[DS] Deep Labyrinth (DS)

I picked it up today actually It was at my local EB, though nowhere else. Plenty of copies, so it isn't exactly flying off the shelves. A girl picking up Brain Age had actually heard of it though and was wondering if I'd played it, though of course I haven't until this evening.

So far, my short impressions

Pros:
- Great soundtrack, obviously.
- Dialogue is witty and for the most part well-localized
- Overall storyline seems intriguing so far, considering it is Masato Kato

Cons:
- Movement is a bit clunky. It follows the Resident Evil school of forward-backward + rotate, except in first person. I suppose I'm too used to well-constructed FPSs with mouselook.
- Slashing the sword gets superfluous when all you have to do is tap, really. Update: Actually, slashing matters more once you progress further. Some enemies are smaller and hence you have to aim your swings carefully or else you just miss a lot.
- Spell casting requires you to press a button after you do the spell motion, which seems a little redundant. I'd think if you execute the spell motion, it should just cast.
- The "talking with NPC" BGM is extremely short and loopy. I kind of wish they just kept the normal BGM running instead of switching.

Semi-con:
- Playing left-handed is kind of awkward with the buttons used as a D-pad, but it's even more awkward to play right-handed since I can barely hold the stylus well with that hand. I'll probably get used to it though.

So far, I'm playing Storyline Part 1 with the boy and his dog, or rather the "lighthearted" beginner mode, and it's pretty simple. I'm still in the first tutorial area. Feels very much like oldschool 3D games on the Playstation.

The pre-titlescreen sequence is horribly compressed and is just sort of a mass of jumbly polygons forming into a mansion. However, once you start off the game, there's a nice little anime sequence complete with mediocre voiceovers. Caught me off guard, since I was assuming it would just be comic-style storyboards with text. Cool stuff though. The opening scene makes good use of the two screens.

I'll have more impressions when I play through a bit further.

Oh, and there's a few gems in the instruction manual...

-Don't use a broken stylus. Just go buy another one, you tightwad.
- Don't rub the Top Screen with the stylus, unless you're using the DS of someone you don't like, in which case go crazy.

Double Post:
After playing for another few hours... I have to say I'm hooked. While things started off roughly, I'm getting the hang of controlling. I found out that you can double-tap left or right to strafe-dash in either direction. Helps for avoiding spells or projectiles. Also, once you actually enter the labyrinth itself, the gameplay becomes much more interesting- and of course more claustrophobic, as there's more winding maze-like hallways instead of big wide-open fields with a save point every 2 seconds. Hence, tutorial. Right.

Also, play this game with headphones. Always. The DS's speakers just don't do the sound justice at all.

Jam it back in, in the dark.