For those unfamiliar with the D&D-adjacent novels of the 80s and 90s, "The Battle of Lord's Island," tabletop RPGs, and anime, "Diedrit in the Mysterious Labyrinth" will remain largely incomprehensible until the end. The introduction of characters such as Palm (Diederit's lover), Pilotes (Diederit's rival), and Ashram (the big bad) and the exploration of their relationships is like starting "Wonder Vision" at episode 9 without ever having seen a single Marvel movie. Later, "Wonder Labyrinth's" Deedlit mirrors Wander Vision's exploration of grief.

Non-fans need not worry too much about following the story. The metroidvania genre traditionally emphasizes 2D dungeon exploration over a cohesive narrative, and "Diedrit of the Mystery Labyrinth" is no exception. It fulfills all the familiar elements of a metroidvania, but its short length and low level of difficulty left me feeling underwhelmed.

Deedlit is a high elf whose bulging cape, long hair, and quick backdash are intentionally modeled after Alucard from Castlevania Symphony of the Night. She can wield melee weapons and a bow and can cast several elemental spells. More importantly, she can control wind spirits and fire spirits. With a simple tap of a button, she can switch between these two modes (stances) and can inflict either damage type with basic weapon attacks or gain immunity to that damage type.

When damage is inflicted with one spirit, the level of the other spirit increases to level 3, and when hit, the level of the equipped mode decreases. At level 3, Deedlit regains strength at a (noisy) but steady rate. The art style is like Symphony of the Night, but the sound design is reminiscent of early 16-bit games like Altered Beast. When a spirit reaches its maximum level, a voice sounds "Level 3," and green cubes fly across the screen with a high-pitched squeal, recovering one point of energy each time.

Swapping fire and wind is a surprisingly fun and complex maneuver, encouraged or required by most enemies, bosses, and platform challenges. Every enemy has at least one elemental weakness, resistance, or immunity, which are clearly indicated by clever dice icons on a scale of 1-6. The dragon boss early in the game deals mainly fire damage, but is himself immune to fire. When he covers the floor with his dragon breath or when he is about to fall into lava, you can switch to fire mode as a defensive measure and switch to wind mode when you see an opening to chop him up. Mode swapping is also used outside of combat, with wind and fire barriers forcing him to swap while jumping or running. The wind spirit also gives the ability to hover over spikes and enemies. The fire spirit gives the ability to explode barrels, but oddly enough, this skill is not used outside of the tutorial area.

Swapping modes, using elemental-powered bows, and unleashing screen-clearing spells to exploit enemy weaknesses remains fun throughout the short game time, but the enemies remain frustrating. Metroidvania fans are accustomed to creative gothic enemies and creepy monsters, but Deedlit battles high fantasy creatures such as dark elves, minotaurs, goblins, and slightly larger alligators. A few beasts that appear late in the game, such as basilisks, are impressively large and powerful, but all of the enemies suffer from the same problem: they are too large and powerful for their own good. Having experienced countless Metroidvanias, "Diedrit in the Mysterious Labyrinth" is one of the easiest I've ever played, in part due to the movement and reaction time of the enemies. I can easily take down any enemy before they even fire a single attack. The mild difficulty is further exacerbated by the fact that Deedlit can easily regenerate his strength. Only a handful of people pump the Spirit to level 3, and it is trivial to stay there before moving on to regain all of your hit points.

The exception are the boss battles, which feature a challenging balance between memorizing attack rhythms and swapping elementals on the fly to exploit weaknesses. Most of the bosses in the mid- to late-game are human-sized enemies (familiar to fans of the series) and can move and fight as quickly as a Deedlit. Against a particularly nasty boss that is weak to plants, a handy spell that summons a grape-shooting dryad is invaluable, and against the even quicker second form, a fast-firing light bow is effective.

Spells, weapons, bows, and several additional power-ups can be found by exploring the various paths and secrets of the dungeon, a staple of the genre. While Wonder Labyrinth does an excellent job of recreating the vertical holes and winding passages that create a traditional Castlevania-like experience (minus the fragile chandeliers), I don't recall finding a single secret after exploring the map to 100%. I am trained to look for false walls and secret pathways in every room, but I didn't find a single hidden or devious thing in Wonder Labyrinth.

While most Metroidvanias encourage you to go backwards by unlocking new abilities, Wonder Labyrinth is much more linear, taking you through each area one after another. Defeating the boss in each stage unlocks a new colored door, which opens the next area. The only exception is the mastery of the two and three-step jumps, but their important use is disappointingly limited.

Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a short but enjoyable foray into an overused genre. Mode swapping and elemental attacks are fun, but the game ends just as 100 percent of the map is revealed within six hours (presumably all equipment and spells are revealed) and begins to reach its proper crescendo. It's not a full symphony, but it's a fun little ensemble.