Crypt Custodian Review

Crypt Custodian is a top-down metroidvania from Islets creator Kyle Thompson. You play as Pluto, a recently deceased cat, sentenced to serve as a janitor in the afterlife for eternity. Charming, right?

Let’s see what it takes to complete Crypt Custodian.

• First, you’ll need to finish the main campaign and achieve 100% in-game completion. This means finding all 30 pictures, collecting all special attacks, all abilities, 20 jukebox discs, at least 68 upgrade points, 40 upgrades and freeing all 20 trapped spirits.
• You’ll also have to lift all 10 curses, kill 1000 enemies and use your special attack 100 times, which should come naturally. If you manage to beat any boss without taking damage, you’ll have unlocked all but three trophies (plus the Platinum) at the end of the campaign. Yes, there’s a trophy for 100% completion too.

• Then, there’s the Boss Rush mode. To earn the final three or four trophies, you’ll need to beat each boss on all three difficulty levels with an S+ rank. A little tedious? Maybe. But we’re completionists, right?
• If you still have to defeat any boss without taking damage, doing it in Boss Rush mode on the easiest difficulty makes this a piece of cake.

So, is Crypt Custodian worth completing? Let’s find out!

Story: A Cat Sentenced to Janitorial Purgator

After waking up in the afterlife, Pluto is greeted by Pip, a friendly ghost. Pip explains Pluto needs to meet Kendra, the overseer of the afterlife, who will decide his fate: palace life or eternal banishment to the outskirts with the “bad” ghosts. Classic setup. Before meeting Kendra, Pluto finds his trusty broom, his main tool throughout the game, and which already finds its use on the way to Kendra.

Kendra, being as delightful as she is, and in a funny twist, decides that Pluto has been a “very bad cat”, and banishes from the palace, sentencing him to work as a janitor forever. No palace life for Pluto—just cleaning duties. But at least we get a trophy for this, initiating our quest for completion. Nice.

Early on, Pluto encounters the first enemies while searching for the key to unlock The Sinner’s Inn, where we meet Marla, the bartender who sells upgrades in exchange for dirt. At least being a janitor seems profitable now. And just like that, you’re free to explore.

You’ll come across Grizz, a fellow cat digging a hole, and this sets the tone for the adventure. Grizz wants to infiltrate the palace and steal the Crystal Mirror. Sounds better than clean for all eternity, so why not join him! Since two ghosts on their own are too few to overtake the palace, but too many to infiltrate it unnoticed, Grizz decides that you should return when you’ve made 10 ghost friends ready to tag along. Grizz is one, so now you’ve got to find nine more. From here, the game becomes a non-linear exploration-focused journey as you travel through different biomes, making friends, collecting items, and unlocking new abilities.

The Map: A Puzzle Box of Exploration

At first, the map seems small, but it will have grown significantly by the end of the game. Each biome is connected to several others, but in usual metroidvania-style, some areas require specific abilities to access or fully explore. However, (almost?) all biomes can be explored to some capacity without requiring any abilities, which opens up the entire worldmap from the beginning. I definitely did not explore the world in the “correct” order, in the sense that I encountered bosses in a different order than what the compendium suggests, for example. This non-linear exploration is one of Crypt Custodian’s strengths, and fortunately you can place markers on the map to remind yourself of blocked paths or collectibles you’ll return to once you’ve got the necessary upgrades.

New movement abilities really feel like they improve Pluto’s mobility, and range from an air dash to a “broom-erang” to cloning yourself, and all of them are essential to exploring the full map. Further, each biome has a unique main exploration mechanic, which further helps give each biome a unique feel besides its visuals.

While exploring, you’ll find upgrade points and upgrades, jukebox discs for Marla’s Inn, or trapped spirits to free, all of which are required to achieve 100% in-game completion. You’ll also find a timed challenge in each biome, which tests your mastery over the corresponding biome’s mechanics, though these are all very forgiving and easy to complete.

Combat: Simple, but Satisfying

Combat in Crypt Custodian is basic but fun. Pluto uses his broom to smack enemies – simple, but effective, and in tone with the plot. You can equip different special attacks, but combat never gets overly complex. Each enemy has a single attack, which is heavily telegraphed, so it’s more about learning patterns, dodging at the right time, and hitting back.

Enemies are first encountered solo, so you can learn their moves, but soon you’ll face multiple enemies at once. There are even arena-style challenges, arenas which lock you in until you’ve beaten several waves of enemies, forcing you to prioritize targets. You’ll also find skull statues while exploring that curse you with a negative effect until you defeat enough enemies to lift the curse. These can range from a swarm of unkillable enemies following you, to enemies exploding upon death – clearing all 10 curses earns you a trophy. Finally, there are red chests that trigger no-hit challenges, rewarding you with upgrades if you clear them successfully.

The upgrade system needs also to be mentioned. These upgrade collectibles can be equipped to grant Pluto new perks, and while the upgrades do not alter the fundamental combat mechanics, they do make a difference. Upgrades range from more dirt dropped from enemies, over a companion that follows Pluto and attacks close by enemies, to increased damage at full health. Thus, depending on the current upgrade loadout, you may be able to take out a specific enemy in four hits at full health, but need five hits otherwise. This additional hit may be the difference between you needing to dodge the enemy’s attack, or being able to defeat it before it can attack at all, and gives something more to think about while fighting.

Boss Fights: Unique but Manageable

Besides regular enemies, there are 12 boss fights in Crypt Custodian. These are mechanically more interesting, as each boss has multiple attacks and phases, and gain new attacks as the battle progresses. Their moves are still well-telegraphed, thus the fundamental approach doesn’t change. The challenge is more about patience and learning when to dodge and when to strike. While boss fights are fun, the strategy mostly remains “smack, dodge, smack again.”

This simplicity is the one downside. Combat doesn’t evolve much over time – it’s consistent but doesn’t get deeper. Still, it’s not Crypt Custodian’s main selling point, and it works well enough.

Bosses are also thematically well-designed! Let’s look at a couple of standout examples.

First, the Astral Drifters. These bosses perfectly integrate the biome’s main mechanic into the fight. In this area, enemies switch between corporeal and ethereal states whenever you dash, and the boss duo follows the same pattern. The two identical enemies take turns attacking Pluto, with their attacks overlapping. By dashing strategically, the fight revolves around making one boss targetable right after it finishes attacking, while the other becomes ethereal, which negates its attacks. In the second phase, things get more hectic as the Astral Drifters attack in quicker succession.

Another great example is Grief, a mostly stationary boss fought in a tiny arena. This tight space is a deliberate design choice, as Grief has an attack that covers the entire arena in damaging spikes, forcing you to hide in a patch of dirt to avoid damage. This fight also highlights the strategic use of special attacks. While you can’t attack normally when underground, you can unleash a special attack to keep damaging Grief while waiting for the spikes to clear.

Wrapping Up: Infiltrating the Palace

So, you explore all biomes, collecting what you can, and making friends along the way. To each new friendly ghost, you can find three pictures which, once more, are required for trophies. These pictures are a cute addition, as they give insight into each of the ghosts’ lives and their deaths. For example, Pebbles is a frog that lived with her best friend, Pearl, and one day was snatched by a bird. Pebbles is now located in a shrine dedicated to Pearl, and she tirelessly keeps the area clean and in shape. Then there’s Roy, a mole that dig too deep and drowned in oil. Roy is a shopkeeper in the afterlife, and as you’ll find out, has been trapped by an impostor.

After befriending all 10 ghosts, 100% completion is still out of reach, so I returned to Grizz for the big plan: infiltrating the palace. Instead of finding a bustling palace full of happy ghosts, the place is weirdly empty, with garbage piling up as we get closer to the Crystal Mirror. The group makes it to the Crystal Mirror with no problems – until Pluto runs into Kendra: the final boss fight.

After defeating Kendra, the palace collapses, and a frantic escape sequence follows. The ghosts jump into the mirror, and the credits roll. But that’s not the end of Crypt Custodian!

Back at The Sinner’s Inn, you’ll learn Kendra has apparently fled to the western edge of the map, and can be found inside “The Vault”. Entering this dungeon requires almost 100% completion, and so the next step is to collect anything you might have missed. This is where the item markers come in handy: Purchasing one at The Sinner’s Inn places a red marker on the map, pointing to an item that has not yet been collected. These item markers are cheap, and thus really useful to mark anything you might have missed. I started cleaning up the remaining collectibles – special attacks, trapped spirits, discs, and upgrades – without the need to consult any guide thanks to these markers, until there was nothing left to collect. I also made sure to have 68 upgrade points by this point – you can purchase additional ones in the VIP room at The Sinner’s Inn – which is required to enter the vault.

This dungeon is sealed, and requires some puzzle-solving (and all your upgrades and enough upgrade points) to unlock. Inside, you’ll gain a new power and face three fun challenges to collect Kendra’s three pictures. These pictures complete the remaining trophies, including 100% in-game completion.

For closure, I went to talk to Kendra. At this point, “shuffle-mode” is unlocked, a mode where upgrade placement is shuffled for future playthroughs.

Boss Rush Mode: For the True Completionist

With the campaign completed, the final trophies can be earned in Boss Rush mode. Contrary to its name, you don’t need to defeat all bosses back-to-back – thankfully. In this mode, you can battle any boss on any of the three available difficulties, and to earn the final trophies, you’ll have to defeat each boss on all difficulties with an S+ Rank, awarded for clearing the fight without taking damage and within a time limit.

In this mode, the number of available upgrade points is restricted, so choose wisely! Since you can’t afford to take damage, the upgrades for dealing additional damage, and dealing additional damage at full health are very useful. The more difficult part of this challenge is to beat all bosses quickly enough to be awarded the S+ Rank, thus strategically using Special Attacks to deal damage while the boss is out of reach, or while dodging the boss’ attacks can help immensely.

For players that find this too frustrating, there are accessibility options that can be enabled, such as dealing 200% broom damage. I personally didn’t use these options, and enjoyed the challenge without them, but they are there.

Final Thoughts

After roughly 10 hours, I completed Crypt Custodian and earned its Platinum Trophy. The length feels perfect for a game with basic combat and a focus on exploration and puzzles. I would’ve preferred if the S+ rank requirement was limited to hard difficulty, since there’s nothing interesting going on on lower difficulties after mastering the highest one.
Since there are accessibility options for players less interested in the combat aspect of Crypt Custodian, this is an easy recommendation.

So, should you complete Crypt Custodian? Absolutely! It’s charming, exploration is satisfying and features clever puzzles, and combat is basic but fun. Crypt Custodian’s completion is straightforward, but worth it.