Omega Labyrinth Life and Labrinth Life have made their way around the globe, allowing fans to enjoy a JRPG experience where, well, boobs are the front and center of the game and it’s up to you to help the women of Bellefleurs Girls’ Academy in their adventures. Was the experience worth it? Find out in our review.
Pros:
+ Challenging dungeon crawl gameplay
+ Multiple modes
Cons:
– Combat is boring
– The story and characters are stereotypical of any anime
– Overtly sexual where it is difficult to play
Holy mammoth mammary glands Batman!
Sorry… I couldn’t help myself.
Welcome to our review of Labyrinth Life, I’m Josh Turner and I will be you carnosaur of cleavage for today’s journey through The Bellefleurs Girls’ Academy where the students are overflowing with potential.
Our story begins with the arrival of a new transfer student, Hinata Akatsuki, who is bursting at the seams with excitement over attending this prestigious all girl’s academy. Shortly after she arrives, a tragedy befalls the Academy and the prized Grand Garden suddenly wilts and goes flat. Hinata is determined to find out what is the cause of this strange occurrence, as well as the source of her newfound powers… let alone her expanding bust line.
Yep… Boobs are front and center.
Yes, you read that correctly. Ladies and gentlemen; we are playing a game whose core gameplay is a sexual fetish. Understandably, we are going to be cautious of what we will show, or describe, considering the mature themes and sexual nature of this title.
Surprisingly underneath the bloated fanservice throughout the game, which we will get to momentarily, there is some decent mechanics to the title. Labyrinth Life is a top-down dungeon crawler which challenges its players to begin each dungeon at level 1, thankfully the equipment that you create, or find, is brought with you; however, the statistics are obviously halved.
The only problem is that combat is honestly very boring. A simple press of the button will swing your sword, staff, what-have-you. Each weapon having nearly identical animations, only ones that have an obvious alteration are items like Meowkin’s Paw or a spell-based staff.
This girls each do have their own special skills that are unlocked throughout the course of playing and grinding… oh boy, lots of grinding. Outside of that, the bosses that I battled was interesting enough at first, but once I unlocked the “Full Bust” mode, or if I just spammed my characters specials, the became of no difficulties at all; a few times without even damaging me.
Boo – I mean, Dungeons ahoy!
Now there are specialty dungeons that you can go into, which breaks the monotony of the core game up nicely, which will challenge players to clear or escape a floor of very powerful monsters with limited resources. Or to rerun dungeon using your fairy companions that can utilize full magic, but no weapons. There are a few more that I didn’t list here, all of which does change the pace nicely and can add a level of replayability if you can get past the other issues.
Some of the harsher points do come in with just how monotonous the gameplay truly is. You enter the dungeon, explore the floor, kill a swarm of foes, watch you girls shirt pop open a bit more and then proceed to the next floor. Dungeons can last anywhere from a basic 4-8 floors in the beginning, to a dull 20+ in later parts.
Combine this with a very touchy control scheme you’ll find the only way to really enjoy this title is in small bursts. Those larger dungeons will be required if you want to maximize your cup size and increase your strength simultaneously. Your bust can max out at Z cup; which I’m pretty sure isn’t a thing. To do so you’ll have to not only kill everything that bounces towards you, but you’ll have to bathe in ever flower bath you come across.
Ambitious, but not amazing. The story could use some work as a cookie-cutter anime experience
Regrettably, another pain point for this title is the characters themselves. Putting aside the fact the script for this title, something that could pass as a 15-year old’s fan fiction of his favorite ecchi, another let down is the characters themselves. Each of the main cast that you encounter is that walking definition of every anime trope possible.
You have Hinata, the main character who just so happens to be the chosen one. Berune, the naive best friend who never betrays but gets bullied. Yuri the overtly sexualized older classmate who like to flirt and Mei the hero’s rival who eventually becomes a friend. I get it. This game isn’t meant to be taken that seriously anyways, but the absolute lack of effort for any kind of original storytelling, or character development, outside of the status quo is lazy.
Now one more thing to note about this game is depending on which platform you get it on will also depend on the level of fan service that you will be seeing. D3 was generous enough to allow us to play both the PS4 and Switch versions of the title. Between the two, if you are looking for the “complete experience”, you’ll want to snag the Switch copy of the title. It seems, that in this case, Sony was surprisingly stricter than what Nintendo and the titles have some… massive differences.
Few other things to mention about the title is the mini-games, which… can be uncomfortable at best. They have a version of rock-paper-scissors, called tit-for-tat, which involves you using your character’s breasts to play the aforementioned game.
If that wasn’t enough to question your moral compass with, the one to take the cake, or in this case melons, is where to identify unknown items, you must place them between your characters bosom and rub it vigorously until the item takes shape. Keep in mind, this game is about schoolgirls. Though not provided with any ages, this title may make many players feel uneasy within the first 10-minutes.
The Conclusion
All in all, it’s not that labyrinth life is terrible. It’s just another run of the mill, uninspired, fan-service titles that regrettably might not be anyone’s target audience. Though the core gameplay is diverse with different modes and alterations, it doesn’t make up for a lackluster combat system and terrible AI.
Visually speaking, the hand-drawn avatars the show themselves during cutscenes and conversations are the only thing that really looks up to par for this title, everything else can pass as something from the previous generation.
Labyrinth Life
Platforms: Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4
Version Reviewed: PlayStation 4
Developer: D3 Publisher
Publisher: D3 Publisher
Release Date: Available Now
Cost: $49.99 (PS4) | $59.99 (Switch)
If you are interested in checking out this title, the definitive edition is most certainly the Nintendo Switch version, but even at that point wait until this title lands itself in a value bin and save your hard-earned money for something else.
Our review is based upon a retail version that was provided to us by the publisher of the game. For information about our ethics policy please click here.
About the Writer:
Josh Turner is one of the founding members of Blast Away the Game Review and a valued contributor that has helped with critical feedback over the years.