The One That Never Was: The Omega Labyrinth Z Special Edition

Sometimes things are far too beautiful to exist in this world, and one such thing happened this year with the cancellation of the Western localisation of Omega Labyrinth Z. We were one of the first outlets to report this news, and we’ve managed to score a quick chat with the Product Manager of the project from PQube, Anne-Lou, to talk about the wonderful special edition that never was.

Rice Digital: Thanks for agreeing to chat to us about Omega Labyrinth Z.
Anne-Lou: No, thank you for giving me a platform to talk about this project. This was one of my babies, and I’m just glad to be able to share this and all of the work that went into it.

RD: Okay, to start, we have to ask about the name of the special edition itself. Why The Mammary Maze Edition?
AL: Well, firstly, “maze” is just another word for “labyrinth”. Secondly, I love alliteration and this name has both alliteration and assonance, so this just sounded great to me. Thirdly, we wanted something that wasn’t overly crude, but instead was more subtle, unique, and most importantly, funny. I think we achieved this with the final title. We did have other ideas such as The Awakened Edition and The Appraisal Edition, but The Mammary Maze Edition just stuck.

RD: From what we have seen of the images, we personally loved the alternative covers for this special edition. What was the thinking behind these?
AL: The alternative covers were added to cater to the audience of the title, whilst still acting within the guidelines that exist for official cover art. Omega Labyrinth Z has some beautiful art assets and we wanted to showcase some of these that wouldn’t normally be seen as a kind of treat for the fans. We wanted to show that we understand the game and the audience, so instead of being coy, we embraced the sexy. Also, I worked really hard on those puns.

RD: This one is hard to ask about with a straight face, but what about the “Massaged Prawn” in the edition. What’s that all about?
AL: Haha. Well, this one was to do with the ‘Appraisal’ mechanic in the game in which you massage items between the characters’ breasts to reveal what they are. The line of thinking was that we already had the “sexy” item and high quality item in the edition, so the only thing remaining was a wild one, and so, the “Massaged Prawn”. The developers actually really liked this item; especially the idea that having the boobs of the mousemat, the prawn, and bringing them … together.

RD: Haha. Moving on! The high quality item you mentioned earlier, was that the Bellona keyring?
AL: Yes, the keyring was going to be made of high quality silicon and was going to feature yet more of the beautiful art from the game. Bellona is an adorable dog in the game that features in her own version of the “Awakening” mechanic involving honey, but we’ll leave that there. The great thing about this item is that it’s innocent enough, but would be recognisable by those in the know.

RD: Finally then, the Rio booby mousemat, which you have kindly allowed us to be the exclusive stockist of (link to store below). How did that come to pass?
AL: How could we not? The boobs are the main focal point of the game, and we really had to do this as an item. We did consider going with a bra screen cleaner, similar to the Gal*Gun one, but as the Japanese version had a mousemat in their edition we decided to follow suit, just with different art. Also, as a bonus small insight into our office with this one, Rio was literally selected as best girl by vote to be put on the mousemat.

RD: Thank you again Anne-Lou.
AL: It’s my pleasure.

The Mammary Maze Edition was originally meant to contain:

– The game itself, with alternative saucy covers for both PS4 and PSVita
– An artbook
– A Massaged Prawn
– A Keyring of Bellona
– A Collector’s Box
– And a padded mousemat of Rio

All is not lost though because, as reported earlier today on the social media channels, we are stocking the padded mousemat on our store right now! So get your piece of beautiful cancelled gaming history and let Rio’s soft, but firm, bust support your aching wrist. The dream that was Omega Labyrinth Z might be over, but its legacy can live on right in your own home!

This 3D mouse mat is an exclusive item, made for a banned game and will not be available anywhere else or ever again! So, don’t hesitate on this because you might not get another chance. When we sell out, there will be no more made!

So, what do you think? Would you have picked up this edition if it had come to pass? Were you looking forward to Omega Labyrinth Z? Let us know in the comments, or on Twitter, and keep an eye on Rice Digital in the future for more coverage of Japanese titles!