I'm going to pull a CinemaSins nitpick on Labyrinth of the Demon King right out of the gate by pointing out that I would never, ever visit a place called "The Labyrinth of the Demon King." I don't care if my dead lord's honor is at stake: at a bare minimum the place has an insurmountable marketing and image issue. But as with the terribly named vacation town (and clear Demon King inspo) Silent Hill, we've got to suspend our disbelief to engage in that mutual act of trust between audience and storyteller.
Labyrinth of the Demon King is a first-person dungeon crawler set in what has to be the worst place in all of feudal Japan, a sprawling, dilapidated castle complex where cryptids and undead horrors reign supreme. The vibe is very much King's Field or Ultima Underworld, with slow-paced, tense melee combat and a massive interconnected map—I'm almost two hours into Labyrinth's limited time Steam Scream Fest demo, and it feels like I'm only halfway through at best. It's stressful and unnerving, but I also can't wait to jump back in for more.
