LAST LABYRINTH
You’ll figure each puzzle out sooner or laser
Picture the scene. You awaken strapped and chained to a wheelchair, in a creepy mansion. You have no idea where you are, how you got there, or why. Your only hope of escape is a young girl who speaks a language you don’t understand. What’s the one thing that could make the situation worse? That’s right – homework. You’re not getting out of here without lots of lateral thinking.
Your character’s predicament means that the game is played through head movement and liberal use of q. In your right hand is a strange remote with a single button. Pressing it activates the laser your mysterious captor has placed on your head; in this way, alongside nodding and shaking your head, you indicate to the girl what you want her to interact with in each room.
The master of this mansion is a masked enemy known only as the Phantom. We assume his true identity to be Dr Evil, due to the frickin’ laser beam on your head. Whether or not he’s responsible for the girl (Katia) sometimes being slow to respond to your instructions, we don’t know. In fairness, the laser system is ordinarily as effective as it is simple, though the fact the controller vibrates each time you use it can get annoying (especially if you opt for PS Move rather than DualShock). Getting Katia to throw switches, pick up objects, rotate valves, and so on is easy. Mechanically, the experience is sound.
KAT’S-EYE VIEW
Katia dumps you at the entrance of each room then wanders round at your behest, meaning you observe everything from a single vantage point. The developer has worked hard to ensure this works, and sometimes designed things artfully enough for this position to be an advantage. As for the puzzles, they evoke memories of PS VR puzzler Statik, in that they’re wickedly devious and offer no hint system. While this means that frustration can occasionally set in, it also means that sometimes decoding a room’s setup makes you feel like a genius in the way that only the very best puzzle games can.
There are multiple endings to be had according to the route you take through the mansion, some doors only opening after certain puzzles have been completed. Unfortunately, seeing them all means repeating entire rooms that you’ve already solved, and it’s repetition that is Last Labyrinth’s main problem.
Fail a room, and you and Katia meet a grisly end, though you can immediately reload – fine. Most puzzles are multi-stage affairs, though, and we only came across one with checkpoints. There’s no map or fast travel, which can make locating new rooms and unlocking new endings cumbersome. There’s some wonderful design at work – and although this isn’t horror, PS VR is exploited for some unsettling moments – but it could do with some shortcuts.
“SOMETIMES DECODING A ROOM’S SETUP MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE A GENIUS.”