This review contains spoilers
[THIS REVEIWS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BOTH LABYRINTH OF GALLERIA AND REFRAIN]
Some say this witch is a fool. A smiling idiot worthy of scorn. But you know. Only you remember her. Only you know her story. For this story has always been about the labyrinth of Refrain, the Witch Brigade, and You.
The Labyrinth of Coven games are some of the best dungeon crawlers I've played, and it only is a duology. Both games made me cry profusely from some of the best story telling I have ever read with the voice acting making these scenes even stronger. To clarify: I started off with Galleria because friends I know of recommended me to play Galleria and that was the best recommendation yet. Galleria warms you up to its gameplay better than Refrain despite its depth in the late game. I have much to say about Galleria for its story and gameplay at the time, but maybe when I replay it and finish it again I'll redo my Labyrinth of Galleria review by the time I am writing this. But enough about Galleria in this reveiw. How is Refrain so strong both gameplay and story-wise?
While this game to me is perfect just like Galleria, in terms of gameplay this game tells you to go kill yourself if it's your first time to the series. This is the first game and it shows. No gore protection from equipment, no secret crests, you have half of the reinforcement skills and the facets you got like in Galleria, money is scarce, and stockpile chains are smaller. Of course it also has the puppet reincarnation system where it is massively simplified for having 12 skill slots making your reincarnation chains much shorter and sweeter (which tbh is a sigh of relief from hopping on google sheets to plan out reincarnations in galleria). Some puppets are absolutely broken like gothic coppelias, aster knights, marginal mazes, and theatrical stars.To put it in short: this game is simple and because of this it is deceptively easy. While you will wipe the floor with regular enemies RNG is either gonna screw you over with gore hits from multiple smaller enemies or a boss at the end of a dungeon will kick your ass making any new player to this genre feel frustrated. Not to mention the mistranslated pacts that have wrong in-game descriptions. Regardless, I had fun just I did with Galleria playing through the game. It wasn't that difficult for me cause all of my puppets were soul clarity lvl60 so I was sitting comfortably with some bosses that could actually put up a fight. Sure, the game kicked my ass multiple times and I had to pay what is essentially my puppet army's medical bills, but I was prepared for how rough it can get. Don't get me started on the grinding too. Pre-post game grinding was hell because how little you get stockpile values and it was much slower compared to galleria. Even locking a 666% boost exp pact that is only accessible with puppets that have lucky even numbers. These all sound like red flags but it didn't really faze me despite being warned beforehand. The biggest highlight of why I love this game so much are the dungeons. It has some of the best dungeons in a dungeon crawler I've seen. Every place you visit is dying, stagnant, and just hostile to you which is what dungeons should be with residents that live in these place that make it more alive along with the interesting lore of Chaos Witch Furia and her impact on these said worlds. It's just really fucking cool when you gotta dig a bit and put the pieces together for what happened. Amadeus, while short, is said example of how you can make a great dungeon in a dungeon crawler.
The story is by far amazing. If you dropped the game because of the story then it's understandable. It gets rough in the middle of the main game and even worse. Thankfully, it gets less brutal after that but it's still just as bad. The cast of refrain is great and Dronya is a deep character rooted by awful trauma with a desire to survive and be free who is a legitimate, vocal minority along with other gay characters. All the twists, much like Galleria, wowed me and made me praise this game just as much. You see so much suffering and pain, but you push on because you, the player, wanted to see this world live due to your love for Mezzaluca. It's a story about how we didn't let a world end because we cared. How Dronya, Isara, and you loved Mezzaluca so much you wanted a world where she was happy. You tore through the post game because you knew things could be better for a grown up Mezzaluca; it wasn't good enough to leave one timeline of Tanis in shambles. Truly it was a love that transcended space, time, and worlds. You even took care of her after it was all over, and your actions would soon give rise to the events of Galleria that you would even be willing to look after her daughter (Nachiroux) herself. It's so nice to play this game after Galleria and getting to experience these events in reverse. You did a pretty good damn job for defending multiple worlds and timelines where everyone was happy.
tl;dr: Gameplay is flawed. It is deceptively easy with RNG mechanics, some weird design decisions, and tough bosses along with difficult requirements for the post game despite its simplicity. In addition, a lack of QoL can make a slog, but if you're willing to soldier on through grinding and the challenge it is worth it. Has the best dungeon story-telling and gameplay loop I've ever played. Story is absolutely perfect from what I've read next to its sequel Galleria and I say both are equally good.
Truly this series my greatest of all time.
Some say this witch is a fool. A smiling idiot worthy of scorn. But you know. Only you remember her. Only you know her story. For this story has always been about the labyrinth of Refrain, the Witch Brigade, and You.
The Labyrinth of Coven games are some of the best dungeon crawlers I've played, and it only is a duology. Both games made me cry profusely from some of the best story telling I have ever read with the voice acting making these scenes even stronger. To clarify: I started off with Galleria because friends I know of recommended me to play Galleria and that was the best recommendation yet. Galleria warms you up to its gameplay better than Refrain despite its depth in the late game. I have much to say about Galleria for its story and gameplay at the time, but maybe when I replay it and finish it again I'll redo my Labyrinth of Galleria review by the time I am writing this. But enough about Galleria in this reveiw. How is Refrain so strong both gameplay and story-wise?
While this game to me is perfect just like Galleria, in terms of gameplay this game tells you to go kill yourself if it's your first time to the series. This is the first game and it shows. No gore protection from equipment, no secret crests, you have half of the reinforcement skills and the facets you got like in Galleria, money is scarce, and stockpile chains are smaller. Of course it also has the puppet reincarnation system where it is massively simplified for having 12 skill slots making your reincarnation chains much shorter and sweeter (which tbh is a sigh of relief from hopping on google sheets to plan out reincarnations in galleria). Some puppets are absolutely broken like gothic coppelias, aster knights, marginal mazes, and theatrical stars.To put it in short: this game is simple and because of this it is deceptively easy. While you will wipe the floor with regular enemies RNG is either gonna screw you over with gore hits from multiple smaller enemies or a boss at the end of a dungeon will kick your ass making any new player to this genre feel frustrated. Not to mention the mistranslated pacts that have wrong in-game descriptions. Regardless, I had fun just I did with Galleria playing through the game. It wasn't that difficult for me cause all of my puppets were soul clarity lvl60 so I was sitting comfortably with some bosses that could actually put up a fight. Sure, the game kicked my ass multiple times and I had to pay what is essentially my puppet army's medical bills, but I was prepared for how rough it can get. Don't get me started on the grinding too. Pre-post game grinding was hell because how little you get stockpile values and it was much slower compared to galleria. Even locking a 666% boost exp pact that is only accessible with puppets that have lucky even numbers. These all sound like red flags but it didn't really faze me despite being warned beforehand. The biggest highlight of why I love this game so much are the dungeons. It has some of the best dungeons in a dungeon crawler I've seen. Every place you visit is dying, stagnant, and just hostile to you which is what dungeons should be with residents that live in these place that make it more alive along with the interesting lore of Chaos Witch Furia and her impact on these said worlds. It's just really fucking cool when you gotta dig a bit and put the pieces together for what happened. Amadeus, while short, is said example of how you can make a great dungeon in a dungeon crawler.
The story is by far amazing. If you dropped the game because of the story then it's understandable. It gets rough in the middle of the main game and even worse. Thankfully, it gets less brutal after that but it's still just as bad. The cast of refrain is great and Dronya is a deep character rooted by awful trauma with a desire to survive and be free who is a legitimate, vocal minority along with other gay characters. All the twists, much like Galleria, wowed me and made me praise this game just as much. You see so much suffering and pain, but you push on because you, the player, wanted to see this world live due to your love for Mezzaluca. It's a story about how we didn't let a world end because we cared. How Dronya, Isara, and you loved Mezzaluca so much you wanted a world where she was happy. You tore through the post game because you knew things could be better for a grown up Mezzaluca; it wasn't good enough to leave one timeline of Tanis in shambles. Truly it was a love that transcended space, time, and worlds. You even took care of her after it was all over, and your actions would soon give rise to the events of Galleria that you would even be willing to look after her daughter (Nachiroux) herself. It's so nice to play this game after Galleria and getting to experience these events in reverse. You did a pretty good damn job for defending multiple worlds and timelines where everyone was happy.
tl;dr: Gameplay is flawed. It is deceptively easy with RNG mechanics, some weird design decisions, and tough bosses along with difficult requirements for the post game despite its simplicity. In addition, a lack of QoL can make a slog, but if you're willing to soldier on through grinding and the challenge it is worth it. Has the best dungeon story-telling and gameplay loop I've ever played. Story is absolutely perfect from what I've read next to its sequel Galleria and I say both are equally good.
Truly this series my greatest of all time.
this game is kinda slop but like awesome slop
This review contains spoilers
Never forget they stole Maylee Dronya from us.
midest mid with the greatest gameplay (even forgot to put in completed here lol)
Truly the monkey's paw of open LGBT relationships in japanese media
Excellent game with a very unique and mostly interesting story, sadly dragged down by delving too much into torture porn with certain scenes (the "..." scene and both dead ends that follow, specifically) and an extremely unconvincing ending sequence that goes against the core themes of at least 2 of the most important characters in the narrative.
At least the dungeon for the true ending goes hard
Excellent game with a very unique and mostly interesting story, sadly dragged down by delving too much into torture porn with certain scenes (the "..." scene and both dead ends that follow, specifically) and an extremely unconvincing ending sequence that goes against the core themes of at least 2 of the most important characters in the narrative.
At least the dungeon for the true ending goes hard
Definitely a feat in both complexity and accesibility to the genre. Cool game.
it's a little tough for me to review this one since i was like "yeah i dont need to learn about all these boring ass game mechanics". but even after researching as much as i could there was so much confusing shit that I couldn't deal with - the way you acquired and built covens was really difficult to figure out, and optimizing individual builds felt nearly impossible. it's such a weird system - you can't really recreate any of your usual RPG archetypes and there's hardly any covens that don't come with some horrible downside that dissuades you from using them.
but at the same time, the combat felt weirdly simple - most of the regular encounters could just be autobattled through, and most of the boss fights i won only because i got a lucky gore hit that somehow did like half their health. not to mention that dungeon exploration doesn't feel spectacular either, especially some of the later dungeons. take my words with a grain of salt since i had barely any clue what was happening, but playing this game didn't feel good.
it's a bit of a shame, cause this game does have some good stuff in it. the enemies have some of the most creative (and often times revolting, but in a good way) designs i've ever seen, and the plot is pretty thorough and has some great moments, even if there are some pretty horrible parts. i dunno, man! it's weird! if you like disgaea and etrian odyssey, maybe take a look at this one, just know that knowledge of how those games work might not help you here.
but at the same time, the combat felt weirdly simple - most of the regular encounters could just be autobattled through, and most of the boss fights i won only because i got a lucky gore hit that somehow did like half their health. not to mention that dungeon exploration doesn't feel spectacular either, especially some of the later dungeons. take my words with a grain of salt since i had barely any clue what was happening, but playing this game didn't feel good.
it's a bit of a shame, cause this game does have some good stuff in it. the enemies have some of the most creative (and often times revolting, but in a good way) designs i've ever seen, and the plot is pretty thorough and has some great moments, even if there are some pretty horrible parts. i dunno, man! it's weird! if you like disgaea and etrian odyssey, maybe take a look at this one, just know that knowledge of how those games work might not help you here.
Probably the best way I spent a whole 76 hours, even if it got annoying near the end.
Really excllent turn-based first person dungeon scroller with a lot fun customizability for your party.
Also wow the story is really touching and tragic, made me go ;-; a few times.
Really excllent turn-based first person dungeon scroller with a lot fun customizability for your party.
Also wow the story is really touching and tragic, made me go ;-; a few times.
Madam Dronya 🤤
A game I truly 100% completed, a rarity not usually possible for NIS games. But what I had was one of the greatest games I've enjoyed in recent years, a breath of fresh (or bitter) air compared to others I've been trying to sift through in recent times.
LoR is not a story about you, but a story about all the places you go, all the people you see, and the only story you get to be a part of is your make-believe gang of dolls being nothing but cogs in a machine that can push the story along. And boy, does that feel incredible.
The village of Refrain seems sleepy and unassuming at first, but the implications, events, and backstories all begin to add up over time, and while you can't really do too much about things yourself except to do someone's dirty work, you still get to feel all the more like you're a part of the story, even if I can agree some moments come off strange, a bit much, or just on par for the course for NIS. But giving each dungeon you go to a distinct individual story makes it feel satisfying to juggle both what you see in the meat of the action and what happens when you take a breather from it. While everyone may only be concerned about what happens up in the normal world, you get to see a bunch of crazy things and fights unfold that really establish each area for what it is. While you might not be some sort of saviour, or a revolutionary, and sometimes cause chaos instead, this Kino's Journey approach to things really lets you bask in one area without having to worry about other parts of the story. The pacing is great for this, and given the wonderful music again by Tenpei Sato, there are rarely dull moments.
I rarely play DRPGs, but LoR gives lots to do and explore, and there is a whole "postgame" area to do that's more invested than what any of the Disgaea games will try to do, to the point that I consider it required completion. Your team starts off small, but you can eventually feel the power once you amass a whopping max of 15 units. There are unique classes, skills, weapons, and customization to work with, even if some of the character designs are a bit abraisive. The way in which your party is assembled via pacts and not individual characters keeping their battle skills requires you to actually form a team to meet your needs and gets you to work with what you have, a dynamic that I haven't personally seen in much of the JRPG games I've played. Battles are fast enough and have generous skipping options, though some may not enjoy some of the RNG-based mechanics the game has to offer.
When I beat the game in 2020, I was left with a book-shaped hole in my heart. The game is not perfect by any means, and may not be enjoyable to all for how dark or iffy it can get (or abusive, which may not be excusable but perhaps isn't meant to be). However, to me, LoR had bouncy pacing that was still keeping me hooked all the way to the end, and while I do wish you got to understand more about all the places you have visited, I was satisfied knowing that it's not the point that everything needs a conclusion or understanding. You're just a passerby, and something more important awaits you. It's hard to talk about this game in detail because it was something I truly enjoyed with a blind perspective, and I definitely had the best gut instinct buying the game only an hour or so after playing it myself through shady means. I think that if you can stomach the later scenes that give the game its age rating, LoR offers an incredibly unique experience that shouldn't be missed - at least tried for those who want the idea of a good, not-so-convoluted story and all the fun things that come from spelunking dungeons. Luca so cool!
LoR is not a story about you, but a story about all the places you go, all the people you see, and the only story you get to be a part of is your make-believe gang of dolls being nothing but cogs in a machine that can push the story along. And boy, does that feel incredible.
The village of Refrain seems sleepy and unassuming at first, but the implications, events, and backstories all begin to add up over time, and while you can't really do too much about things yourself except to do someone's dirty work, you still get to feel all the more like you're a part of the story, even if I can agree some moments come off strange, a bit much, or just on par for the course for NIS. But giving each dungeon you go to a distinct individual story makes it feel satisfying to juggle both what you see in the meat of the action and what happens when you take a breather from it. While everyone may only be concerned about what happens up in the normal world, you get to see a bunch of crazy things and fights unfold that really establish each area for what it is. While you might not be some sort of saviour, or a revolutionary, and sometimes cause chaos instead, this Kino's Journey approach to things really lets you bask in one area without having to worry about other parts of the story. The pacing is great for this, and given the wonderful music again by Tenpei Sato, there are rarely dull moments.
I rarely play DRPGs, but LoR gives lots to do and explore, and there is a whole "postgame" area to do that's more invested than what any of the Disgaea games will try to do, to the point that I consider it required completion. Your team starts off small, but you can eventually feel the power once you amass a whopping max of 15 units. There are unique classes, skills, weapons, and customization to work with, even if some of the character designs are a bit abraisive. The way in which your party is assembled via pacts and not individual characters keeping their battle skills requires you to actually form a team to meet your needs and gets you to work with what you have, a dynamic that I haven't personally seen in much of the JRPG games I've played. Battles are fast enough and have generous skipping options, though some may not enjoy some of the RNG-based mechanics the game has to offer.
When I beat the game in 2020, I was left with a book-shaped hole in my heart. The game is not perfect by any means, and may not be enjoyable to all for how dark or iffy it can get (or abusive, which may not be excusable but perhaps isn't meant to be). However, to me, LoR had bouncy pacing that was still keeping me hooked all the way to the end, and while I do wish you got to understand more about all the places you have visited, I was satisfied knowing that it's not the point that everything needs a conclusion or understanding. You're just a passerby, and something more important awaits you. It's hard to talk about this game in detail because it was something I truly enjoyed with a blind perspective, and I definitely had the best gut instinct buying the game only an hour or so after playing it myself through shady means. I think that if you can stomach the later scenes that give the game its age rating, LoR offers an incredibly unique experience that shouldn't be missed - at least tried for those who want the idea of a good, not-so-convoluted story and all the fun things that come from spelunking dungeons. Luca so cool!
Sus mayores pecados dirÃa que son los menús confusos sobre todo cuando quieres filtrarlo ya que solo se puede filtrar de peor a mejor lo cual resulta un coñazo pa seleccionar objetos, el true final boss que es una putisima mierda y el bug de la pantalla negra que te puede quitar perfectamente de 5 min de tu tiempo a 10 h como tengas mala suerte y no guardes constantemente.
Si quitas todo eso es un putisimo juegazo con una gran historia, personajes con los que te encariñas muchÃsimo, una jugabilidad divertidÃsima (Fire Emblem tuvo un hijo con XCOM), buen diseño de niveles y gran ost.
Esto quedo muy serio asà que voy a decir que tengan cuidado con la gente que parece que fuma Malboro
Si quitas todo eso es un putisimo juegazo con una gran historia, personajes con los que te encariñas muchÃsimo, una jugabilidad divertidÃsima (Fire Emblem tuvo un hijo con XCOM), buen diseño de niveles y gran ost.
Esto quedo muy serio asà que voy a decir que tengan cuidado con la gente que parece que fuma Malboro
I struggle to find reasons to recommend Refrain to someone. It has frankly unlikable characters, gameplay that I'd describe as tedious and laborious, far too disparate in regards to its story and gameplay, and it being a huge time and effort investment. I think only the most dedicated of people can even finish this game(I think the post game is necessary to do, it has the best story events in the entire game). So why do I still give this game a decent rating?
Refrain is just an interesting and memorable game, it has content that you'll never expect to see in a commercial jrpg and really bold character and setting decisions. I deeply respect what the game was trying to accomplish, even if it doesn't always land. The post game is a long, arduous, and oftentimes frustrating journey where you have to REALLY get attuned to the systems. There was hours of mind-numbing stuff to do but I won't lie, it was really satisfying to finally have my party come together(after 10+ hours of grinding!). This was my first DRPG so I had no idea what to expect but the game really kicks your ass for not doing soul transfers properly until post game.
I think the story scenes have way too much brevity, and the gameplay is pretty dissonant with it, but the overall plot is really cool. I can't really go into any specifics because it spoils the whole game but i particularly found the setting to be impressive, it's massive and doesn't handhold the audience at all in regards to understanding the scale and importance of it all. Unfortunately i think most of the characters are poorly characterized, I think I only like Luka and that owl guy(idk how to romanize his name) by the end. Dronya is interesting but i don't think her pisspoor behavior is ever properly explored or justified besides cheap humor(haha child abuse).
I don't recommend this game unless you are masochistic and also love drpg's. I kind of hate it but i also think it's quite good. Looking forward to Galleria making me hate myself as I grind for a poorly balanced boss.
Refrain is just an interesting and memorable game, it has content that you'll never expect to see in a commercial jrpg and really bold character and setting decisions. I deeply respect what the game was trying to accomplish, even if it doesn't always land. The post game is a long, arduous, and oftentimes frustrating journey where you have to REALLY get attuned to the systems. There was hours of mind-numbing stuff to do but I won't lie, it was really satisfying to finally have my party come together(after 10+ hours of grinding!). This was my first DRPG so I had no idea what to expect but the game really kicks your ass for not doing soul transfers properly until post game.
I think the story scenes have way too much brevity, and the gameplay is pretty dissonant with it, but the overall plot is really cool. I can't really go into any specifics because it spoils the whole game but i particularly found the setting to be impressive, it's massive and doesn't handhold the audience at all in regards to understanding the scale and importance of it all. Unfortunately i think most of the characters are poorly characterized, I think I only like Luka and that owl guy(idk how to romanize his name) by the end. Dronya is interesting but i don't think her pisspoor behavior is ever properly explored or justified besides cheap humor(haha child abuse).
I don't recommend this game unless you are masochistic and also love drpg's. I kind of hate it but i also think it's quite good. Looking forward to Galleria making me hate myself as I grind for a poorly balanced boss.
I have been played a number of first-person dungeon crawlers recently and I think this is mechanically the best one by far. There are so many pieces to character creation, party composition, and the combat, but it's relatively easy to wrap my head around all of it.
However, the story and art in this game is reprehensible, like many other NIS games and Vita dungeon crawlers. A lot of the character art seems pedophilic. The story has frequent sexual assault jokes that are truly horrific. Like, these aren't jokes that include a reference to sexual assault, it's that the plot of the game is the main character being traumatized by repeated attempted sexual assaults and the story treats it like that's a joke in and of itself.
I really like the exploration and combat in this game and got most of the way through it, but didn't finish it because I feel so gross engaging with it.
However, the story and art in this game is reprehensible, like many other NIS games and Vita dungeon crawlers. A lot of the character art seems pedophilic. The story has frequent sexual assault jokes that are truly horrific. Like, these aren't jokes that include a reference to sexual assault, it's that the plot of the game is the main character being traumatized by repeated attempted sexual assaults and the story treats it like that's a joke in and of itself.
I really like the exploration and combat in this game and got most of the way through it, but didn't finish it because I feel so gross engaging with it.
Love the world building and atmosphere of the labyrinth levels, but I absolutely cannot stand the surface visual novel story.
Everyone is such an awful person that it's a depressing slog through exhausting interactions and horrific backstories.
It doesn't need to be Disgaea light but christ, ease up.
Everyone is such an awful person that it's a depressing slog through exhausting interactions and horrific backstories.
It doesn't need to be Disgaea light but christ, ease up.
dungeon crawler w disgaea mechanics and etrian odyssey party management x10. it good
This review contains spoilers
I originally got this game on Switch around 2019, I remember bouncing off of it due to being stuck on a specific story section (don't remember what exactly). Now here I am giving this a positive review after finishing the post-game labyrinth on PC. What gives? Well, I bought the sequel (Labyrinth of Galleria) a few months after it came out west last year and LOVED that one, though I never finished it due to burnout. I then got the urge to play through Labyrinth of Refrain again and saw it on sale for $15. These are my thoughts about it after just finishing the post-game labyrinth and getting the true ending.
Pros
- The visuals for the dungeons are quite nice and distinct from each other, this is one of the big draws that Refrain has over Galleria for me. Refrain's dungeons are alternate worlds all connected to the main story in some way, while Galleria's are more so One Big Dungeon with the exact same tiles except now blue/red/yellow-tinged. The standouts for me were: Verdant Phenom, The Astrom Kingdom, and Dusken Tanis.
- The voice acting and general story/characters are compelling, it kept me going through some of the cryptic bits that the game has. I found that Neldo and Madam Dronya/Velnya were my favourite characters during my playthrough. Neldo because I found him generally intriguing while with Madam Dronya/Velnya, I found her asshole-ness charming and gave me a big reason to continue through those cryptic parts. I wanted to see where she went and how her actions would steer the plot.
- You can do a lot with the upgrade systems of this game. There's the ability to transfer your existing puppet soldier souls into a new body, these reset their level to 1 but it increases the stats gained on level ups. You can also transfer into a different Facet (think a Job from FF) to get their passives for a build you're planning out. You can also upgrade weapons/armor/accessories with other gear pieces you're not using. This can get very number-crunchy!
Cons
- This game can be very cryptic at times on how to progress in the main story. I got lost and turned around repeatedly in the main story, Amadeus Necropolis and the Three Towers of Umbra are the big offenders here. I had no idea I had to interact with Porte on a "daily" basis in Amadeus, by daily I mean "interact with her 3 times and leave, repeat". I had to get that pointed out by the friend I was playing the game with. Getting to the third tower in Umbra was also a massive pain in the ass, it's behind a dark room maze that I had to google a map for because I kept getting turned around by the constant walls I was breaking down.
- Some of the story scenes might be too much for some, there's 2 scenes of sexual assault in the main story. I was able to get past these, others might be repulsed by them. I thought they (the writing staff) handled the subject matter well personally, I thought I should mention it as this can be a massive negative for some.
Overall, I think I can recommend Labyrinth of Refrain if you're looking for a good DRPG to start with. With a twisty dark narrative and satisfactory dungeon exploration. It regularly goes on sale on PC for about $12-15 USD. At that pricepoint, it is a very easy recommendation for me to make.
Pros
- The visuals for the dungeons are quite nice and distinct from each other, this is one of the big draws that Refrain has over Galleria for me. Refrain's dungeons are alternate worlds all connected to the main story in some way, while Galleria's are more so One Big Dungeon with the exact same tiles except now blue/red/yellow-tinged. The standouts for me were: Verdant Phenom, The Astrom Kingdom, and Dusken Tanis.
- The voice acting and general story/characters are compelling, it kept me going through some of the cryptic bits that the game has. I found that Neldo and Madam Dronya/Velnya were my favourite characters during my playthrough. Neldo because I found him generally intriguing while with Madam Dronya/Velnya, I found her asshole-ness charming and gave me a big reason to continue through those cryptic parts. I wanted to see where she went and how her actions would steer the plot.
- You can do a lot with the upgrade systems of this game. There's the ability to transfer your existing puppet soldier souls into a new body, these reset their level to 1 but it increases the stats gained on level ups. You can also transfer into a different Facet (think a Job from FF) to get their passives for a build you're planning out. You can also upgrade weapons/armor/accessories with other gear pieces you're not using. This can get very number-crunchy!
Cons
- This game can be very cryptic at times on how to progress in the main story. I got lost and turned around repeatedly in the main story, Amadeus Necropolis and the Three Towers of Umbra are the big offenders here. I had no idea I had to interact with Porte on a "daily" basis in Amadeus, by daily I mean "interact with her 3 times and leave, repeat". I had to get that pointed out by the friend I was playing the game with. Getting to the third tower in Umbra was also a massive pain in the ass, it's behind a dark room maze that I had to google a map for because I kept getting turned around by the constant walls I was breaking down.
- Some of the story scenes might be too much for some, there's 2 scenes of sexual assault in the main story. I was able to get past these, others might be repulsed by them. I thought they (the writing staff) handled the subject matter well personally, I thought I should mention it as this can be a massive negative for some.
Overall, I think I can recommend Labyrinth of Refrain if you're looking for a good DRPG to start with. With a twisty dark narrative and satisfactory dungeon exploration. It regularly goes on sale on PC for about $12-15 USD. At that pricepoint, it is a very easy recommendation for me to make.
I had high hopes going into Labyrinth of Refrain and for the most part It did not disappoint, there was a moment while playing this where I thought Refrain could genuinely surpass Mary Skelter and become the best DRPG I've ever played, unfortunately all of that went out the window when I got to the postgame, It was already on it's way out leading up to the end of the maingame, the common battles had devolved into mindless auto attacking, press Y and fast forward, and even then they still take forever. the gameplay really peaks during the bossfights which are a ton of fun and ask a lot of you which makes it feel awesome when you win! But personally I don't feel like there's enough of them and getting from one boss to the next can also take a while. However the game really challenged me when I got to the postgame, everything positive I felt about the game just disappeared and I honestly wanted to drop it, nothing could have prepared me for the amount of grinding I had to do to get through it, and even when I did, it didn't feel worth it. For what it's worth the maingame is fine and the story and it's characters are incredibly engaging and had me at the edge of my seat for most of it, so if you don't care about 100% I would highly recommend Labyrinth of Refrain, otherwise... Maybe think about it and do your research, this game will test you. 6/10
Horrendous early game that leads to a complete cakewalk of a mid and late game when your units are built so stupid strong you're just instakilling and gore hitting on every single attack, post game bosses are hell though and will drive you insane with their gimmicks and overstated bodies, exploration was also fun especially when you unlock the move that just lets you destroy any dungeon wall.
Story wasn't really my thing, the twist was nice but overall it just felt edgy for the sake of being edgy, it doesn't help that 90% of this game's story is character building flashbacks which after you know the twist essentially contribute nothing to the progression of the main narrative.
Story wasn't really my thing, the twist was nice but overall it just felt edgy for the sake of being edgy, it doesn't help that 90% of this game's story is character building flashbacks which after you know the twist essentially contribute nothing to the progression of the main narrative.
Never really been a fan of these difficult dungeon crawlers that Japanese devs love to make but I did manage to get all the way to the end of this one. Sadly I couldn't overcome the super boss at the end and would have had to go away and farm a bunch in order to beat it, which I didn't really fancy. Overall though I still enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
The game features a seemingly endless grind in a series of gigantic dungeons where everything, including the dungeon itself, tries extremely hard to murder you. The encounters are highly challenging, the grinding process is tiresome, and the game system is hard to grasp. In addition, the game expects you to level a couple dozen of characters to max level, MULTIPLE TIMES, before you have any chance defeating any of the hidden bosses. And yes, you need to defeat each and every one of them in order to advance to the true end of the story.
But in the end, the plot makes everything worth it.
But in the end, the plot makes everything worth it.
The perfect spiritual successor to the Etrian Odyssey series. Extremely rewarding gameplay wise, interesting world building and characters;
A very good experience, I do think the game drags the most in the middle section, in the 4th "stratum" (worlds in this game), where you have to go up and down multiple floors hunting for event flags.
The story is the main draw here, though you should definitely heed the content warnings for it, it gets quite uncomfortable and dark, but is ultimately worth it.
The exploration loop is quite fun, but I feel the combat is fairly simplistic, boiling down to autobattling for most fights.
The story is the main draw here, though you should definitely heed the content warnings for it, it gets quite uncomfortable and dark, but is ultimately worth it.
The exploration loop is quite fun, but I feel the combat is fairly simplistic, boiling down to autobattling for most fights.
I'm not really the biggest fan of dungeon crawlers, but this turned out to be a really special game to me. It might sound a bit superficial, but presentation and art are really important for my enjoyment of a game, and Labyrinth of Refrain caught my eye immediately, and it excels on both. It's really fascinating even from the opening hour, and once you're introduced to the cast and the story, you start to notice how meticulously crafted the whole experience is. Yeah, probably not everything is perfect, the story is great but has some bits, mainly regarding some of the earlier scenes between the two main characters, that are a bit extreme and somewhat unnecessary, but in general it's just really appealing, and the characters are full of personality even with their flaws. I fell in love with the game's world and it really embraced the "things aren't as they initially seem" motto, and surprised me a lot of times. Cliche phrase, but the less you know, the more you'll get out of this game.
While the main structure isn't really that different from the common DRPG, Labyrinth of Refrain is a mechanically rich game. I found it really endearing how personalized your party may feel, and despite using a lot of units, it feels like each one has a role to play. You can customize a lot of stuff around your units, in order to get the most out of them, and it helps that there are so many arts or details to choose from when you create a character. The system with the covens, essentially party slots with slots on their own, is the most unique part of the game and the evolution of the party consisting of a skeleton of three to becoming a small army of dozens was really exciting while you progress. All the various classes are quite fun to play with, all with their strengths and their weaknesses, and I really enjoyed trying out different combinations in order to maximize my damage output.
The game has a very meaty postgame as well, that kind of requires you to get a good grasp of the basic mechanics of "raising" your units. The difficulty curve in the game is a bit weird, as the start felt a bit rough but as you got used to the mechanics and got more units or better weapons and covens, there was a point that it felt way easier. And yet, the endgame becomes quite hard again, though once you manage to soul transfer a few times, resetting your level and getting bigger stat gains, it returns to being manageable. Nevertheless, there were quite a few obstacles along the way that forced me to try things differently, or get a few more levels.
Lastly, despite the length of the game and of some of the dungeons, I never got bored with it. It connects the narrative to the gameplay in a very interesting way that you rarely see in such games. Each dungeon feels very unique and has its own logic, and as you start to understand why some things work the way they are, you realize the beauty of them, that as I said, things aren't as they initially seem. Exploration is really rewarding and I think it really grasps the fundamentals of the core mechanics of the genre really well, despite adding its own twists to it.
Overall, it's a really fantastic game and I just loved every aspect of it. The themes, the art, the music, the characters, the presentation, the depth of the gameplay, the dungeons, I found it really strong in all of those, and I just couldn't have enough of this game. Thankfully, the sequel is close, and it sounds even better, so I'm really looking forward to it. We really need more fancy and captivating games with witches like this one.
While the main structure isn't really that different from the common DRPG, Labyrinth of Refrain is a mechanically rich game. I found it really endearing how personalized your party may feel, and despite using a lot of units, it feels like each one has a role to play. You can customize a lot of stuff around your units, in order to get the most out of them, and it helps that there are so many arts or details to choose from when you create a character. The system with the covens, essentially party slots with slots on their own, is the most unique part of the game and the evolution of the party consisting of a skeleton of three to becoming a small army of dozens was really exciting while you progress. All the various classes are quite fun to play with, all with their strengths and their weaknesses, and I really enjoyed trying out different combinations in order to maximize my damage output.
The game has a very meaty postgame as well, that kind of requires you to get a good grasp of the basic mechanics of "raising" your units. The difficulty curve in the game is a bit weird, as the start felt a bit rough but as you got used to the mechanics and got more units or better weapons and covens, there was a point that it felt way easier. And yet, the endgame becomes quite hard again, though once you manage to soul transfer a few times, resetting your level and getting bigger stat gains, it returns to being manageable. Nevertheless, there were quite a few obstacles along the way that forced me to try things differently, or get a few more levels.
Lastly, despite the length of the game and of some of the dungeons, I never got bored with it. It connects the narrative to the gameplay in a very interesting way that you rarely see in such games. Each dungeon feels very unique and has its own logic, and as you start to understand why some things work the way they are, you realize the beauty of them, that as I said, things aren't as they initially seem. Exploration is really rewarding and I think it really grasps the fundamentals of the core mechanics of the genre really well, despite adding its own twists to it.
Overall, it's a really fantastic game and I just loved every aspect of it. The themes, the art, the music, the characters, the presentation, the depth of the gameplay, the dungeons, I found it really strong in all of those, and I just couldn't have enough of this game. Thankfully, the sequel is close, and it sounds even better, so I'm really looking forward to it. We really need more fancy and captivating games with witches like this one.
Interesting game. Honestly the story kinda fluctuates in quality a good bunch but the emotional beats are all there, some really great scenes scattered throughout. Gameplaywise they try a ton of interesting stuff, the puppet gameplay is super rewarding and building the perfect puppet with 100 soul clarity is super satisfying even if hard, but at the same time theres some minor issues that can bring the whole thing down like my god when I got a 15 puppet party I dont wanna see the 5 enemies do 15 attack animations EACH, nevertheless nothing too major except for some difficulty spikes here and there... and the part system, fuck the parts system. Overall, good one, Excited for the sequel.
Fuck the late game side quests as well.
Fuck the late game side quests as well.
Jugué esta cosa por 100 horas asà que creo que ALGO tengo que escribir.
Su mayor crimen es que la historia es una mierda, y es un foco importante para la experiencia. Quiero decir, empieza bastante inofensiva e incluso por la mitad va tomando ritmo, pero sà que se va BASTANTE al carajo en el último tercio, metiendo conceptos de la nada, giros argumentales que no tienen mucho sentido, pésimos flashbacks que resultan confusos en su posición con la lÃnea temporal, utilizando el shock solamente para justificar la actitud de un personaje (la escena fue totalmente innecesaria), y sin concluir con cualquiera de los varios temas que llevaba trabajando ("control? libertad? nah, hagamos que el mensaje final sea la cosa más simplona posible"). Puede que el final verdadero que se obtiene en el post-game sea más satisfactorio o cerrado, pero realmente ninguno de los personajes me gusta lo suficiente como para trabajar por una mejor conclusión, que de todas formas no anula todos los problemas que viene arrastrando. Además, que la verdadera razón para hacer el post-game se encuentra en las dinámicas de juego.
En lo que más destaca en Labyrinth of Refrain es en la construcción de equipos y personajes, puesto que la gran cantidad de sistemas y opciones que tienes llegan a ser bastante abrumadoras. Los equipamientos, el Weapon Synthesis, las clases, el Stat Growth, las naturalezas, los skill por personajes, y demás permiten construir personajes que se acoplen a distintos tipos de juego. Pero lo que abre todo a niveles ridÃculos es el Soul Transfer y los Coven: el primero permite resetear el nivel de tus personajes para aumentar el multiplicador en los atributos que recibirá de ahora en adelante, cambiar de clase, y heredar skills entre distintas clases para crear personajes ridÃculamente poderosos, puedes por ejemplo, construir un tanque que herede de otras clases la capacidad de reducir la defensa enemiga cuando es atacado, reducir el ataque enemigo de la misma manera, tener mayor prioridad en su turno para capturar todo el aggro al inicio, aumentar tu defensa con cada golpe que recibas, etc. O que tal un lancero que tenga varias propiedades que potencien sus crÃticos, o un rogue que sea extremadamente agil que no pueda recibir daño casi nunca potenciando su ataque con cada esquive, o un mago glass cannon que haga diez veces más daño que cualquiera de tus otros personajes, las posibilidades son casi ilimitadas con las 96 habilidades existentes en el juego y divididos entre cada clase; por otro lado, los Coven son la forma en que construyes tus equipos, estos son básicamente brigadas en donde colocas a tus personajes, y dependiendo de las posiciones en que los pongas podrán obtener diferentes beneficios en combate, además de poder utilizar las magias de dicho Coven, súmale a eso que puedes crear Formations por medio de poner a tus Coven en la vanguardia o retaguardia y tienes muchas formas de construir tu equipo, por ejemplo, por gran parte del juego estuve ocupando un Coven con un solo mago en vanguardia el cual estaba buffeadisimo por los atributos del Coven y la posibilidad de usar magias curativas y ataques AoE, dos Coven con tres danzantes en retaguardia que curiosamente terminaron volviéndose mi principal output de daño debido a la capacidad del Coven para multiplicar el ataque exponencialmente de acuerdo a la cantidad de carisma que tengan, un Coven con tres tanques en vanguardia que defiendan y reciban todo el daño al tener el potenciador de aggro y un buffo significativo de defensa, y un Coven con tres clases diferentes que me dieran más opciones de ataque como AoE para enemigos débiles o daño burst además de magias que buffearan las defensas del equipo y un potenciador alto de vida para que dos de esos personajes no mueran debido a su baja vida, creando una formación en donde los personajes de vanguardia reciben buffs de daño adicional y los de retaguarda reciban menos aggro. Y esta composición de equipo no fue estática, cada cierto tiempo cambiaba debido a la aparición de nuevos Coven o la necesidad de acoplarse a los nuevos tipos de enemigo.
Por lo mencionado se puede asumir la profundidad del combate, pero el juego incluso mete más a este cuando entras de lleno: la mecánica de desmembramiento, las ventajas y el peligro de tener mucho maná, el Attack y ECHO Resonance, el EXP Stockpile, los buffs del Reinforcement, etc. Y eso que no hablo sobre la exploración, los skills durante esta, el brillante diseño de calabozos, los superjefes, el post-game, las Witch Petition (incluyendo la que puede incrementar aún más la dificultad si eres masoquista), y el New Game + porque si no está cosa se extenderÃa más de lo que ya está.
Labyrinth of Refrain es un muy buen juego, es decir, me ha hecho invertir tanto tiempo en su mundo que, a pesar de haber sido saboteado con una muy mala historia y una insistencia en esta, logra encantar con su compleja, profunda y atrapante jugabilidad, llena de sistemas tras sistemas tras sistemas de los cuales no puedes dejar de pensar hasta tener el mejor equipo que puedas conseguir para derrotar a los enemigos más poderosos en este cuento oscuro.
Su mayor crimen es que la historia es una mierda, y es un foco importante para la experiencia. Quiero decir, empieza bastante inofensiva e incluso por la mitad va tomando ritmo, pero sà que se va BASTANTE al carajo en el último tercio, metiendo conceptos de la nada, giros argumentales que no tienen mucho sentido, pésimos flashbacks que resultan confusos en su posición con la lÃnea temporal, utilizando el shock solamente para justificar la actitud de un personaje (la escena fue totalmente innecesaria), y sin concluir con cualquiera de los varios temas que llevaba trabajando ("control? libertad? nah, hagamos que el mensaje final sea la cosa más simplona posible"). Puede que el final verdadero que se obtiene en el post-game sea más satisfactorio o cerrado, pero realmente ninguno de los personajes me gusta lo suficiente como para trabajar por una mejor conclusión, que de todas formas no anula todos los problemas que viene arrastrando. Además, que la verdadera razón para hacer el post-game se encuentra en las dinámicas de juego.
En lo que más destaca en Labyrinth of Refrain es en la construcción de equipos y personajes, puesto que la gran cantidad de sistemas y opciones que tienes llegan a ser bastante abrumadoras. Los equipamientos, el Weapon Synthesis, las clases, el Stat Growth, las naturalezas, los skill por personajes, y demás permiten construir personajes que se acoplen a distintos tipos de juego. Pero lo que abre todo a niveles ridÃculos es el Soul Transfer y los Coven: el primero permite resetear el nivel de tus personajes para aumentar el multiplicador en los atributos que recibirá de ahora en adelante, cambiar de clase, y heredar skills entre distintas clases para crear personajes ridÃculamente poderosos, puedes por ejemplo, construir un tanque que herede de otras clases la capacidad de reducir la defensa enemiga cuando es atacado, reducir el ataque enemigo de la misma manera, tener mayor prioridad en su turno para capturar todo el aggro al inicio, aumentar tu defensa con cada golpe que recibas, etc. O que tal un lancero que tenga varias propiedades que potencien sus crÃticos, o un rogue que sea extremadamente agil que no pueda recibir daño casi nunca potenciando su ataque con cada esquive, o un mago glass cannon que haga diez veces más daño que cualquiera de tus otros personajes, las posibilidades son casi ilimitadas con las 96 habilidades existentes en el juego y divididos entre cada clase; por otro lado, los Coven son la forma en que construyes tus equipos, estos son básicamente brigadas en donde colocas a tus personajes, y dependiendo de las posiciones en que los pongas podrán obtener diferentes beneficios en combate, además de poder utilizar las magias de dicho Coven, súmale a eso que puedes crear Formations por medio de poner a tus Coven en la vanguardia o retaguardia y tienes muchas formas de construir tu equipo, por ejemplo, por gran parte del juego estuve ocupando un Coven con un solo mago en vanguardia el cual estaba buffeadisimo por los atributos del Coven y la posibilidad de usar magias curativas y ataques AoE, dos Coven con tres danzantes en retaguardia que curiosamente terminaron volviéndose mi principal output de daño debido a la capacidad del Coven para multiplicar el ataque exponencialmente de acuerdo a la cantidad de carisma que tengan, un Coven con tres tanques en vanguardia que defiendan y reciban todo el daño al tener el potenciador de aggro y un buffo significativo de defensa, y un Coven con tres clases diferentes que me dieran más opciones de ataque como AoE para enemigos débiles o daño burst además de magias que buffearan las defensas del equipo y un potenciador alto de vida para que dos de esos personajes no mueran debido a su baja vida, creando una formación en donde los personajes de vanguardia reciben buffs de daño adicional y los de retaguarda reciban menos aggro. Y esta composición de equipo no fue estática, cada cierto tiempo cambiaba debido a la aparición de nuevos Coven o la necesidad de acoplarse a los nuevos tipos de enemigo.
Por lo mencionado se puede asumir la profundidad del combate, pero el juego incluso mete más a este cuando entras de lleno: la mecánica de desmembramiento, las ventajas y el peligro de tener mucho maná, el Attack y ECHO Resonance, el EXP Stockpile, los buffs del Reinforcement, etc. Y eso que no hablo sobre la exploración, los skills durante esta, el brillante diseño de calabozos, los superjefes, el post-game, las Witch Petition (incluyendo la que puede incrementar aún más la dificultad si eres masoquista), y el New Game + porque si no está cosa se extenderÃa más de lo que ya está.
Labyrinth of Refrain es un muy buen juego, es decir, me ha hecho invertir tanto tiempo en su mundo que, a pesar de haber sido saboteado con una muy mala historia y una insistencia en esta, logra encantar con su compleja, profunda y atrapante jugabilidad, llena de sistemas tras sistemas tras sistemas de los cuales no puedes dejar de pensar hasta tener el mejor equipo que puedas conseguir para derrotar a los enemigos más poderosos en este cuento oscuro.
50 hours. This only takes me one trophy away from the platinum, but that last one is basically "complete the post-game" so that's 10 hours at the very least! The reason this game works is the interaction of the game systems. The risk-reward of the carry over system cobmined with the limitations on how long you can stay out in a dungeon before the hurry up ghost completely wrecks you, the fundamental party formation differences that come when you start messing about with Covens, the character stat upgrades from rebirth, the way that wall breaking and everything else attached to the Reinforce system works, even the tacit admission that easy difficulty is where you want to be if you want to grind character levels. Sure, the story veers into pointless edginess too often (though it does earn it on occasion) but the voice acting carries it through. Surprise of the year, for sure, and it's easy to see how it kind of blew up on word of mouth.
CWs: rape, child abuse, sexual assault, dismemberment, bestiality played for laughs, in-universe depictions of ableism and homophobia, body horror
i hate this game. i love this game. i want to marry this game. i wish it didnt exist.
anyway. good dungeon crawler. really good story (that is unfortunately quite tragedy/torture porn at times.) great characters. amazing environmental storytelling and fun gameplay. cant recommend to everyone but its worth a try if you can stomach its graphic content.
i hate this game. i love this game. i want to marry this game. i wish it didnt exist.
anyway. good dungeon crawler. really good story (that is unfortunately quite tragedy/torture porn at times.) great characters. amazing environmental storytelling and fun gameplay. cant recommend to everyone but its worth a try if you can stomach its graphic content.
This game is addictive as fuck
Also almost everyone in this game is a terrible person
Also almost everyone in this game is a terrible person
Starts out pretty exciting, but loses steam in the second half. I think there's a lot of room to improve on the basic formula here, so I hope the sequel actually comes out at some point...
Has some yuri elements.
Has some yuri elements.