Lapis X Labyrinth Review
Release date: May 28th, 2019
Developer: NIS America
Platforms: PSN, and Switch(Reviewed)
Price: $30
Lapis X Labyrinth is a 2d RPG platformer meets a flashy casino experience. NIS has put together an interesting RPG that has some replayability. There is a lot of flash to the game and if players dig enough there can be some real depth.
The story is not complicated, players are tasked with saving a village that is ground zero for labyrinth exploring. The biggest decision players will be tasked with is picking their two party members from several class options: Maid, Gunner, Shielder, Bishop, Destroyer, Wizard, Necromancer, and Hunter. All characters have a melee attack, a strong attack and a support attack. Characters in the two man party are stacked on top of each other and depending on who the lead is or who the support character is, can change both the special and the support attack.
Once players have figured out who they want in the party they can get a quest and enter the labyrinth, which has a time limit. Players need to frantically fight through the level, collect loot, find the exit, and get ready to fight a boss before the time runs out. Players can run the timer down but the enemies they will face will be indestructible. Combat is easy and can be repetitive, the flashy graphics and frantic pace make the levels short and fun. Destroying enemies and blocks releases torrents of gems to collect via Fever Mode and everything gets flashy and some players may think they are in a slot machine.
Back in the village players call craft, sell loot, set up new parties; did I mentioned that some of the loot players collect will be unusable by your classes? This keeps it interesting. I also found myself toying with different character combinations to try out the new loot.. I found out for my best interest the Shielder a heavy melee class and the Bishop who can heal to be the most useful for my playing style. I liked the range classes such as the Gunner but I got into a few dicey situations where a melee class would have been better.
The graphics and music fit the game well. Everything is bright and colorful and all the characters have a nice chibi look to them. The backdrops in each level are well done and were very eye catching even with Fever Mode activated.
The game can get repetitive throughout the 200 plus maps and 80 quests. Players should have a good time experimenting with the game. I wish there was more to each level but the levels are short which makes it easy to play on the go or when you have limited time. Thanks to the publisher for letting us review the game.
Final Score
Pros:
Easy to play
Lots of class options
Cons:
Repetitive
Game can feel button mashy vs using skills