Last Labyrinth – Page 2 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

July 5, 2019

First Public PlayStation VR Demo of Last Labyrinth Taking Place at PlayStation Matsuri TOKYO 2019

Amata K.K. is currently in the process of developing virtual reality (VR) escape room experience Last Labyrinth for several headsets including Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR. So far this year the title has seen a couple of delays already this year, pushing the release back towards the end of 2019. This week, the studio has confirmed the first public showcase of the PlayStation VR version will take place next week during PlayStation Matsuri TOKYO 2019 in Japan.

Last Labyrinth - Screenshot (2018)

A demo version of Last Labyrinth has been available at several other shows but this will mark the debut of the PlayStation VR version. Amata K.K. hasn’t mentioned whether this version will showcase any differences or updates to the title. While it is available for public demonstration attendees won’t simply be able to walk up and play. Like many events featuring PlayStation VR such as the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and Gamescom in 2018, visitors will need to book first, pre-registering on the official website. Slots are also only available to PlayStation Plus members.

VRFocus has covered Last Labyrinth a number of times in the past, from its first reveal during the Tokyo Games Show (TGS) 2016, to more recently when the studio completed a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign and announced the first delay to Summer 2019, and then last month’s second delay until fall 2019.

Last Labyrinth looks like a promising escape room experience, with the twist that from a fixed position you then guide another character around each location to solve it and move on, one incorrect move and a grizzly end awaits both of you. Story details are fairly vague at present, with you waking to find yourself strapped to a wheelchair. A strange girl named Katia appears from the darkness to help you, with you guiding her via a laser pointer attached to your head, switched on and off via a button in your hand.

Last Labyrinth - Screenshot (2018)

Voiced by Stefanie Joosten who’s previous work includes providing the voice and likeness for Quiet from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015), Katia doesn’t actually talk in a comprehensible language, so the only way of communicating with her is through nods and shakes of the head.

The PlayStation Matsuri TOKYO 2019 exhibition takes place on Monday, 15th July at the Bellesalle Takadanobaba. When Amata K.K. confirms a launch date for Last Labyrinth, VRFocus will let you know.

June 19, 2019

Escape Room Title Last Labyrinth Delayed Until Fall 2019

Japanese escape room title Last Labyrinth made its debut during the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) back in 2016 and was originally due for release this Spring before being pushed back to Summer. Today, developer Amata K.K. has announced that this date is being pushed back again, with a new launch window set for Fall 2019.

Last Labyrinth

The only reason the studio has given for the delay is that the videogame needs further polish before being released. This is still only estimated, with an exact date to be revealed in the near future.

On a more positive note, the team has officially confirmed all the headsets Last Labyrinth will support. These are PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift/ Rift S, HTC Vive/ Vive Pro and Windows Mixed Reality headsets. The PlayStation VR version will support both DualShock 4 and PlayStation Move controllers.

Designed specifically for VR gaming, Last Labyrinth is an escape room experience that’s both equally comfortable to play as it is creepy. The vague story goes that you awake in an old spooky mansion, finding yourself tied to a wheelchair with minimal movement. You find that you’re not alone as a mysterious girl appears from the darkness. Called Katia she never says a word, with the only way to communicate between you pair being nods and a shake of the head.

Last Labyrinth - Screenshot (2018)

Katia does free you, instead, she’s there to interact with each room, going on your instruction to complete each one. This is achieved via a laser pointer attached to your head and a button in your hand to activate it. This isn’t a friendly escape room videogame, however, as each room is brutally booby-trapped with all manner of nasty machines that’ll kill you if a wrong move is made.

Earlier this year Amata K.K. held a successful Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign to raise ¥2,000,000 (£13,965 GBP) for Last Labyrinth. The studio also revealed that Stefanie Joosten, the voice and likeness of Quiet from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015) and international model, actress, voice actress and singer, will be the voice of Katia. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Last Labyrinth, reporting back when a release date is confirmed.

March 23, 2019

Last Labyrinth Completes Kickstarter Funding Goal

Japanese developer Amata K.K. launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for its upcoming virtual reality (VR) escape room title Last Labyrinth in January. A few days ago the studio announced that it had successfully hit the funding goal target.

Last Labyrinth - Screenshot (2018)

As VRFocus has previously reported, Last Labyrinth has been in development for a number of years, with the Kickstarter funds to be used for marketing purposes to get the videogame noticed rather than for development costs. Aiming to raise ¥2,000,000 (£13,965 GBP), the campaign has easily achieved that, and with a couple of days still left to go even the first stretch goal might be possible.

Last Labyrinth is a VR escape room experience that’s equally creepy as it is comfortable. Players find themselves in a dark and creepy mansion, unable to move as they’re chained to a wheelchair. So to aid them in escaping and solving the puzzles is a mysterious young girl named Katia – who doesn’t speak a discernable language – who also seems to be trapped, yet given free rein to move around.

Due to the fact that players are confined to a wheelchair, the only movement available to them is via their head. There’s a laser pointer attached, activated by a handheld device, which is the only way to guide Katia through the booby-trapped rooms. While players can’t talk to Katia – she doesn’t understand – she does understand when they nod or shake their head, helping her when she gets confused.

Last Labyrinth - Screenshot (2018)

Supporting Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR and Windows Mixed Reality headsets, Last Labyrinth was due for release Spring 2019 but that has now changed. In a statement the team explained: “Up until now we’ve being [sic] working towards a Spring 2019 release for Last Labyrinth, but in order to further ensure the quality of the game, we’ve decided to change it to a Summer 2019 release. An exact date will be revealed in the near future.”

When Amata K.K. does release those final details for Last Labyrinth, VRFocus will let you know.

March 13, 2019

Last Labyrinth Now Coming In Summer, Latest Trailer Arrives

We’ll have to wait a bit longer to get our hands on Amata K.K.’s VR escape room, Last Labyrinth.

The developer this week confirmed that the game will now launch in summer 2019. It had previously been targetting a spring release date. The developer said that the change was made to “further ensure the quality of the game prior to release.”

There’s a new trailer to ease the wait, though. In the latest look at the game we hear the main theme from composer Hiroki Kikuta. It’s a melancholic piece that reminds us of From Software’s Deracine. Most noticeably, it’s sung by Dutch singer, Stefani Joosten, who did motion capture for Quiet in Metal Gear Solid V. Joosten will also be lending her voice to the game in the role of Katia. In Last Labyrinth, Katia is your green-haired companion that follows your commands. She solves puzzles at your direction and helps guide you through each room.

Interestingly the game will have its own language which the song is sung in. It’s an interesting idea that reminds us of the fictional languages used in games like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.

The news comes as Last Labyrinth closes in on its Kickstarter funding goal. It’s just a fraction off of its $17,700 goal at the time of writing. This campaign isn’t to fund development itself rather aid with marketing the game. It’s due to finish on March 25th.

Look for Last Labyrinth on PSVR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows VR headsets later this year.

Tagged with: escape room, Last Labyrinth, puzzles

The post Last Labyrinth Now Coming In Summer, Latest Trailer Arrives appeared first on UploadVR.

January 24, 2019

Vicious VR Escape Room Last Labyrinth Launches Kickstarter Campaign

Another VR escape room launched a crowd-funding campaign this week. This one looks a little more conventional than The Goodbye Room, though.

Last Labyrinth is a new game from AMATA K.K.. We first wrote about the game back in September 2018. It has the rather weird claim to fame of being invented by the man that created PlayStation’s Toro Mascot, Hiromichi Takahashi. The team is looking to raise $18,255 by March 25th. At the time of writing, it’s already $2,000 into that goal.

The first proper trailer for the game also arrived alongside the Kickstarter. Last Labyrinth looks like a particularly vicious VR escape room; deadly traps seem to threaten your every move. You’re joined by a mysterious girl who looks like she’s about to meet an untimely end more often than not. You can guide her by nodding and shaking your head.

AMATA K.K. says funds for the game will mainly be used for marketing the game. In fact, it sounds like the actual game is nearly finished. The Kickstarter is estimating a May 2019 release date across Rift, Vive, Windows VR and PSVR.

You can pledge $32 to secure a digital copy of the game. Backer rewards stretch all the way up to around $5,000. For that hefty sum you’ll get to design a puzzle in the game. You’ll also receive a figure of the Katia character and a bunch of other goodies. Stretch goals haven’t been announced as of yet.

We’re hoping for brain-bending puzzles out of this one. Check back in a few months to see if it’s up to snuff.

Tagged with: escape room, Last Labyrinth

The post Vicious VR Escape Room Last Labyrinth Launches Kickstarter Campaign appeared first on UploadVR.

January 24, 2019

Last Labyrinth Kickstarter Launched Alongside 2nd Teaser Trailer

There are numerous escape room style videogames for virtual reality (VR) headsets, some more inventive than others. One of the more intriguing yet to be released is Last Labyrinth by Japanese developer Amata K.K. Today, the studio has announced the start of a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign as well as showcasing more of the title in a new teaser trailer.

Last Labyrinth

Amata K.K. has been developing Last Labyrinth for a number of years now, first announcing the title during the 2016 Tokyo Games Show (TGS). Therefore the project is nearly complete, with an estimated launch window of May 2019. The Kickstarter campaign isn’t to help fund development, rather the studio’s marketing effort to help get the videogame noticed – indie studios tend to focus funds on development so there isn’t much for marketing.

The campaign aims to raise ¥2,000,000 (£13,965 GBP) over the next couple of months, with backing tiers starting from as little as ¥500 (£3). This won’t get you the videogame, of course, for that you’ll need to pledge at least ¥3,500 (£24) for the Early Bird Digital Download. It’s worth noting that these downloads only apply to HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality headsets, not the PlayStation VR version. It sounds like PlayStation VR owners will have to wait until the official launch.

As for further funding tiers, there are plenty on offer depending on how much you want to spend, with all sorts of digital and physical goodies on offer.

Last Labyrinth - Screenshot (2018)

Last Labyrinth is a VR escape room experience with a twist, rather than being able to explore freely by yourself, you find that you’re are bound to a chair in the middle of a dark room. From the darkness, a mysterious girl named Katia appears and it’s using her help that you must unravel the puzzles and find a way out of the mansion you’re trapped in.

They only movement available to you is via your heads and hands. With a laser pointer attached to your head and a switch in your hands, this is the only way for you to guide Katia around each room. While you can’t talk to Katia – she doesn’t understand you – she does understand when you nod or shake your head, helping her when she gets confused.

Check out the new trailer below, and for further Last Labyrinth updates, keep reading VRFocus.

January 15, 2019

Last Labyrinth Lead Animator to Hold Session During GDC Animation Bootcamp

Amata K.K. is a Japanese studio currently working on virtual reality (VR) escape room experience Last Labyrinth. The developer has recently announced that its Lead Animator Atsuko Fukuyama will be attending the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2019 to give a talk as part of the events Animation Bootcamp.

Last Labyrinth

Fukuyama will be holding a session titled “Animating Memorable Characters that Communicate Without Words”, in collaboration with colleague Alexis Broadhead (3D Animator and Technical Artist). The session will focus on the techniques she uses to help players feel connected to characters that are unable to speak or unable to use words the player understands, with Fukuyama pulling examples from Last Labyrinth.

The Lead Animator is best known for being a key member of the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus teams, animating Yorda and Agro respectively. Again, these are two more characters that connect to players without speech or recognizable words.

Last Labyrinth is a VR escape room experience with a difference. Players awake in a strange mansion to find themselves strapped to a wheelchair. Rather than being able to explore by themselves, they find that they are unable to move this chair located in the middle of a dark, dilapidated room. From the darkness, a mysterious girl named Katia appears who speaks a strange language that’s incomprehensible, however, players need her help to unravel the puzzles and find a way out of the mansion.

Last Labyrinth

GDC 2019 takes place in San Francisco, California from 18th – 22nd March, playing host to some of the biggest (and smallest) videogame developers from across the globe. While CES 2019 last week handled all the hardware tech, GDC is purely about the games, featuring plenty of new announcements as well as lots of sessions for developers to learn more. As part of the conference, for the first couple of days, will be the Virtual Reality Developers Conference (VRDC), where studios can learn and share best practices to create augmented reality (AR) and VR experiences.

Last Labyrinth is expected to launch worldwide in Spring 2019, supporting HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR and Windows Mixed Reality headsets. As further details on the videogame are released VRFocus will keep you updated.

October 1, 2018

New Teaser Trailer Showcases VR Escape Room Last Labyrinth

Having first debuted its multiplatform virtual reality (VR) title Last Labyrinth at the Tokyo Games Show (TGS) 2016, developer Amata K.K. returned this year to showcase the latest developments. Today, the Japanese studio has now released a teaser trailer for Last Labyrinth, showcasing its gameplay outside Japan for the first time.

Last Labyrinth - Screenshot (2018)

Last Labyrinth is a VR escape room experience with a difference, rather than being able to explore themselves players find that they are bound to a chair in the middle of a dark room. From the darkness a mysterious girl named Katia appears and it’s using her help that they must unravel the puzzles and find a way out of the mansion.

Explaining what the team is trying to achieve, Hiromichi Takahashi – Director/Producer (Doko Demo Issho), Amata K.K., said in a statement: “In the past, I made games that focused on verbal communication with virtual characters. This time, I want to use VR technology to try to focus on communicating with virtual characters nonverbally. I hope players will enjoy unraveling the mysteries surrounding Katia and lying within the mansion itself. There is more than meets the eye.”

Last Labyrinth - Screenshot (2018)

“In order to implement the core gameplay mechanic of nonverbal communication with Katia, we are challenging ourselves to make Katia behave as humanly as possible. We are giving it our all to make it so that players will be able to feel her presence and feel like their fates are intertwined with hers,” adds Tetsuya Watanabe, Director/Game Designer (The Last Guardian)

Atsuko Fukuyama, Lead Character Animator (ICO, Shadow of the Colossus), goes on to say:“I hope that players will not only enjoy the puzzle solving aspect of the game but will be able to feel a connection with Katia. Although there are a lot of challenges to working in VR, I think we will be able to make Katia a character that players will be able to fall in love with.”

September 11, 2018

An Upgraded Last Labyrinth Heads To Tokyo Game Show Once Again

“Your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness, and you find yourself in a room you’ve never seen before. You go to stand but are barely able to move. You look down to find that your arms and legs are strapped to a wheelchair. As the panic begins to set in, you catch a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of your eye. A young girl, standing in the darkness, stares at you with cold eyes…”

Last Labyrinth - Logo As always with videogames, the wait can sometimes seem like a very long time indeed. So, we won’t be too judgemental if you don’t remember the last time we brought you news about Last Labyrinth, a room escape virtual reality (VR) title for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. In fact, it was almost two years ago to the day that we brought you news of how developers Amata K.K. (back then known as Tayutau) were debuting Last Labyrinth at that year’s Tokyo Game Show. Actually, Amata K.K. have told us they were pleasantly surprised anyone from the Western media even noticed!

So, we’re equally happy to let you know similar news to that we gave you two years ago – Last Labyrinth is heading to the Tokyo Game Show. But the developers have not been idle during this time. Thanks to the response to their initial appearances, the team have gone back and remade all of the assets in the videogame to produce a much crisper and better-looking experience.

Amata - Logo Not only that, the team have also confirmed two other pieces of news: The first is that Last Labyrinth will be receiving a simultaneous worldwide release in Spring 2019 and that along with the previously announced headsets support will also be given to the Windows Mixed Reality family of headsets.

Those attending this year’s Tokyo Game Show will be able to find Amata at booth 10-W09 in the VR/AR Area. They’ve also supplied some new screenshots – still work in progress obviously – of Last Labyrinth for you to have another look at the title. Additional information can be found on their website at http://lastlabyrinth.jp.

VRFocus will be bringing you news and updates from Tokyo Game Show throughout next week and you can expect further updates from us on Last Labyrinth in the new year.

September 10, 2018

Last Labyrinth Is A VR Escape Room From The Man That Created PlayStation’s Toro Mascot

It’s close enough to the end of 2018 now that we’re starting to look ahead to what we can’t wait to play in 2019. It looks like Last Labyrinth will be one such game.

Japanese developer Amata K.K. this month announced that this new escape room game will be launching on the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Windows VR and PlayStation VR headsets in spring 2019. A demo will be on display at this year’s Tokyo Game Show (TGS), which gets underway in a few weeks’ time.

In Last Labyrinth, the player awakens to find themselves locked in a strange mansion filled with puzzles. A mysterious girl accompanies them as they make their way through the world, deciphering clues and unlocking doors. The game was awarded the Best VR/AR Contents prize at Laval Virtual when it was first shown last year. It’s directed by Hiromichi Takahashi, who also directed Doko Demo Issyo, the game that gave birth to Sony’s Toro PlayStation mascot, in 1999.

Escape Room Games are a dime a dozen in VR, but we’re hoping Last Labyrinth’s focus on the relationship between two characters gives it the edge.

Tagged with: Last Labyrinth

The post Last Labyrinth Is A VR Escape Room From The Man That Created PlayStation’s Toro Mascot appeared first on UploadVR.