
	Platform DS Genre Role-Playing Publisher Atlus Developer Interactive Brains ETA August 15, 2006
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Deep Labyrinth

For all of the RPGs that get released on consoles and handhelds each and every year, the vast majority of them use an overhead view of some sort when displaying the action. Some have fixed cameras, while others don’t, but in the end the one thing that is certain is that players will be greeted with a third-person perspective of the action in the game. With Deep Labyrinth, Atlus is bringing the DS a role-playing game that favors the rarely seen first person perspective a la Ultima Underworlds. It’s a change of pace, certainly, but will it be readily embraced?

One aspect of the game that may help with encouraging throngs of gamers to run out and buy Deep Labyrinth is that Atlus brought in a pair of well-established figures in the genre. First there is Masato Katou as scenario designer. Some may recognize him from his work on Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy XI. Also onboard, providing the game’s musical score, is Yasunori Mitsuda, who has worked on a small army of titles with notable soundtracks, including Chrono Trigger and Xenosaga / Xenogears. Already, Deep Labyrinth has a better pedigree behind it than many other recent entries in the genre could hope for.

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Also, as mentioned earlier, the game is presented in a first person perspective, and with this will come some unique gameplay a la the DS’ touch screen. Instead of flailing away on the buttons of the DS, players will be scribbling away on their touch screen instead in order to perform attacks, and cast spells. The whole

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process sounds like something similar in concept to that found in the PC version of Arx Fatalis, except substituting the touch screen for a mouse.

While the designers are attempting to implement some fresh ideas into the title’s gameplay, Deep Labyrinth is going for a more traditional JRPG motif with its anime-inspired look, and some nice lighting effects thrown into the mix. In some ways, the game is vaguely reminiscent of King’s Field…only cuter.

Usually we’re used to seeing top-down perspectives in console games, or some other third person view with a controllable camera. There just aren’t a whole lot of games in the genre that enforce a first person perspective. Hopefully when the game comes out, Deep Labyrinth will be able to garner a bit more support for the seldom-used perspective.

Mr. Nash

(July 17, 2006)