This is currently on GamePass if you want to check it out for free. Also, I thought it was out on all consoles when I made this, but it looks like the Switch version is coming January 28th.
@@chadfugate564 Yes, physical copies are available, both for NA and EU regions. I have so far only seen PlayAsia list them. Shipping scheduled for end of this month.
@@chadfugate564 Probably will be, everything is. Weather it’s the best version???? The switch is becoming a bit of a dumping ground for bad ports and versions with a “switch tax”. It’s sometimes understandable, modding so it actually plays on the hardware plays like witcher 3 or touch screen added. Mainly the e shop is a minefield. It’s full of rubbish.
Highly recommend getting the anime OAV for anyone who's remotely interested in a traditional Tolkien/D&D inspired fantasy anime without any weird gimmicks like alternate worlds, time travel or the like.
Wow, I watched these on VHS, here in my country there was no anime media at the time and we had to do a crowdfunding among friends who liked anime, to be able to order the tapes at conventions/reunions made by fans to be able to watch! Record of Lodoss War and Berserk were my favorite medieval anime (today there are many others... LOL)!
Though I am quite fond of Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, I agree with how you criticize the comparison to Symphony of the Night when it comes to design. Deedlit is a much simpler game than Symphony, the latter of which I consider to be one of the best designed games I've ever played. I also agree that the game is rather easy, especially if you bother to grind at all. On my first playthrough I got up to level 56 and became an unstoppable killing machine. Though I tend to compulsively grind in games with leveling systems because I like to see just how powerful a character can become. The tendency to not use magic aside from the first spell is something I can also relate to as that was also my strategy on my first playthrough. However, on later playthroughs I became fond of spamming the Shade spell on bosses because it grants temporary invincibility. You'll be overpowered with that spell even against bosses who are immune to it because you can rush in and get in large numbers of hits with your weapon while invulnerable, even the final boss' bullet hell attacks are relatively weak against this tactic. Also, I agree that the bosses are the most fun part of the game and they seem to be better designed than the level areas themselves. My main complaint about the game is that the polarity and arrow puzzles are a bit overdone, but that is just a minor complaint and it's far from being game breaking for me. It's still a solid game in my eyes and I got carried away playing through it all three times I played through it last year, twice on the PC version and once on the Switch version. Overall, while I do like the game more than you, I found your commentary and criticism to be reasonable and your conclusion to be a fair opinion of the game. This is an excellent review.
I think I finished the game at level 40. I didn't realize that Shade made you immune to everything. I used that on the winged lady boss with the dark attack, but I assumed it was just a dark magic absorb.
Haven't played the game in several months but just got an update for it on steam. Wil have to check it out since I wasn't aware the product was finished yet.
I agree with almost all of what you said, except the different spells are very useful against bosses with different weaknesses. Overall beautiful pixel art and a neat central mechanic, but really easy, short, and unmemorable outside of the bosses.
I enjoyed this game, it's a simple metroidvaina but enjoyable. Big SOTN vibes. I actually started a sotn playthrough after playing this and this game actually feels better to control imo. The ikaruga mechanics worked for me in this game, but the level design is just ok. So uh, guess I agree with you on everything again. I would play this over metroid dread any day, even though both games are pretty linear, lodoss has less annoying mechanics. But I think games like Bloodstained and SOTN are just a lot better overall still.
I don't want to make it seem that I'm only here to feed the algorithm; I do watch the videos and you're one of only two game reviewers I still subscribe to. I just have no productive commentary.
That's really cool for me to learn that record of loddus war started as a tabletop RPG. I was a fan of the anime and always assumed it started there or as a manga.
I somehow didn't know there was an OVA and only watched the really boring other anime series. The OVA was fun and this game looks pretty good. I'm glad it's short as I don't have as much time for games.
It looks like a bit of a vanilla remake of SOTN, shame it doesnt distingush itself in the artstyle. The red and blue attack swap is done greatly in the game Outland (does anyone remember this game? It never comes up) Thank you for this review, i like a lot of metroidvania games, but after playing Blasphemous, my standards reached a new height 😋
Thanks, I think I will put this in my steam wish list for when its on sale(can't get myself to pay full price for a game with thousands of a backlog). I probably would have missed it as it's a Record of Lodoss War game which I know nothing about other than I think I saw an anime many years ago. Looks cool to me for a quicker metrovania fix, thanks for review.
@3:40 easy side to you or easy side to a casual? This looks cool though, I just blew through the Castlevania Advance Collection so looking for something to play.
I loved playing through this. Deedlit's movement is so much like Alucard, it feels so good to play. I agree with almost everything Pam says in this review, but I think she's a little harsh on the environments. They're nothing groundbreaking, but I think they're nice.
"They're nothing groundbreaking, but I think they're nice", was basically her criticism of the environments. Too many Metroid knockoffs miss the importance of giving their environments atmosphere and making them feel lived in. That's what made SOTN and Super Metroid great. Sharp pixel art alone doesn't cut it. It's the little details that matter.
This game has been a lot of fun but i much prefered Touhou Luna Nights, also developed by Team Ladybug. The Touhou soundtrack is an earworm through and through, the established characters work even without any prior knowledge of Touhou, and the combat gimmicks of the character you play as, Sakura, make the game extremely fun and memorable imo
Record of Lodoss Wars is one of my favorite animes from the 90s! Deedlit is a popular character kinda like Lum from Uresai Yatsura or… Princess Leia. The height of its popularity was in the 90s and it’s life is prolonged by a cult following. Game looks amazing. Hoping it’s more of a homage rather than cashgrab for fans. To that, the games for Record of Lodoss have been meh in the past. The Record of Lodoss universe deserves a Final Fantasy type rpg but that’s prob never gonna happen. Thanks for the review. I’ll try it… not for Symphony but for the ROLW universe. You should watch the anime. 😊 Intro is worth a look ua-cam.com/video/kagzOJsHBg4/v-deo.html. The OAVs literally play out like an old JRPG.
It's very respectful towards and obviously made with love for the source material even though there really isn't much story. I found the game very challenging, fun and beautiful. Big fan of the anime.
I enjoyed the game, it was very fun. I really appreciate to not see a new Hollow Knight clon or a new 2D Dark Souls. I liked that it was like the Igavanias.
I've done everything this game has to offer and SoTN is only a longer game because you have to explore the map twice. This game lacked the clocktower level with floating enemies everywhere. The element switch was like the bat and wolf swap. I even swapped weapons alot like SoTN although this was the only gear related. With boss rush I realized the earth, wisp and water spell are the only spells you need and it makes the costly spells very underwhelming. I like both games and I would say that this game should be compared to Bloodstained instead
I've only ever beaten one metroidvania game ever, that being bloodstained ritual of the night. I tried super metroid and symphony of the night but with metroid I couldn't get into it and SOTN, although I liked it, I didnt feel compelled to continue. Since this one is short and easy im contemplating getting it but maybe there are better games to try 🤔
Nice vid... i would use much stronger words to say how shallow and cheap this game is terms of content. I didnt know there are crack walls till i get to the last boss and started googling to check if the map is rly so small. This game is just a BOSS fight training room without storyline. It is not metroidvania as there is no backtracking... press the button - next erea opened (and one room with another more/less useless weapon) They could make a great game if put some effort into a map design (game walktrough experience) and storytelling, but desided to leave it at a state where it looks like a Demo. Curse of early access when quick money reduce chances that game will be done properly.
Thanks for your video. I played the game last week and finished it. The visual style was amazing, i loved it a lot. It really looked like SOTN but i must say, that i really disliked the gameplay somehow especially the boss fights. It's pretty tough to avoid damage, the swapping mechanic only works sometimes and not reliable. Sometimes the screen is filled with projectiles and it's more luck based than skill based to get out of it unharmed. Combined with purple unblockable attacks it's just stupid. I mean everything is doable nothing is too hard and I see what the devs tried to do here but for me it just felt clunky and immature in times. Best example is the Ashram boss fight. Avoiding his attacks is pretty tough because the controls combined with the swapping don't work they way they should. Overall it was enjoyable and I'm a sucker for games like this but especially considering the price, there are maaaany many better games out there. Mummy Demastered, Timespinner, Chasm, Hollow Knight, Ori, Shantae, Axiom Verge and so on.
I loved this game. Not just as a fan of the charming classic Record of Lodoss War anime. It was a challenging and beautiful game and quite memorable. I was glad to find a Metroidvania that was tough but mostly doable except for the end boss. I probably sunk at least 20 hours into it and had a blast.
You sold me when you said how short the game is! I have a poor track record of finishing metroidvanias because I get distracted by other games, then trying to come back to these later always results in getting lost and forgetting mechanics. Perhaps I can whisk through this one and then not regret forgetting about it!
You are right, SOTN is the best. However, this game did justice. I have not played another game like SOTN forever, so this was a fun game that made me feel like the first time I played SOTN. So yes, not as good but best game since.
Great review, Pam! It looks pretty good, The red dragon boss looks awesome and you introduced me to Astalon and Ender Lilies last year so i think i will check this out too! Oh and congratulations on 80k!
This game is so awesome, i had bought it on steam, but my pc had a problem and i ended up playing it on xbox. I was really sad because it left gamepass another day and i almost missed it! It's shorter than Castlevania Symphony of the Night and Bloodstained, but is almost as good as them! I wish there were more well-made games like these in metroidvania style!
Played this one right after finishing Elden Ring, and it was the perfect palate cleanser! Short, simple, directly into action, and gorgeous! Loved your outfit btw!
Thank you. Too many people have compared this game to SoTN, and I think people have forgotten just how much content and replayability that game had. It’s a testament to say that a 20 year old game still holds the title of best metroidvania, and although it had its many flaws in balancing, DiWL emulates only those flaws, and a few superficial details. It fails to be as rich in enemy variety or level design, and it’s understandable since Castlevania had nearly a dozen games worth of spritework that they rehashed into SoTN. I’m a fan of Record of Lodoss war when I say this, the game hardly has anything to do with the source material outside of the bosses and NPCS. It’s a fun metroidvania indie that scratches the surface of why we liked Symphony, but it pales in comparison.
some of the reason that it's hard to make a game as good as Symphony of the Night is because this characters have been established and the Dreamcast version of the game the original you could pick the play as Richter the girl I can't remember her name and Alucard right out the gate and I think there was two levels and a cutscene that never made it to the PlayStationbut as far as metroidvanias go it is really hard to beat Super Metroid and Symphony of the NightSymphony of the Night took everything that made Super Metroid amazing redefined it and made it its ownand I'm willing to bet that there are secrets in both of those games even today that we have not foundabout a year ago somebody found a secret in Super Metroidright before you fight the underwater boss that bubble stuff that comes out has a message to say about something about dude loving his wifeanother thing that made Symphony the night so amazing was the downforward weapons like the Rapierthey're actually quite a bit of those and they were all really goodI thought blood stain was a really amazing game too still couldn't catch that bottle lightning that Symphony of the Night wasbut it was really good as well just like this game is pretty amazing too and some people are saying that they like it better than Symphony I just don't see it many games come close to Symphony of the Night but there still has yet to be onethat is better Metroid dread was pretty phenomenal but I still don't think it was better than Super Metroid and I think both of the circle of the Moon games the anti-creates did are way better than anything that Konami is releasedthe last 10 years hands downexcept for both of their collectionswhich were really good too and out of all the Metroid stylegames that Konami released after Symphony of the Nightwe're really good too just not Symphony of the Nightso going forward are they going to be great metroidvania games absolutelyare any of them ever going to surpass Symphony of the Night Only Time Will Tell
Thanks for the research on this series, I honestly had no idea about it. The game is pretty decent, nowhere near the quality of SotN but worth playing nonetheless. It has its own unique mechanics which are fun in their own right.
The swapping mechanic is actually giving me Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin vibes more than Symphony of the Night. The mechanic’s not the same (In that game, you switched between a physical attacker and a magic user and certain enemies were weaker against one) but the animation of Deedlit switching elements does heavily remind me of that.
2 роки тому+3
There's another metroidvania that uses that same mechanic: Outland. The "dark" enemies only hit you if you are in the "light" and viceversa.
Deedlit's sword animations cap, back dash, are all from Alucard's move set in Symphony of the Night though, the sprite even looks like Alucard's in that game
Thank you for this nuanced and grounded take on this game. The hype has been unreal and I found myself getting caught up. I do have it preordered and plan to play it but I appreciate the tempered expecations.
I backed the Kickstarter and overall I'm satisfied with it. Being familiar with the Anime is not necessary to enjoy the game, but it can give a little bit of supplementary nostalgia that you'd otherwise miss out on if this is the first time you've encountered the Lodoss War universe. Overall, I'd definitely put it in the "good" list. Not quite as good as Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, but still quite good for an Indie Metroidvania.
Hey Pam, did you play all the way through Ladybug's prior game, Touhou Luna Nights ? I think it's a stronger game and has even more Syphony of the Night vibes. It's of course yet another revisit to 2002's Touhou 6 Embodiment of Scarlet Devil yet it's head and sholders better than all the other EoSD fangames before it. I saw your video talking about it in Xbox Gamepass and smiled at your sturggle with the Japanese names. Touhou is prounounced "Toe-hoe", Sakuya is pronounced "Sack-oo-yah". The whole thing taking place in a dream world version of the Scarlet Devil Masion is a conceit to revisit old ground (Megaman Xtreme on GameBoy Color used this same plot device) but I liked the game so much I could accept that and still get on with it.
One gripe I have with the levels are the lack of names. "Stage" 1,2,3,4,5.. just isn't memorable. But, I did find the look of the levels fairly distinct. Better than Metroid Dread and Hollow Knight. But, out of those 3 games, Hollow Knight was somehow the easiest to remember the layout of the world. Where as the world layout in Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is mostly a blur. But it might be that I relied on the map and teleporters too much to memorize the layout. While in SOTN I have the whole map memorized, but that's a game I have played many times.
You're definitely one of the best game reviewing UA-cam artists out there, keep at it. Journalism, Culture & the Arts. I'm sure you're well acquainted with. 😉
Late to the table on this, but this game is 💯% S.O.N. but with Dragons! Maybe a little short but otherwise I absolutely love this game! If you're a Castlevania S.O.N. this game is a no brainer! I agree not as good as S.O.N. but if you're jonesing for Castlevania it's well worth the $ especially if you catch it on sale and other than the way to short Dead Cells DLC return to Castlevania god knows when we'll get a new Castlevania or if it'll be anything like S.O.N.✌️
I feel like a lot of the stuff you criticize this game for can apply to SOTN. This game looks like Timespinner to me and I enjoyed that game. I also enjoyed Bloodstainted too but the thing is, I am just a not big super fan of these kinds of metroidvania games, I prefer games more akin to how Metroid operates. And I do want to play this game mainly because of Deedlit, all though if I am being kind of honest here, I probably just like her because she is an attractive elf and she was voiced by Lisa Ortiz in the Dub of the 90s OVA. I really don't remember the OVA all that well, I remember it being those retro anime everyone hyped up but I just didn't care for. It's also one of Madhouse's first anime, which is interesting but I remember not liking it that much. The English Opening and Ending are amazing though. If anything, I doubt it even counts as one but I am glad there is an anime licensed game that isn't your usual fare.
Each time I get my hand on some not so popular metroidvania you haven't already mentioned I think: "maybe I should leave a comment to tell Pam about this one" then I forget until you make a video on it ^^. Anyway I'm sure you probably know about every new 'vanias long before me. I don't remember for how long Deedlit was in my wishlist, but when I saw it on sale for less than 10€ one year ago, I decided to take the bet. I had some good hope but not too much, so I finally played it six months later, fully released and patched. It never came to my mind to compare it with SotN, not after five minutes and the little imps at the beginning. I think it's clearly a tribute, but certainly not a copy or a copy attempt. During my playtime, I felt the same as you, about movement, platforming, spirits mechanic (have Ikaruga in my librairy, never played it yet, but it also remind me the final battle in Lord of Shadow Mirrors of Fate). Boss fights were also definitely my favorite part. My only (minor) disapointment, in addition to the relative lack of memorable places and backgrounds, was the level design, which I found a bit too linear (difficult to get lost in that labyrinth). Beside the occasional back to the nearest warp room, teleport, use new skill or key, enter unexplored single room, get new weapon, I was surpised they added a few useless layouts/shortcuts between some zones or levels: it's like you go to unlock them to uncover the map, then you make a u-turn and keep moving forward because you already explored the totality of the other side and you'll never take that way again, even if you need to go back or farm a monster. I mean... they did a great job overall but that little detail make me think they realised the map was too straight forward so they added some shortcut here and there... what the point if the player has nothing to gain by going through it? Globally I had a pretty good time playing Deedlit, I even completed it two times: one long run collecting everything and another level 1 capped, which was even better because it makes the weapons and spells more valuable, especially bows. With a good use of spirits it wasn't too challenging beside the few "deadly combo of ennemies" rooms/corridors and since I particulary enjoyed the bosses, I went for the good old castlevania challenge of beating them without taking damage, with a lot of retry lol
I bought this on Steam a while back but haven't gotten around to it yet. It's weird. Never read or watched the Manga/Anime, never played a game (though I own the Dreamcast game), but I know a little bit about the games somehow for reasons even I don't understand. It's interesting because they're clones of more popular games but they do them well. The Super Famicom game is kind of like Tactics Ogre meets Dragon Quest with adventuring around a world map and going to town to town but with grid based battles, but also it's own thing. The Mega CD game is like Shining Force, but also it's own thing. The Dreamcast one is a Diablo clone, but it's own thing and this one is a Symphony of the Night clone, but it's own thing. It's like they're not shy at all about what they're ripping off but they do make an attempt to make the games good instead of thinking the I.P. and it looking like another popular game is all they need to do.
The Dreamcast diablo clone Record of Lodoss is super amazing. It's funny that the two Lodoss games NA got are clones of other extremely popular games. Not complaining about that. Symphony of the NIght is my favorite game of all time. Diablo clones are one of my favorite genres of all time
I feel like it took from Aria of Sorrow as well. Shooting the bag to unlock the path is similar to hitting the wrecking balls to break walls to progress in AoS. Thats all I remember from the video tbh but I feel like it takes a little from that game
Hello Pam, could you help me find contact information for Team Ladybug. We at #iiRcade would love to interest the developer to release Deedlit for our Arcade Console Platform. We do house Metroidvania titles and this would be absolutely awesome in our gaming library. Thank you
This is the game I wanted bloodstained ritual of the night to be (not that it’s bad it’s just not a dawn of sorrow style) Not perfect but the first Metroidvania to capture the sotn experience. I rather enjoyed it.
it really does NOT. beat it in one sitting and have no desire to play it ever again. glad i got to play it on game pass that i only paid $1/month for. but hey, the character turns left and right with the sassy cape swing alucard style so that was coo.... i guess lmao
Great graphics & sprite work but the level design is very simplistic. Just long hallways, a few small staircases, jump to reach a ledge, that’s basically it.
The main reason I'm familiar with Lodoss is that there was a Diablo-esque Dreamcast game that was released in the west, but my primary memory of that game is getting a pair of iron boots and forever hearing CLANG CLANG CLANG whenever you move around!
"You're usually finding things like spells you probably won't use, weapons of which there are too many, and some extra health which can be nice but isn't all that important with the regen mechanic and general lack of difficulty. There are actually a LOT of mechanics going on in this game, but the experience is very smooth and you don't have to think about it too hard." I don't know Pam, that sounds 100% like SotN to me. One of my top 5 desert island games, but yeah.
understanding a record of war of lodoss Is unfortunately a requirement for being able to play this entire game and understand and enjoy it Personally I do not understand Why They didn't Include The Anime With the game It would explain a lot
Me recuerdas mucho, a las reseñas de antaño, muy buenas. Es el tipo de análisis que me encantan.En cuanto al juego creo que es precioso pero demasiado fácil lo cual lo hace muy corto. Take your Like. You remind me a lot, of the reviews of yesteryear, very good. It is the type of analysis that I love. As for the game, I think it is beautiful but too easy, which makes it very short. take your like
There are some big differences quality wise. Deedlit was fun but not near The level of symphony and the best handheld castlevania games. The Map is atleast 3 times bigger in Symphony the drop loot system in symphony is much more rich and diverse not only weapon drops. The music is on another level just like the overall atmosphere. Symphony of the night is still one of the best games ever made and deedlit is not even in the top 10 best metroidvania list even if i enjoyed it alot.
The quick switches actually made the game more high paced and fun for me just beat the game going to go back and try the mini gambling dice game and boss rush modes, not as much weapons, magic abilities, story, and the map doesn’t compare to sotn but great game nonetheless
I grew up with the series so I'm kinda disappointed that you haven't at least checked it out. I love sotn but i feel people tend to look at it with nostalgia goggles rather than for what it is.
The original Record of Lodoss War is still in my top 5 favorite anime of all time. It was true art!
It is very enjoyable and still holds up as one of the go-to titles in fantasy anime.
I have only watched the first 6 episodes of Deedlit and while the art is really the story and characters are nowhere near masterpiece level.
I was going to say the same thing: Record of Lodoss War is a great anime.
@@knightofvirtue613 except parn was a bit too whiney
How do you even watch it? I tried watching it before this came out but couldn't find it despite having all the streaming services
This is currently on GamePass if you want to check it out for free. Also, I thought it was out on all consoles when I made this, but it looks like the Switch version is coming January 28th.
do you know if it's going to be released on the Nintendo eShop or physical release for Switch (English version)
GamePass is not free :)
@@chadfugate564 Yes, physical copies are available, both for NA and EU regions. I have so far only seen PlayAsia list them. Shipping scheduled for end of this month.
Only reason I tried it. Interesting game, but the flow felt off for me and the story was not compelling. Maybe sotn just hooked me in better.
@@chadfugate564 Probably will be, everything is.
Weather it’s the best version????
The switch is becoming a bit of a dumping ground for bad ports and versions with a “switch tax”.
It’s sometimes understandable, modding so it actually plays on the hardware plays like witcher 3 or touch screen added.
Mainly the e shop is a minefield. It’s full of rubbish.
Highly recommend getting the anime OAV for anyone who's remotely interested in a traditional Tolkien/D&D inspired fantasy anime without any weird gimmicks like alternate worlds, time travel or the like.
It still holds up.
Wow, I watched these on VHS, here in my country there was no anime media at the time and we had to do a crowdfunding among friends who liked anime, to be able to order the tapes at conventions/reunions made by fans to be able to watch! Record of Lodoss War and Berserk were my favorite medieval anime (today there are many others... LOL)!
Though I am quite fond of Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, I agree with how you criticize the comparison to Symphony of the Night when it comes to design. Deedlit is a much simpler game than Symphony, the latter of which I consider to be one of the best designed games I've ever played. I also agree that the game is rather easy, especially if you bother to grind at all. On my first playthrough I got up to level 56 and became an unstoppable killing machine. Though I tend to compulsively grind in games with leveling systems because I like to see just how powerful a character can become.
The tendency to not use magic aside from the first spell is something I can also relate to as that was also my strategy on my first playthrough. However, on later playthroughs I became fond of spamming the Shade spell on bosses because it grants temporary invincibility. You'll be overpowered with that spell even against bosses who are immune to it because you can rush in and get in large numbers of hits with your weapon while invulnerable, even the final boss' bullet hell attacks are relatively weak against this tactic. Also, I agree that the bosses are the most fun part of the game and they seem to be better designed than the level areas themselves.
My main complaint about the game is that the polarity and arrow puzzles are a bit overdone, but that is just a minor complaint and it's far from being game breaking for me. It's still a solid game in my eyes and I got carried away playing through it all three times I played through it last year, twice on the PC version and once on the Switch version.
Overall, while I do like the game more than you, I found your commentary and criticism to be reasonable and your conclusion to be a fair opinion of the game. This is an excellent review.
I think I finished the game at level 40. I didn't realize that Shade made you immune to everything. I used that on the winged lady boss with the dark attack, but I assumed it was just a dark magic absorb.
Super cool review Pam, thanks for showing us!
Thanks for watching!
Your editing just keeps getting better & better!
This looks like a fun afternoon game with the grandkids.
Thank you!
I really enjoyed the game, and hope it does well enough to get a larger sequel.
That would be cool
Haven't played the game in several months but just got an update for it on steam. Wil have to check it out since I wasn't aware the product was finished yet.
I agree with almost all of what you said, except the different spells are very useful against bosses with different weaknesses. Overall beautiful pixel art and a neat central mechanic, but really easy, short, and unmemorable outside of the bosses.
I enjoyed this game, it's a simple metroidvaina but enjoyable. Big SOTN vibes. I actually started a sotn playthrough after playing this and this game actually feels better to control imo. The ikaruga mechanics worked for me in this game, but the level design is just ok. So uh, guess I agree with you on everything again.
I would play this over metroid dread any day, even though both games are pretty linear, lodoss has less annoying mechanics. But I think games like Bloodstained and SOTN are just a lot better overall still.
Dread is vastly over rated. But it's a drip fed Nintendo franchise so it automatically gets a plus 9 to any 1 out of 10 review.
Thanks so much for this review!
Oh cool, Ive been playing this game the last few days! Dropping everything to watch right now
I don't want to make it seem that I'm only here to feed the algorithm; I do watch the videos and you're one of only two game reviewers I still subscribe to. I just have no productive commentary.
That's okay. Algorithm appeasement is always appreciated.
Looks like a sharp and polished game. Great review! 👍
Really curious to hear what you make of Aeterna Noctis?
I didn't love it when I played it pre-release. I do plan to stream it on Thursday though.
@@Cannotbetamed1 Ooh great to know! 😊
Love your channel Cannot be Tamed!!! Keep up the great work!!!
Thanks!
Pam calls it "easy" but I couldn't get past the first boss.
I might need to call it a career and take up crocheting.
That's really cool for me to learn that record of loddus war started as a tabletop RPG. I was a fan of the anime and always assumed it started there or as a manga.
Re: Equip Item Variety - does it have anything near SOTN's huge amount?
No, it's not quite as much as SotN
I somehow didn't know there was an OVA and only watched the really boring other anime series. The OVA was fun and this game looks pretty good. I'm glad it's short as I don't have as much time for games.
Weird coincidence that this game comes out right after I just marathon the 90s anime
It looks like a bit of a vanilla remake of SOTN, shame it doesnt distingush itself in the artstyle. The red and blue attack swap is done greatly in the game Outland (does anyone remember this game? It never comes up)
Thank you for this review, i like a lot of metroidvania games, but after playing Blasphemous, my standards reached a new height 😋
Thanks, I think I will put this in my steam wish list for when its on sale(can't get myself to pay full price for a game with thousands of a backlog). I probably would have missed it as it's a Record of Lodoss War game which I know nothing about other than I think I saw an anime many years ago. Looks cool to me for a quicker metrovania fix, thanks for review.
No problem!
Loved the old Lodoss War anime!
I can't believe that deadcells and hollow knight is more famous than this. Just at look at this art!
Because they're way more fun.
I just downloaded this on Game Pass but haven't played it yet. I may have to dive into it now!
@3:40 easy side to you or easy side to a casual? This looks cool though, I just blew through the Castlevania Advance Collection so looking for something to play.
Difficulty is relative. But compared to other games in the genre, I found it pretty easy with a lot of ways to recover from poor play.
The story adds to the lore and story of RoLW so yes, it won't make much sense to someone who never watched the OVAs or the TV series.
I loved playing through this. Deedlit's movement is so much like Alucard, it feels so good to play. I agree with almost everything Pam says in this review, but I think she's a little harsh on the environments. They're nothing groundbreaking, but I think they're nice.
Isn't that what she said? Nice but not special?
"They're nothing groundbreaking, but I think they're nice", was basically her criticism of the environments. Too many Metroid knockoffs miss the importance of giving their environments atmosphere and making them feel lived in. That's what made SOTN and Super Metroid great. Sharp pixel art alone doesn't cut it. It's the little details that matter.
This game has been a lot of fun but i much prefered Touhou Luna Nights, also developed by Team Ladybug. The Touhou soundtrack is an earworm through and through, the established characters work even without any prior knowledge of Touhou, and the combat gimmicks of the character you play as, Sakura, make the game extremely fun and memorable imo
I totally agree. Touhou Luna Nights was much more memorable and I liked the mechanics more.
In the anime, Deedlit is a natural blonde.
Record of Lodoss Wars is one of my favorite animes from the 90s! Deedlit is a popular character kinda like Lum from Uresai Yatsura or… Princess Leia. The height of its popularity was in the 90s and it’s life is prolonged by a cult following. Game looks amazing. Hoping it’s more of a homage rather than cashgrab for fans. To that, the games for Record of Lodoss have been meh in the past. The Record of Lodoss universe deserves a Final Fantasy type rpg but that’s prob never gonna happen. Thanks for the review. I’ll try it… not for Symphony but for the ROLW universe. You should watch the anime. 😊 Intro is worth a look ua-cam.com/video/kagzOJsHBg4/v-deo.html. The OAVs literally play out like an old JRPG.
It's very respectful towards and obviously made with love for the source material even though there really isn't much story. I found the game very challenging, fun and beautiful. Big fan of the anime.
The Lodoss Wiki has translations of some of the novels.
Thanks for bringing this game to my attention. 🤗
By the way, the title says, "Does is" instead of "Does it." 😉
Thank you for pointing that out.
@@Cannotbetamed1 You're welcome.
I enjoyed the game, it was very fun. I really appreciate to not see a new Hollow Knight clon or a new 2D Dark Souls. I liked that it was like the Igavanias.
I’m getting the physical copy
You're my go-to for games I never heard of but should give a go. I can always count on you to not blow smoke up a game's skirt.
I hoped there would be voice dub. Who wouldn't want to hear Lisa Ortiz voicing Deed again?
5:33 -> 100% agree. Level design is a bit meh in this game, unfortunately :/
Yeah it’s really fun. I wanna try Ender Lillies after this, than the Ori games
I've done everything this game has to offer and SoTN is only a longer game because you have to explore the map twice. This game lacked the clocktower level with floating enemies everywhere. The element switch was like the bat and wolf swap. I even swapped weapons alot like SoTN although this was the only gear related. With boss rush I realized the earth, wisp and water spell are the only spells you need and it makes the costly spells very underwhelming. I like both games and I would say that this game should be compared to Bloodstained instead
I think this game pales in comparison to Bloodstained as well.
Looks like SOTN, oh wow you weren’t kidding.
I've only ever beaten one metroidvania game ever, that being bloodstained ritual of the night. I tried super metroid and symphony of the night but with metroid I couldn't get into it and SOTN, although I liked it, I didnt feel compelled to continue. Since this one is short and easy im contemplating getting it but maybe there are better games to try 🤔
Nice vid... i would use much stronger words to say how shallow and cheap this game is terms of content. I didnt know there are crack walls till i get to the last boss and started googling to check if the map is rly so small.
This game is just a BOSS fight training room without storyline.
It is not metroidvania as there is no backtracking... press the button - next erea opened (and one room with another more/less useless weapon)
They could make a great game if put some effort into a map design (game walktrough experience) and storytelling, but desided to leave it at a state where it looks like a Demo.
Curse of early access when quick money reduce chances that game will be done properly.
I wanted to love this game but I didnt...nothing necessarily wrong/bad with it but its simply no SotN. Also can we see more vids of your cute dog?
I had a crush on Deedlit when I was a cringy weeb 20 some years ago.
Thanks for your video. I played the game last week and finished it. The visual style was amazing, i loved it a lot. It really looked like SOTN but i must say, that i really disliked the gameplay somehow especially the boss fights. It's pretty tough to avoid damage, the swapping mechanic only works sometimes and not reliable. Sometimes the screen is filled with projectiles and it's more luck based than skill based to get out of it unharmed. Combined with purple unblockable attacks it's just stupid. I mean everything is doable nothing is too hard and I see what the devs tried to do here but for me it just felt clunky and immature in times. Best example is the Ashram boss fight. Avoiding his attacks is pretty tough because the controls combined with the swapping don't work they way they should. Overall it was enjoyable and I'm a sucker for games like this but especially considering the price, there are maaaany many better games out there. Mummy Demastered, Timespinner, Chasm, Hollow Knight, Ori, Shantae, Axiom Verge and so on.
I really hope Konami releases a Castlevania DS collection. I loved those games!
I would definitely play Portrait of Ruin again
@@_Gilles_ the games are pretty good however i did not like the anime art style in portrait of ruin and dawn of sorrow.
@@tomclancy9574 i agree but the levels were fun and the game mechanics quite interesting
Obligatory romhack mention!
I think that's a safe bet.
I loved this game. Not just as a fan of the charming classic Record of Lodoss War anime. It was a challenging and beautiful game and quite memorable. I was glad to find a Metroidvania that was tough but mostly doable except for the end boss. I probably sunk at least 20 hours into it and had a blast.
I haven't touched symphony of the night in many years and watching the animations of the character, that was the first thing that came to mind.
The anime was a big deal in the 90's! It's a surprise to see it return in this way. Thanks for mentioning the Ikaruga element, which others haven't!
You sold me when you said how short the game is! I have a poor track record of finishing metroidvanias because I get distracted by other games, then trying to come back to these later always results in getting lost and forgetting mechanics. Perhaps I can whisk through this one and then not regret forgetting about it!
It is nice to have something that can be finished in a few sittings.
@@Cannotbetamed1 Alexander the Great was said to never need to carry money.
He was so famous that being in his presence was classed as currency.
You are right, SOTN is the best. However, this game did justice. I have not played another game like SOTN forever, so this was a fun game that made me feel like the first time I played SOTN. So yes, not as good but best game since.
Great review, Pam! It looks pretty good, The red dragon boss looks awesome and you introduced me to Astalon and Ender Lilies last year so i think i will check this out too! Oh and congratulations on 80k!
Thank you!
This game is so awesome, i had bought it on steam, but my pc had a problem and i ended up playing it on xbox. I was really sad because it left gamepass another day and i almost missed it! It's shorter than Castlevania Symphony of the Night and Bloodstained, but is almost as good as them! I wish there were more well-made games like these in metroidvania style!
Played this one right after finishing Elden Ring, and it was the perfect palate cleanser! Short, simple, directly into action, and gorgeous!
Loved your outfit btw!
OMG! I’m doing exactly the same! Hahahaha
Thank you. Too many people have compared this game to SoTN, and I think people have forgotten just how much content and replayability that game had. It’s a testament to say that a 20 year old game still holds the title of best metroidvania, and although it had its many flaws in balancing, DiWL emulates only those flaws, and a few superficial details. It fails to be as rich in enemy variety or level design, and it’s understandable since Castlevania had nearly a dozen games worth of spritework that they rehashed into SoTN.
I’m a fan of Record of Lodoss war when I say this, the game hardly has anything to do with the source material outside of the bosses and NPCS. It’s a fun metroidvania indie that scratches the surface of why we liked Symphony, but it pales in comparison.
some of the reason that it's hard to make a game as good as Symphony of the Night is because this characters have been established and the Dreamcast version of the game the original you could pick the play as Richter the girl I can't remember her name and Alucard right out the gate and I think there was two levels and a cutscene that never made it to the PlayStationbut as far as metroidvanias go it is really hard to beat Super Metroid and Symphony of the NightSymphony of the Night took everything that made Super Metroid amazing redefined it and made it its ownand I'm willing to bet that there are secrets in both of those games even today that we have not foundabout a year ago somebody found a secret in Super Metroidright before you fight the underwater boss that bubble stuff that comes out has a message to say about something about dude loving his wifeanother thing that made Symphony the night so amazing was the downforward weapons like the Rapierthey're actually quite a bit of those and they were all really goodI thought blood stain was a really amazing game too still couldn't catch that bottle lightning that Symphony of the Night wasbut it was really good as well just like this game is pretty amazing too and some people are saying that they like it better than Symphony I just don't see it many games come close to Symphony of the Night but there still has yet to be onethat is better Metroid dread was pretty phenomenal but I still don't think it was better than Super Metroid and I think both of the circle of the Moon games the anti-creates did are way better than anything that Konami is releasedthe last 10 years hands downexcept for both of their collectionswhich were really good too and out of all the Metroid stylegames that Konami released after Symphony of the Nightwe're really good too just not Symphony of the Nightso going forward are they going to be great metroidvania games absolutelyare any of them ever going to surpass Symphony of the Night Only Time Will Tell
I'm TheMultiGunMan and I'm here to watch videos of people talking about video games. :-)
This looks pretty fun to play. Can’t wait to get it for Switch. Thanks for the review. You look great by the way.
Thank you!
Can confirm it is a fantastic game.
Thanks for the research on this series, I honestly had no idea about it. The game is pretty decent, nowhere near the quality of SotN but worth playing nonetheless. It has its own unique mechanics which are fun in their own right.
The swapping mechanic is actually giving me Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin vibes more than Symphony of the Night. The mechanic’s not the same (In that game, you switched between a physical attacker and a magic user and certain enemies were weaker against one) but the animation of Deedlit switching elements does heavily remind me of that.
There's another metroidvania that uses that same mechanic: Outland. The "dark" enemies only hit you if you are in the "light" and viceversa.
@ Interesting
Not enough love for portrait of ruin.
The mechanic is very similar to Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams.
Deedlit's sword animations cap, back dash, are all from Alucard's move set in Symphony of the Night though, the sprite even looks like Alucard's in that game
Thank you for this nuanced and grounded take on this game. The hype has been unreal and I found myself getting caught up. I do have it preordered and plan to play it but I appreciate the tempered expecations.
Hope you enjoy it!
It looks beautiful I´m a sucker for those aesthetics! I would have called it Deedlit in WonderMaze, shorter and better sounding haha
Honestly it looks uninspiring.
@@Beastmode-hk3fj Nah. Looks damn good
WonderMaze does sound better.
Adoro seus vídeos, parabéns!!!
Yeah, this game wasn't terrible by any stretch, but after I beat it I knew I wasn't coming back to it again.
Yep. I tried the boss rush (mostly because I needed more footage for the video), but I don't feel the need to play anymore of this.
was gonna pick that up but now... i don't know. thanks for the review
No problem!
I just got this game yesterday....It is pretty good so far!
I backed the Kickstarter and overall I'm satisfied with it. Being familiar with the Anime is not necessary to enjoy the game, but it can give a little bit of supplementary nostalgia that you'd otherwise miss out on if this is the first time you've encountered the Lodoss War universe. Overall, I'd definitely put it in the "good" list. Not quite as good as Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, but still quite good for an Indie Metroidvania.
I just finished this last week.. loved every moment.. I may have been a bit overleveled for the final encounter.
Not difficult, and about five hours? I'm sold. Thanks for the review!
Hey Pam, did you play all the way through Ladybug's prior game, Touhou Luna Nights ? I think it's a stronger game and has even more Syphony of the Night vibes. It's of course yet another revisit to 2002's Touhou 6 Embodiment of Scarlet Devil yet it's head and sholders better than all the other EoSD fangames before it.
I saw your video talking about it in Xbox Gamepass and smiled at your sturggle with the Japanese names. Touhou is prounounced "Toe-hoe", Sakuya is pronounced "Sack-oo-yah". The whole thing taking place in a dream world version of the Scarlet Devil Masion is a conceit to revisit old ground (Megaman Xtreme on GameBoy Color used this same plot device) but I liked the game so much I could accept that and still get on with it.
Yes I played all the way through it. I didn’t get any SotN vibes, but I agree it was better than Deedlit.
One gripe I have with the levels are the lack of names. "Stage" 1,2,3,4,5.. just isn't memorable. But, I did find the look of the levels fairly distinct. Better than Metroid Dread and Hollow Knight. But, out of those 3 games, Hollow Knight was somehow the easiest to remember the layout of the world. Where as the world layout in Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is mostly a blur. But it might be that I relied on the map and teleporters too much to memorize the layout. While in SOTN I have the whole map memorized, but that's a game I have played many times.
Literally just released today physical! Nice!
You're definitely one of the best game reviewing UA-cam artists out there, keep at it. Journalism, Culture & the Arts. I'm sure you're well acquainted with. 😉
Why does it have such a long weak Title?
It looks like such a blatant rip off, but polished and fun. Love your necklace 👌
Thanks!
Late to the table on this, but this game is 💯% S.O.N. but with Dragons! Maybe a little short but otherwise I absolutely love this game! If you're a Castlevania S.O.N. this game is a no brainer! I agree not as good as S.O.N. but if you're jonesing for Castlevania it's well worth the $ especially if you catch it on sale and other than the way to short Dead Cells DLC return to Castlevania god knows when we'll get a new Castlevania or if it'll be anything like S.O.N.✌️
Sotn?
You just said the magic word
I feel like a lot of the stuff you criticize this game for can apply to SOTN. This game looks like Timespinner to me and I enjoyed that game. I also enjoyed Bloodstainted too but the thing is, I am just a not big super fan of these kinds of metroidvania games, I prefer games more akin to how Metroid operates.
And I do want to play this game mainly because of Deedlit, all though if I am being kind of honest here, I probably just like her because she is an attractive elf and she was voiced by Lisa Ortiz in the Dub of the 90s OVA.
I really don't remember the OVA all that well, I remember it being those retro anime everyone hyped up but I just didn't care for. It's also one of Madhouse's first anime, which is interesting but I remember not liking it that much. The English Opening and Ending are amazing though.
If anything, I doubt it even counts as one but I am glad there is an anime licensed game that isn't your usual fare.
Each time I get my hand on some not so popular metroidvania you haven't already mentioned I think: "maybe I should leave a comment to tell Pam about this one" then I forget until you make a video on it ^^. Anyway I'm sure you probably know about every new 'vanias long before me.
I don't remember for how long Deedlit was in my wishlist, but when I saw it on sale for less than 10€ one year ago, I decided to take the bet. I had some good hope but not too much, so I finally played it six months later, fully released and patched.
It never came to my mind to compare it with SotN, not after five minutes and the little imps at the beginning. I think it's clearly a tribute, but certainly not a copy or a copy attempt.
During my playtime, I felt the same as you, about movement, platforming, spirits mechanic (have Ikaruga in my librairy, never played it yet, but it also remind me the final battle in Lord of Shadow Mirrors of Fate). Boss fights were also definitely my favorite part.
My only (minor) disapointment, in addition to the relative lack of memorable places and backgrounds, was the level design, which I found a bit too linear (difficult to get lost in that labyrinth). Beside the occasional back to the nearest warp room, teleport, use new skill or key, enter unexplored single room, get new weapon, I was surpised they added a few useless layouts/shortcuts between some zones or levels: it's like you go to unlock them to uncover the map, then you make a u-turn and keep moving forward because you already explored the totality of the other side and you'll never take that way again, even if you need to go back or farm a monster. I mean... they did a great job overall but that little detail make me think they realised the map was too straight forward so they added some shortcut here and there... what the point if the player has nothing to gain by going through it?
Globally I had a pretty good time playing Deedlit, I even completed it two times: one long run collecting everything and another level 1 capped, which was even better because it makes the weapons and spells more valuable, especially bows. With a good use of spirits it wasn't too challenging beside the few "deadly combo of ennemies" rooms/corridors and since I particulary enjoyed the bosses, I went for the good old castlevania challenge of beating them without taking damage, with a lot of retry lol
I'm surprised you didn't mention the end-boss rush. That was too much frustration for me, and I quit.
I bought this on Steam a while back but haven't gotten around to it yet. It's weird. Never read or watched the Manga/Anime, never played a game (though I own the Dreamcast game), but I know a little bit about the games somehow for reasons even I don't understand. It's interesting because they're clones of more popular games but they do them well. The Super Famicom game is kind of like Tactics Ogre meets Dragon Quest with adventuring around a world map and going to town to town but with grid based battles, but also it's own thing. The Mega CD game is like Shining Force, but also it's own thing. The Dreamcast one is a Diablo clone, but it's own thing and this one is a Symphony of the Night clone, but it's own thing. It's like they're not shy at all about what they're ripping off but they do make an attempt to make the games good instead of thinking the I.P. and it looking like another popular game is all they need to do.
I was thinking the same about Ikaruga! This game looks like SOTN, but doesn't play like SOTN. However it's a solid metroidvania with good mechanics.
The Dreamcast diablo clone Record of Lodoss is super amazing. It's funny that the two Lodoss games NA got are clones of other extremely popular games. Not complaining about that. Symphony of the NIght is my favorite game of all time. Diablo clones are one of my favorite genres of all time
I feel like it took from Aria of Sorrow as well. Shooting the bag to unlock the path is similar to hitting the wrecking balls to break walls to progress in AoS. Thats all I remember from the video tbh but I feel like it takes a little from that game
Hello Pam, could you help me find contact information for Team Ladybug. We at #iiRcade would love to interest the developer to release Deedlit for our Arcade Console Platform. We do house Metroidvania titles and this would be absolutely awesome in our gaming library. Thank you
This is the game I wanted bloodstained ritual of the night to be (not that it’s bad it’s just not a dawn of sorrow style) Not perfect but the first Metroidvania to capture the sotn experience. I rather enjoyed it.
it really does NOT. beat it in one sitting and have no desire to play it ever again. glad i got to play it on game pass that i only paid $1/month for.
but hey, the character turns left and right with the sassy cape swing alucard style so that was coo.... i guess lmao
Stands up with the likes of Bloodstained Ritual of the night. A game that is actually finished! No crap online purchases. A real game.
Great graphics & sprite work but the level design is very simplistic. Just long hallways, a few small staircases, jump to reach a ledge, that’s basically it.
The main reason I'm familiar with Lodoss is that there was a Diablo-esque Dreamcast game that was released in the west, but my primary memory of that game is getting a pair of iron boots and forever hearing CLANG CLANG CLANG whenever you move around!
Symphony is great, but there’s also CotM and many other castlevania. Order of Ecclesia looks like this 💡
"You're usually finding things like spells you probably won't use, weapons of which there are too many, and some extra health which can be nice but isn't all that important with the regen mechanic and general lack of difficulty. There are actually a LOT of mechanics going on in this game, but the experience is very smooth and you don't have to think about it too hard."
I don't know Pam, that sounds 100% like SotN to me. One of my top 5 desert island games, but yeah.
I was pretty excited for every secret I found in SotN.
understanding a record of war of lodoss Is unfortunately a requirement for being able to play this entire game and understand and enjoy it Personally I do not understand Why They didn't Include The Anime With the game It would explain a lot
Check out FIST and Castlevania: Mirror of Fate. Still need to finish FIST but it is a nice spin on the metroidvania formula.
Me recuerdas mucho, a las reseñas de antaño, muy buenas. Es el tipo de análisis que me encantan.En cuanto al juego creo que es precioso pero demasiado fácil lo cual lo hace muy corto. Take your Like.
You remind me a lot, of the reviews of yesteryear, very good. It is the type of analysis that I love. As for the game, I think it is beautiful but too easy, which makes it very short. take your like
There are some big differences quality wise. Deedlit was fun but not near The level of symphony and the best handheld castlevania games. The Map is atleast 3 times bigger in Symphony the drop loot system in symphony is much more rich and diverse not only weapon drops. The music is on another level just like the overall atmosphere. Symphony of the night is still one of the best games ever made and deedlit is not even in the top 10 best metroidvania list even if i enjoyed it alot.
The quick switches actually made the game more high paced and fun for me just beat the game going to go back and try the mini gambling dice game and boss rush modes, not as much weapons, magic abilities, story, and the map doesn’t compare to sotn but great game nonetheless
Another Metroidvania with the Ikaruga style mechanics is that free Shin Megami Tensei one that Atlus released temporarily a few years back
I think both games are good, I'd agree that the two are not comparable however. I will note that both games are easy not just Deedlit.
I grew up with the series so I'm kinda disappointed that you haven't at least checked it out. I love sotn but i feel people tend to look at it with nostalgia goggles rather than for what it is.
Just beat it and it’s a really good game but way to short. Not even half the length of sotn or rotn. Still though, fun game.