pressure of the keys. The audio sector of the game is absolutely exceptional, with 50 tracks by 40 different artists capable of capturing attention (and the body) even those who are less accustomed to the kind of music proposed (yes, I'm raising my hand too). The quality of the dubbing is also excellent, with the voices of the characters extremely characterized; even if this is not present in our local language but only in English, we can say that fortunately the game has been totally translated and presents all the written dialogues and menu options in Spanish.
The graphic sector at the level of cartoon-style images, and a very varied color palette depending on the location, manages to give that "flamboyant" and absolutely crazy soul to the title: exactly what it needs! Splendid the way monsters were created, exaggerating and mocking some classic stereotypes, and leading others to exaggeration.. Obviously seeing them dance in unlikely ways is the best part! In fact, the aspect of The Metronomicon that we left behind as the last icing, is the extremely fun and satirical vein of the game. Without exaggerating and trivially falling into cliché or vulgarity, the game makes ironic imprint its trademark, starting from the individual dialogues, up to the description of the missions and the items that can be equipped. A real gem!
Modus Operandi: the review you just read was written based on the version PC of the title, after completing the main story and completing multiple objectives in the arena.
