Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls

 PlayStation 3
Metascore
57

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 9
  3. Negative: 2 out of 9
  1. GameSpot
    Jun 15, 2011
    75
    Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls is a good revival of the old-time dungeon crawler.
  2. GamingTrend
    Sep 14, 2011
    70
    Gamers new to the genre probably won't find much to like here and should look to games like the Etrian Odyssey series if they want to stick their foot in the Dungeon Crawling waters. But long time fans of the genre like me will definitely get their $15 worth.
  3. Worth Playing
    Aug 5, 2011
    70
    Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls is certainly fun, but it's fun for a specific group of people. Those who love the old school of RPGs before they became more about the cinematics and fast-paced action will find a lot to like.
  5. GamePro
    Jun 16, 2011
    70
    Ultimately, Lost Souls will reward masochists and scare off anyone intimidated by the slightest bit of a learning curve. There's a great challenge in store, but it doesn't pull any punches or make any apologies. Know that going in and don't say you weren't warned.
  6. GamesRadar+
    Jun 27, 2011
    60
    Labyrinth of Lost Souls, for better or for worse, just puts a new coat of paint over its old-fashioned trappings. Whether or not that's something you actually want to play is entirely dependent on your personal taste.
  7. IGN UK
    Jun 22, 2011
    55
    For the already-converted, Labyrinth of Lost Souls is a more than solid dungeon crawler. Its fulsome selection of side-quests, items, and expansive dungeons could keep you exploring for many hours, making it excellent value. But it's hard to imagine it winning over the unconvinced or the uninitiated.
  8. Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)
    Jun 7, 2011
    50
    The great truth here is that we, should we suffer this trip down memory lane, are the titular lost souls. [July 2011, p.82]
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  9. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Feb 18, 2012
    40
    Tedious. [Feb 2012, p.112]
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  10. Official PlayStation Magazine Benelux
    Jan 2, 2012
    35
    We don't want to offend the longtime fans of the series, but we honestly can't understand why anybody would want to play an archaic RPG like Wizardry when there are fantastic games like Skyrim around. Being nostalgic is one thing, being ignorant another. [January 2012, p.85]
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Awards & Rankings

72
#72 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2011

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 14 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 14
  3. Negative: 6 out of 14
  1. briefer
    Oct 14, 2012
    3
    This game is horrible

    I loved Etrian Odyssey, The Dark Spire and Strange Journey on the DS and all other dungeon crawlers on PC or PS but    This game is horrible

    I loved Etrian Odyssey, The Dark Spire and Strange Journey on the DS and all other dungeon crawlers on PC or PS but compared to those games this game almost seems amateurish.
    Really, the menus are very loveless, the dungeon design is terrible and they were REALLY lazy with the character portraits in the dungeons that just stay there the whole time.

    I mean, this game is on PS3 and I find the graphics of mentioned DS games 10 times more appealing than the graphics of this game. It just seems like a sideproject of some students in their college years. One guy for the programming, one for the graphics and one for the music and testing.
    Yes, it is a hardcore dungeon crawler but it could have been so much more. I could have made a better game with the RPG maker. Just look at Etrian Odyssey - THAT'S what I call a good dungeon crawler. The whole presentation sucks beyond belief. Gameplay is horrible. to I dont even want to write about it cuz all this random stuff (random hp gaiwas so frustrating that i cant even handle to think about it. Noot mention that story is 20-25h long, after that you can do your mindless grind for some kickass weapons without any use becasue you already beat the game.. or farm kills for 50.000 kills trophy what will take atleast 300h.. As a Wizardry fan i really had high hopes with this game. Such a shame.    … Full Review »
  2. tomvs123
    Sep 2, 2018
    5
    I last played a tile-based, turn-based dungeon crawler in the 80's. I was looking for another one and found this - one of only two that I knowI last played a tile-based, turn-based dungeon crawler in the 80's. I was looking for another one and found this - one of only two that I know of that are available on PS3. It's a shame that all of these games are on mobile systems these days.

    I don't have much to compare this to besides the 80's games I played.

    What I like most about this game are the dark corridors, atmosphere, turn-base/tile-based system, and hard difficulty. If you want to get lost in a dungeon and then barely make it out with only a few of your party members left alive, then this game has that.

    It follows the formula of the older wizardry games almost exactly. The bad part about this is that there's really no improvements and several things are simplified (particularly the story).

    The difficulty is great, but it relies more on randomness instead of anything that you can control. For example, all battles on a floor are random, regardless of where you are on that floor. So your very first fight on the floor might be an overpowered mob of enemies that's impossible for you to beat, or it might be a single weak enemy. Enemy placement based on where you are on the floor would have been better.

    Also, enemies use attacks and skills randomly. They might heal themselves (when they don't need healing), defend (for no reason), use a standard attack, or they might use a devastating spell that wipes your party. There's no consistency in what each enemy type does, which makes saving after each battle almost a requirement on certain levels. Well, unless you have been grinding and have over-leveled, which then makes the game too easy (although you're still not impervious to instant random death by a fluke battle).

    The thing is, is that I seem to like the randomness. Well, at least for this game. It's not much different from the 80's games I played, but I fully expect I'll get tired of this as I find and play more of these types of games.

    I was having a fairly great time in the game, going to each new level, figuring out which enemies might wipe my party or use skills that decrease character levels (permanent level loss is horrible by the way - in any game). Getting new random weapons and armor from enemy drops, which helped me in later levels, was also great. And then level 10 came and it was over. It sure is short. I might have spent maybe 30 hours in the game, and I didn't want to double my purchase price of the game to get another 5 DLC levels.

    It was quite fun finding new weapons when I was in a state of just barely killing enemies. But there wasn't nearly enough of this. One of my main fighters only had three different weapons throughout the entire game. The default weapon, the Katana I bought from the weapon shop, and a better Katana that I found in the dungeon. I found nothing else, not even +1 or +2 versions of those weapons.

    To scratch that itch of progression and delving deeper into the dungeon, the game really needed an endless level mode or extra dungeon that you can progress through after the main story. But, there's none of that (unless you pay more for DLC - and it doesn't offer enough).

    Fighting and combat mechanics are also basic. For the most part, everyone gets the same spells and attacks. Spells are named and described quite strangely (and some are mistranslated), but you eventually re-categorize them in your head as just single, row, or group attacks with different elements. Physical attacks are singe-target damage dealers only. No special things here. And then each character class gets a special ability, some of which are useless, so you'll naturally move toward turning your casters into Bishops and fighters into Samurais, just to get the most useful abilities.

    The main story is basically a side quest. At some point, you get it, go to a few specific spots in the dungeon to read some short dialogue (about 6 different places), fight a few bosses, and then that's it. The last boss is also disappointingly easy compared to the other random battles on level 10. Although I might have just gotten lucky since it did just stand there and do nothing a few times.

    So if you're looking for a first person, turn-based, tile-based dungeon crawler to play, and primarily only care about progression through a dungeon, you'll have some brief fun with this one. Just don't expect it to be a full game.    … Full Review »
  3. asdasd33a
    May 3, 2014
    0
    I like Wizardry games but this game is atrocious. Wizardry 8 came out in 2001 and it is a great game this thing is all about grinding insteadI like Wizardry games but this game is atrocious. Wizardry 8 came out in 2001 and it is a great game this thing is all about grinding instead of dungeon exploration as it should be.
    Legends of Grimrock came out a while ago and it perfectly captured the spirit of good dungeon crawl. Stay away from this.    … Full Review »
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