Game:

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk (2016)

Duration: 2:02:46

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Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is a frankly underrated dungeon crawling jRPG put out by Nippon Ichi Software. The gameplay can feel quite convoluted, which is a shame because the story is deep and the lore of the world is well thought out.

Not a lot of players are aware that there is a "true ending" that leads to a proper end-game, as opposed to a simple New Game Plus. Unlocking this requires fighting 7 optional bosses before taking on the assumed final boss.

After a change in cut scenes, the player is shown an alternative future of sorts and given 9 additional maps they need to conquer. Each of these maps reveals more of the set up for the true final battle and, upon its completion, an ending that cribs content from what players expect but twists it in an unexpected and pleasant way.

This video does not have any of the boss fights shown, mostly for time constraints. It does capture the dialogue before and after them though, as well as several of the exposition dumps that happen throughout the post-game dungeon that expand upon the lore of established characters.

I thought I had beat this game several years ago, but only fairly recently became aware of the fact that there was so much more I didn't know about this game and its lore that was shared in the post-game dungeon. Getting to this point in the story frankly felt like a chore, trying to balance the various "Covens" (this game's take on Squads) and leveling individual characters in hopes of cheesing various boss fights. The actual post game is, surprisingly, a bit more balanced... although I still had more than my fair share of cheap deaths.

Thank you for taking the time to watch, and remember to support Nippon Ichi Software so they can continue to release more content like this.

Index:
00:00 First Ending
34:38 Beginning of Post-Game
46:39 First Antechamber
52:40 Second Antechamber
55:36 Third Antechamber
1:01:40 Fourth Antechamber
1:04:27 Sixth Antechamber
1:08:57 Seventh Antechamber
1:18:06 Eighth Antechamber
1:43:30 Heart Antechamber
1:50:32 Final Credits
1:57:44 After Credits Scene

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