Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth a homage to iconic series

Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a great homage to its legendary source material

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Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth trailer

The Metroidvania subgenre is filled with so many hidden gems and developers Team Ladybug are responsible for a few standout titles.

Using their Mogura Engine, Team Ladybug have taken popular series and turned them into excellent action exploration games, giving us the likes of Shin Megami Tensei: Synchronicity Prologue and Touhou Luna Nights.

This time around Team Ladybug has given legendary franchise Record of Lodoss War the Mogura treatment giving birth to Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth.

Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is lore heavy and features many references to characters and events from the Record of Lodoss War franchise.

Set before the events of Diadem of the Covenant, the High Elf Deedlit mysteriously wakes up in the Wonder Labyrinth.

As she begins to explore her new surroundings, Deedlit is confronted by many ghosts of her past, friends and foes alike, who all play a part in her attempt to unravel this mysterious maze.

I do think with its relatively short playtime, Team Ladybug have still managed to create an enthralling plot that will please fans, while still being accessible to newcomers.

Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth looks lovely with its vibrant 32-bit world invoking all kinds of nostalgia with nods to classics from the genre.

Deedlit’s attack animations radiate so much personality especially when you unlock newer ones further into the game.

Each of the supporting character models is fantastically well designed with intricate details that enhance their characterisation and resemble their anime counterparts.

Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a beautiful homage to the source material, with my only gripe being that some of the levels can feel bare and even repetitive at times.

The soundtrack is awesome, with each retro-sounding theme invoking a sense of adventure, adding an extra atmosphere to every situation. The soundtrack is one of the highlights of Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth.

Like all good Metroidvanias, Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth allows players to explore pretty much anywhere from the get-go, with some locations needing items to access them.

Early locations also serve as tutorials for the game’s controls, they are nicely spaced out giving players time to get accustomed to the mechanics.

The Labyrinth is made up of six interconnected areas that are filled with enemies and puzzles, ending with a familiar foe as a boss battle.

There isn’t a whole lot of direction as to where to go next, but I did enjoy exploring the unknown, as it allowed me to find hidden weapons, characters and items scattered within the Labyrinth.

Exploration and puzzle-solving is surprisingly complex at times, there were parts of the game that left me scratching my head.

I feel the developers have definitely utilised the strengths of the environments that the levels are based on, which made the experience that much more fun to tackle.

Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is filled with a huge variety of enemies that offer varying levels of difficulty, but nothing too challenging and that includes the bosses.

Deedlit will have access to melee weapons such as swords, clubs, spears and more, she will be able to instantly wield an enemy’s weapon after its defeat. This gives the players a massive choice from the get-go.

She has access to a bow, which is mainly used for puzzle solving but is also an amazing ally in combat, especially after upgrading it.

Deedlit can find magical spells throughout the dungeon that cause major damage when cast.

Her main power and strategy lie within her spirits, who not only grants her extra abilities whilst traversing the Labyrinth but dramatically improves her arsenal.

Utilising these spirits is possibly the most crucial part of combat as they work in a few ways. Firstly with an Ikaruga style mechanic, each spirit will allow Deedlit to absorb an attack that corresponds to the spirit being used.

So if Deedlit has the salamander equipped she won’t take any damage from fire attacks and can pass through barriers of the same element.

This mechanic is heavily used within the game and is slightly repetitive but it keeps players on their toes. Another grand feature of the spirits is that they can level up by gaining energy from defeated foes.

Once they advance to level three Deedlit’s life and magical power will automatically refill until she takes damage.

Even though this is a nice feature and can make the difference in tight spots, I feel it made the whole experience far too easy. There was nothing stopping me from hiding in a corner and simply re-energising over and over again.

This also affected the boss battles, as switching to a level three spirit allowed me to constantly spam powerful magical attacks in quick succession while refilling my MP with no drawbacks.

As a whole Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth never really presented that much of a challenge with bosses and enemies never really living to their full potential or causing a major threat.

That being said, the boss battles are a lot of fun, I was just always waiting for them to really bare their fangs.

Verdict

Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a fun action-filled title that looks a lot harder than it really is. The presentation and soundtrack are amazing, which is a testament to Team Ladybugs stellar work.

Outside of the boss rush mode and speedrunning there just isn’t much replay value I’m afraid.

However, Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a great homage to the source material and fans will relish the experience.

Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is out now for the Nintendo Switch Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 5 and PC