Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society is a follow-up to Nippon Ichi Software’s 2016 game, Labyrinth of Refrain. This dungeon-crawler game brings new mechanics to the table, making it stand out from other traditional games in the genre. It features an intriguing story, well-written characters, and a lively soundtrack.
Eureka’s Arrival at the Manor
Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society starts off with a mysterious opening, which sets the stage for the story. You are introduced to the main character, Eureka, and the story progresses through conversations between characters in a typical visual novel style. At times, the player is given choices in how to react to cutscenes, with their choices affecting the outcome of the story. The player character is a spirit inside a lantern, controlled by Eureka.
The overall tone of the game is light-hearted and humorous, but it also includes darker moments that might not appeal to everyone. Eureka responds to a job flyer to find Curios d’Art in a Labyrinth under a mansion. These powerful magical pieces of art can be dangerous if not handled properly. Eureka is a well-written protagonist that interacts well with other characters. The plot of the game was pleasantly surprising, and wants you to progress further to see how it will play out.
Exploring the Labyrinth of Galleria
In the game Labyrinth of Galleria, players will embark on a thrilling journey of exploration through the maze-like Labyrinth. The game features a first-person perspective and turn-based movement, with enemies only becoming active when the player takes a step. This allows players to plan their movements and evade enemies as they traverse the unknown terrain.
Random encounters occur when the player and enemies collide, leading to three possible outcomes: normal combat, ambush from the enemy, or a surprise attack from the player. As players progress through the Labyrinth, they will accumulate mana, which serves as one of the in-game currencies. However, having more mana also means encountering more dangerous enemies, making it necessary for players to balance their exploration and return to the manor for profit.
The mana system adds an extra layer of strategy to the game, as players must decide when to proceed and when to return to the manor. The game also allows players to unlock various exploration abilities, such as the ability to destroy walls, but each use of these abilities drains reinforcement points, which have a limited supply per run. Players will also have to seek witch advice and return to the manor to progress the story and unlock new mechanics.
The game presents a unique and challenging experience, forcing players to think creatively and make smart decisions. Whether it’s by being clever with navigation or making bold choices like dropping into a pit, Labyrinth of Galleria offers an engaging and immersive journey through the mysterious Labyrinth.
Puppets, The Core of the Team
In Labyrinth of Galleria, you will have the ability to customize your own party members, known as “puppets.” The customization options are vast, giving you full control over the look, class, skills, and statistics of each puppet. You can choose the class type, which affects the weapons they are proficient in and the skills they possess. With three different looks and four color schemes to choose from, you can truly make each puppet unique.
Additionally, the game offers customization of your puppets’ statistics, including their growth, nature, stance, and more. These choices will determine the focus of your puppets, whether they are strong in defense or offense. You can also give each puppet a unique name, further immersing yourself in creating a well-rounded and personalized party.
Once you have created your puppets, you will assign them to a Witch Coven, which affects their coven abilities. These abilities can range from defensive, offensive, or supportive, so careful planning is essential. However, be aware that some covens come with a cost, which will decrease your reinforcements, the same mechanic used for your exploration abilities.
In combat, you will have up to 15 characters in your party, and you will give orders to each coven, rather than individual characters. The combat system is turn-based, allowing you to use your coven abilities, escape, attack, and more. You also have access to special abilities that consume reinforcement points, such as boosting your party’s defense or offense. The game also offers the use of special orders, where you can spend a reinforcement point to individually select what each character should do, from attacking to using an item.
Menus, Mechanics and Music
In the Labyrinth of Galleria, there are several menus that need to be navigated, but they are all well-organized and easy to understand. The game provides a clear explanation of each one. There are two main currencies in the game: mana and silver. Silver is used to purchase items at the general store, such as healing items and repairs for your puppets, while mana has a wider range of uses.
One use of mana is to unlock different mechanics, abilities, and passives through Witch Petition. This includes better meat for your puppets for XP, new exploration abilities, and the option to make the game easier or harder. The other use of mana is to upgrade equipment and unlock sealed ones. The equipment used by your puppets can be upgraded to increase damage, better armor, and improve other statistics. Sealed equipment can be unlocked either in the dungeon or through the alchemy pot, but unlocking it through the alchemy pot provides the full potential of the item.
However, one issue with the game is the abundance of mechanics. There are Coven Skills, Liberation Skills, Gore Attacks, Reinforcement, Mist that can take your puppets, and more. While there are tutorials available, it can be overwhelming to keep track of all the mechanics. The game might benefit from streamlining some of these aspects, but it does not detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
Another aspect to note is the gore attacks, which can deal significant damage and remove body parts from enemies. This mechanic can also affect your puppets, reducing their hitpoints and limiting their abilities in combat. If a puppet loses its arms, for example, it can no longer attack. In these cases, it is necessary to return to the base and repair the puppet.
The music in Labyrinth of Galleria fits the atmosphere of the game and enhances the overall experience. The serious music in some parts of the game contrasts with the lighthearted music in the base, which is typical of Nippon Ichi. The sound effects and voice acting are also of high quality, and players have the option to play the game in either Japanese or English. The Japanese voice acting is excellent as I mostly played in it, but I checked the English voice acting and it is also pretty good, particularly the voice actress for Eureka.
Conclusion
In my opinion, Labyrinth of Galleria is a very good game that quickly rose to the top of my list of favorite games from 2023. Although there are some aspects that could be improved, the overall experience is still outstanding. The music is amazing, exploring is incredibly rewarding and enjoyable, the combat is satisfying, and the story is captivating. The game does an excellent job of drawing you into the character of Eureka and the world of Labyrinth, making you want to continue delving deeper into the dungeon to uncover more of the story.
I believe it is a must-play for fans of traditional dungeon crawlers, as these types of games are becoming rarer and rarer. While we have franchises like Mary Skelter from Idea Factory, Etrian Odyssey from Atlus, and Labyrinth of Refrain from recent years, there are also hidden gems like Undertow: Labyrinth of Yomi, which unfortunately have not received as much attention. I truly hope that the traditional first-person dungeon-crawler genre will regain popularity soon. I think Labyrinth of Galleria does an excellent job of showcasing that there is still so much untapped potential in these types of games.
