Omega Labyrinth Life Review – Nintendo Switch
Title: Omega Labyrinth Life
Developer: Matrix Software
Publisher: D3 Publisher Inc
Website: https://www.matrixsoft.co.jp
Genre: Dungeon RPG, Adventure, Adult
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Age Rating: Mature 17+
Release Date: 01/08/2019
Price: £53.99 – Rapid Reviews UK was very kindly provided with a review code for this title.
Fanservice Games Offer A Unique Form of Entertainment
Fanservice games are nothing new. There are many great games that fall into the genre. From Lollipop Chainsaw to the Senran Kagura series and of course the Gun Gal series, there is no shortage of erotically charged titles designs to titillate as much as they do entertain.
Omega Labyrinth life is another one of these titles, but how does it hold compare to other games in this genre? Does it deliver on all fronts or is it a flaccid product that fails to excite or entertain? Keep reading this rapid review to find out.
A Style of Its Own
Going into any fanservice game you already know what you are getting yourself in for. Lots of scantily clad girls who, even when fully dressed do everything they can to get the imagination running wild.
While many may write them off as a cheap way to get a perverted thrill there is often a lot of work put into these games, and Omega Labyrinth Life is no exception.
To go through the looks and feel of this game, you first need to understand that there are several different design and game styles the be experienced here.
Dungeon Crawling Fun
The dungeon crawling element of this game is just fun. It’s got that growing complexity in terms of the challenges it presents and the toughness of the creatures you come across. It looks cute and walking around you meet a nice variety of enemies.
If avoided they can evolve into stronger versions of themselves. This adds a level of strategy to the gameplay because the main goal is to find the stairs to the next level.
Power up and weapons can be found on the ground and equipped to the different members of your ever-growing party.
The weapons are standard fare, the power-ups include map reveals, revivals and different attacking options while the armor is in the form of different style bra and panties.
Visual Novel with Attention on Story
As is often the case with visual novel games there is a strong focus on the story. This game is no other. You are a newcomer, a stranger to a magical school who look over a special garden that always blooms. When evil arrives and destroys the garden, suspicious students suspect you. Through character interactions, multiple-choice decisions and heroic feats in the dungeon, your true role is revealed.
This part is heavy on not so subtle sexually tinted exchanges punctuated by jiggling breasts to indicate which character is talking during the interactions.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers or too much of the plot, but it is a strong narrative that fits the fantasy-esque nature of the game perfectly. The writing is well done, although a little too much-unashamed innuendo for my liking. A little subtlety could go a long way, especially between the two core gardeners whose dominatrix-submissive relationship.
Don’t Forget to Tend Your Garden
The final core gaming element is that of looking after the magic garden. You need to earn seeds, find magic water in the dungeons and harvest your crops to slowly restore the garden to its magical glory.
I found this the weakest and more irritating component of the game, even though I really enjoy the garden/farming style games.
I get that the game had a larger overarching story but for me, personally, this was an excess that could have been skipped. It feels like it didn’t have the same level of thought and attention as the rest of the game anyway.
I disliked that every when you had nothing planted, there were flowers in the garden beds, so you could not tell at a glance which ones you had done and which you had not. While it was easy to walk and check, it just felt like laziness to not put any effort into the UI for this element.
An Appropriate if Unspectacular Soundtrack
Having finished playing the game I can already say that the soundtrack has left my mind completely. It didn’t stand out and was not overpowering, which is good in many ways, but it slips from the mind in an instant when the game is turned off.
One thing, as always with this style of game, the voice acting was on point. Sure, it was in Japanese, but you could easily discern the characters from each other, and the intonations of each one suited their character they belong to near perfectly. If you can look beyond the plethora of moans, groans, and cries of delight, and focus on the dialogue exchanges you will see it, and understand how they match the role each character plays in the grander scheme of the story
Getting to Grips with the Fanservice Element
WARNING. This section is talking about the more graphic elements of the game, and if you’re not interested in hearing about it, then jump ahead.
It never ceases to amaze me what these fanservice games come up with to bring the slice of the hentai/erotic to their games. In Omega Labyrinth Life there are several components.
The first is a fun and quirky mechanic. As you explore the dungeons and level up your character, your breasts will grow as a result. Your cup size proudly displayed on the screen as a sign of your baddie-slaying prowess.
This leads into more intimate interactions when you find stamina invigorating spas dotting through the dungeons. To make use of these your character strips down and has you rub her body in different ways in order to obtain the full benefits of the spa. As always, full nudity is avoided but not by much.
Other times will see you massage your character and gently tap different parts of the screen to either caress or spank her depending on which body part you are focusing on. You character replies by begging you to do more, groaning and mewing until they unashamedly climax, with your switch screen being splashed for added effect. You collect this ‘spray’ as the game calls it and use to help in the garden.
Yet the most absurd element was when you would find moldable lumps of jelly in the dungeon. These yield a reward but must first be formed. The only way to do this is to place the jelly between your beasts, and then, using the left and right analog sticks wiggle your breasts to shape the jelly into an ever-lengthening phallic shape, at which point it will finally tell you what you found. This could be weaponry or helpful items of some kind.
Replayability
If you like fan service games then you might want to revisit this one, but I think this game lays it on too thick even for fans of the genre. It’s a good story with fun gameplay that’s brought down by too much sexual content that adds very little to the game and is included merely for the sake of it.
I can appreciate the fanservice genre for what it is, but this was just a little too much to warrant extra playthroughs. More than anything, I was just happy it was over.
Conclusion
Omega Labyrinth Life is a strange game. It is a game of many different parts some of which are good and some of which are ludicrous. It would be easy to write the game off as tripe, but consideration needs to be given to the genre and the niche audience that it is catered for. With that in mind, the viewpoint changes a little.
There are some things to really enjoy in this game. The dungeon crawling aspect is nicely done while the combat and powerup combinations make for fun and challenging gameplay. The fanservice element is there in spades but part of me feels it is a touch too much even for this genre. There is nothing subtle or discrete about it, and for, who is not necessarily a fan of the genre but understands the aim of the games, it bordered on and delved into the absurd. If I were to play these games regularly as a gamer, then a little more subtlety and grace would certain of a long way.
There is a good game here and the narrative is well laid out and entertaining. Just be prepared for a nonstop barrage of innuendo and lots of inappropriate Switch fondling.
Rapid Reviews Rating
