If you've been following Famitsu sales over the last few weeks, you probably know that Labyrinth of Galleria - the currently Japan-only sequel to 2016's (2018 in the west) Labyrinth of Refrain has been more than a bit of a bomb. It barely charted on PS4 it's FW, before falling off entirely. The Vita version, which actually got a physical release at the tail-end of 2020, didn't even chart.
I'll be blunt - It's probably the most fascinating game I've played all year, and I might end up calling it my GOTY.
Labyrinth of Refrain was already a very strong DRPG, and one of my favorite games I played in 2018. It had a very strong story, especially for a DRPG, with a sort of nuance that I honestly never had expected out of NIS. To say why that is the case is sadly to spoil the whole surprise of it all, but I'm sure folks that have played Refrain understand what I mean when I say that Galleria had some massive shoes to fill, in that regard.
As far as gameplay goes, while Refrain wasn't exactly the deepest DRPG when it came to exploration, it did offer a variety of unique features to the genre, and overall felt like a more than solid first attempt at one by a developer that had never made a DRPG before. The reinforcement system, and the way that you could use RF points to accomplish matters such as shielding your presence from enemies, breaking down certain walls, and more meant that what was on offer still felt very engaging to explore these dungeons. Refrain in particular did what I would say was an especially admirable job making each dungeon feel unique, and the 6 bosses that you needed to kill in order to unlock the game's true ending postgame were all a joy to discover and fight.
The Coven system is definitely the most unique aspect of the game as a whole - instead of slotting units into your party directly, you would slot pacts into each of the 5 party slots - pacts would have their own attributes, a maximum supported number of attacking and supporting units (up to 8), with their own equipped skills, party member requirements, and more. It was a very deep system, and it meant that you could have up to 40 party members at any given time - each party member themselves requiring you to select their stance, growth rate, and more.
At the end of the day it was a fantastic DRPG that brought a lot to the table. Like many other DRPGs I'd say most non-boss encounters became cakewalks over time, but that's by no means a rare issue for the genre, and the variety of mini-bosses scattered across each dungeon more than made up for matters, in my opinion.
...in almost every way, Galleria is a massive step up from Refrain, building upon the vast majority of its ideas, and adding its own.
First off - the story. While it might sound weird to say this after praising Refrain's story so much earlier, it was definitely an abrasive experience, to put it mildly. The relationship between Dronya and Luca wasn't exactly great for most of the story, and while I'd say the game does ultimately stick the landing here, it takes a while for players to really grow any attachment to them. Additionally, you, the Player Character - the Tractatus de Monstrum - hardly factors into the plot, to the point you'd be forgiven for forgetting that the little book is even technically a character for most of it.
Galleria's dynamic between Eureka and Madame Malta is immediately more palpable, and while there are still abrasive moments here and there, I'd argue that the game still handles these scenes with more delicacy versus some similar scenes in Refrain. The player character - the Wandering Soul - now plays a much more active role in the story. There's a deliberate connection between you and Eureka, and the form you take is an adorable little one-eyed green blob, versus the unassuming book in the first game. Madame Malta teases Eureka, but unlike Dronya she's never truly nasty to her - and the relationship that they share for most of the game is actually pretty cute. Malta is an old coot, and more of the kind-yet-crotchety old witch archetype than the downright evil one that Dronya more closely represents.
Gameplay also has seen quite a few upgrades. First and foremost is the addition of the Liberation system - every Pact now has a built-in super skill that can be activated once a bar is completely filled. It could be an AOE attack that hits every enemy on the field, dealing huge Stun damage, it could be a counter-type move that works similar to Bide in Pokemon, or it could be a more traditional buff or debuff. There's a much larger variety of Facets this time around, too, including some adorable feline companions to add to your party!
As for dungeon-crawling, players now gain access to a variety of new moves. You can now dive underwater to explore while taking care to worry about your oxygen supply. You can shine a magical light or a dark light to reveal hidden items or clear illusions respectively. Some areas that can be revealed with the magical light allow you to jump long gaps, while others allow you to hop over walls of spikes. In addition to everything else, there are now cursed sections of the map where you must either leave them or find a quiet location to quite literally regain your sanity or else you'll take an increasing amount of damage as you continue to explore.
Although each dungeon felt more like it had it's own story and theme in Refrain - the name of the game in Galleria is much more about exploration. Each floor feels more open-ended, and you'll be looping up and down floors to progress forward more in the beginnings hours of Galleria than most of Refrain. It does sort of feel like NIS designed these dungeons with players already familiar with Refrain in mind, which might be a bit of a problem for newcomers, but at the end of the day they're a blast to explore - and there's even a bunch of optional magical curious for you to discover, 1 on each floor in addition to the main objective of the game - discovering the peculiar magical artifacts.
There's much more I'd like to talk about regarding both the story and the gameplay, but it revolves around spoilers that I think most folks should discover for themselves - here's some more information if you're ok being spoiled about story events 30+ hours into the game:
It's a bold decision, that strikes me as something akin to what Yoko Taro loves to do with his games and their narratives. I'm not finished with the game yet, and from all I have gathered from other impressions it's likely going to take me over 80 hours to see the end of the basegame, and over 100 to see the true ending - but everything I've played so far is a bold direction for the sequel to take. Clearly, both expanding upon the original game's ideas while not forcing themselves to be constrained to what Refrain was, or was trying to be.
Everything about this game feels like a paradox. The release platforms and release year, the ambition within the confines of the genre and story, and everything else. There are certain parts of the game that are a little disappointing so far - enemy variety isn't quite as good as Refrain had to offer, for one, and the increased emphasis on the story outside of the dungeons means that most of the dungeons lack the same narrative thread that the locales in Refrain offered - but it's still an incredibly bold title, and makes me very curious to see how folks will react to it whenever it makes it over to the west.
...Unfortunately, owing to both the size of the script and the unfortunate choice of release platforms, we likely won't see this game over in the west until early 2022 at the earliest. While I've been happy to play this on my Vita, clearly it wasn't the best choice of platform for the game in 2020, and it's more than a bit ironic that I'm playing the sequel to I game I had originally played on the Switch on the Vita.
I know it's going to be a while before most folks that enjoyed Refrain, or anyone really, will get to play this - but considering the sheer lack of import impressions, I felt like I had to say something about the game, so folks at least keep it on their radar for when it eventually gets localized. Above all else, Galleria is the type of experiment that deserves support. I love it when pre-established devs go outside of their comfort zone and tackle a project with all the ambition that they could muster. Playing Galleria you can tell how much love the team put into the project, how much they cared about both the game that they were creating, as well as the story that they're trying to tell. It'd be a shame if it ends up bombing here, too.
I'll be blunt - It's probably the most fascinating game I've played all year, and I might end up calling it my GOTY.
Labyrinth of Refrain was already a very strong DRPG, and one of my favorite games I played in 2018. It had a very strong story, especially for a DRPG, with a sort of nuance that I honestly never had expected out of NIS. To say why that is the case is sadly to spoil the whole surprise of it all, but I'm sure folks that have played Refrain understand what I mean when I say that Galleria had some massive shoes to fill, in that regard.
As far as gameplay goes, while Refrain wasn't exactly the deepest DRPG when it came to exploration, it did offer a variety of unique features to the genre, and overall felt like a more than solid first attempt at one by a developer that had never made a DRPG before. The reinforcement system, and the way that you could use RF points to accomplish matters such as shielding your presence from enemies, breaking down certain walls, and more meant that what was on offer still felt very engaging to explore these dungeons. Refrain in particular did what I would say was an especially admirable job making each dungeon feel unique, and the 6 bosses that you needed to kill in order to unlock the game's true ending postgame were all a joy to discover and fight.
The Coven system is definitely the most unique aspect of the game as a whole - instead of slotting units into your party directly, you would slot pacts into each of the 5 party slots - pacts would have their own attributes, a maximum supported number of attacking and supporting units (up to 8), with their own equipped skills, party member requirements, and more. It was a very deep system, and it meant that you could have up to 40 party members at any given time - each party member themselves requiring you to select their stance, growth rate, and more.
At the end of the day it was a fantastic DRPG that brought a lot to the table. Like many other DRPGs I'd say most non-boss encounters became cakewalks over time, but that's by no means a rare issue for the genre, and the variety of mini-bosses scattered across each dungeon more than made up for matters, in my opinion.
...in almost every way, Galleria is a massive step up from Refrain, building upon the vast majority of its ideas, and adding its own.
First off - the story. While it might sound weird to say this after praising Refrain's story so much earlier, it was definitely an abrasive experience, to put it mildly. The relationship between Dronya and Luca wasn't exactly great for most of the story, and while I'd say the game does ultimately stick the landing here, it takes a while for players to really grow any attachment to them. Additionally, you, the Player Character - the Tractatus de Monstrum - hardly factors into the plot, to the point you'd be forgiven for forgetting that the little book is even technically a character for most of it.
Galleria's dynamic between Eureka and Madame Malta is immediately more palpable, and while there are still abrasive moments here and there, I'd argue that the game still handles these scenes with more delicacy versus some similar scenes in Refrain. The player character - the Wandering Soul - now plays a much more active role in the story. There's a deliberate connection between you and Eureka, and the form you take is an adorable little one-eyed green blob, versus the unassuming book in the first game. Madame Malta teases Eureka, but unlike Dronya she's never truly nasty to her - and the relationship that they share for most of the game is actually pretty cute. Malta is an old coot, and more of the kind-yet-crotchety old witch archetype than the downright evil one that Dronya more closely represents.
Gameplay also has seen quite a few upgrades. First and foremost is the addition of the Liberation system - every Pact now has a built-in super skill that can be activated once a bar is completely filled. It could be an AOE attack that hits every enemy on the field, dealing huge Stun damage, it could be a counter-type move that works similar to Bide in Pokemon, or it could be a more traditional buff or debuff. There's a much larger variety of Facets this time around, too, including some adorable feline companions to add to your party!
As for dungeon-crawling, players now gain access to a variety of new moves. You can now dive underwater to explore while taking care to worry about your oxygen supply. You can shine a magical light or a dark light to reveal hidden items or clear illusions respectively. Some areas that can be revealed with the magical light allow you to jump long gaps, while others allow you to hop over walls of spikes. In addition to everything else, there are now cursed sections of the map where you must either leave them or find a quiet location to quite literally regain your sanity or else you'll take an increasing amount of damage as you continue to explore.
Although each dungeon felt more like it had it's own story and theme in Refrain - the name of the game in Galleria is much more about exploration. Each floor feels more open-ended, and you'll be looping up and down floors to progress forward more in the beginnings hours of Galleria than most of Refrain. It does sort of feel like NIS designed these dungeons with players already familiar with Refrain in mind, which might be a bit of a problem for newcomers, but at the end of the day they're a blast to explore - and there's even a bunch of optional magical curious for you to discover, 1 on each floor in addition to the main objective of the game - discovering the peculiar magical artifacts.
There's much more I'd like to talk about regarding both the story and the gameplay, but it revolves around spoilers that I think most folks should discover for themselves - here's some more information if you're ok being spoiled about story events 30+ hours into the game:
The first half of the game acts as mostly a standard DRPG, but with hints to a larger narrative waiting just under the surface. About halfway, maybe a little less, into the first half of the game you're introduced to another Witch - Natyl - that lacks any sort of home to go back to, and clearly has a bit of a haunted past. She and Eureka quickly grow attached to each other, and right as the two of them are finished with the job of collecting all of the magical artifacts, they find themselves targetted by a riot incited by a revolution within the kingdom. After a gruesome end for Eureka, if you fulfill certain requirements you reload your save data, and find yourself now in Natyl's employ in an entirely different world. Instead of the fantasy/medieval vibe that the first half gives off, instead, you've got a more Noir vibe going on. The hints of more going on behind the scenes with the plot balloon out of control. All of your items, equipment, and puppet soldiers are removed - and you're forced to start over from scratch with entirely new Facet variants that weren't available in Eureka's half of the story. Dungeons, too, see a drastic shift. Now the majority of them are randomly generated, like a roguelike/roguelite.
It's a bold decision, that strikes me as something akin to what Yoko Taro loves to do with his games and their narratives. I'm not finished with the game yet, and from all I have gathered from other impressions it's likely going to take me over 80 hours to see the end of the basegame, and over 100 to see the true ending - but everything I've played so far is a bold direction for the sequel to take. Clearly, both expanding upon the original game's ideas while not forcing themselves to be constrained to what Refrain was, or was trying to be.
Everything about this game feels like a paradox. The release platforms and release year, the ambition within the confines of the genre and story, and everything else. There are certain parts of the game that are a little disappointing so far - enemy variety isn't quite as good as Refrain had to offer, for one, and the increased emphasis on the story outside of the dungeons means that most of the dungeons lack the same narrative thread that the locales in Refrain offered - but it's still an incredibly bold title, and makes me very curious to see how folks will react to it whenever it makes it over to the west.
...Unfortunately, owing to both the size of the script and the unfortunate choice of release platforms, we likely won't see this game over in the west until early 2022 at the earliest. While I've been happy to play this on my Vita, clearly it wasn't the best choice of platform for the game in 2020, and it's more than a bit ironic that I'm playing the sequel to I game I had originally played on the Switch on the Vita.
I know it's going to be a while before most folks that enjoyed Refrain, or anyone really, will get to play this - but considering the sheer lack of import impressions, I felt like I had to say something about the game, so folks at least keep it on their radar for when it eventually gets localized. Above all else, Galleria is the type of experiment that deserves support. I love it when pre-established devs go outside of their comfort zone and tackle a project with all the ambition that they could muster. Playing Galleria you can tell how much love the team put into the project, how much they cared about both the game that they were creating, as well as the story that they're trying to tell. It'd be a shame if it ends up bombing here, too.
Last edited:
