Crypt Custodian [Review]
Help Pluto, a recently deceased cat, navigate his new job as a janitor in the afterlife and make new friends in this stellar Zeldalike from Kyle Thompson and Top Hat Studios.
Crypt Custodian. Credit: Kyle Thompson / Top Hat Studios
Crypt Custodian is a charming, polished Zeldalike from Kyle Thompson (Sheepo, Islets). Responsive combat, challenging boss fights, optional collectibles, stunning art, and a breezy but emotional story make the game stand out from the crowd.
Pluto, a black cat, just died and finds himself at the entrance to a palace in the afterlife. He learns that the frog in charge, Kendra, will decide whether to let him into the palace, where he’ll live eternity in happiness and have access to a mirror that can let him see his loved ones on earth. Suffice it to say, his meeting with Kendra goes poorly, and he is cast down to the lower levels of the afterlife and sentenced to be its janitor forever.
Crypt Custodian. Credit: Kyle Thompson / Top Hat Studios
I call Crypt Custodian a Zeldalike, but its press materials and Steam tags also label it a Metroidvania. This description is redundant; classic Zelda games feature the same gating mechanics as a typical Metroidvania, where there is a need for new upgrades and key gates access to areas. The top-down view and the combat in Crypt Custodian bring it far more in line with Zelda than Castlevania or Metroid.
Pluto explores the afterlife with his broom in hand. He can sweep up dirt and collect it as currency or use it to slash ghostly enemies. Pluto can jump and dash, which are abilities you’ll need for the game’s light platforming elements. As the game progresses, you’ll find new abilities for both movement and combat.
Crypt Custodian. Credit: Kyle Thompson / Top Hat Studios
Combat is challenging but fair. Crypt Custodian encourages you to be careful during its fast-paced combat by excluding a healing mechanic; you can only recover your HP by going to a save point. Bosses follow patterns that you can learn, so I was able to beat all of them as long as I was patient and not impulsive with my attacks.
The game features optional combat challenges that I enjoyed, where you might need to survive waves of enemies without being hit or survive a curse that will make combat more difficult until you kill a set number of creatures. The game’s optional platforming challenges could also be difficult. These require you to deftly speed to various platforms in a small course to reach each waypoint before time runs out. Both of the challenge types award you with ability points that you use to expand the number of upgrades you can equip.
Crypt Custodian. Credit: Kyle Thompson / Top Hat Studios
Upgrades can affect your movement or combat and provide other perks, such as extra HP or a pet that will help you gather currency. There are 40 upgrades hidden throughout the game or sold in the shop. Separate from upgrades, you can equip Pluto with a single special attack. Despite several being available, I ended up using one of the first ones you earn—a spin attack—for most of the game.
The afterlife is a sprawling place, with several biomes to discover. I often got lost, not knowing where to go next, until I started taking advantage of the map’s pin feature to track spots that clearly required me to have more abilities to pass. Finding paths and secrets by solving the game’s many environmental puzzles would always give me a jolt of dopamine; rarely were they hard enough to cause me any frustration, but they would usually not be easy enough to feel tedious.
Crypt Custodian. Credit: Kyle Thompson / Top Hat Studios
I loved the characters that Pluto befriends during the game—the other ghosts thrown out of the palace by Kendra. They’re all animals that dearly miss their loved ones in the realm of the living, and you’ll learn their stories as you help each of them. The characters are endearing, and the visual design of their anthropomorphized spirit forms is creative and cute.
The game’s graphics are in a flat, stylized, painted style that resembles a dark fantasy children’s book, like Kyle Thompson’s other work. Enemy and boss designs are creative and sometimes delightfully creepy, and the animations are smooth and detailed. Crypt Custodian is just beautiful to look at; every environment is lush and vivid.
Crypt Custodian. Credit: Kyle Thompson / Top Hat Studios
It’s rare to find a Zeldalike that’s this fun and polished. It’s incredible that we got both Crypt Custodian and Minishoot Adventures in the same year. I can’t recommend Crypt Custodian highly enough for those of you who enjoy Zelda or Metroidvanias.
Crypt Custodian is available now on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, and Xbox One / Series X|S.
Overall Score: 9/10
Played on: PS5
