Deep Labyrinth


Deep Labyrinth is a 3D role-playing video game developed by Interactive Brains for mobile phone devices and the Nintendo DS handheld game system. Key contributors for this game include writer Masato Kato and composer Yasunori Mitsuda.

Plot

One summer afternoon, Shawn goes for a drive with his parents and dog, Ace, but the family car suffers a flat tire in front of an abandoned mansion. Ace is upset by something inside the mansion and leaps out of the car to investigate. Shawn's parents follow Ace, but fail to return. As Shawn tentatively approaches the dilapidated structure, the entrance door swings open, and he's drawn into a magical vortex. Reunited with Ace, Shawn must travel into the heart of the Deep Labyrinth to rescue his parents.
There is also a second story of another man who gets sucked into a warphole while talking on his cellphone. He finds himself trapped in a labyrinth. As he journeys through, he is forced to reconcile the past, and realize what it is that traps him in the labyrinth.
Each scenario has multiple endings based on the actions and performance of the player, as well as helpful items sequential playthroughs, to aid unlocking all the secrets of the labyrinth.

Gameplay

Nintendo DS version

The game makes use of the touch screen. The user can draw the stylus across the screen to control where the protagonist swings his sword. The stylus can also be used in a magic system that involves drawing different runes. The runes are all drawn on a 3 x 3 grid, allowing fast spell casting. Some spells can be combined for additional effects.
The game follows a standard first-person perspective, to add to the feeling of immersion in the game.
Some parts of the main story requires to blow or scream to the system's microphone in order to advance the story.

Development

Deep Labyrinth was developed by Interactive Brains. The game is billed as the first 3D RPG for Japanese mobile phones.

Reception

According to Nasaki Takeda, CEO and CTO of Interactive Brains, the mobile phone release of Deep Labyrinth was very popular, having been downloaded nearly 100,000 times prior to its North American DS launch.
In Japan, Famitsu gave the DS version a score of one eight and three sixes, for a total of 26 out of 40. Elsewhere, though, the port received "mixed" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.