Over the last few years, I’ve covered all manner of games with a PSX aesthetic, and while the trend may not be as hot as it once was, plenty of surprises remain in that arena. This is especially true when a developer taps into something about that look that instantly evokes a deeper nostalgic feeling than ‘this looks like it could be on the original PlayStation!’
Just a glance at Labyrinth of the Demon King gave me that deeper feeling. It instantly brought back a particular kind of memory I associated with certain games of the era; a memory of helpless dread.
Labyrinth of the Demon King is a first-person dungeon crawler clearly inspired by the debut FromSoftware gem King’s Field and its subsequent sequels. However, it stands out from that in its feudal Japan setting and firm reliance on grim, grimy horror.
You enter this world as a lowly foot soldier, out to seek justice and revenge for your lord, who was betrayed and murdered by the titular Demon King. This mythical twist on feudal Japan is saturated with demons, the world is in chaos, and basically everything is dead or dying. To exact your revenge, you have to enter the ominous Labyrinth of the Demon King and tackle the worst of the worst.
And from the get-go, Labyrinth of the Demon King lets you know just what kind of power you’re up against. The game is, to put it bluntly, bloody brutal. A motley crew of Yokai, monsters, and other unspeakable things await you in the labyrinth, and while there’s the occasional ‘friendly’ face to find, the outcome of nearly every encounter is a lot of spilled claret and someone ending up dead or deader.
Oh, and to make the journey a bit spicier, there are also puzzles to contend with that could well make you decide getting bludgeoned to death is the easier way out.
Helping you on your way through the labyrinth is an assortment of weaponry and crucial items such as armor and talismans. You can pick up katanas, bows, muskets, and more to battle the demonic hordes, and you’ll have to think on your feet, as resources are thin on the ground, and you never quite know what you might encounter around that next corner.
Encounters are pretty much always intense, challenging, and even a bit unnerving at times. The monster design is exquisite, and the low-poly visuals suit the design of these ugly monstrosities, putting you on the back foot before you’ve even swung a blade in anger.
Keeping your composure is key to success in Labyrinth of the Demon King. Getting hit is a huge deal, and any temptation to rush enemies is soon squashed by swift death. The gargantuan task ahead of you is never more straightforward than the first time you are slain, but the game makes a habit of trying to remind you as often as possible.
Labyrinth of the Demon King Review: Familiar Feud
This is a brutal, unrelenting game, and naturally, the reward is in triumphing against that. You have to admire the developer’s decision to stick to that plan and never shy away from the challenge, but that does mean you will undoubtedly find pockets of frustration along the way that will test your faith in the game’s quality. More so than in the world of a FromSoftware game, Labyrinth of the Demon King’s world only adds to the feeling of helplessness and defeatist thinking.
Not that this is a bad thing. The sheer brownness of this game makes a mockery of any derision of a brown-looking game being ‘boring.’ The world of Labyrinth of the Demon King is pure filth, and I felt that in every dingy courtyard and corridor. This is a place of death and decay, and from what developer J. R. Hudepohl presents, there’s no doubt of that. The deeper you get into Labyrinth of the Demon King, the more hellish it looks.
And this is what the PSX/PS1 aesthetic brings to the table. The fuzzy, scuzzy feel of it combined with the simple, yet striking details sell the oppressive dread and despair of the game world. Yes, graphical levels have gone way up over the years, but even today, there’s something distinctly captivating about horror games birthed from a mid-to-late 90s toolset.
This is why failure feels weighty, and progression is sometimes frustrating. The oppressive nature of, well, everything makes it so. So those flickers of triumph, those fleeting moments of calm, they feel that bit more special, pushing you onward to fulfill your dreadful vow.
This is a throwback in the strongest sense, so be mindful of that going in. This isn’t a game out to offer all mod cons with a retro sheen. All the irritations and frustrations of a game made in 1996 are very much a part of Labyrinth of the Demon King, yet so are the upsides. I can’t deny there were times I wished for a modern touch, but it would dilute the experience and definitely made it far less foreboding.
As it is, Labyrinth of the Demon King is an unflinching Dark Fantasy action RPG that will scratch an itch for those into some hardcore horror RPG action.
Score 8/10
Developer: J. R. Hudepohl
Publisher: Top Hat Studios
Reviewed on PC (Steam)
Labyrinth of the Demon King copy was purchased by the review author.
Labyrinth of the Demon King is now available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.
