Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth
The idea for "Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth" came up when Playism was approached by an editor of the eponymous novels and review the source material. Under supervision of Mizuno, Playism decided to go with the project after seeing that both the material and artwork of Team Ladybug went together. The game is inspired by "Symphony of the Night" and "Ikaruga", while both levels and gameplay were designed to reflect its story concept around exploration. The title was first launched via Steam Early Access in March 2020 prior to the full  version and received several updates through 2020 and 2021, which introduced new stages, gameplay adjustments and game modes. "Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth" garnered mixed reception from critics; praise was given to the retro-style visual presentation, sprite-based 2D animations, art direction faithful to the source material, puzzle-based gameplay and styling but criticism was geared towards its short length, low difficulty, linear design, sparse exploration and plot for not honoring the series it is based on, while others felt mixed in regards to the soundtrack and elemental spirit-swapping mechanic. The game reportedly sold 100,000 copies as of April  2021. Gameplay and premise. "Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth" is an action platform-adventure game similar to "" and "Touhou Luna Nights" that is part of the "Record of Lodoss War" series, taking place before the events of "Diadem of the Covenant". The player controls the High Elf Deedlit through a strange labyrinth filled with her past foes and companions, collecting items and magic, defeating enemies and bosses, and obtaining power-ups that allow the player to backtrack and reach previously inaccessible areas. As the player uncovers more of the labyrinth, a map is updated to show progress. Deedlit can find and  use various weapon types, ranging from daggers to bows, with the latter also being used to solve environmental puzzles. The player can also sell collected weapons at Ghim's shop. Unique to the game are the elemental spirits; During gameplay, the player locates the wind spirit Sylph and the fire spirit Salamander, each one possessing different attributes that alters Deedlit's abilities, and swap between the two. Sylph allows levitation and health recovery under specific conditions, while Salamander grants extra attack power. Both spirits enables Deedlit to absorb wind and fire damage respectively, however, certain enemies and bosses are invincible  to fire-based or wind-based attack. While one elemental spirit can be used, the unused spirit can be leveled up three times by absorbing "Soul Screamers" dropped by enemeies, but they can be leveled down if Deedlit gets hit. The game incorporates elements found in role-playing games, such as an inventory screen, a hit point-based health system that determines the maximum amount of damage Deedlit can withstand before dying, starting at 100 HP but can be expanded by searching life containers and replenished by switching between the two elemental spirits at their maximum level, while her magic  points (MP) determine how frequently a magical attack may be cast. The game is over once Deedlit's HP is depleted, with a penalty of decreasing her experience points that can potentially result in dropping down to a level, though the player can continue with their progress via save points. Development and release. "Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth" was developed over the course of a year by Team Ladybug, a division of Japanese online magazine "DenFaminicoGamer" who previously worked on "" and "Touhou Luna Nights", under supervision of series creator Ryo Mizuno. According to publisher Playism, they were approached by an editor  of the "Record of Lodoss War" novels, which led them to reviewing the source material and decided to go with the idea after seeing that both the material and Team Ladybug's artwork went together. Playism stated that the game was inspired by both "" and "Ikaruga". Playism also stated that both levels and gameplay were designed to reflect its story concept around exploration. The title was built using the Mogura Engine 2, previously used in "Luna Nights". "Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth" was first announced in 2018 during the series' 30th anniversary for PC via Steam. It was later announced that  the game would be coming to Steam Early Access in fall 2019, with a full release following in spring 2020. Publisher Playism revealed that the title would launch via Early Access on March 13, but was released a day earlier instead. An update which introduced a second stage for the Early Access version was released in June. Another update for the Early Access version, which added the third and fourth stages as well as the hero Parn, was originally slated to be launched in November but was delayed to January 19, 2021, in order to introduce features such as menu  settings and a higher resolution. The full version of "Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth", which added the fifth and sixth stages as well as various gameplay adjustments in response to player feedback, was released on March 27. The game's soundtrack was also distributed as an album during the same time period as well. A final update was released on July 13, which introduced boss rush and new game+ modes, as well as achievements. Versions for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S were also released on December 16 by Playism and co -publisher Why so serious? (WSS Playground), featuring multiple language settings while the PS4, PS5 and Switch versions are available in both digital and physical formats. However, the western release of the Switch version was delayed to January 28, 2022. It also became available via Xbox Game Pass on December 16, 2021 for PC and Xbox consoles. Reception. "Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth" on PC garnered "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator site Metacritic. As of April 30, 2021, the game reportedly sold 100,000 copies on PC. "Destructoid"s Zoey Handley felt that "Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth  was slightly more linear than " and criticized the environments for being monotonous and lacking in variety. Nevertheless, Handley praised the pixel art visuals and animations, boss encounters, weapons, energetic soundtrack and plot progression. Eurogamer"s Álvaro Arbonés also commended its simplistic story and art direction for being faithful to the source material, music, presentation and "Ikaruga"-esque elemental spirit mechanic. However, Arbonés criticized aspects of "Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth" such as the aforementioned spirit mechanic for being complicated and introduction of underutilized ideas. "PC Gamer"s Eric Watson criticized the game's short length, low difficulty level and linear nature but gave positive  remarks to the element-swapping mechanic and boss fights, noting the retro-style audiovisual presentation. "PCMag"s Gabriel Zamora gave positive commentary as well in regards to the sprite work, controls, puzzles, action-RPG and spirit-swapping mechanics but noted the title's short length, map design and frequent visual distraction as negative points. "RPGFan"s Mark Tjan gave high praise to the 2D pixel art and puzzle-based gameplay. However, Tjan felt mixed about the soundtrack and criticized the scenario for being light on details and uninspired enemy designs. Alejandro Pascual of Spanish gaming website "3DJuegos" commended "Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth  for its styling, pixel art graphics, elemental spirit mechanics and boss sequences but criticized the game for being sparse in terms of exploration, power-up items and the story for not honoring the series its based on. Gianni Molinaro of French gaming publication Gameblog" felt that "Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth" was very basic, criticizing the easy difficulty level. Nevertheless, Molinaro regarded it to be a fun Metroidvania, giving positive remarks to the pixel-based presentation and bosses. "RPG Site"s James Galizio gave positive remarks to the "Ikaruga"-style color-shifting mechanics, weapon variety and sprite animations, though he found the game 's map locations lacking in visual variety and felt that some of the gameplay mechanics were underutilized due to the short length, which was also criticized as well as its difficulty. "Vandal"s Carlos Leiva regarded it as a "terrific metroidvania-style action-platformer adventure that entertains from start to finish", praising the visuals, element gameplay system and boss battles but noted that the linear progression, unoriginal magic skills and short duration were some of the title's negative points. Console versions. According to "Famitsu", the Switch version sold over 10,374 copies in its first week on the market. Record of