Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Beneath a small town lies an endless maze known as the Labyrinth of Refrain. Dusk Witch Dronya arrives, and with her puppet soldiers, endeavors to find something buried deep within. Embark on an adventure as you discover the secrets underground.
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is a dungeon crawler, rpg and anime game
developed by Nippon Ichi Software and Inc.
and published by NIS America and Inc..
Released on September 18th 2018 is available only on Windows
in 3 languages: English, Japanese and French.
It has received 1,303 reviews of which 1,048 were positive and 255 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.7 out of 10. 😊
The game is currently priced at 49.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 8.40€ on Eneba.
The Steam community has classified Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows 7/8.1/10 64bit
- Processor: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel HD 520
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 20 GB available space
- Sound Card: Onboard
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Finally, this game is finished. I have completed everything, including the post-game content. Time to celebrate, so I'll write this review. I will discuss the story, the gameplay, and the post-game. I will list the pros and cons while avoiding spoilers and not describing key events in the plot. The Story In the remote city of Refrain, there exists a mysterious magical well. The mayor seeks the help of Dusk Witch Dronya and her apprentice to investigate it. They use a special book along with an army of puppets to explore the labyrinth beneath the Well of Khalaza. In the story, the player embodies the special book itself. The protagonists are strangers in a strange land, and the main villain is an odious being. It takes a while, but eventually, the plot bares its fangs. Warnings: - The game's classification is not just for show. The story contains heavy scenes that may evoke painful memories for those who have been victims of real-life villains. - This game also features its share of disturbing scenes. I would say that two of the worlds in this game are particularly unsettling. - The plot is not at all similar to Disgaea's zany stories. Labyrinth of Refrain is tragic, not humorous. - The characters are all filled with human flaws that you typically won't find in feel-good stories. This isn't necessarily a good or bad thing. Perhaps you were looking for this? Pros: - It is a depressing story, but just because it is depressing doesn't mean it isn't interesting. - There is more to most characters in this story than meets the eye. - In particular, the Witch's apprentice is a fun character. I was completely cheering for her. - The Dusk Witch's character may have reprehensible traits, but her good qualities and even some of her flaws shine much brighter. - The main antagonist is so despicable that you will want to defeat them. - Some people have said this game is too dark, but the story only works if it is this dark. - Some of the twists were quite enjoyable, even when you could figure them out. - Dronya isn't the person Luca deserved, but the one she needed. - The Puppet Theater. - The ending left me wanting more, but I understood why it ended the way it did. I respect NIS's vision. - Lastly, the main romance. I'm not fond of romance in fiction, but this one deserves a pass. It wasn't just there for no reason. Cons: - There is a lack of meaningful choices in most decisions. This is another warning: regardless of what you choose, the main story won't change. I dislike it when my story choices don't matter. - Similarly, the dolls you create also lack significance. - That said, the Bad End mechanic is a cool idea, but it clearly doesn't work well in practice. - The major plot twist regarding the Labyrinth's Mystery is well executed, but still somewhat cliché. - I felt that some characters existed for no reason, although they might have made the story more relatable. The Gameplay The gameplay is reminiscent of Disgaea, as if it had an immaculate offspring after receiving the holy spirit of Wizardry games. It is a dungeon crawler, but some of the mechanics are clearly inspired by Disgaea. Moreover, I would say this game has refined these mechanics through the way they were implemented. Let me explain what I mean. Pros: - There is a mechanic in this game called Soul Transfer, which provides a clearer way to grow party members compared to Disgaea's reincarnation. - In this game, you can practice alchemy to enhance items, which is a better approach than Disgaea's equivalent. - Witch Petitions are easier to manage than Disgaea's Dark Assembly. - You can experiment with different party builds, and they can be effective. - The fourth and fifth worlds feature great maps for different reasons. - There are no sudden enemy encounters. I appreciate being able to see enemies on the map and avoid them. - As another personal preference, I love some of the map skills. - The critical gore mechanic needs more polish, but it’s incredibly fun to turn the tides with it. - I enjoy finding Witch Hints in the maps, as they really add to both gameplay and immersion. - The map soundtracks are immersive. - The Reinforcement mechanic may seem annoying at first, but I enjoyed discovering how to use it effectively. Cons: - There are few character classes and portraits. - The map of the fifth world, while immersive, might be too large for my taste. -Frankly, the Mana Limit mechanic feels pointless. It exists only to annoy the player. - The puzzles in the game are too simple. Honestly, most of them bored me, making the game feel like a Dungeon Crawler-lite. - The Coven System needs a rework, especially concerning how spells function. - The Karma System has a reason to exist, but gameplay-wise, it is more annoying than interesting. - The loss of Puppet Parts is another frustrating mechanic. - Some of the consumables are pointless or useless. - Two particular superbosses, those from the fourth and fifth worlds, are really annoying to fight against. - Seeking items for the subquests is tedious. The Post-Game In this section, I'll discuss the story and gameplay of the post-game. The post-game serves as the ultimate challenge in Labyrinth of Refrain. In my opinion, you don't need to complete it at all. While there is significant information presented, nothing drastically changes the main story. Also, there is no notable difference in gameplay either. Pros: - As an ultimate challenge, the maps in the post-game work well enough. - It's nice to meet the main character of the post-game again. - The post-game's story doesn't detract from the main story at all, given its nature. - The Puppet Theater becomes more effective if you choose to complete the post-game. - You are provided with a way to farm more efficiently. - There is a surprise in the post-game dungeon that NIS fans might want to seek out. Cons: - The post-game's story isn't as strong as the main story. - Reaching the post-game might be too challenging if you don't know what you're doing. - The post-game bosses won't pose much of a challenge, except for the ultimate final boss. - The ultimate final boss has a nice build-up, but fighting against it is quite a chore. Conclusion This game was a wild ride. Giving it a chance was the right decision. I found the story to be good, even if it didn’t quite reach the level of an amazing masterpiece. Meanwhile, the gameplay is solid. It could have been much better, but I’ll give them a pass since it was NIS’s first "blobber"-style dungeon crawler and they took some risks with it. For a seasoned dungeon crawler player, it may not be the best dungeon crawler ever, but it still offers a fine "coffee break" experience. I'll try Labyrinth of Galleria next and see if it is as good as this game, or hopefully even better. Perhaps this will be the key to reuniting with the Witches of Tanis once more.
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Nice little beginner first-person dungeon crawler RPG. I couldn't get into similar games like Etrian Odyssey for some reason, but found some time to stick with this one (6 years after I bought it lol). Characters are very well-written and voiced(I played with dub, but there is a JP option). Probably the biggest reason i was able to stick around. Dronya is a mean bastard at first, but her story gets revealed as the game goes on and she becomes very sympathizable. Luca is adorable and must be protected. You're gonna be rooting for her every time she's on screen. The supporting cast is a good mix of weird and slimy folk. Something's going on under the surface with every one of them. The art is also gorgeous. Very coloorful and striking. Like the Disgaea games but more "adult". I don't know what to say about the story except that it was hella dark and I was invested. You play as a book and your party members are a bunch of puppets that have dope art. Your master is that hot milf Dronya and you gotta dungeon the shit outta that dungeon for her. And, most importantly, you have to go through the post-game and see the true ending, otherwise, the story feels incomplete. The game isn't that hard but if you need help, there's a guide in excel sheet form in the Steam Guide page that has everything you need to know to break the game. Which brings me to the one thing that separates this game from all the other first-person dungeon crawlers I've played (which isn't a lot, mind you), Covens. Other games like this usually have a set amount of party members you can use in battle. 5, for example. You tell each of those individual dudes to do something and that's it. Labyrinth of Refrain adds another layer. Instead of a single party member, it uses a Coven (it's a game about witches, they have to call it that), which is like a Party in itself . You can have, at maximum, 8 puppets in a coven, so imagine each party member slot to be a party of 8 and so your dungeoneering crew becomes 40 dudes! That's pretty insane, but it's not actually that crazy. Each coven can actually fit 8, but only 3 are in active battle, the other 5 are in support roles and are needed because they do things like, unlock certain spells or increase the stats of the active members. And speaking of spells, it's a big choice to make because using a spell uses the turn of all the puppets in the coven, whereas each of them can use a basic attack separately. So that spell you're gonna use better be worth it. There are a lot of different covens to unlock as well. Covens for tanking, spell casting, healing, gaining experience. Ones that magnify a certain stat. Jokey ones that are related to the story. etc. Overall, I really like the addition of Covens as opposed to the usual way of doing things. You can destroy walls to create shortcuts when you're exploring dungeons too. Which is neat. Seems like that kind of thing isn't common in similar games. Grind-focused gameplay mechanics that are common in other NIS games are here as well, but they're not important enough for me to explain here. You just need to use them if you want to get stronger. Music's good. Never got tired of it. Each dungeon stage has its own theme. They all sound very Disgaea-esque. The game uses a leitmotif in big emotional points in the story. Almost got me teary-eyed. Anyway, I like this game. The high-ish presentation values really got me to stick with it. The shadow-play in the intro, good voice acting, the music, and the gameplay all come together to form a sick little game. The grinding is pretty comfy too. Spent a little too much time on youtube doing it... I would recommend it to anybody looking to play a easy-going dungeon explorer.
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Playing on the Steamdeck to test if this is actually playable or not. I have around 120 hours on the Switch version of this game, and 90 hours on its sequel on the Switch. It automatically sets the resolution correctly. The text is the same size as on the Switch, which I had no issues with. I love DRPGs. They are a rare breed of games that seem to be relegated to softcore porn ala Mary Skelter, Tokyo Clanpool, MeiQ, and many, many others, or they are old, outdated designs, stuck on DOS-box, ala Eye of the Beholder, Wizardry series (until recently), or just very dated designs like Phantasy Star, etc. So when a DRPG comes along that has a story that is a little bit less tame, but with really strong dungeon crawling (in the actual sense, not Steam's weird as fuck sense), I need to get the word out there. So what is a DRPG? A DRPG is a grid-based game that is in the first person, usually involving parties, sometimes called a blobber. Some are in realtime (Grimrock) while most are turn based. The game either maps for you (modern games) or relies on you making a mental map, or its a whole system in the game (Etrian Odyssey). This is a modern turn-based DRPG, both in combat and in the maps. The game has a lot of depth to it with its soul system, its equipment system, its coven system, the gore critical system for the puppets you control. And as for the dungeon aspects, it has some unique bits and bobs, including breaking walls because you can. Its really hard to emphasise how much more content there is in Labyrinth of Refrain, and its sequel, Labyrinth of Galleria. I believe this is in part because these games are Nippon Ichi Software games, which are known to be a bit...extra. Labyrinth of Refrain is the better of the two games. While Labyrinth of Galleria has quality of life features including not losing items on party wipe (yes, this can fuck you over in Refrain! Save often!), its story is a lot weaker, as is the dungeon crawling. I would recommend this game if you enjoyed DRPG games such as: Labyrinth of Galleria Legend of Grimrock I & II Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey/Redux Etrian Odyssey series Eye of the Beholder series Mary Skelter 2 (haven't played the others) Saviour of Sapphire Wings Kowloon High School Chronicles I would not recommend it if you're sensitive to anime tropes. There are things I really dislike in Labyrinth of Refrain that include the constant abuse of Luca and Fitz (children) by their parental figure that's done in a way that I can only describe as "anime", or Marietta's "comically anime" advances on the main character, Dronya with her massive "potatoes" (normal people would call these melons, real badonkadonks, and many other nonsensical terms for breasts, but she calls them potatoes and that's just weird). Its hard to recommend as a first DRPG not because its the best out there but because of the aforementioned anime tropes, but if you know you like this kind of game, I think its worth it. Its got some really interesting bosses, its environments are unique and tell individual stories alongside the main one, and I just really liked this game.
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A solid dungeon crawler and one of the best stories I've read. It was an extremely dark and emotional journey but I'm glad I saw it through to the end. 9/10
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Bloodier and hornier Etrian Odyssey. Relative to those: + Strong emphasis on story from the get-go. + Team construction is an interesting, well-developed system in its own right. - Non-boss fights offer uninteresting turn-to-turn gameplay. - Several mechanics are opaque or obscure. - Some translation issues.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is currently priced at 49.99€ on Steam.
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 49.99€ on Steam.
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk received 1,048 positive votes out of a total of 1,303 achieving a rating of 7.69.
😊
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk was developed by Nippon Ichi Software and Inc. and published by NIS America and Inc..
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is playable and fully supported on Windows.
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is not playable on MacOS.
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is not playable on Linux.
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is a single-player game.
There are 6 DLCs available for Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk. Explore additional content available for Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk on Steam.
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk supports Remote Play on TV. Discover more about Steam Remote Play.
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk.
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Last Updates| Steam data | 21 July 2025 07:29 |
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| SteamSpy data | 29 July 2025 15:44 |
| Steam price | 30 July 2025 20:42 |
| Steam reviews | 30 July 2025 22:09 |
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Game modes
Features
Online players
20
Developer
Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
Publisher
NIS America, Inc.
Release
18 Sep 2018
Platforms
Remote Play
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