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Pac-Man's Dark Reimagining in Shadow Labyrinth is Intriguing

During Anime Expo 2025, Bandai Namco invited Anime News Network to check out Shadow Labyrinth, a gritty reimagining of the Pac-Man property. In this iteration, you play as Swordsman No. 8, a figure clouded in mystery. Following you around is an orb named Puck, who conspicuously looks similar to our beloved yellow friend, Pac-Man.

A concept first seen in the Secret Level series episode "PAC-MAN: Circle," Shadow Labyrinth is a 2D platformer Metroidvania similar to games like Hollow Knight and Dead Cells. I played about 20 minutes of the demo and came away cautiously impressed.

The demo was light on story details and threw me straight into action. The player has several movement and defensive options, including dodge rolling, shielding, and parrying. It seems like quite a lot to put into a single platforming game, but the controls felt natural. The player also has a grappling hook for extra verticality.

For blocking, a bubble forms around the player that can shatter if it's damaged enough. Hits from big enemies will break it almost instantly, while it'll take several hits from smaller enemies to do the same. It's helpful when you're facing your average alien running around, but it doesn't seem too practical during boss battles.

That's where parrying comes in. The window to parry is surprisingly small, and it's particularly punishing if you whiff it. It's not like parry mechanics in other games, where you can just spam it until you get a desired result, deflecting your enemy's attack. As a result, Shadow Labyrinth has a surprising skill floor.

To incorporate Pac-Man's iconic fruit-eating motif, Puck can consume fallen enemies and collect materials from them. It's similar to Onimusha, where you'll have to go out of your way to do that manually. If you wait too long, then the fallen enemies will disappear, leaving you with nothing. It's a clever way to pay homage to the franchise's legacy.

In terms of other Metroidvania games, Shadow Labyrinth feels most similar to Ori and the Blind Forest/Will of the Wisps and Bloodstained: Symphony of the Night. That's due to the game's art and animation style. When attacking, the animation plays out in a choppy fashion, giving the game a more retro and indie feel.

However, where I had the most fun was the puzzle segment. Here, Puck can actually turn into a ball like Pac-Man (or Samus) and navigate through incoming sawblades and laser beams like a thief in a spy movie. Puck will automatically move in the direction it's facing, but you can hold down the trigger on your controller to keep in place so that you can make more precise jumps. Successfully navigating to the end of these puzzles rewards players with useful prizes, such as additional healing flasks.

So far, Shadow Labyrinth's dark new take on the Pac-Man franchise has me curious about how the rest of the game will turn out. The iconic character's quirks and characteristics have been cleverly translated into this 2D platformer.

Shadow Labyrinth launches on July 18 for PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox.