Labyrinth of Zangetsu - dungeon RPG set in the ink painted world

[somerandomdude]

Please be challenging. Please be good!

I made it to the 3rd area, and up to the point I've played the game hasn't been very challenging. I went with a standard balanced party - warrior, monk, monk (vanguard) and cleric, mage, thief (rearguard). I play these types of games fairly conservatively, if I'm running short on items and spells, I'll back out and restock vs pushing forward into unknown territory lacking in resources. The game is designed to be played like this, because of all the shortcuts you can unlock, and the keys you find, so backing out to restock doesn't cost you much time, and you can pick up where you left off in a dungeon fairly quickly. On one hand, the game isn't easy enough that you can simply rush it stupidly while paying little to no heed to MP and resources, however, if you play smart with a balanced party then you shouldn't run into too many problems. It's not nearly as tough as Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land (Playstation 2).

Third area boss murdered me, seems like boss / minibosses can surprise you at random which is obviously a great idea for game that has semi "permadeath" mode. Same for "static enemies" can randomly surprise you and random encounters too.

The most dangerous thing I ran into in the 3rd area were those black floating eyes, they typically only show up on red ink spots, and I found that it was best to CC those with stun or sleep. I haven't made it to the boss yet, but I can say that up to this point I haven't gotten a single character KO'd in battle. What is your party composition? I found the boss of the 2nd area to be really easy, it went down in 2 turn cycles, and I only had to top one character off on the 2nd turn. I don't enter a dungeon without at least 15-20 medicine in my inventory, inventory max is about 36 slots, filling half your inventory up with meds is a good idea, because lone cleric really doesn't have the resources to keep the entire party topped off. Pretty much everything in the 3rd area has some kind of fire attack, so fire shield with mage seems like a good idea against bosses, or large groups of regular enemies.

 

[Jermu]

The most dangerous thing I ran into in the 3rd area were those black floating eyes, they typically only show up on red ink spots, and I found that it was best to CC those with stun or sleep. I haven't made it to the boss yet, but I can say that up to this point I haven't gotten a single character KO'd in battle. What is your party composition? I found the boss of the 2nd area to be really easy, it went down in 2 turn cycles, and I only had to top one character off on the 2nd turn. I don't enter a dungeon without at least 15-20 medicine in my inventory, inventory max is about 36 slots, filling half your inventory up with meds is a good idea, because lone cleric really doesn't have the resources to keep the entire party topped off. Pretty much everything in the 3rd area has some kind of fire attack, so fire shield with mage seems like a good idea against bosses, or large groups of regular enemies.

yeah later I realized only second entrance to third area had possibility to summon like 8 eyes which was pretty much impossible for me to kill

other problem was that I reclassed wizard / cleric too early to sage which fucked up my spell progression

Im pretty experienced with these games too I have pretty much finished every blobber which are considered "the hardest". playing ironman makes some changes to playstyle which you dont need to worry when playing normally.


btw this is the most "helpful" review in japanese

Frankly speaking, it is better not to buy. It's a waste, so I touched it for about 10 hours, but it's too bad and I want a refund. If you have other games you want to buy, you should definitely buy them.
There are many scenes where I feel very uncomfortable with [game system aspect] rather than pure difficulty, and the stress is terrible. To give a specific example, there is a [surprise system], but that system is clearly a beneficial system. This may be the first move, but it may also be taken by the opponent. If the probability is at least 50%, it's fine, but at a level of about 2:8, it's very stressful. If you raise your level, you will learn a skill that increases your chances of getting the first move, but even if you use it, this ratio will not change. And what's even worse is that this happens even with boss class fixed enemies. It would be fine if the mobs that appeared along the way took the initiative, but by the time you start fighting against an already high-difficulty enemy suddenly take the initiative. Half-destruction of the party is a matter of course.
In addition, you must return to the base and revive each time you die. The resurrection system is also garbage, and the cost is Lv x 500 (this is abnormally high), and the probability of resurrection is about 5 minutes. In the unlikely event that it fails, it will cost twice as much as it did (2000 → 4000 if you fail to revive a 4Lv character). If you've played it, you'll understand, but it's too expensive. On the day of failure, the main equipment of the party will be sold and at last it will be at the level of covering the cost of the second time.
By the way, this surprise attack system doesn't have a concept like a back attack, but all normal enkas have this judgment, so please think that this is basically a disadvantage. If it's the same roguelike, it's an old game, but Kadokawa's Demon Gaze was much more decent. I hope it will be helpful for those who are considering it. After all, Acquire's games are kusoge. If you read the above and still buy it, I wish you good luck

Selling Wizardry ip to japs was a mistake

Currently at 5th area (Tower), 4th and 5th area so far has been easier than 3th for me.

 

[somerandomdude]

btw this is the most "helpful" review in japanese

The writer of that review should go back to playing hatsune miku, or whatever other pedo-jap shit they were playing previously.

other problem was that I reclassed wizard / cleric too early to sage which fucked up my spell progression

Yeah, I never class changed anyone in the 3rd area, but I just got to the 4th area, and am considering class changing my vanguard characters into paladin/samurai/ninja.

 

[Jermu]

lvl 20 you learn last class skills so thats a good place to reclass vanguard characters

my current setup is
paladin/monk/samurai/ninja/sage/sage and Im probably not going to do any more class changes since game is not that long

 

[Contagium]

The most dangerous thing I ran into in the 3rd area were those black floating eyes, they typically only show up on red ink spots, and I found that it was best to CC those with stun or sleep. I haven't made it to the boss yet, but I can say that up to this point I haven't gotten a single character KO'd in battle. What is your party composition? I found the boss of the 2nd area to be really easy, it went down in 2 turn cycles, and I only had to top one character off on the 2nd turn. I don't enter a dungeon without at least 15-20 medicine in my inventory, inventory max is about 36 slots, filling half your inventory up with meds is a good idea, because lone cleric really doesn't have the resources to keep the entire party topped off. Pretty much everything in the 3rd area has some kind of fire attack, so fire shield with mage seems like a good idea against bosses, or large groups of regular enemies.

yeah later I realized only second entrance to third area had possibility to summon like 8 eyes which was pretty much impossible for me to kill

other problem was that I reclassed wizard / cleric too early to sage which fucked up my spell progression

Im pretty experienced with these games too I have pretty much finished every blobber which are considered "the hardest". playing ironman makes some changes to playstyle which you dont need to worry when playing normally.


btw this is the most "helpful" review in japanese

Frankly speaking, it is better not to buy. It's a waste, so I touched it for about 10 hours, but it's too bad and I want a refund. If you have other games you want to buy, you should definitely buy them.
There are many scenes where I feel very uncomfortable with [game system aspect] rather than pure difficulty, and the stress is terrible. To give a specific example, there is a [surprise system], but that system is clearly a beneficial system. This may be the first move, but it may also be taken by the opponent. If the probability is at least 50%, it's fine, but at a level of about 2:8, it's very stressful. If you raise your level, you will learn a skill that increases your chances of getting the first move, but even if you use it, this ratio will not change. And what's even worse is that this happens even with boss class fixed enemies. It would be fine if the mobs that appeared along the way took the initiative, but by the time you start fighting against an already high-difficulty enemy suddenly take the initiative. Half-destruction of the party is a matter of course.
In addition, you must return to the base and revive each time you die. The resurrection system is also garbage, and the cost is Lv x 500 (this is abnormally high), and the probability of resurrection is about 5 minutes. In the unlikely event that it fails, it will cost twice as much as it did (2000 → 4000 if you fail to revive a 4Lv character). If you've played it, you'll understand, but it's too expensive. On the day of failure, the main equipment of the party will be sold and at last it will be at the level of covering the cost of the second time.
By the way, this surprise attack system doesn't have a concept like a back attack, but all normal enkas have this judgment, so please think that this is basically a disadvantage. If it's the same roguelike, it's an old game, but Kadokawa's Demon Gaze was much more decent. I hope it will be helpful for those who are considering it. After all, Acquire's games are kusoge. If you read the above and still buy it, I wish you good luck

Selling Wizardry ip to japs was a mistake

Currently at 5th area (Tower), 4th and 5th area so far has been easier than 3th for me.

The third area is a total slog, putting the urns back in place or whatever they are.

 

[Jermu]

dunno that took like 10 minutes for me

 

[lvl 2 Blue Slime]

I love blobbers, but the art-style/setting don't really do anything for me.

 

[jungl]

Japanese review is not bullshitting the game can be cruel. Damage received is rngish better keep the front row full hp as the resurrection fees are brutal.

 

[Jermu]

keeping front row full hp is pretty good advice for any game
but yeah there are indeed some bs moments where someone will die if you get surprised
thats pretty typical for good blobbers, think if you die you can still start at the floor you died for non "ironman"?

 

[WhiteShark]

If it's the same roguelike, it's an old game, but Kadokawa's Demon Gaze was much more decent. I hope it will be helpful for those who are considering it. After all, Acquire's games are kusoge.

Holy lol this guy.

 

[somerandomdude]

There's little advantages for evil alignment. Certain skills and passives require evil alignment (assassin strike with Ninja, etc), and spells do more damage with evil characters, and I'm unsure by how much. But the huge downside is that evil alignment has a higher chance of being killed when they reach 0 HP, and they also have a higher chance of turning into a good jew (ash pile) when you attempt to revive them (perma ripped). Good alignment characters have a higher chance of not dying when they reach 0 HP, and they can be brought back with a simple heal spell, and they also have a higher chance of being successfully revived if they do die. There's also some passives and skills on certain classes that require good alignment (paladin mostly). You really need your tank to be good alignment, and considering that mages are the most likely to die if you get ambushed, I'd argue good alignment for them too.

 

[Jermu]

monk also has plenty of good alignment stuff
for first playthrough evil seems indeed bad idea, thief/ninja neutral rest good seems to be way to go

 

[somerandomdude]

Katanas are the strongest weapons, which would make samurai the best melee dps. I class changed my level 20 warrior into a samurai, and he's quite strong now. Warrior gives melee boosting passives which make the already hardest hitting melee class hit even harder. But you're unlikely to hit level 20 without grinding until after beating the 4th area, but they should catch up in levels really quickly in their new class, so class changing each character once after level 20 seems sensible in order to make a final push to finish the game. There are some encounters in the 4th area I got into that gave 18-22k exp a pop, and they weren't even that difficult, a mid-tier fire spell pretty much cleaned them out, so if you run into enough of those, you might hit 20 some time in the 4th area.

 

[somerandomdude]

monk also has plenty of good alignment stuff
for first playthrough evil seems indeed bad idea, thief/ninja neutral rest good seems to be way to go

Even on the ironman setting, if you get unlucky and multiple characters get ripped during an ambush, you can simply close the game in the middle of the fight and it won't auto-save. You'll be back in town with progression lost, but that's preferable to losing developed characters. Functionally the only difference between ironman and normal in this game is that normal will put you back to the last floor transition in a dungeon, and ironman will simply place you back in town before you entered the dungeon. More progression lost with one option vs the other. Total losses can be totally mitigated in either case.

 

[Jermu]

well if you are going to use tricks like that no reason to play ironman in the first place

 

[somerandomdude]

I just finished the game. The last area isn't much harder than the previous one, many of the enemy types are even reused.

Also, for any of the spell buffs, if it doesn't specifically say that it doesn't stack, then it stacks. This includes attack buffs like valiance, or even the spell resist buffs.

 

[somerandomdude]

well if you are going to use tricks like that no reason to play ironman in the first place

There might be a steam trophy for it? In every game with a hardcore or ironman mode people got alt+F4 on a trigger (I'd argue the majority do this), so it's no different in this game, lol.

 

[Reinhardt]

I just finished the game.

so 70 or 20?

 

[somerandomdude]

I just finished the game.

so 70 or 20?

20ish is about right.

 

[Jermu]

 

[Jermu]

finished it, good game going to buy dlc
too lazy to check steam but probably little bit over 20 hours