Deep Labyrinth (ディープラビリンス)
Interactive Brains
Official Site
Japan release: March 2006
US release: July 2006

An original first-person dungeon RPG for the Nintendo DS, based on a cell phone game.

First of all, let me say that this game is beautiful. It starts out with a dual-screen movie, like those in many other DS games (Metroid Hunters, Castlevania), but without any of the artifacts or pixellation that usually accompany them. It's done anime-style, and must use full-motion video and 2D sprites to create pixel-perfect dual-screen anime. Words really can't do it justice, and I honestly don't know how they pulled it off. Once you're in the game, the graphics - despite being a bit polygonally at times - are some of the best I've seen on the DS. Bosses tower over you, slimes shimmer in the light as they morph into various forms - a sword, a humanoid - and attack you. Rolling hills, deep forests, eerie mansion corridors. Visually it's very impressive.

Control is done with the D-pad and touch-screen. You tap to lock-on and attack enemies, or cast spells. Spells are cast on a 3x3 grid, by drawing symbols representing different parts of spells. The magic system is very clever, and many different spells can be created by combining different elements.

The gameplay is where the game really falls on its face. You can really tell the game was originally designed to be played on a cell phone. The controls feel somehow very cramped and limited - not what you'd expect from a system laid out as well as the DS. Locking onto and killing enemies, though simplistic, stayed pretty fun through to the end. But casting spells was awkward. It's very picky about making you enter the spell exactly; especially difficult when a line goes on a diagonal (moving from one square diagonally to another, without touching either adjacent square, is very difficult). You can just tap each square, but... the "combination" magic system, while clever, is difficult to use, as some spells can be dozens of strokes. Not very useful in battle. You also cannot attack while the spell casting window is up. So using spells in battle is a death trap. Also, to use your shield, you must press and hold a tiny button on the side of the screen; and you also can't attack while shielding, and still take some damage anyway. So battles always come down to locking on and hacking away with your sword. It's a flawed combat system, all around.

Still, the game is a lot of fun to play, has lots of mazes and rooms to explore, and was a lot longer than I expected. They also had a rather clever way of adding replay value (I don't want to spoil anything).

The Japanese version is fully playable and enjoyable, assuming you can figure out the few times you need to blow into the microphone (any time the lock-on crosshair turns to (?) you need to use the mic or touchscreen). I skimmed most of the plot (reading Japanese is hard for me), but it seems you're trapped in some land of imagination - home of Gods and mythical beasts (and friendly rabbits) - searching for your parents and dog. There are quite a few places where being able to understand what is being said (or what spells do) is pretty helpful, and waiting for a cheaper English version (currently no planned release?) might be wise. Though it's very playable and enjoyable as an import. I created (several months ago) a brief translation/walkthrough, a copy of which can be found here in my journal.

The game includes the original Keitai (cellphone) version of the game, which is a little more hardcore dungeon RPG and less story/exploration. But lack of any form of multiplayer is a bit disappointing.