I think we take for granted how easily obtainable anime is today. The 90’s tape trading scene was vital for anime gaining any sort of a foothold in America, proving that there was indeed a market for this sort of thing. But by the early aughts, what was suitable or even marketable to American audiences was still being figured out. It was a wild time. While audiences were largely beholden to what was available in their local video store or the whims of TV executives and what they deemed appropriate for broadcast, you were just as likely to be exposed to something as tame as the TV edit of Dragon Ball or (like me) be thrust into an existential crisis at the ripe age of 14 because you rented The End of Evangelion.

There was this understanding, however, that so much more anime was out there, existing just out of reach. Record of Lodoss war always occupied that fringe, fuzzy area for me. Something I have long been aware of, but as a consequence of that time developed more of a mystique. When I learned that Team Ladybug (developer of the excellent Touhou Luna Nights) were putting out a new search-action game based on Lodoss War, I finally committed to watching both the OVA and subsequent TV series.

Wonder Labyrinth puts players in control of Deedlit, one of the main characters of the Lodoss War novels and adaptations, and love interest of Parn, the series protagonist. She awakens in a labyrinth with a mild case of amnesia and is quickly confronted by friends and foes who seem both familiar yet off. While I think my familiarity with the source material made the end game twist a bit too obvious, it also gave me a better appreciation for the characters involved and what Deedlit is forced to deal with. It’s still a perfectly comprehensible narrative to the uninitiated, but the more emotional beats risk falling flat without all the backstory to add weight to them.

Like Luna Nights, Wonder Labyrinth is a meld of the shoot-em-up and search-action genres; but while Luna Nights had a direct mechanical reference with its source material, Lodoss War was never a shooter. The solution is a rather smart one, playing on the elemental magic Deedlit and other elves use in Lodoss War by introducing Ikaruga’s attack affinities and hot swapping. Deedlit can bounce between fire and wind magic, allowing her to absorb attacks from whichever element she’s currently set to and build meter on the opposite element as she attacks. Once you’ve built enough meter, swapping back to that element will replenish Deedlit’s health continuously… at least until she takes a hit. This becomes the primarily means of healing throughout the game, adding another layer of complexity beyond playing to the strength and weaknesses of enemies.

Unfortunately, there’s not very many puzzles that make good use of this mechanic, with most problem solving being relegated to gears that the player must strike with an arrow to open up gates or move platforms. As the game progresses, you have to start ricocheting arrows off of metal panels to hit gears, but further complexity amounts to more panels, which really just translates to shooting your arrow around until you get just the right pixel that the puzzle is solved. It’s not great, and I felt more could have been done to tie elemental swapping with progression.

Boss battles are all fantastic. A couple repeat but there’s a thematic reason for this. This is where elemental swapping is at its peak, as you have to very quickly bounce between wind and fire both to survive and deal damage. It can be a bit easy to lose track of which element you are currently swapped to during these more chaotic moments and reflecting this by changing Deedlit’s cape from blue to green doesn’t really help much. Orange or red would be more commonly associated with fire in games, but to signify the fire element in Wonder Labyrinth, Deedlit’s cape turns green, which itself would be more closely tied to wind.

There’s also a boss rush mode that unlocks upon beating the game. Not something I’d ordinarily draw attention to, let alone play, but there is something immensely satisfying about running a clinic on this game’s bosses.

I also want to commend the graphics and soundtrack. This game looks gorgeous. The sprite artists at Ladybug do some really incredible work, animations are very fluid and the environment is rich with detail. It has a very Symphony of the Night vibe to it too, right down to Deedlit’s run animation, which is, frankly, legally actionable. The more gentle orchestral music of Lodoss War that I’m familiar with is tossed forcefully out a window for some Metal Gear Solid 2 tracks. The target practice minigame theme is ridiculously intense for what it is. I love it. Some real Yell Dead Cell shit.

As far as I’m concerned, Team Ladybug can keep putting out these games and I’ll keep eating them up. They look great and they play great. I do think they also share many of the same faults, though. Namely that the unique mechanics that build the foundation of these games never quite feel fully explored or utilized to the best effect they could be, but they're still fun enough that they make these games well worth picking up.