So I've covered CotND's OST, it's official variants, and some ambitious fan projects. It is the versatility of the music that has held my interest in it. But there was a special aspect to the soundtrack, a bonus feature of sorts, that had initially caught my attention. The game uses a artificial vocal accompaniment as a game mechanic, resulting in secondary versions for most tracks. This mechanic is known as "The Shopkeeper." Just to clarify, this is not a real person's voice.

The effect this accompaniment has on the soundtrack as a whole is difficult to articulate. I suspect it was conceptualized as a gimmick or novelty, but the resulting harmony can often strengthen already well-composed pieces. Not to mention the surprising amount of enjoyment that can be had in singing along.

Speaking of which, an alternate accompaniment to the Shopkeeper was later added into the game due to the efforts of an ambitious vocalist. It might take a bit more to get used to, but I've come to admire his performances (especially for Zone 3).

BTW, Daoust has covered all of CotND's Shopkeeper tracks, including the above featured Styx and Stones.

That's technically it for Crypt of the Necrodancer. But I'll have one last thing to address next week before fully moving on.

On 9/21/2020 at 8:23 PM, myrvogna said:

Great thanks ! I'll be downloading them soon enough and be uploading them on soulseek. I might begin a collection of each ost from every album in FLAC, TTA or WAV some time soon, I'll be uploading them here as well

Great, I’ve uploaded them here. Tell me if there’s anything wrong with them, and feel free to upload them to Soulseek or anywhere else for that matter – the more the better.

Hopefully, volumes 1, 2, and 6 should be coming too at some point in the next month(s).

If the game gives you a popup when you try running it, you can start the game in windowed mode by clicking "no". Choosing yes will start it in fullscreen.

If it doesn't give you a popup, you can change to windowed mode by setting the screen mode in the options to 1. (If you then leave it at 2, it'll ask you whether to start in fullscreen next time you run the game.)