- Publisher: Bandai Namco Games
- Release Date: Jul 18, 2025
- Also On: PC, PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox Series X
- Summary:
- Developer: Bandai Namco Games
- Genre(s): Action, Platformer, Metroidvania
- # of players: No Online Multiplayer
- Cheats: On GameFAQs
- More Details and Credits »
Score distribution:
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Positive: 5 out of 19
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Mixed: 13 out of 19
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Negative: 1 out of 19
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Jul 17, 2025Shadow Labyrinth is a dark and gritty Pac-Man spinoff that somehow manages to be one of the best Metroidvanias in recent memory.
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Jul 17, 2025One of the best parts of running into a game like Shadow Labyrinth is there’s no telling what kind of audience it has. It’s weird, difficult, janky, ambitious, and did I say weird? Let’s go with bizarre. Absurd. Deranged, even. The announcement was met with confusion, and I think the end product will be met with even more confusion than anticipated. But there’s also some gas here, with an experience that almost never slows down, never lets you rest or breathe, but is always wrenching your brain and making you think. This is an utterly fascinating experience, and a wonderful exercise in a team taking something mundane and being relentlessly creative. Tons of people will probably hate it. But folks who gel with this particular brand of crazy have a potential new cult classic in their libraries.
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Jul 21, 2025Shadow Labyrinth is a title that honors the legacy of Pac-Man and other Bandai Namco classics with a dark twist. With a balance between retro and modern, this metroidvania excels in offering challenging gameplay, but can be frustrating for less experienced players. While its art style is somewhat dull, it's a game that fans of the company's more classic arcade games will enjoy.
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Jul 17, 2025If you're intrigued by Shadow Labyrinth's fresh approach to Pac-Man, I recommend giving it a shot on Switch 2. It provides an intriguing narrative in a foreboding world with varied environments throughout, and PUCK proves to be a compelling character. The short bursts of Pac-Man-style gameplay help mix up the experience, and this is very welcome since the game never really delivers a 'wow' moment. Much of it has been done better elsewhere, but this is nevertheless a promising new direction for an ageing franchise; one I hope to see continue in the future.
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Jul 21, 2025Shadow Labyrinth has a really great premise, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The progression is too slow to keep things fresh and interesting, the story is lacklustre, and the gameplay just doesn't meet the expectations you would have for what is supposed to be a big new turning point for Pac-Man.
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Jul 17, 2025All in all, Shadow Labyrinth makes for a pretty bog-standard metroidvania. This clever twist on the Pac-Man maze makes room for some cool ideas, but so much of the best stuff about Shadow Labyrinth gets diluted by straightforward metroidvania design so that it doesn't differentiate itself from the rest of the pack (sorry). Supplemented by awesome translations of classic Namco games, there's still a lot of cool stuff here and there. But frustrating mechanical and meta game choices make it hard to really connect with this world.
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Aug 10, 2025It pains me to say this, but Shadow Labyrinth feels somewhat like a relic in terms of structure, level design, and combat – one that seemingly never witnessed the birth of games like the Ori series or Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. In principle, it offers the foundations for a solid Metroidvania and is by no means a bad game. In practice, however, many of its competitors do things significantly better, especially when it comes to art style and combat. Unfortunately, not even the occasional nods to other Bandai Namco retro titles or the random Pac-Man mazes can quite make up for this.