Back in 2015, Brace Yourself Games released Crypt of the NecroDancer, an unlikely mashup of rhythm games and dungeon crawlers that worked way better than anyone could have predicted. It followed it up last year with Rift of the NecroDancer, a more straightforward but still ingenious rhythm game. The sequel has already gotten new tracks from Celeste and Pizza Tower, and now it’s taking a cue from the original with new DLC based on the world’s greatest fictional pop star.
On June 12, the Hatsune Miku Music Pack arrives for Rift of the NecroDancer on Steam. While the PC version arrives the same day as the DLC’s announcement, Switch players will have to wait until June 25 to check out the new tracks. Even players who don’t pick up the DLC will get to try Danny Baranowsky’s “Too Real,” which is free to play for everyone.
The paid DLC comes with five additional tracks, including a brand-new one. “Radiant Revival” by Jamie Paige just debuted the day before the DLC’s release as the theme for a 2025 Hatsune Miku club tour, and it’s playable in Rift of the NecroDancer now.
How big of a deal the new music pack is of course depends on how much you vibe with the Vocaloid stylings of Hatsune Miku. The DLC adds a new Miku avatar to the game’s levels, but the real reason to play is the new music. I’d describe myself as more amused by Miku than a fan, but there’s no denying that the new tracks in the bundle are unbeatable earworms. I may not listen to Vocaloid pop on the regular, but as I played through “Just 1dB Louder” I couldn’t help but imagine myself in a massive concert crowd waving a glowstick along with it anymore than I can stop “Intergalactic Bound” from playing in my head as I write this.
A lot of that appeal comes from the fact that Rift of the NecroDancer is already an excellent game. When it was first announced, I was a bit disappointed with how closely it resembles games like Guitar Hero, since Crypt of the NecroDancer was such a clever new idea. But that appearance is a little deceptive. There’s always been a lot to Rift of the NecroDancer that makes it feel like no other game out there.
In both the base game and the DLC, notes advance down a three-lane track, and you need to tap the corresponding button in time to play them, like with any other rhythm game. The catch is that each note is represented by a monster, each of which is defeated with a different rhythm. Blue slimes need to be hit on two consecutive beats, bats jump between tracks once or twice after you hit them, and golden skeletons dance their way up the lane a certain distance requiring you to hit them again later. There are tons of different monsters with tricks like this, making Rift of the NecroDancer’s tracks feel as much like combat as music.
The Hatsune Miku Music Pack doesn’t add any new enemies, but it does make excellent use of the ones that are already there. There are no real beginner tracks in the bundle, but even if you’re as bad at Rift of the NecroDancer as I am, you should be able to get by in easy mode. Even there, the rhythm of the game’s monsters does a great job of replicating Miku’s incredibly catchy tunes, and I’ve had an absolute blast trying to climb my way through tougher versions of them.
In 2024, Crypt of the NecroDancer added Miku as a playable character, complete with her own moveset. Rift of the NecroDancer’s new DLC might not introduce that dramatic of a change, but getting to tap along in rhythm to a handful of great Hatsune Miku tracks makes the virtual pop star’s reunion with the NecroDancer series fantastic nonetheless.
