Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth and the search for more action

[Peklo]

Team Ladybug's latest and ongoing treatise on the genre some call... whatever they please, really, has reached its latest early access milestone: stages 3 and 4 went live today, meaning that the game is now 80% complete, or thereabouts. Whether you're waiting for the full release to dip in, or feel the game's amassed enough heft to justify an earlier look by now, just know it's there and waiting, and that it's maintaining the standard of quality this studio has set for themselves, maybe even exceeding it.

 

[Falselogic]

I recently saw a video of this on YT and immediately added it to my steam wishlist!

 

[Peklo]

A few more of the officially shared .gifs of the game. Ladybug's games are such that they look wonderful in stills, but really reach the zenith of the artform in motion with the kind of animation they're working with, so these are always nice to share.

 

[Peklo]

Full release on March 27th, adding stages 5 and 6. It's what you lot have been waiting for! I've been playing along with each update and will likely go and play through whole thing all over again once I finish up. It's worth whatever hype you may have heard here or elsewhere, so please try it. They're promoting Luna Nights along with it too as a bundle; I'm sure people know where I stand on that too.

Dear fans,

Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is finally coming out of early access with the full version release on March 27th!

"The full release adds stages 5 and 6 to the game. Stage 5 is the Hall of Knights. Deed arrives at the old hall after pursuing an enemy who appeared at the end of Stage 4, what awaits her there was...
With a huge narrative twist, the story begins unfolding rapidly towards the finale..."

Please bear in mind that there will be a price adjustment when the game is released out of early access to $19.99 (tax incl.). In order to celebrate the full release announcement the title will be available at 20% off in the final sale of the early access. With the full release so close, this would be the perfect time to get in on the early access at a discount!

The previous title from developer Team Ladybug, Touhou Luna Nights, is also currently available for 33% off.

Furthermore, you can grab both titles in the Team Ladybug Bundle for even further savings!
These two 2D exploration action games are of phenomenal quality and are a must have for fans of the genre.

Record of Lodoss War-Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth- on Steam

A 2D Metroidvania-style game developed under the supervision of Ryo Mizuno, depicting the story of Deedlit and the events leading up to Record of Lodoss War: Diadem of the Covenant. Use a variety of weapons and spirit powers to unravel the mystery of the labyrinth.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Regulus]

I've really enjoyed the game so far, so I'm looking forward to the rest of this.

I do kind of hope they did something about the status effects they added in the most recent areas, though. I don't really think they brought anything positive to the game.

 

[Aleryn]

Done and done, thank you for the reminder Peklo! Game feels like a dream.

 

[Becksworth]

Yeah, I like the little I played of it when I bought it last year, but was waiting for the full game to play anymore.

 

[keurig]

I really loved the first two stages that I played last year, but I was waiting for the rest of the game to be done until I jumped back in.

Very excited for the full release!

 

[Patrick]

I'll keep an eye out for a port to Switch or PS4.

 

[Sarge]

Oh, dang, now is the time to buy for sure. Especially if you've already got Touhou Luna Nights - you get a slight additional discount with the bundle.

 

[Fyonn]

Oh man, full release a few days after my birthday. Thanks Team Ladybug!

 

[Peklo]

It's out now, in its totality. For everything that this game is, one thing that I had no idea or expectation that it would do before the end was make me cry--but it did. Whether or not that particular aspect lands the same for others, the takeaway is the same: full recommendation, all the way through.

Spoiler

 

[Beowulf]

I actually bought this a couple of months ago (the New Years Steam sale, maybe?) but just dipped into it this week, and apparently my timing was right. It feels super Igavania-esque so far, and I consider that a good thing.

 

[Fyonn]

I've been playing this, and it's gorgeous, but I have to say that I don't like it as much as Luna Nights. I've never been a fan of Ikaruga-style color-swapping mechanics, and this game has them implemented in such a way that it's difficult to tell what "color" Deedlit is in the heat of battle, so I end up swapping to the wrong color multiple times in boss fights and getting wiped out.

I won't condemn a exploration platformer for being about a primary mechanic, given the sometimes sameiness of the genre, but I much prefer Luna Nights' gimmick to Wonder Labyrinth's.

Also I'm much less invested in the characters because all I know about Record of Lodoss War is that it was based on someone's D&D campaign. That said, I've never seen a game scream the protagonist is dead from the first second of gameplay louder in my entire life.

 

[Alixsar]

I played the first chunk when it was initially released and it was super cool, but also like...30 minutes long and more of a proof of concept than actual game. So I'm glad it's done-done, I'll jump back into it soon! I'm not expecting Super Metroid or anything, but if the boss fights from the first chunk of the game are any indication I'm sure I'll like it.

...uh, also hopefully they like...finished translating it. That first chunk was R O U G H

 

[ShakeWell]

Do I have to know anything about Record of Lodoss War to enjoy this? I suspect not, but if it's deep in the lore or there's signposting on where to go next based on external knowledge of the series, that'd be good to know.

 

[Kalista]

From what I saw playing through the Early Access portion, every character is basically a Lodoss War cameo? Like, if you've seen the show you'll get to say "oh, hey, it's that guy" for everyone who shows up, but they don't really get very deep story-wise.

 

[Peklo]

You don't need to know anything about Lodoss, no. This goes for all Lodoss media in general; it's a franchise of evocative, straightforward archetypes rather than any kind of deeply integral continuity even if that is a narrative factor--being introduced to it through whatever branch that you encounter is as good a starting point as any other. Ladybug don't drown you in irrelevant tidbits as a rule whenever they work in licensed properties, and they don't stop to explain anything that isn't explicable from context, but that also frees their stories to read convincingly as tie-ins to whatever license they're depicting. It's a good and light approach.

 

[Sarge]

I finished this yesterday, and had a blast with it. I do commiserate with @Lance Noble Aster and the swapping mechanic. I got better at it, but it was still often very difficult to tell in a frantic battle what element I was. That's one thing I'd like to see patched, perhaps a stronger outline or a different cloak color.

Took me about six hours to get 100%. Could have been a touch longer, but still substantial enough that I don't feel shortchanged.

 

[ShakeWell]

Sweet. I will add this to my wishlist.

 

[Fyonn]

It took me until after the second stage 5 boss fight to realize that the cloak changes color because for some reason the Fire cloak is green.

EDIT: Beat it! The balance is much better once you have a bunch of tools to deal with stuff (coughelementalbowscough)

 

[Sarge]

I found for much of the game, the distance weapons (Boomerang, Shuriken) were extremely effective. In fact, I took out the last boss using it. Just get underneath and keep tossing upwards. I love that they implemented multi-directional fire in this, even for your sword swings.

If the cloak was an orange color, it would make things so much easier. The muted green they use is too close to blue when things are frantic to always parse. Yeah, the orb at the top of the screen also shows your current element, but you're concentrated on your PC, so something more visible on the character would be ideal.

 

[Alixsar]

I started playing this again finally! I'm actually surprised by how much more polished it is; I was expecting it to be jankier, honestly. But it's good! The super deep voiced LEVEL 3 sound effect is *kisses fingertips* I cleared the first two stages last night and did a bit of the third. It's definitely not gonna overtake Super Metroid or anything; I haven't found any breakable walls and there's minimal backtracking and what backtracking there is is pretty straightforward so far. But yeah, it's a fun little romp! I have a feeling the story can kinda only progress in one direction...but we'll see. I kinda can't imagine this game working if you're not familiar with the source material, but the gameplay is fun on it's own so...maybe? We'll see, we'll see

 

[Torzelbaum]

I wasn't familiar with the source but I still enjoyed the game. As I understand it the game is mostly just fan service since it's not canon. Also, there are breakable walls - look for cracks...

I found for much of the game, the distance weapons (Boomerang, Shuriken) were extremely effective.

Maybe I should have tried that on the last boss. Might have made it easier. I mostly used the weapons with the fastest attack speed against regular enemies and spammed the "heat seeking" spell against bosses (except for the few bosses where it was better to spam arrows or that were immune to the spell).

 

[breakman]

All I knew about the source material was from playing the Record of Lodoss War game for Dreamcast, and that wasn't a problem for me.

 

[Zef]

All you need to know about Lodoss is that it is literally the D&D campaign of a bunch of nerds in the 80s, transcribed into novels, then anime.

 

[Alixsar]

Okay, done! Yeah not revolutionary or anything, but a solid B game. Short and to the point, plays well, looks phenomenal, has lots of cheeky references to Lodoss stuff...pretty good! I guess I missed something cuz I finished @ 98% but whatever that's fine. I feel like it runs into the problem that Castlevania games tend to have, which is that there's a recurring shop, but you never need it and almost always have better stuff from drops/finding items. At the end I have thousands of gold but it's like...who cares lol. I never did the gambling or archery minigames either but they're there.

The story is pretty predictable, like it's WAYYYYY obvious what's going on from the start, and there's a weird creepy sequel hook at the end? I dunno, but hey whatever, it was a fun little romp. Definitely recommended if you like Metroidvanias and the like, just don't expect to be blown away (except by the sprite work because CHRIST it's good)

 

[Torzelbaum]

So apparently in the most recent Famitsu magazine Sakurai mentioned that he had played this game.

Deedlit for Smash?

 

[Regulus]

I'd be down, but since she's not really from a game series, why don't we split the difference and just go with Lucia instead?

 

[Mogri]

I played this game! It was very good, and I recommend it.

Now I'm vaguely interested in the source material, but I'm not sure where I'd find it. To those wondering if the game still works without knowing anything about it, though: yes. Not like the game really goes hard on the characterization anyway.