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Alright, so let’s talk about reimagining Pac-Man. There’s this old game, right? Classic. But how do you give it a new twist? You could just throw a couple of rocks, tell him to go left or right, and boom—terrible game. Or, and hear me out, you could plunk him down in a Metroidvania, like this thing called Shadow Labyrinth. Weird, right? But maybe it kinda works.
So, there I am at PAX East 2025, clutching a Nintendo Switch, eyes glued to the screen. Next to me, some other person has it running on a decent PC. Let me tell you, if you’re nerdy about Secret Level on Amazon, you might wanna catch an episode—it’s like the backstory. Anyway, the game’s running pretty average on the Switch, 30 FPS, which is not great but whatever, it’s a Switch. Folks in the corner said it’ll fly at 60 FPS on the new Switch version. Thank the gaming gods for that.
Alright, get this—Shadow Labyrinth had me lost in platforming and combat. You’ve got this guy, Swordsman No. 8, who’s jumping and dashing like life depends on it. There’s some craziness, like turning into a tiny Pac-Man, munching on pellets, dodging buzz saws. Fun times, but yeah, I gave up after a few tries. I honestly need solitude to be good at games, conventions are just loud.
On to the combat, which was honestly not bad. They’ve got a list, like a cheatsheet of buttons, so good luck messing that up. You’re hacking, dodging, healing. And Pac-Man goes giant and chows down baddies. Seems to work well. Oh, and you can parry, which felt pretty smooth during boss fights. That boss—seemed like he wandered off the set of Metroid Dread, just saying.
Anyway, after beating down that boss, I gained a laser attack. I nuked a wall next—think of the possibilities. Then, there were these enemies all mysterious-like, couldn’t slice them, had to blow them up with air using this grapple. Total Dig Dug homage. I hope Galaga or Rolling Thunder pop up somewhere too.
Release is set for July 18. It’s on everything from the Switch to Steam, with editions that have secret maps and whatnot. Honestly, though, less than $100 for the whole deal seems like you’re stealing.
Walking away from this demo, my head was buzzing. It’s gritty, it’s full of Bandai Namco nods. And if you’re a fan of Hollow Knight? Buckle up—it’s one to watch.
