Labyrinth of refrain is one of the 19 games I have rated 9/10 ( out of 250 rated). The story in Refrain is excellent and emotional, it's amazing how good the writing is. It does have an issue though where the first 40 hours are relatively punishing dungeon crawling that will block any casual players from progressing. I have never met another person who has finished labyrinth of refrain, and it's nearly impossible to convince anyone to play it. But if you're seeing this comment know that it is worth it.
If you're still interested in these traditional dungeon crawlers, I can't recommend the Mary Skelter trilogy by Compile Heart enough. Best games of the genre I've ever played, and it has a pretty great story, though the tone is much darker and more serious than this one, maybe close to a Persona 3 kind of tone. Anyways, check them out if you can !
@@BacklogBattle Protip: If you buy Mary Skelter 2 you get a remaster version of first one for free. And you might want to play 2 before 1 remaster because...reasons.
Thank you for this review! I'm a huge DRPG fan, but even outside the genre Labyrinth Of Refrain was an amazing experience, both in story and gameplay. I'm really happy to see that Galleria has lived up to that pedigree. Hopefully if this game does well they'll make more Labyrinth games going forward. I really think the series has the potential to be a starting point rivaling Etrian Odyssey in the DRPG genre.
Haven't played this, but did play the previous one. There really aren't any similiarities between the games beyond being a first person dungeon crawlers
Wow. I don’t know how, but you have the amazing ability to completely sell me on a game I’d never heard of before. Can’t wait to check this out! Thanks!
The amount of people you can bring with you kinda reminds me of Unchained Blades, another 1st person dungeon crawler that came out back in 2012 for the PSP and 3DS. You have a party of 4 characters, but each character could have up to 5 monster followers, giving you a party size of 20.
On another note, im currently running a very "every problem is a nail, and ive got a hammer" type of strategy. ^^; left side is the first multi-doll coven you get, with a corsair and now the punching dagger guy to have good defence and slash damage. Then its my healer coven, with a bell dancer. Guardian coven with Aster Crow, rocking lance and shield and is a monster of a tank for my early game. Then my offensive mage coven with a lamp user. Lastly a fighter coven with the twin hammer guy who, at so far, is basically most things' weakness so hes just been pounding rock monsters left right and center. The formation bonus for alternating vanguard to rearguard seems to have made this team a "punch it till it dies" type playthrough, because if i dont need magic, i use the bell dancer to stall with fortify, and same with the mage. Incite on Aster Crow, ans just rock em.
Thanks for the review alex! I played the heck out of refrain coven of dusk. The story is so good, not to mention the absolutely superb voice acting. Super stoked for this one!
I'm several hours in, and all I can say is, if you liked refrain, your going to love this. Its the same, but better and evolved, with a new story and characters (though I expect their will be callbacks/easter eggs at some point). Excellent dungeon crawler for those who like this "wizardry/class of heroes/demon gaze type games. That goes both ways. If you pick this up and really like it, you may want to pick up refrain. As its also really good.
I played Refrain to scratch that Etrian Odyssey itch and it was different but I LOVED IT. Then while I'm waiting for Galleria to come out, they announce EO1-3 HD. Dungeon Crawler fans are eating well.
thats funny because the last 1st person dungeon crawler i played was also zanki zero. not really a fan of the genre myself but i just might be inclined to check this one out , just to see if it can do the unthinkable and win me over.😬😬 nice review alex.
This is a truly incredible dungeon crawler. The systems all work together so nicely for theory crafting, the story is actually interesting, the voice acting is great, and the music is quite good as well.
Well this was a big shock. I mean I know this company is already on fire what with the fact that Japan already has Disgaea 7, then there was the news that we will get D7 and the recent sale but I had no idea they would make a sequel to labyrinth of refrain. I mean that was a long time ago but no they made a sequel to that. An indirect sequel is what it's looking like to me just like the original Disgaea 2 before they made a spin off sequel to Disgaea 1. From what I can already tell this story is in its own little bubble meaning you don't need to play the 1st game to know what happened and while the gameplay is exactly the same as the 1st game there are some mechanics here that wasn't from the 1st one. I don't really have much to say about this one other than if you like Disgaea and Witch and the hundred knight and like first person RPGs, then this looks to be a good shake up. That said let's hope this will be more memorable them when witch and the hundred knight tried to give us a sequel game except that 1 was not that good as the 1st one. And five bucks we see Metalia pop up lol. Still nice review of the game Alex and good job with the Kool aid man joke lol. Laughed really hard there.
@@BacklogBattle content warning! Coven of Dusk does contain child abuse as "comedy" (and it is the main character that does it). Not so funny for some of us.
It ends up falling flat on its face once you realize Wiccards are the main boss of the first half. And that the Request Notes are mandatory if you actually want to progress to the 2nd half. And that the 2nd half starts decides to go for randomly generated levels. And the postgame creating the dungeon equivalent of Yiazmat before he got nerfed.
I’ve had this game preordered for a while. Definitely one that I’m looking forward to checking out. Really dig the music. It gives me a Tim Burton vibe.
There’s a good variety, and you can choose which initial ability you can have for each character and how their stats grow - so lots and lots of differences that you can build into each character even though they’re the same classes!
I am playing Lab of Refrain at the moment and it looks very similar to the new one. It looks like they have re-used the same game engine for the new game though the story appears to be unconnected. I was interested in Lab of Galleria but the older game was available very cheap for PS4. It is tough and unforgiving at times. There are powerful enemies (purple colour) that you need to escape from or avoid until you have levelled up your puppets. But I have got into the exploration and trying to find every room on every floor. These games can be very compelling if you get into the right mindset. BTW Lab of Refrain has an easier mode but I never tried it.
Anyone else finds the combat log going by a little too fast? I guess I'll get used to it but it's hard for me to know what's going on when the battle phase resolves so quickly. I can't tell how my attacks are working and when status effects are applied. I have to bring up the combat log at the end of every turn to follow the battle.
I may have wrwcked any and all balance in this game... i managed to kill one of the special enemies that spawn when your mana is too high. Not the Reaper thing, but the XP heavy guy... and walked off woth like 32k? Or 320k? Either way, i was level 25 before i stepped into the third dungeon area
The only thing I don't like in this game is several items required to progress the game is randomly dropped. If I didn't read a walkthrough guide I would probably miss the second and third act of the game.
Labyrinth of refrain have one of best story i every played...even if i spoiled by myself at certain part i am still impressed by the plot leading to that....game felt with anxiety and unknown what ahead of me and the newer one is relatively new and barely walkthrough or spoiler meaning most of the time i probably on my own and it's gonna be full of anxiety, mystery and whatever upcoming...idk how long this game is but refrain felt like loooong game eventho i relative clocked at 83 hrs while playing slowly as possible...this game feels immersed Game grindy on paper but on 83 hrs i still manage to max the characters meaning its not that grindy compared to most farming/leveling type games Cant wait to experience galleria myself!
Ik im late but is it true that if the puppets die in combat they are dead for good like perma death kinda or no cos ik u can fix there limbs and stuff but can they really die for good?
Amazingly deep battle system not utilised due to repetitive nature of these types of games where you have to fight same basic enemies over and over again to grind for exp to face a boss of the level,rinse and repeat...
I have found myself in situations where I faced off against powerful enemies but still managed to win in this game. As with any RPG, grinding is merely one of two ways to overcome challenges in these types of games.
I recall. At one point this was going to be Nintendo exclusive. Which made 0 since So I'm glad that's not the case. Once again You serve as a great source of information because I had erased this from my memory lol.
I loved the first game and I’m a sucker for the genre so this was a yes for me and I’m glad I s given you a different perspective on the genre. Mary Skelter 1-3 is epic! 🫶
![OsamaSon - ik what you did last summer [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4DIQDnu3mr4/mqdefault.jpg)
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Completed the game today.
Used about 164hours.
Good luck to anyone who reaches part 3 without a guide.
Labyrinth of refrain is one of the 19 games I have rated 9/10 ( out of 250 rated). The story in Refrain is excellent and emotional, it's amazing how good the writing is. It does have an issue though where the first 40 hours are relatively punishing dungeon crawling that will block any casual players from progressing. I have never met another person who has finished labyrinth of refrain, and it's nearly impossible to convince anyone to play it. But if you're seeing this comment know that it is worth it.
I haven't played Refrain as I said, but Galleria didn't feel punishing too me. Just that it's got a lot of things you'll need to learn!
Oh she’s a grind fest for sure but she rewards the brave hehe
Don't worry I finished Refrain.
I also beat Labyrinth of Galleria but I'm ready to double down into the English version and play again.
Rafrain is one of my fav games! Loved the atmosphere, story & gameplay way too much. Just chef's kiss 👌
As the name suggest, it refrain you from playing also
If you're still interested in these traditional dungeon crawlers, I can't recommend the Mary Skelter trilogy by Compile Heart enough. Best games of the genre I've ever played, and it has a pretty great story, though the tone is much darker and more serious than this one, maybe close to a Persona 3 kind of tone. Anyways, check them out if you can !
Will do!
@@BacklogBattle Hope you enjoy :)
Preach it!
Agreed. Mary Skelter is a great series and well worth your time.
@@BacklogBattle Protip: If you buy Mary Skelter 2 you get a remaster version of first one for free. And you might want to play 2 before 1 remaster because...reasons.
Thank you for this review! I'm a huge DRPG fan, but even outside the genre Labyrinth Of Refrain was an amazing experience, both in story and gameplay. I'm really happy to see that Galleria has lived up to that pedigree. Hopefully if this game does well they'll make more Labyrinth games going forward. I really think the series has the potential to be a starting point rivaling Etrian Odyssey in the DRPG genre.
It’s certainly a bit more complex than EO, but I think there’s something here for people curious about the genre! And you’re welcome by the way!
This reminds me of SMT Strange Journey Redux looks really good...and thanks for community post thats how I personally can see these uploads
Glad to know they’re doing their job! 😉 and no problem!
Haven't played this, but did play the previous one. There really aren't any similiarities between the games beyond being a first person dungeon crawlers
Your right... I just wanted to plug one of my favorite games haha
The later part of this game actually have procedural generated dungeons, but I liked the hand designed dungeons better.
After playing the first game Labyrinth of Refrain I am very hyped for this one.
Wow. I don’t know how, but you have the amazing ability to completely sell me on a game I’d never heard of before. Can’t wait to check this out! Thanks!
You're very welcome! I hope you have a blast!
The amount of people you can bring with you kinda reminds me of Unchained Blades, another 1st person dungeon crawler that came out back in 2012 for the PSP and 3DS.
You have a party of 4 characters, but each character could have up to 5 monster followers, giving you a party size of 20.
That’s a lot! I honestly didn’t even know about first person dungeon crawlers that have massive party sizes!
On another note, im currently running a very "every problem is a nail, and ive got a hammer" type of strategy. ^^; left side is the first multi-doll coven you get, with a corsair and now the punching dagger guy to have good defence and slash damage.
Then its my healer coven, with a bell dancer.
Guardian coven with Aster Crow, rocking lance and shield and is a monster of a tank for my early game.
Then my offensive mage coven with a lamp user.
Lastly a fighter coven with the twin hammer guy who, at so far, is basically most things' weakness so hes just been pounding rock monsters left right and center.
The formation bonus for alternating vanguard to rearguard seems to have made this team a "punch it till it dies" type playthrough, because if i dont need magic, i use the bell dancer to stall with fortify, and same with the mage. Incite on Aster Crow, ans just rock em.
Thanks for the review alex! I played the heck out of refrain coven of dusk. The story is so good, not to mention the absolutely superb voice acting. Super stoked for this one!
I hope you enjoy it whenever you pick it up! I had an absolute blast!
I'm several hours in, and all I can say is, if you liked refrain, your going to love this. Its the same, but better and evolved, with a new story and characters (though I expect their will be callbacks/easter eggs at some point). Excellent dungeon crawler for those who like this "wizardry/class of heroes/demon gaze type games. That goes both ways. If you pick this up and really like it, you may want to pick up refrain. As its also really good.
Glad to hear you’re enjoying it!
I played Refrain to scratch that Etrian Odyssey itch and it was different but I LOVED IT. Then while I'm waiting for Galleria to come out, they announce EO1-3 HD. Dungeon Crawler fans are eating well.
That’s quite the synergy between those two games in your life! I hope you enjoy Galleria when it comes out!
Wait?! Really? EO1-3 in HD? Oh my God when and on which platforms
@@mariuskrauer8685 Steam and Switch so far
@@mariuskrauer8685 Summer 2023 for Switch and PC! I have footage on my Nintendo Direct video! ruclips.net/video/gOjP1jok1NU/видео.html
thats funny because the last 1st person dungeon crawler i played was also zanki zero. not really a fan of the genre myself but i just might be inclined to check this one out , just to see if it can do the unthinkable and win me over.😬😬 nice review alex.
You're welcome! I think you're gonna enjoy your time with it!
This is a truly incredible dungeon crawler. The systems all work together so nicely for theory crafting, the story is actually interesting, the voice acting is great, and the music is quite good as well.
Not to mention there is a real 'actions have consequences' concept in this game.
Well this was a big shock. I mean I know this company is already on fire what with the fact that Japan already has Disgaea 7, then there was the news that we will get D7 and the recent sale but I had no idea they would make a sequel to labyrinth of refrain. I mean that was a long time ago but no they made a sequel to that. An indirect sequel is what it's looking like to me just like the original Disgaea 2 before they made a spin off sequel to Disgaea 1. From what I can already tell this story is in its own little bubble meaning you don't need to play the 1st game to know what happened and while the gameplay is exactly the same as the 1st game there are some mechanics here that wasn't from the 1st one. I don't really have much to say about this one other than if you like Disgaea and Witch and the hundred knight and like first person RPGs, then this looks to be a good shake up. That said let's hope this will be more memorable them when witch and the hundred knight tried to give us a sequel game except that 1 was not that good as the 1st one. And five bucks we see Metalia pop up lol. Still nice review of the game Alex and good job with the Kool aid man joke lol. Laughed really hard there.
I honestly knew nothing about the series until this game! But I’m super glad I got to play it!
The first game in this series is absolutely amazing
I believe it!
@@BacklogBattle content warning! Coven of Dusk does contain child abuse as "comedy" (and it is the main character that does it). Not so funny for some of us.
It ends up falling flat on its face once you realize Wiccards are the main boss of the first half. And that the Request Notes are mandatory if you actually want to progress to the 2nd half. And that the 2nd half starts decides to go for randomly generated levels. And the postgame creating the dungeon equivalent of Yiazmat before he got nerfed.
I’ve had this game preordered for a while. Definitely one that I’m looking forward to checking out. Really dig the music. It gives me a Tim Burton vibe.
That too! Especially the background track I used for this video
@@BacklogBattle I'm sure you realize that is Disgaea style. Not only the music. The portraits and more. Basically: Disgaea dungeon crawler spin off.
@@stinky_nut_blast Yea, I'm aware that NISA's fruits don't fall too far from the tree ;)
Do you know the amount of classes that are present in the game? Or is there good variety (healers/mages/Knights)
There’s a good variety, and you can choose which initial ability you can have for each character and how their stats grow - so lots and lots of differences that you can build into each character even though they’re the same classes!
I am playing Lab of Refrain at the moment and it looks very similar to the new one. It looks like they have re-used the same game engine for the new game though the story appears to be unconnected. I was interested in Lab of Galleria but the older game was available very cheap for PS4. It is tough and unforgiving at times. There are powerful enemies (purple colour) that you need to escape from or avoid until you have levelled up your puppets. But I have got into the exploration and trying to find every room on every floor. These games can be very compelling if you get into the right mindset.
BTW Lab of Refrain has an easier mode but I never tried it.
Anyone else finds the combat log going by a little too fast? I guess I'll get used to it but it's hard for me to know what's going on when the battle phase resolves so quickly. I can't tell how my attacks are working and when status effects are applied. I have to bring up the combat log at the end of every turn to follow the battle.
this reminds me of shining the holy ark on sega saturn
It’s definitely in the same genre!
I may have wrwcked any and all balance in this game... i managed to kill one of the special enemies that spawn when your mana is too high. Not the Reaper thing, but the XP heavy guy... and walked off woth like 32k? Or 320k? Either way, i was level 25 before i stepped into the third dungeon area
Dang it Alex, I was going to try and skip this one! But it sounds so great!
It’s really fun! And creepy!
How difficult would you say it is? Are there any difficulty options?
You can use Mana to buy the easy and hard difficulties
I personally didn’t find it difficult - just a lot to learn!
The only thing I don't like in this game is several items required to progress the game is randomly dropped. If I didn't read a walkthrough guide I would probably miss the second and third act of the game.
Labyrinth of refrain was great you need to try the game :)
I’m looking into it!
Labyrinth of refrain have one of best story i every played...even if i spoiled by myself at certain part i am still impressed by the plot leading to that....game felt with anxiety and unknown what ahead of me and the newer one is relatively new and barely walkthrough or spoiler meaning most of the time i probably on my own and it's gonna be full of anxiety, mystery and whatever upcoming...idk how long this game is but refrain felt like loooong game eventho i relative clocked at 83 hrs while playing slowly as possible...this game feels immersed
Game grindy on paper but on 83 hrs i still manage to max the characters meaning its not that grindy compared to most farming/leveling type games
Cant wait to experience galleria myself!
Looks awesome!
I'd love another Shining the Holy Ark.
This is the second time someone’s mentioned that game!
@@BacklogBattle oh Thank God!! It means I'm not alone!
If You likes this Game, You HAVE yo play they previous One.
Ik im late but is it true that if the puppets die in combat they are dead for good like perma death kinda or no cos ik u can fix there limbs and stuff but can they really die for good?
No permadeath
How’s the performance on the switch? 60 fps?
It’s 30fps during dungeon exploration and combat and 60 in the menus. It’s pretty good either way
@@BacklogBattle ok thanks for the response!
Amazingly deep battle system not utilised due to repetitive nature of these types of games where you have to fight same basic enemies over and over again to grind for exp to face a boss of the level,rinse and repeat...
I have found myself in situations where I faced off against powerful enemies but still managed to win in this game. As with any RPG, grinding is merely one of two ways to overcome challenges in these types of games.
I still need to beat the 1st game or at least try to
Bought! 🙂
I recall. At one point this was going to be Nintendo exclusive. Which made 0 since So I'm glad that's not the case. Once again You serve as a great source of information because I had erased this from my memory lol.
Hahaha no problem! Glad to remind you of it!
Hello :) Cool video.
Wtf is this Castlevania ass title goddamn 😂
I can see why you’d say that lol
this just seems *too much* lol
That can be a good thing!
Man, this took ages (2020 in Japan) to come to the west, but I'm really looking forward to.
I heard about that! I've even read articles from people who played the import hyping it up! I read it after I reviewed the game, of course ;)
I loved the first game and I’m a sucker for the genre so this was a yes for me and I’m glad I s given you a different perspective on the genre. Mary Skelter 1-3 is epic! 🫶
I’ve seen someone else recommend that in the comments!