Crimson Capes is a hidden gem of a game; existing within a well-established genre can make it hard to stand out, but Crimson Capes’ rotoscoped animations and focus on simple but effective swordplay abilities make it one of the more engaging and beautiful metroidvanias of recent years. The Tower of the Rose expansion has been released for free and is available to download right now, simply update your game via Steam.
In our original review we said “Crimson Cape’s unique take on movement, feints and power-scaling make for a short, tight experience that showcases how the RPG-ification of genres doesn’t always result in more depth. By stripping away stats and encumbrance and even traditional stamina consumption (Instead focusing on Combat Flow) Crimson Capes provides a fresh challenge for even seasoned Souls and Metroidvania veterans.”
Fancy footwork matters more than grinding levels in Crimson Capes
What’s included in the Crimson Capes Tower of the Rose
While you’re waiting for the download to finish, here’s all the new content you can expect:
- A brand new hero to play: The Ronin. This is a huge deal for Crimson Capes as a new hero means new Disciplines and Combination attacks, the bread-and-butter of the game’s tight animations and gameplay options.
- A new explorable area: Hinterdale. You’ll know you’re on the right track to the new content when you complete the initial quest and receive the Ronin hero, then you can carry onwards to Hinterdale.
- 5 new bosses as well as various dungeon enemies are ready to be outmanoeuvred and outplayed in the expansion, which means new opportunities to flex your Combination attacks to “solve” new combat challenges.
- New equipment in Hinterdale is yet another way gameplay variety is being padded out here, as items in Crimson Capes don’t just fluff up random stats but instead each have unique, game-changing effects.
Crimson Capes receives quality of life fixes as part of Tower of the Rose
As well as all the new content, players can enjoy a host of improvements to the game as a whole. One of the key negatives in our original review was the inconsistency of stamina bars on bosses, who could be staggered but never displayed that information. Now, bosses will have visible stamina bars so you can choose the exact moment to spend your Charge, employ a Discipline or unleash a Combination.
In addition to boss stamina bars, poise frames and combat flow states are now visually identifiable on the player character. When in poise frames you flash yellow, and when in combat flow your sword glows red. This cleans up player communication a little, and will help you be sure your attack will (or won’t) connect in time.
Two new “helper” items have been added to add similar visual effects to parry timing and to permanently enable combat flow, respectively.
Crimson Capes is available on Steam, and the Tower of the Rose update is a free update for all players
