Adventure Labyrinth Story (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Another standout feature is that the labyrinth is not designed to be completed on the first attempt, or even the second and third. It takes literally dozens of attempts to reach the desired destination. This means that despite the randomly generated maps, the game can still feel repetitive at times, as the concept is quite linear and the enemies repeat.

Adventure Labyrinth Story is not really an RPG, but it does borrow some classic features, with middling success. The basic system of levelling up is there, but with a catch. After every death or exit from the labyrinth (and remember, these are inevitable and regular), the level resets back to 1. What these means is that the system is a bit pointless, as it is the strength of items obtained, which are generally not lost after a death, that mostly determine your strength. The problem is that every adventure has to start from the first floor of the labyrinth, meaning that after a few deaths the labyrinth starts with some woefully underpowered enemies.

What about the storyline? Well, that's one of the most baffling things of all. The main plot (if you can call it that) goes something like, "There's a treasure in the labyrinth. Progress far enough to retrieve it." Of course, this is absolutely fine, as many classic games give the player only the faintest hint of a storyline. However, things quickly go off-track. Every so often, the game forces dialogue onto the player that is totally irrelevant to anything. Without spoiling too much, an NPC that is barely seen in the game may or may not get married to someone else that's not really seen. The in-game consequence of this is not existent, it just adds a level of boredom for the player as they click through the irrelevant drivel. It's the equivalent of meeting Toad in a Mario game, only for him to talk about his mortgage repayments for no apparent reason.

There are some strong points, though. The battle system may seem simplistic for veteran RPG players, but it works really well and has a surprising amount of depth. There is limited item space, and many of the most powerful items can only be used a few times, so it's necessary to be quite calculating. Use everything and they'll be less available for the next time. Use nothing and a premature death is inevitable. There are opportunities to sell and buy items within the labyrinth, but the random layout means that the best strategy may not be immediately obvious.