Japanese developer Amata K.K. launched its first virtual reality (VR) videogame just over two years ago, the dark surreal puzzler Last Labyrinth. Today, the studio has confirmed its next project isn’t far away, an action-adventure experience called The Tale of Onogoro.
Image credit: Amata K.K.
Amata K.K. has only teased the existence of the project at the moment, releasing a couple of title images and one of what could be the protagonist. As you can see from the above image The Tale of Onogoro looks vastly different to the confined rooms of Last Labyrinth, with an expansive vista and traditional Japanese architecture in the distance.
There’s also one other clue to the gameplay gmw3 spotted and that’s a bow. Bow’s have always been popular in VR due to their physical nature, immersing you in every shot. They can also be difficult to pull off, making or breaking any VR videogame that dares to use them. Hopefully, it’s the former with The Tale of Onogoro although it’s unclear if the viewpoint will be first or third-person.
As with any tease, there’s still so much we don’t know about The Tale of Onogoro, such as the tale itself. No other character or gameplay elements have been unveiled, just that its an action-adventure so puzzle elements might be quite minimal. In any case, considering the last VR title from Amata K.K. expect a few unusual elements to appear.
Image credit: Amata K.K.
Last Labyrinth provided one of the more unique puzzle experiences for VR headsets in 2019, where you found yourself sitting in a wheelchair unable to move; apart from operating a laser pointer on your head. You used this to guide a girl called Katia to the various puzzle elements in each room, trying to find a way out of an unusual mansion. However, fail a puzzle and just like the Saw movie franchise you’d be met with a grim end, having to start all over.
Currently, The Tale of Onogoro is scheduled for release this spring. Exclusive to VR headsets, none have been confirmed thus far. For continued updates, keep reading gmw3.
Last Labyrinth leaves you tied up, arms and hands bound in a wheelchair, at the mercy of a young girl. Her name is Katia, and she’s your only way out of this meticulously detailed series of escape room puzzles, where her death (and subsequently, yours) is often the first key to finding a solution to each challenge.
Since you rely on Katia to make the game move forward — by both opening doors and pushing your wheelchair through them — Last Labyrinth is, in so few words, a polarizing experience. Every room introduces a new way for Katia to be killed off while you watch haplessly, moments before the same fate befalls you. The ‘polarizing’ bit is that this isn’t just something that happens at the end of an occasional cutscene; it’s a core gameplay loop. Luckily, you’re only forced to watch the death cutscene once per puzzle, before a skip option becomes available.
That said, Last Labyrinth is a difficult game to recommend to those with a weak stomach. Katia is killed in often brutal ways, both on and off-screen, and it should go without saying that this is not at all for the faint of heart.
Last Labyrinth’s explicit story is minimalistic. Katia speaks in a made-up language while shuffling you from puzzle room to eerie puzzle room as you attempt to evade death by pointing out buttons, clues, and hidden panels with a laser pointer that’s conveniently strapped to your forehead. There are a few twists and turns later on, but I won’t spoil those. Even with such a simple framework for interaction, the world design and art direction of Last Labyrinth both evoke enough bleak atmosphere and tension to compel you to remain curious about what’s behind the next grimy, time-worn door.
Just as the death sequences themselves become more intricate, as do the puzzles that tie the entire gameplay experience together. You can move through an entire playthrough in about three hours, depending on how quickly you manage to clear each room, but it’s possible to see (at least) three different endings, depending on the path you select near the middle of a given playthrough. There are also a surprising amount of unique puzzle designs here. Last Labyrinth doesn’t overuse the exact same gimmick, instead introducing an entirely new element in each room, even while repeating the same basic circulation of room layouts.
This variety isn’t always a good thing, though. Aside from a few rooms that feature red lights that turn green when you’ve done something right, there is no clearly defined vocabulary that ties each of the puzzles together. This makes the feeling of success that much greater when a puzzle ‘clicks’, but it also makes it easy to misread a room and get stuck far longer than is preferable. To add insult to injury, many puzzles require you to intentionally make the wrong choice at least once via permutation testing before you figure out that room’s gimmick, meaning that Katia’s death becomes an arbitrary part of gameplay after some time.
Pacing is another issue I have with Last Labyrinth. Not only does Katia require you to nod your head for affirmation each time you point at something with your laser pointer, she somehow manages to walk slower than a high school student before the first bell. And then she occasionally interacts with the wrong object, requiring you to shake your head for “No” before she’ll back out of the interaction. In fact, a solid third of the time spent solving puzzles in Last Labyrinth isn’t actually in scrambling to decode the solution, but rather in orchestrating Katia’s actions and lining puzzle pieces back up to reenact past progress after you’ve nixed a step and accidentally gotten her killed once again.
Comfort
Last Labyrinth uses no form of artificial turning or locomotion, as everything important is in front of you at all times. You don’t ever need to crane your head to solve a problem either, but you might need to focus on one spot for multiple seconds while waiting for Katia to catch up with your laser pointer. Additionally, Katia will frequently ask you to nod your head for affirmation before performing an action.
On that note, the controls in Last Labyrinth are definitely worth addressing. You point your laser by moving your head, and you activate it by hitting the ‘A’ button (at least with Touch controls). This format would regularly make the most sense on a VR system with a limited control scheme; the Oculus Go comes to mind here. But in retrospect, a broader control scheme and more interaction with the world would have actually taken away from the message that Last Labyrinth is attempting to convey. If not the message, that certainly would have hurt the atmosphere.
See, Last Labyrinth isn’t about accommodating for you. It’s not meant to be a fun game. And, between gratuitous death sequences and often frustrating puzzles, only rarely is it one. Instead, treading more closely alongside the “VR experience” path, it asks you to view the world through the eyes of somebody who can barely accommodate for themselves. The pretense wouldn’t feel as dire if it were presented as a point-and-click adventure, and the dramatic irony that you do presumably have a working mouth, hands, and legs is what creates the tension that drives things forward in Last Labyrinth.
Last Labyrinth manages to tell an interesting story about codependency and vulnerability by simply taking away your agency and giving it to a little girl that seeks your guidance and approval. Dark atmosphere, often frustrating but varied puzzle design, and deliberately limited controls add up to a compelling experience. Unfortunately, it’s marred by sluggish pacing and just a little too much gratuitous death.
VRFocus kicks off the run-up to Christmas with a list of hotly anticipated new virtual reality (VR) titles being released for various headsets over the course of the next week. Make sure to check out our accompanying YouTube video for a preview of each videogame. These articles and accompanying video will be published every Friday, so be sure to follow all our social media channels to keep up to date.
Doctor Who: The Edge of Time – Maze Theory
Grab your Sonic Screwdriver and join the Thirteenth Doctor, voiced by Jodie Whitaker herself, travelling through time and space solving puzzles. In Maze Theory’s long-awaited Edge Of Time, you must work to fend off two of The Doctor’s deadliest foes – the Weeping Angels and the Daleks as well as some new and original monsters.
VR Ping Pong Pro – Reddoll Srl, IVP, ONE-O-ONE GAMES
Grab a racket and test your Ping Pong skills in this long-awaited follow up to 2016’s VR Ping Pong. Featuring realistic, true-to-life physics, choose a range of different rackets and work to rise up the ranks to become a professional in 8 levels consisting of different photo-realistic environments.
In Thief Simulator VR, challenge yourself to rob the most secure houses in the neighbourhood. Featuring a free-roaming sandbox mode, equip yourself with anything from a torch, to the top of the range burglary equipment and plan your attack on a desired building. Steal as many valuables as you can, without letting less-expensive items take up too much space in your bag! The police and the house’s occupants are always out to get you, so it’s up to you to perfect your burglary tactics while going unnoticed.
In this escape-themed adventure videogame, work to flee a mansion filled with hidden dangers. Find yourself in an unknown dark room, strapped to a wheelchair. You catch the sight of a mysterious girl nearby who speaks in a non-discernible language. You must work out a non-verbal communication method in the form of nodding and pointing, in order to guide and instruct her to find a way for both of you to escape this mysterious location alive. First announced during the Tokyo Games Show in 2016, this title is finally being released following successful Kickstarter funding.
In Stormland, play as a damaged android as you have complete freedom to glide, fly and climb your way through this ever-changing cloudscape with the aim of reclaiming your land. Featuring both single and multiplayer modes, create and customise the best weapons and body armour possible, while detonating explosives to save yourself and others.
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets – Fast Travel Games
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is a heart-warming interactive tale which takes place in a series of unique miniature worlds. Guided by your grandfather’s voice, you solve a series of puzzles in worlds created in your childhood to reveal the hidden pets.
Originally planned for release on the 8th of November, in this new PlayStation VR exclusive, you play as an injured child, Twine, who has developed the ability to see the world through the eyes of large stone golems. Control their movements as you explore the ruins of an abandoned city and collect artefacts as you go. First announced in 2015, this long-awaited title also featuring a new original soundtrack from Destiny and Halo composer, Marty O’Donnell.
Last Labyrinth, an escape room-style adventure game from Japan-based studio Amata K.K., is making its debut across a variety of VR platforms soon, arriving on PC VR headsets, PSVR, and Quest next week.
Last Labyrinth is slated to release on November 13th, coming to Steam (Vive, Rift, Index, Windows VR), the Oculus Store (Quest, Rift), and the PlayStation Store (PSVR), priced at $40. A release is also planned for PC VR headsets via the Microsoft Store, however its launch has been delayed due to unspecified reasons.
Set in a mysterious mansion, the single-player game tasks you with solving increasingly difficult puzzles to hopefully make your way out. Sound pretty standard, right? Not quite.
Unlike other escape room-style VR games, you’ve been physically chained to a wheel chair, which only allows you to look around and move your fingers to hit a single switch resting in your hand.
Image courtesy Amata K.K.
Strangely enough, whatever malevolent force bound you to the old-timey wheel chair has also attached a laser pointer to your head. When you press the switch, the laser pointer turns on, letting you direct Katia, the young girl in the trailer, so she can do the legwork (so to speak).
What hasn’t been explained thus far is why Katia is helping you to escape, and why the masked phantom character is terrorizing you both.
As the result of a successful Kickstarter earlier this year, Last Labyrinth has been created by industry veterans whose previous works include titles such as ICO, The Last Guardian, Shadow of the Colossus, Puppeteer, and the Doko Demo Issyo series.
When it comes to virtual reality (VR) and crowd-funding the pair have had a long history, you could almost say Kickstarter helped birth the current VR trend thanks to Oculus’ campaign in 2012. Since then that partnership has continued (for better or worse), with both hardware and software companies alike utilising this modern funding method to make projects a reality. While not all campaigns to raise money are successful, 2019 seems to have been a boon year with a significant amount of projects sailing past their targets.
Over the last nine months, VR teams have sought to fund various sized campaigns and for different reasons. It’s not all about raising enough capital to get an idea off the ground anymore, a campaign with a couple of paragraphs and someone’s zeal to secure £50,000 isn’t going to get very far. They need planning, lots of info, with the most successful generally having some sort of history which proves its not a fly by night venture.
So VRFocus is taking a look at some of the projects which have really caught our eye this year, especially noting the influx of campaign over the summer.
Last Labyrinth – January 2019
A VR videogame by Japanese developer Amata K.K., Last Labyrinth is an escape room experience for multiple VR headsets. This was one of those projects that wasn’t looking for funding development – it had begun in 2016 – using both the money raised and the Kickstarter itself as promotion for the videogame.
Successfully hitting its ¥2,000,000 (£13,965 GBP) target, Last Labyrinth has had a couple of delays in 2019, moving from a Spring to Summer then Fall launch window. That seems to be the last of the hiccups as a worldwide launch will take place on 13th November 2019 for Oculus Rift/ Rift S, Oculus Quest, HTC Vive/Vive Pro, Windows Mixed Reality and PlayStation VR devices.
Last Labyrinth – Oculus Quest Screenshot
Cybershoes – February 2019
A VR locomotion system designed to mimic a natural walking motion whilst seated, Cybershoes launched its first crowd-funding campaign via Kickstarter in 2018. On the back of that success, the company headed over to Indiegogo for another chance to raise more money.
Beginning in February, the campaign hit $156,763 USD (£126,790) for its $30,000 target, and now you can easily buy the system from its official website.
Firmament – March 2019
The biggest VR crowd-funding campaign of the year so far on Kickstarter was Cyan’s Firmament. The developer famous for videogames like Myst, Riven and most recently Obduction, this next project was a big endeavour.
A story-driven experience with steampunk aesthetics, Firmament needed to raise a rather substantial $1.3 million in 30 days. Proving that even big figures are achievable when correctly approached, the campaign managed to secure $1,433,161, with a delivery date still expected around July 2020.
A device which attaches to VR headsets, the Feelreal Mask is capable of generating various scents, water mist, cool/warm wind, vibration and punches. Shipments to backers were supposed to start in August but there has been a delay. Let’s just hope it not the sort of delay which has plagued previous hardware stories.
Zenith – August 2019
The first of the summer slew of Kickstarter campaigns, Zenith is the brainchild of indie studio Ramen VR, a cyberpunk MMORPG inspired by anime and JRPG classics. A title which has some very big ideas for a new studio, the videogame promises players a world where they will be able to fight, craft, and explore to their heart’s content.
Only looking to raise $25,000 for such an expansive undertaking, the campaign managed to hit that in under four hours and it’s actually still ongoing. With another 15 days to go, Zenith currently sits on a funding pot of just over $211,000 (£171,000). Thanks to this success Zenith has unlocked six of its seven stretch goals with the final $250,000 Level Editor looking within reach. There’s still a way to go, with a launch date pencilled in for August 2020 currently.
VRGO Mini – August 2019
Another company coming back to Kickstarter looking for more success, VRGO held a Kickstarter for its VRGO Chair in 2015 which went well. This year it’s the turn of VRGO Mini, a more consumer-friendly version of the original chair, designed to facilitate comfortable locomotion in VR.
As mentioned, this is a company with history which makes for a safer bet when crowd-funding. Using most of the tech from VRGO Chair, the VRGO Mini is designed to be used on chairs/sofas and other seats. With a funding target of £20,000, that was easily achieved and just like Zenith still has time to spare to raise even more money. With the VRGO Chair still on sale, a launch goal of March 2020 for VRGO Mini is a likely bet.
Woojer – August 2019
Cyan’s Firmament has so far raised the most cash but Woojer’s current campaign is on track to be the most successful when it comes to target and amount raised. It’s two haptic products in one campaign the Woojer Vest Edge and Woojer Strap Edge, designed to let you feel sound.
Not solely designed for VR as they have multiple use cases, the two devices are an immersion aid – especially the Vest Edge – when playing all manner of VR titles, ideally for rhythm action videogames like Beat Saber. Initially aiming to raise $20,000, the campaign has skyrocketed currently sitting at just over $1.2 million with a month still to go. Needless to say, with over 7,000 backers, Woojer has hit the jackpot with most going for the budget-friendly Strap Edge.
Low-Fi – September 2019
The most recent entry, Low-Fi is another experience from an established team. Created by Iris VR (the team behind Technolust) is another big sprawling adventure, this time set in a far-flung dystopian future. You play a police officer tasked with patrolling the street and skies of crime-ridden city-block 303.
The Kickstarter campaign only started on 3rd September looking to hit $60,000 CAD over 30 days and managed that in under four days. Such was the success the team reworked all of its stretch goals, lowering the targets for platforms like PlayStation VR and Oculus Quest. It’s still too early to tell how successful Low-FI will be but there’s no distracting from its ambition.
After its recent showcase on the PlayStation VR booth during the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2019, Last Labyrinth will soon be coming to all major virtual reality (VR) headsets. Japanese developer Amata K.K. has announced the launch will take place in November whilst confirming an Oculus Quest version will also be released.
Last Labyrinth – Oculus Quest Screenshot
First showcased at TGS 2016, Last Labyrinth is an escape room experience along the lines of horror films such as The Cube. You play a character with no memory of how they arrived in a strange foreboding mansion. Tied to a wheelchair with the only movement being your head, you’re not alone in the house, a mysterious girl called Katia appears from the shadows to help, the only problem is she does talk in any recognisable language.
Having to use non-verbal communication, you and Katia have to find a way out of the mansion. You can direct her around each room by pressing a button in your hand to activate a lazer pointer on your head, then nodding or shaking your head to trigger actions. Care must be taken at each step as every room is booby-trapped with deadly mechanisms which will kill both of you.
While gory in places, Last Labyrinth has been designed as a comfortable seated experience where you only have to move Katia rather than yourself.
The development has been spearheaded by Hiromichi Takahashi, director and producer of Doko Demo Issyo (PlayStation, 1999) with other notable veterans including co-Director Tetsuya Watanabe (Puppeteer,The Last Guardian) and Lead Animator Atsuko Fukuyama (ICO,Shadow of the Colossus). Katia is voiced by Stefanie Joosten, the voice and likeness of Quiet from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015).
The worldwide launch will take place on 13th November 2019, supporting Oculus Rift/ Rift S, Oculus Quest, HTC Vive/Vive Pro, Windows Mixed Reality and PlayStation VR, retailing for $39.99 USD. For customers in Asian territories like Japan, Amata K.K. will be running a pre-order bonus for PlayStation customers. From 12th September they will be able to pre-order to unlock a Last Labyrinth PlayStation 4 theme.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Last Labyrinth, reporting back with any further updates and announcements.
We finally have a release date for promising VR escape room game, Last Labyrinth.
The game will be launching on pretty much all VR platforms on November 13. That includes the Oculus Quest, support for which was announced for the first time today. It’s also coming to PSVR, Rift, Vive and Windows VR. We’d assume Index support will feature, though it’s not officially listed by developer AMATA K.K.. The game’s set to be on display at the Tokyo Game Show event later this month, too.
The developer says the images below were taken from the Quest version itself. They’re a little bit blurry but overall they look quite faithful to the PC and console versions of the game, though.
In Last Labyrinth you find yourself bound to a wheelchair. A young girl named Katia assists you, responding to your commands to solve various puzzles. Get the right answer and you might escape with your life. Getting things wrong, however, results in a grizzly death. There’s a central mystery to the game about why you’ve been captured that we’re looking forward to unraveling.
The game’s being developed by Hiromichi Takahashi, best known for creating the PlayStation Cat mascot for Sony in Japan. Co-Director Tetsuya Watanbe, meanwhile, has worked on both The Last Guardian and Puppeteer. Katia herself is voiced by Stefanie Joosten, who played Quiet in Metal Gear Solid V. Not that you’d know because she was, well, quiet.
Last Labyrinth will cost $39.99 at launch. We’ll keep you updated on all the latest from the game.
The annual Tokyo Game Show (TGS) will return next week with Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia (SIEJA) having a big presence at the event for both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR. Japanese developer Amata K.K. will be attending, showcasing its upcoming virtual reality (VR) escape room title Last Labyrinth.
It’ll be the second time the PlayStation VR version has been shown – the first during PlayStation Matsuri TOKYO 2019 in July – and possibly the last time it’ll be demoed before launch. Created as a special demo version of the title with the final launch expected by the end of the year. Just like PlayStation Matsuri, visitors attending TGS 2019 will need to book first, pre-registering on the official website, only applicable for PlayStation Plus members.
Last Labyrinth will have gone full circle, originally revealed during the Tokyo Games Show (TGS) 2016. After completing a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign earlier this year Amata K.K. had planned on a Spring 2019 launch. This was then delayed to the summer before being given a Fall 2019 release window. That launch won’t purely be for PlayStation VR, with a version also coming to Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.
A single-player experience, Last Labyrinth puts you in a creepy mansion with no idea what’s going on. You’re chained to a wheelchair, unable to escape, the only movement being your head and hand. Trapped with you is this girl Katia who only talks in a non-discernable language. You can guide her to solve the puzzles by pressing a button in your hand which then activates a laser pointer on your head. Any real communication between you and Katia is achieved purely through nods and shakes of the head.
Also for the TGS 2019 event SIEJA has announced the lineup of titles it’ll be showcasing: Concrete Genie, Deemo Reborn (Unties), Marvel’s Iron Man VR, Hatsune Miku VR (Degica Games), Sairento VR, Stumper (Thirteenth Floor Corporation) and Throw Anything (Visual Light).
The Tokyo Game Show 2019 runs from 12th – 15th September with the first two days dedicated to business attendees and the last two days open to the public. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Last Labyrinth and when Amata K.K. announces the launch date we’ll let you know.
I know I mention this in every story I write about Last Labyrinth but this latest trailer for the game still mentions that it’s made by the ‘Co-creator of the Sony Cat’ and I respect that.
Anyway, this is our best look at the promising escape room adventure yet. Last Labyrinth is an atmospheric puzzle game in which you find yourself locked in a series of rooms, bound to a wheelchair. A young companion, Katia, is by your side, following your instructions. You need to work together to solve challenges and escape with your life.
In this latest look at the game you can see some of those trials in action. Singer Stefanie Joosten lends her voice to the theme you can hear. She also takes on the role of Katia in the game. The end of the footage also showcases what might happen if you get some puzzles wrong. Spoilers: it doesn’t end well.
As for the cat thing? The game’s directed by Hiromichi Takahashi, who created cartoon feline, Toro Inoue, for PlayStation. He was a sort of mascot for the brand in Japan. You could also play as him in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Remember that?
Other credits include Tetsuya Watanabe, who worked on Puppeteer and The Last Guardian, and composer Hiroki Kikuta.
Anyway, Last Labyrinth was recently delayed, meaning it’s now set to release this fall. It’ll arrive on PSVR, Rift, Vive and Windows VR headsets. No word on a Quest version just yet but it certainly seems like it’d be a good fit.
Earlier this week Japanese developer Amata K.K. demoed its upcoming virtual reality (VR) escape videogame Last Labyrinth for the first time during the PlayStation Matsuri TOKYO 2019 exhibition. For those interested in the multiplatform title but unable to attend, the studio has released several new images as well as a second trailer detailing more of the gameplay.
The images are of the two main characters in Last Labyrinth, Katia, the mysterious girl who helps players solve the deadly puzzles, and Phantom, an unknown hooded figure who is more than likely the main reason you and Katia are trapped in the mansion.
As for the trailer, this features the Last Labyrinth theme song, penned by renowned videogame music composer Hiroki Kikuta and sung by Stefanie Joosten – who provided the voice and likeness for Quiet from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015) – the voice of Katia.
The trailer includes introductions to the main staff developing Last Labyrinth and their past work, such as Director/Game Designer Tetsuya Watanabe (Puppeteer, The Last Guardian) and Lead Animator Atsuko Fukuyama (ICO,Shadow of the Colossus). There’s plenty of gameplay footage interlaced throughout the trailer, showcasing who Katia interacts with puzzles and the various brutal rooms that stand in your way.
Created specifically for the VR age, set to support headsets like PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift/Rift S and HTC Vive, Last Labyrinth is a videogame VRFocus has been covering since its first reveal during the Tokyo Games Show (TGS) in 2016.
A single-player experience, Last Labyrinth puts you in a creepy mansion with no idea what’s going on. You’re chained to a wheelchair, unable to escape, the only movement being your head and hand. Trapped with you is this girl Katia who only talks in a non-discernable language. You can guide her to solve the puzzles by pressing a button in your hand which then activates a laser pointer on your head. Any real communication between you and Katia is achieved purely through nods and shakes of the head.
After several delays, Last Labyrinth has been given a fall 2019 release window. When VRFocus gets a more concrete date for the launch, we’ll let you know.
Firmament – March 2019
