Last Labyrinth – Lucidity Lost XSX Review 5/10 "A Puzzle Missing a Key Piece" 🧩 @AmataTokyo #IndieGames #GameDev

Originally released for VR platforms in 2019, Last Labyrinth – Lucidity Lost casts the player in the role of a mute, wheelchair-bound person that can only communicate by using a laser pointer attached to their head.

Assisting them through the labyrinth of deadly traps and tricks is a young girl who can be guided by the aforementioned laser pointer. Working together, both must solve puzzles and make their way through the labyrinth, in a bid to survive the deadly trials laid out before them.

The big issue with Last Labyrinth – Lucidity Lost is that the lack of VR clearly removes the main impact that the game would have. Naturally presented in a first-person perspective, the experience starts off well, with a tiny hand reaching out of the darkness to turn on a lamp that lights your surroundings – a dimly lit room and a single door leading out.

The visuals, and animation are all tasty and buttery smooth, and the audio design works well (minimalist and ambient) – it combines to create an initially intriguing and tonally spot-on setting.

The problem is that the mechanics of the meat of the gameplay feel sluggish and unnecessary, there’s no in-game targeting reticule, so you have to press the trigger to see where you are aiming – as the girl will follow your commands, and quite often you’ll be off the mark slightly.

I was also left a bit confused for a second when I asked the girl to flick a switch to open the door, and she just stared at me...before ignoring my request. It took a bit of trial and error to eventually realise that I had to move the left thumbstick up and down as if I was nodding at her to confirm my request. It’s something that feels like it should have been taken out for this non-VR version.

Moving onto the puzzles themselves, it’s all driven by pointing at something and guiding the girl to make an action, usually involving levers, switches or small objects. They are initially fine but do get repetitive.

The rogue-like layouts of randomised rooms in each run is also a blessing and a curse, with some runs ending quite early and later runs getting slightly repetitive, especially when it comes back to the cumbersome controls and sluggish pace. That said, some of the death sequences actually made me clutch my pearls, mess up a puzzle and that girl has a bad time!

SUMMARY

Last Labyrinth – Lucidity Lost loses a lot of its lustre in this watered-down mode. If you are really fancying some saw-like horror action, dive in with your expectations levelled accordingly.

If, however, you have a VR system, even though I personally haven’t played it – it will clearly improve the experience as this non-VR version really does suffer without that peripheral.