Written by Kris Galvez
Title: Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk
Developer: Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
Publisher: NIS America
Price: $14.99
Genre: Dungeon RPG
Also Available On: PS4, Steam
Imagine a dungeon crawling adventure like the Etrian Odyssey series combined with the flair and presentation of the Disgaea combo of Takehito Harada (Character designs) and Tenpei Sato (Soundtrack). The character designs are immediately familiar with Harada's childlike (and sometimes edgy) art style. Characters look great and sometimes weird much like the Disgaea games. Sato's soundtrack meanwhile fits the themes of the game with how it evokes the mysteriousness of the town of Refrain and its various dungeons. If you are a fan of NIS games you will immediately get what I mean but for newcomers to their game, all I can say is that the soundtrack is wondrously Bewitching. One look and you can immediately tell that this is the signature NIS style of game.
The game starts in a visual novel style of story telling where the Witch Dronya, together with her child apprentice Luca, is traveling to the town of Refrain in their merry caravan. After an encounter with a drunk person, you can immediately tell that Dronya is a horrible person (well she is a witch). Motivation wise, Dronya and Luca are there to explore the Labyrinth as part of a request from the acting governent of Refrain. I don't wanna spoil it but the game really deserves its Mature rating. There are a lot of the usual NIS trappings where dark things are played as humorous. There is one particular scene early on that may cause a bit of discomfort and really ups the dark themes of this game.
Setting up camp near the Labyrinth, you then begin the proper game portion of the game. You don't really play as Dronya in this game. The book Tractarus de Monstrum, or Tractie as Luca calls you, is the POV character you play as or at least the soul inside the book. Once you are in the dungeon, you materialize puppets using some magic of sort that fight for you as you explore the machinations of the Labyrinth of Refrain. This is where the party building comes in as no living human can really explore the dungeon due to the poisonous and thick Miasma. Manamia creation, or the puppets Luca crafts, is pretty robust. You can basically choose the appearance of each manamia, their classes (from a list of 6 at the start with 2 unlockable later on), the way their stat grows, their voice and even some flavor text. Of course, you need to choose wisely as an optimal party is needed to survive the death-trap filled dungeons of Refrain.
There is a distinct NIS touch in the you build your dungeon exploration party. Unlike the Etrian Odyssey series where class skills can be customized as you level up, each class in Coven only has some sort of innate passive skills. Active skills are basically available from the eponymous Covens. Covens are basically party slots you get as you explore the labyrinth with different effects and skills. The starting Covens has an attacker, a mage and a healer configuration. Basically, Covens modify stats and the skills of characters in them. While it may all sound too complicated, this can be simplified by treating covens as party slots where you can assign the puppets you create. Another thing that you can feel that is uniquely NIS is their love for huge numbers, this time being the fact that Covens can have as much as 8 puppets assigned under them, which allows for huge damage later on depending on your party configuration. Add to the fact that there are lots of randomized items and you have an infinite number of ways to optimally explore dungeons in Labyrinth of Refrain.
Of course, party creation is only one part of games like these. The other bigger part is the dungeon exploration itself. Dungeon RPGs are usually challenging in the way it gives you hard enemies or traps that kill you any time. Mapping is also important for these games. It's a good thing that the auto mapping of Labyrinth of Refrain is pretty robust. Just walk around and the map will be made for you in a very readable way. Walls are easily readable, enemies are visible when they are near you and items are also visualized as chests in the map. While I miss the manual map drawing part of Etrian Odyssey, Labyrinth of Refrain is a different kind of beast in how you explore the dungeon. While Etrian Odyssey can be compared to a methodical trek into a dungeon, Labyrinth of Refrain's exploration is exhilarating. You move through the dungeon pretty fast, you get items automatically as you walk past them, you see enemies so you can sometimes avoid them, you can jump around bushes and later even break walls. Even if it all sounds all too simple, there is a lot of nuance with the simple act of breaking walls in exploring dungeons like these. You may either find hidden treasure, secret shortcuts or even an area with lots impossible to beat enemies.
While it may seem that exploring the Labyrinth of Refrain is easy, make no mistake as you will be dying a lot in this game. Unexpected falls, strong enemies and death traps await which will lead to death. Death is punished with losing experience, mana and even breaking a puppet part (which weakens your puppet until repaired). Another fun addition to this game is the system of stockpiling experience points. You can stockpile experience and receive them later with an added bonus multiplier or receive experience immediately after battle. While it may seem that stockpiling experience is the recommended option, there is still a risk vs reward design here as any act of losing a battle (fleeing included) will make all the stockpiled experience go to waste.
After playing the first Etrian Odyssey on the DS Lite, I've had a sort of romantic relationship with the dungeon crawling branch of JRPGs. Building a fledgling troupe of adventurers, exploring an ever evolving set of trap-filled dungeons, enemies that slaughter you even after a few steps, mapping out these labyrinths to ensure that you have an optimal path in surviving them, all of these are things that I love about these kind of games. Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk has all of that combined with the nuance that NIS brings to their titles. With its pick up and play nature, fun dungeon traversal, and a story that only NIS can tell, this game is a must play for both fans of NIS and fans of dungeon RPGs.
Pros
- Attractive NIS art style filled with personality. The dungeons are also beautifully rendered.
- Music really suits the themes of the game.
- Story is pretty intriguing and tells a lot compared to other games in the genre while still keeping the mysteries.
- There are a lot of complexities and hidden systems that need to be put into thought when building your party.
- The dungeon exploration is very fun especially with the addition of wall breaking.
- This game is perfectly played undocked.
- The game is also a perfect starting point for newcomers to the genre.
Cons
- I really miss the mapping portion of the Etrian Odyssey series (this is not a knock the game is still fun without mapping).
- The complex and hidden systems may need to be checked on from time to time in the manual.
- The mature story leaves for some uncomfortable scenes.
- Story segments sometimes take 15 to 30 minutes which kind of breaks the action of exploring the Labyrinth of Refrain.
- There is a save time bug which makes your game time run even if the Switch is in sleep mode (hope this gets patched).
Score: 9/10
Note: The game was reviewed using a code provided by the developers.
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