Labyrinth of Zangetsu

A beautifully designed title that truly brings the Sumi-e artistic style to life, Labyrinth of Zangetsu, unfortunately, doesn't quite do enough with its gameplay to create the next must-own dungeon crawler.

Labyrinth of Zangetsu offers a traditional dungeon crawler RPG experience but doesn't go beyond that simple skeleton of a concept. Only its stylized Japanese ambience is a highlight, making it hard to recommend to any person who isn't already fascinated with the genre when compared to better games in the market.

Despite being mechanically decent, Labyrinth of Zangetsu is uninspired and basic, becoming a hard sell, even for fans of the genre.

Labyrinth of Zangetsu is a profoundly stressful, but admittedly exciting experience. This is a very hardcore RPG that throws you into the deep end. Merely making it out alive feels like an accomplishment and you will feel the sting of loss when your favorite unit dies, over and over.

Though simple and a little uninteresting in its narrative and game design and some decisions that hinder progression in the game, Labyrinth of Zangetsu has a unique and elegant Japanese painting visual design and it works well as a traditional dungeon crawler, especially considering the customization and traps variety as well as its consistent medieval/folkloric setting. The title is recommended to those looking for a traditional-style dungeon crawler that's not too long and has a distinctive, oriental visual.

Labyrinth of Zangetsu is a solid, addicting, enjoyable game. Yes, there are some annoying shortcomings, but the story and art style are both intricately connected, with the story being surprisingly engaging for a first-person dungeon crawler, and the art style likewise remarkably deep and beautiful for the genre. Exploration is addicting, and character classes can be changed or upgraded as you progress through the game, giving you access to advanced classes. First-person dungeon crawlers can often be a bit of a slog, but Labyrinth of Zangetsu manages to avoid that particular pitfall by being a reasonable length. While the difficulty can, at times, be quite steep, it’s worth the occasional pain and suffering.

Despite a strong art direction, Labyrinth of Zangetsu doesn't offer much beyond that. Putting it alongside other Dungeon Crawling RPGs that have come out recently, it ends up being so archaic and repetitive in its structure that it doesn't stand out, being more worth returning to old adventures or finding other worlds of samurai and ink.

Even though Labyrinth of Zangetsu doesn’t have any voice acting or over the top sound effects, the traditional instrumental music makes up for that and more. The music in Labyrinth of Zangetsu plays a big part in the atmosphere and immersion of the gameplay, with several shifts in mood and tone indicated by the music as well. Though a bit more work on sound effects would help this game stand out.

Labyrinth of Zangetsu is a uniquely beautiful dungeon crawler with interesting lore, but can occasionally feel shallow.

While it has a pretty cool art style it’s hard to say the game does much to differentiate itself from most other dungeon crawlers out there