Labyrinth Of The Demon King

First and foremost, I came into this game expecting a cross between Kings Field, Silent Hill and Resident Evil and that IS what I got. There are a lot of things I like about this game from a general design approach and artistic perspective and if you played oldschool Silent Hill and Resident Evil then there will be a lot to appreciate here. However, this is a game. You have to PLAY games. And in terms of what it was like to play this game, I walked out with the impression that the only truly "finished" part of it is the first tower out of the four you must conquer. The first tower will give you high hopes and the impression that the rest of your playthrough will have even more surprises and interesting mechanics and that the quality will improve as the devs get more confident in their design and formula. The exact opposite is true. Every tower after the first is progressively and dramatically shorter than the first, puzzles and secrets you think you need to return to later on turn out to have no solutions and are completely irrelevant despite implied interaction, mechanics are actively STRIPPED AWAY as even simple things such as being able to cut down door banners strangely disappears immediately after the first part, the area backtracking becomes even worse and highlights just how obnoxious it is to have constantly respawning enemies interfere with your backtracks ESPECIALLY in the second tower where only one water wheel can be active at once and you WILL have to backtrack a minimum of around 7-10 times even if you know all the puzzle routes, newer areas dramatically decrease given maps leaving you wondering aimlessly and without direction until you memorize very samey looking corridors, plot threads that are established NEVER get resolved and the game eventually ends on a complete nothing note. This is a game that genuinely wears on your patience past a certain point and even if you complete it out of pure stubbornness you'll find yourself more disappointed than had you not. I'm not even mentioning everything, there are still moments that will completely suck you out of the experience as the game has various obnoxious bugs. That lack of maps in the later portions leads to you overlooking/forgetting about innocuous room/items and you either stumble around the entire building four times over looking for a tiny thing you missed or consult a guide. Every time I try to give this game credit, it snubs me one moment later. You can't even enjoy cutscenes because the sound balancing becomes UNBEARABLY loud. No part of me wanted to come out of this game feeling like I do because there are so many other things about it that are charming, but it legitimately feels like the devs got bored with the project halfway through and rushed everything along while ignoring any chances to polish it. This game NEEDED playtesting and it didn't get it. Based on that, i can't recommend it, I feel my experience will be shared by many. PS: Considering this game has no actual replay value, the backtracking turns the combat into an annoying slog, I can't say this game is worth the 20$ price tag either. This is a 10$ experience.

A very cute game about helping a nekomata and a kappa settle their marriage problems.

VERY MIXED,, on one hand the first 1-2 hours of this game are amazing when you're learning how to play // encountering enemies and unlocking doors for the first time in the labyrinth;; The story was simple and to the point which I enjoyed and the side cast were also fun to talk to. Finding secret rooms or weapons also hit like crack. But once you get past the "first area" of the game that's when it turns into chaos. The next areas right after are just endless backtracking with semi-unkillable enemies. Horror games having a Nemesis type enemy are awesome!! But adding more than one in the same room is just silly imo. Combat is great when you're in a 1v1 or even 1v2 scenario but it does get very repetitive after a bit and the enemies never mix up their combos or have any real difficulty to them. Hit, Block, Hit, Block ~ Enemies needed more depth overall. Equipment management feels "messy". You get showered in a multitude of weapons and you can upgrade them alongside your armor which is nice BUT the game is short. If you know what you're doing you can probably beat this in 4-5 hours, by the time you unlock or get enough items to properly upgrade your weapons the game is over. I don't feel like the weapons were properly distributed throughout the game at all since a bulk of your equipment comes from the end areas. The armor is also "odd",, you can upgrade it but at the same time it doesn't tell you how much more defense it has compared to previously or even to other armor sets so you have to use your best judgement when deciding what to wear and upgrade. The bosses are also pretty bad. A majority of them just summon adds and that's it. The combat isn't geared towards you fighting multiple enemies at a time since the combat is slower paced and since stamina is VERY limited. So most boss fights require you to just run around the room while regathering stamina only to slap the boss once and do it all over again until they die. Enemies also respawn randomly every time you load into a new area (which is alot since every door and stairway triggers a reload) which is "good" for a high tension horror game but also awful since resources are VERY limited and the enemies don't drop much. They have a 10% chance to drop money and that's it. By the end of the game I just stopped killing enemies because it was pointless. They became a waste of time and resources which is not good design imo. Overall, despite all my cons I still like the game and I am very mixed on it simply because they were aiming for PSX styled game and most games back then were actually this bad. I still had fun with it but idk if it's worth 20 bucks. I would be way more forgiving if it was 5 but not 20.

it's my favorite indie horror game, I don’t think anything will ever top it. - i highly recommend it for silent hill fans.

Amazing game, hands down. I loved it. This was for me, like if KF and ST had a baby. I liked everything about it and I would love to see more games in the same style. Big W game

Excellent PS1 style game in a feudal japanese setting. Overall an extremely good experience with the only downsides being that the first tower is by far the most fleshed out one and the bosses being a bit too easy. Definitely recommended for every Silent Hill, Resident Evil, etc. fan.

I have to give this a thumbs down. The pillbox effect feels overly aggressive, and the screen effects are just too much. I understand it's aiming for a retro '90s film vibe, but it would be so much better if there were an option to disable all the visual effects.

Fun game, has problems. Some are pretty standard of the genre like shit being easy to miss and looking the same, but the reason it gets a negative review is because I beat the entire first boss only for the key item it's SUPPOSED to drop not to spawn. Sat there wondering where I haven't look for the black gem for like an hour before giving up and googling. Key items just not spawning (especially when they don't have any element of random chance nor do they drop off an enemy or any kind of reason to have this come up) is kinda crazy.

Incredible atmosphere and actually pretty fun combat once you get the hang of it, especially when mixing in magic. I also found the chaser enemy to be tuned just right. Other reviews that mention it losing its luster after the first tower are accurate, though it wasn't enough to make me hate the game. It's more underwhelming than outright bad imo It's not quite worth full price. Personally I'd go for Lunacid, and if you have an itch for that kinda game again after finishing it, pick this up when it's on sale.

This game does quite a bit right, but ultimately it's a bit too short and rough for me to enthusiastically recommend it. Other reviews have covered most of my grievances already (mediocre and sometimes tedious level design, combat issues, length, missing QoL features, the ending etc.) but even still, I don't regret buying this game on sale just to experience the visual and sound design.

Wish there was a neutral button. The game obviously had a lot of love and effort put into it, but it lacks in too many categories. The stamina system is abysmal and results in awkward pacing throughout the early-mid game The respawning system for enemies makes no sense, and randomly fills, empties, or just puts random enemies in rooms or halls that you've already cleared a thousand times, or rooms that you've just ran through already. The armor/weapons are functionally cosmetic. Deaths have no bearing. Your progress saves when you die and puts you back at your most recent shrine. Not that you'll ever find that out, though; This game is EASY. In my almost 9 hours of gameplay, COMPLETELY blind playthrough, I did not die once. Not to any bosses, to any new enemies, traps, the final boss, none of it. Partially due to the combat system being immensely lackluster too. The game attempts to provide a decently in-depth combat system, complete with omnidirectional dodging and parrying. However, the aforementioned ABYSMAL stamina system basically eliminates these mechanics for the entire first 60% of the game. Not that you would want to, anyways, as the optimal strategy is just to charge heavy and sprint into enemies, sprint away, wait until you get 1 stamina back, (which takes like 3 seconds for some reason) and then do it again. Absolutely zero replay value as well. There's plenty more I could critique, but there's no point really. Lots of wasted potential, wait until it goes on sale.

For how clunky and repetitive it is, it's actually pretty nice. The PS1 horror vibe is done really well. Especially in the cutscenes, that mostly introduce new enemies or NPCs, with those uncomfortable shots and weird camera angles. It's a little too short and simple, but I feel like there's a good base here that can be expanded upon. The bosses are a bit lacking as well and there aren't really any puzzles to speak of either. The combat is, again, simple and repetitive, but there's a certain rhythm to it that changes depending on the weapon you use and the enemy you face, so it still is nice in general. The atmosphere truly is king here, however.

Disclaimer: I've made it past the first boss, then got to the first rest stop before the rest of the game so far. If you're into Yokai, especially in the context of horror, this game is very good. Atmosphere is great, and this game mentions the practice of Hitobashira (which I will not elaborate on, if you want to know what it is, google it). There is a chaser enemy that is more of an annoyance than anything, as instead of letting you soak in the atmosphere, which is the biggest thing the game has going for it, you have to focus on either sidestepping him, or rush blindly into the level to avoid him. That being said you are forewarned as to what will make him appear, so if you don't do that very early on like me it may be less frustrating. If you can't handle (intentionally?) clunky combat, then this game is not for you. There's a fair bit of fighting that is essentially mandatory if you want a moment to explore properly, and some enemies respawn if you leave an area and return. Fortunately, crates and barrels seem to respawn, and the drop rate on healing items is high enough that I've yet to run completely out of healing when I needed it. The puzzles are pretty standard fare for a Silent Hill-styled game, with the expected grim overtone. Though this isn't a puzzle-focused game, I found the ones that exist are enjoyable enough that they don't feel frustrating with the required knowledge being kept to a single note each. Overall, a good game. I paid $25 CAD, HowLongToBeat says I've got about 5.5 hrs to go, and if that's true, then it will hopefully land comfortably in the "Lasted long enough to feel worth the price, but not so long as to overstay its welcome" range.

Amazing game, Gripping atmosphere. Couldn't recommend enough.

I don't play horror games that much but this one caught my attention ever since I saw the trailer for it. There's just something about the aesthetics/style of the game that made me want to play it. The atmosphere is really fantastic combined with the really unsettling and creepy music/sounds. The combat is simple but good, I love the weight and the crunchy sound effect of each weapons every time it hits an enemy. The bosses design-wise look so creepy and mechanics-wise I kinda think if the devs are going to make additional content for the game that revolves around new bosses they should add a little bit more complexity to them so that they can be a bit more challenging. If you're into games like Silent Hill I think you'll probably love this game.

Silent Hill atmosphere and resident evil mechanic (Mr.X equivalent and items merchant) in first person feudal Japan background

An interesting game. The graphics, atmosphere, sound design and music are all fantastic. The game delivers on the feeling that you're trudging through a demon infested castle with things lurking around every corner. For these reasons alone, I am glad I played this game. I enjoyed the attention to details with all the Japanese culture and I think the Tearoom is one of my favourite spots since Firelink Shrine. I liked the option to fight in lots of different styles, being able to upgrade your gear and the combat generally felt responsive. Speaking of combat, it wasn't the best, bosses are a breeze and everything can be countered easily. This doesn't mean I didn't have fun with it though. The story is very simple and the characters you meet aren't very deep either. But its serviceable enough that it gives you a reason to go on the adventure and see it through to the end. Traversing the labyrinth was quite difficult (I guess the name gives that away). There is very little in the way of conveyance in this game, which I think its sorely lacking and needs. The player needs to be given little hints on direction to figure out where they're supposed to be going. This is something which the game does fail at and it does cause frustration. I don't think it should add map markers or such, but something to give the player a little direction would really really help. Unfortunately the game does get a lot less impressive after the first tower. There is far less content in the following two towers. They're not bad, but blowing all your earth, wind and fire at the start of the game does make you feel like there is way more to the game. When in actual fact, once you've done the first tower, you're already half way through the game. All in all, I did enjoy my time with this game. Which is why I've given it a Yes. I really hope the devs do more with this game and make a sequel atleast. I think the potential here hasn't been fully realised yet.

Labyrinth of the Demon King has a very oppressive atmosphere that makes the game feel tense and frightening exactly as you'd want out of a horror-themed game. Unfortunately this only lasts for about the length of the first area of the game, and it quickly fades away as the game's severe flaws take the spotlight instead. Combat in this game is a bad joke. Most enemies are completely incapable of hitting you if you're running, and with enemies populating environments again every time you change rooms, this quickly becomes the best way of dealing with them. Enemies can also spawn out of thin air at times, which is about as annoying as you'd expect. The combat system wants to employ a methodical system of light attacks, heavy attacks, kicks, blocks, and dodges, but most of those don't matter at all. Here's how you become an unstoppable killing machine in this game: charge a heavy attack, hit the enemy, then sprint away and charge another heavy attack at the same time, and hit them again. There isn't a single enemy in the game that can counter this highly complex tactic, not even the bosses. With these things considered, the combat in the game goes from threatening at the start to laughably easy as you figure out how to abuse it, and any sense of danger posed by enemies is lost. This game doesn't have traps in the environments to watch out for either, so that was the only real sense of tension now gone. Oh and there's no penalty for dying either, not that this is much of a concern after the opening half hour. Other design elements in the game are poorly thought out, like upgrading gear which takes a large amount of resources scattered throughout the game, yet you'll still find new weapons up to the very end, which will be plainly worse than ones you've already upgraded, unless you decided to hold onto all your mats until the very end. The game has equippable torches and lanterns, both of which don't actually add any light to the environment whatsoever, but merely add an orange tint to the visible area around you, making them outright useless. The game is inundated with massive amounts of healing items scattered around, most of which I had to leave behind as I was almost always sitting on full stocks of them anyway. Environments in the later areas aren't particularly different to the first area, so the game ends up feeling very played out in the second half. The writing is not particularly compelling, nor are the handful of characters throughout the game, and the ending is incredibly abrupt and lacklustre. The game is unfortunately just a very mediocre experience, with shallow combat and story initially propped up by a dark atmosphere that quickly falls apart and gives way to tedious enemy encounters and pitiful bosses.

So damn good! It really hooked me. Amazing graphics, fun gameplay and map design.

Its a touch short, I would have appreciated one more dungeon before final boss. That being said, enjoyable all the way through. A little challenging at first, but by the time youre entering the second dungeon youll start breezing through it with relative ease.

I loved it. I really vibed with the atmosphere and gnarly sound design. Overall I thought it was good and creepy and got genuinely scared in a few parts. Loved the old-school gameplay. Awesome game!

The Labyrinth of the Demon King is a pretty good game with a fun (but easy) game play loop and some issues that hinder the game from being fantastic. Playstation 1 aesthetics are certainly becoming a tired trope within the horror genre, but Labyrinth of the Demon King manages to side step the typical trappings of other games that poorly implement the aesthetic. In fact, the game finds a good balance in its inspirations across a variety of games, though many will point out the influence King's Field and Dark Souls very plainly had on this games development. During the first stage of the game I was fighting two separate enemies. The AI will often times fight each other and you might encounter two enemies actively attacking each other before butting in yourself, and that is the exact scenario that I found myself in. After killing the first enemy I was puzzled to see that the second one had randomly disappeared afterwards. But then, after I turned the corner, the second enemy waited behind a wall to ambush me. This mechanic has existed in other games made decades ago but seeing it in this indie horror game was a fun surprise. Spoilers for late game ahead!!!!!!! My gripes with the game however prevent me from it a "full score" on the gamer meter™ I've decided has value. This game has a huge variety of weapons to choose from, way more than is standard for the survival horror genre. This seems like a positive, but the short length of the game prevent many of these weapons from having time to shine. One of these weapons, the broken katana, has a fun little mechanic in which you can repair the item using other katanas you find during a play-through. [spoiler]The last (and probably most powerful version) of this item is found in the second to last tower of the game. You gain access to this weapon in what is likely to be the last 10-15 minutes of the game, because the fourth and final tower (or area) of the game is a single winding staircase leading to the titular final boss.[/spoiler] This leads us to the final problem this game has, the pacing. The first area in the game took me around 2 1/2-3 hours to complete. The second took me around 1 1/2-2 hours, and the third around an hour. The final area probably took me eight minutes to complete. The game literally has 'labyrinth' in the title, but the entire game can be beaten in around the same time as a blind play-through of sector E in Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey. One dungeon in a first person dungeon crawler released in 2008 for the Nintendo DS (easily the most pirated console of all time) versus an entire 20 dollar video game was honestly very disappointing for me. I saw one review that was complaining about the repetitiveness of one of the towers in the game, and how it involved lots of backtracking. This could be a deal breaker for a decent amount of people, but please do keep in mind that, again, the game LITERALLY has 'labyrinth' in the title. If you weren't prepared for a game centered around dungeon crawling mechanics and getting lost in areas that kind of blend together then I'm sorry to say but that is literally your fault (as one of my friends would probably put it 'that's a bear trap'). Despite my gripes however I enjoyed my short play-through of this game, and recommend it to anyone looking for a new survival horror game that can be beaten in a few (if not one) play session. Personally though, I would wait for a sale to buy the game (like the steam summer sale happening as of the writing of this review :)). On the arbitrary steam guy gamer meter™ I would give this game a solid 3.2/4 towers, because the last one barely counts.

Very good, scratches that Silent Hill itch which I should really get checked out it's starting to go dark

This game reminds me of an unfinished horse picture. First level is great, and it is all downhill from there.

Very good horror, in the likes of SH. I think it's worth it for the atmosphere alone. Buy it.

A good amount of vulnerability and mystery make a well-baked horror game. But like others have said, it does 'feel' like they have rushed the game out, guessing the produces where running out of money and kicked it out the door before it could be fully completed [b]I still enjoyed a lot about this game though and I don't regret buying it.[/b] I just really hope the creators finish what they set out to make which it seems like they are slowly doing, it seemed like they had so much more planned

This is a game I loved from start to finish. The combat felt so good and it really have a lot of survival horror elements that I enjoyed. This is such a unique game and there's very few like it. While it could be like a Kingsfield game but the survival horror part really stuck out to me. Loved the music and atmosphere as well as the combat. The story was fine but to me, this hit a lot of the right spots.

Takes a sec to get use the the combat, but other than that its a really good classic survival horror game.

Generally excellent - I love me a game with such a strong direction, such a well defined identity. It's not the scariest game but it's extremelly captivating and exciting - it hooked me in and i beat it in 2 sittings. It does a fantastic job at doing what it intended to do - crafting this brutal, disgusting world where everyone is screwed and all the walls are covered in slime and guts and all of your gear is battered and broken and these primal, demonic, impossible to understand beasts want to do nothing but rip all they see apart, jumping out at you from any direction at any second. As if all peace in the world was completely gone. It does, fully and completely, feel like a feudal Japan hell. I love the feel, especially noticable during the combat - getting hit and hitting feel like such a big deal. Who will break first - you, or the shambling, twitching freak trying to break your skull open with a hatchet? It is slow and methodical, with each hit having weight and consequence. The biggest flaw of the game is the fact that after the first dungeon - which is this incredible, sprawling, intertwined maze that feels like it's collapsing on itself - there is a very noticable drop in quality, as if the developers were running out of steam. The other 3 (or rather 2) dungeons are still great, and made with care and with their own identities and ideas, but they're just sooo much simpler and shorter. Despite this, the game's originality and great execution absolutely make it worth your time and money.

Incredible game. Very memorable. Some slight frustrations with combat are all the things I can poke holes in. The staircase....PTSD

It's a very good game, with Silent Hill-esque sound design, a Condemned-like combat and a PS1 inspired amazing setting. As others have mentioned, the first tower is the more polished one whereas the rest lack a bit more depth. Even so, this is an indie horror gem.

Incredible vibes. It allllmost feels like a forgotten game from the early ps2 era. Very reminiscent of King's Field but set in a spooky medieval japanese castle. The combat is challenging at first. As you get more experience, it becomes second nature. Navigation and progression walks a fine line between mysterious and frustrating. Like older games, it doesn't hold your hand. Nothing prevents you from exploring more difficult areas before you're ready. I definitely got to a few points where it was unclear where to go next. Wandering the confusing hallways eventually got me there, but this isn't for everyone. Don't expect a polished game that holds your hand, but there's truly something special here.

Great ps1 style horror game/dungeon crawler. Nails the aesthetic and vibe of something like Silent Hill, but does its own thing.

Awesome KingsField like, combat is methodical and punishing but overtime can be mastered. Environment and atmosphere is where this game stands out above the rest.

Very dark and oppressive atmospheric game with some really gorey scenes. Loved the game despite some of the tedious puzzles.

This game was really really fun, it had a silent hill vibe, with fromsoft like combat in a way. The horror aspect dwindled the farther you got, but the atmosphere itself was still immaculate. I think on a first playthrough this game was about 9-10 hours long, but the ending felt a little lackluster, regardless I really enjoyed this, even more so for the price tag. Very much worth! It is a little slow on the combat aspect of things, but if you have a soft spot for nostalgia PS1 like games, definitely worth a purchase. If I have any complaints, it was that the inventory. If you saved before a boss fight, and go into the fight with a bunch of items that you use during the fight, you don't get them back after a reload. I had to grind a bit to get money, but honestly it wasn't anything that was overbearing or game breaking

Would recommend. If you're a fan of the PS1 Resident Evil games, Silent Hill, or Tenchu this is definitely up your alley. Great atmosphere, simple but satisfying combat, and some good ambient sounds and music. None of the bosses or enemies are particularly challenging but I don't feel it detracts from the experience too significantly. Would love to see what these developers could create with a more ambitious scope in future projects. This game really made me wish it was three times as long as it is. But for it's reasonable price tag I'd say I'm willing to compromise. Only cons I'd really say is the menu's are a little awkward to navigate and I think the achievements were somewhat of a missed opportunity to present incentive for multiple runs. Challenge runs like completing the game within a certain time frame or completing it using only the broken katana. Good game if you're looking for something to play over a weekend, or potentially a single sitting depending on how thorough you are.

Kingsfield Messiah of Might and Honor [i] Samurai Edition [/i] Look the first 15 minutes of the game you're introduced to a talking demon cat who doesn't? want to eat your flesh? You go outside and the game basically tells you, you forgot to escape Dharma again and now sh*ts f**ked up. The game perfectly captures that eerie universal hopelessness I've felt in Dark Souls games. You can feel the tragedy of the world dying around you and even inside you, I mean from looking at your armor you can just feel the rot creeping inside you already. It gives you this feeling that you are less mortal than the tortured souls you have to fight. The combat is uncomfortable and punishing. Some enemies it's just best to avoid and there is a decent flow to most combat if you can get it down, very similar feeling to Dark Messiah and Oblivion, I just wish I could pick up crates and barrels and throw them... There are "friendly" characters to talk to but with every one of them something just isn't right and every encounter you're not sure if this npc wants to eat your face off or lead you down a dangerous path or if they're just there to sell you some goods lol. Best to assume the latter that ALL the NPCs want to eat your face off because they probably do... The art direction is amazing There are moments where I forget I'm playing something that came out in 2025 and I feel like I found some weird old game from 2003. I'm actually considering buying an old CRT because the game would honestly look so good on it lol. Older horror games [i] were [/i] scarier back then I think mainly because of the lower pixel density, your mind can't fully comprehend what it's seeing so it tries to fill in the blanks generating pure nightmare fuel. This game takes that concept to a whole new level. Don't even get me started on the musical scores... The soundtrack is PEAK HORROR ascending beyond even Silent Hill level imo. The soundtrack is 90% of the experience but the experience is 100% of the experience so we're looking at a total of 190% If you turn the music off the ambiance of the game is just as creepy. There are so many layers at work here lol Horror Game Of the Year until proven otherwise by something like the game ILL

A very atmospheric game with visuals and design reminiscent of early PS2 horror games like Siren/Forbidden Siren 1 & 2. The monster intros and overall ambience is the stand out. The game play feels similar to Kings Field or other first person dungeon crawler games, with attacking & parrying being important. You need to respond properly to what the enemy is doing to stand a chance. The puzzles are not to complex but interesting enough. Spoilers for the later half of the game. [spoiler] Sadly the game seems to lose steam after the first half and after you get a good weapon and stock up on supplies you can kind of breeze through the latter half. The newer enemies and some of the later bosses don't seem to follow the Attack/Parry/Dodge system and only seem to attack making them pretty easy if you just block then follow up attack. You have to explore 4 towers in the game and the final two feel a bit rushed, especially the last one as it is just a chase followed by the final boss. There also doesn't seem to be any penalty for dying, even your progress is kept so if your low on health you can just die without having to waste resources. I know it is thematic to the overall story, but still. [/spoiler] Overall a good experience and I hope to see more from the developer.

While the game can be incredible frustrating at times the game oozes with personality and vibes. The comparisons to Kingsfield and Silent Hill are certainly correct. I do wish there was a little better direction on where to go next at times along with a difficulty slider of some kind. Definitely one of my fav games of this year though.

Absolutely loving Condemned 3: Tokyo Drift, give it a try. Pro tip, don't wear white pants while playing.

Japanese Horror at its Most Finest, Beutiful and Grotesque. Silent Hill in the Edo Period. This is a must play for Survival Horror fans. Now we need a Sequel.

Short but sweet game, enjoyed every second of it. The cutscenes and the soundtrack are incredibly well done. Guy should make a movie ;)

Great game. Really needs new game+ or a hard mode with like faster enemies or both.

Great game, looking forward to what the devs do in the future. I played it after a massive bug fixing and didn't notice any glaring issues besides the boss battles being a bit too easy. The backtracking in the bathhouse was annoying. I also thought there were too many locked rooms especially in the prison. After I got the warden's key I thought those would be able to be unlocked but they weren't.

Labyrinth of the demon king is a really fun survival horror game that has some faults but is overall a solid recommendation to anyone who loves the genre.

This game is the most fun I've ever had in a long time! It perfectly encapsulates that PS1 era of styled of horror games of the 90's while being a prime example of less is more. Even though I enjoy the art style, gameplay, and the direction of horror in regards to Japanese Yokai/Oni, this games will be challenging for audiences who are unfamiliar with this style of game. My recommendation to anyone playing this is to get your stamina as high as you can. Forget leveling health. There's a plethora of healing items laying about. Do Not combine the Rusty Katana with the broken one. The only thing this game needs in my opinion is wide screen support. Don't like the black bars on the side of the screen. 10/10!

Music slaps, atmosphere slaps — and the gameplay follows in the footsteps of the Resident Evil series. There’s a ton of weapons to choose from, and enemies come in all shapes and sizes. A must-play for all survival horror fans. A Labour of Love that you shouldnt miss ya wisikh

Scary, challenging, and disturbing. I love it.

The game is great but especially the atmosphere, soundtrack and sound design are phenomenal. Just for those things alone, I would highly recommend playing the game. That being said, I believe some design choices hurt the game and punish players for experimenting with the many options the game offers you. Practically shoehoring you into playing with a specific weapon and therefore playstyle. Beware of spoilers regarding weapons and weapon-systems in my critique below: The game offers you your starting weapon, the broken katana. Which you can upgrade to make it stronger (you can upgrade every weapon). But the upgrade items are at fixed locations in the map and cannot be dropped by enemies or otherwise spawn. So right from the get-go, you learn that your upgrade items are limited per playthrough. If anything, this tells the player that he should pick a weapon, and stick with it, because if you upgrade other weapons (or armor, lol), you can get into the situation where you simply cannot upgrade your main weapon anymore since you’ve used up all upgrade items. Not only that, but you can also “repair” your broken katana by infusing it with another katana. If you’re patient and use a good one, you upgrade your already strong weapon even more. The Blacksmith warns you about using a good one, because the repair action is irreparable and cannot be undone. Here I have multiple things to nitpick about. 1. You never actually know when you have found the best katana to infuse your broken one with. Since you don’t know where the game leads you, you can play it with the broken katana, expecting to find an even better sword at some point, only to land at the final boss without ever repairing it. It would help to have some kind of indication regarding how many “good” katanas you can actually find in the world, so that you’re not lost chasing a better sword that doesn’t exist. 2. The game doesn’t give you any number stats. Just vaguely colored bars, but that’s only the case when you actually possess the weapon. I say that because the shop offers many weapons, one of them is a Katana, but it doesn’t show you the stats until you commit and pay a hefty sum to buy it. Why aren’t the stats shown in the shop? This only promotes safe scumming, since you have a save point right beside the shop. 3. The Katana repair system is great, but given the other game systems, it quickly becomes your only option. You find a lot of weapons in the game. Many with interesting move sets or special damage types. But other than the one time you’re forced to play blunt weapons, you’ll always be worse off with them. I had multiple instances where I found cool weapons that I wanted to use, only to have an infinitely harder time with them. I can’t use upgrade items to make them stronger, since I don’t want to soft lock myself from upgrading my main weapon and end up with two weapons that I can’t max out. But they’re also just really unbalanced. You have absolutely no reason to ever use a two-handed weapon like the hammer or the dao. They will drain your stamina extremely fast, make less dps than any faster weapon and offer no other upside. A few game and item systems are unreasonably punishing or unbalanced. 1. You find muddy weapons, but your NPC can only clean one. Why? Firstly, you don’t know when you might find another better muddy weapon, since you don’t know how many exist. And secondly, this also encourages safe scumming because you can’t see the stats of the clean version. Thirdly, this option becomes available so late in the game, that both weapons are not comparable to your upgraded main weapon at this point. 2. The game contains ranged weapons, but the ammo cap in your inventory is quite low. And you can only find them once at fixed locations in the map, or in the shop for a hefty price. Since money is hard to come by because monsters rarely drop it, but you want to play ranged, you can end up without any arrows or bullets whatsoever and no ability to acquire new ones for the rest of your playthrough. (again, discouraging other playstyles) 3. The shop items are too expensive / monsters don’t drop enough money. Most of the money you’ll find in this game are one-time pickups around the map. Monsters can occasionally drop some money, but it’s so low, it doesn’t help you much. The shop Items on the other hand are extremely expensive. One look at the shop makes it clear that there is no way to actually buy more than maybe 3-4 items in your entire playthrough. (not counting consumables). This again encourages safe scumming if you actually want to try the different weapons. Otherwise, you have to just give up on trying certain things because it could be a bad investment. Paying ~850 for a gun and then for the upkeep (bullets) becomes a huge commitment. When you could’ve also used the same money to buy two upgrade items or stat increases. This encourages players to not experiment and to just stick with their chosen, most upgraded, main weapon. Discouraging alternative playstyles. All in all I think the game would be much better with a slightly altered item system. If monsters would drop more money or even upgrade items, it could encourage players to experiment with different weapons and playstyles. If some systems weren’t irreparable, like the cleaning of the muddy weapon, or the repairing of the katana, it would discourage safe scumming and allow for more experimentation instead of hoarding items in a search for the magical better variant. Give the player a chance to undo a repair or to buy cleaning items. Make the game more open for alternative playstyles by making it more accessible and less committing and I think that you would have a rewarding, and less discouraging item and weapon system. I think the game would also greatly benefit from having a NG+ mode. Because depending on your route, you might find a weapon that you really like, but then you’re practically already at the end and have no use for it. For me this was the case with both muddy weapons and especially the kabuto which I really liked but had no reason to use anymore. All in all, the game is still amazing, even though it has its issues. Many of which other reviewers have already addressed. For me, this is still a top-tier Survival Horror game, and definitely worth a playthrough.