Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (2021)

Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth may not be the absolute best Metroidvania on the Nintendo Switch, but it is certainly among the best.

It's not often that you find a Metroidvania that actually measures up to its models, while still managing to put its own attractive spin on the old formula. Record of Lodoss War -Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth- absolutely delivers and manages to capture the Symphony of the Night look and feel brilliantly, while still being its own title. There are only two real drawbacks that keep the experience from being perfect: performance can have dips, manifested with slowdown rather than dropped frames, but only in circumstances where it doesn't affect gameplay at all. Then, newcomers to the Record of Lodoss War universe will be left completely lost as to who the characters are, and how they relate to one another, making the story tough to care for. Everything else however feels perfect and proved memorable in a way that Konami's eponymous franchise always managed to deliver with its 2D incarnations.

Who would’ve guessed that a game based on a very traditional novel series from Japan would turn out this way? The last time Record of Lodoss War had any significant presence in games was during the Dreamcast days with an equally excellent, although similarly derivative Diablo-like. Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is tightly designed, a joy to look at and most importantly, is ridiculously respectful of your time, making it an absolute must-play Switch release.

While it's not entirely an experience of the series it's based on, Record of Lodoss War -Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth- offers all the features a metroidvania fan could want, without feeling like "just another clone" of Metroid or Castlevania. Team Ladybug was able to transpose RPG elements, the root of Lodoss War, to a simple and fair, but totally satisfying action platformer, which pleases both the longing fans of the series and gamers looking for casual gameplay.

Outside of the boss rush mode and speedrunning there just isn't much replay value I'm afraid. However, Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a great homage to the source material and fans will relish the experience.