As 2024 came to a close, Prime Video's Secret Level threw viewers for a loop with Circle—a strangely dark reimagining of video game forefather, PAC-MAN. Not long after, Bandai Namco Entertainment revealed that the animated short was a stealth teaser for an upcoming Search Action title, Shadow Labyrinth. Since the announcement, I've been curious about this radical reenvisioning of the chompy chomperson; even if I found the Secret Level segment to be too grim for its own good. But after roughly a work week's time with the game, I found Shadow Labyrinth to be an ingenious but flawed spin on PAC-MAN and his many Namco arcade buddies.

The player is thrown into the body of a silent swordfighter simply known as Number 8. Alongside their morally dubious companion—the PAC-MAN-esque Puck—it's up to No. 8 to traverse a mysterious and deadly planet before ascending a mysterious black tower off in the distance. However, this duo's initial path to the tower is a sprawl of winding roads and caverns, transforming the proceedings into a beefy Search Action adventure specifically in the vein of Hollow Knight and Blasphemous.

As the slender swordfighter, players are initially reliant on a three-hit sword combo, a stamina-sapping dodge, and a limited supply of health potions to get them through the first of many labyrinths. Along the way, they'll acquire currency and crafting materials to unlock perks that make the battle and transversal process a touch easier. Additionally, there are oodles of hidden upgrades scattered across the entire map like health upgrades and additional potion slots. However, they all pale in comparison to the abilities unlocked by consuming fallen bosses. In fact, consuming enemies and using their resources to unleash the mighty GAIA becomes a key part of the main traversal loop. This hulking mechanical form often comes in handy against enemy mobs and specific puzzles.

No. 8 isn't exactly a joy to handle, though. For most of the game, I found the aforementioned sword combo to lack any meaningful tactile feedback—with the exception of a few armored bosses. The character's jump feels a touch floaty during exploration, but can actually come in handy while fighting certain bosses. However, this jump really sings when paired with a grapple ability that flings players through the air. Once I had a firm grasp on this ability, I couldn't get enough of the game's grapple-specific platforming sections. These moments often sent me into a wonderful flow state that saw me making fine adjustments to my grappling angles and momentum as I flew through the environment.

But not long before I discovered that spectacular sense of acrobatic freedom, an early game area's use of disappearing “yoku” blocks pushed my patience to the limit. It was a design element that made sense in PAC-MAN's heyday, where these blocks were used as a tool to help stretch out the game—like in Mega Man 2. Today, that's not a necessary design touch. However, the introduction of the D-Line is an incredibly smart twist on PAC-MAN's classic gameplay loop, allowing players to transform into a “mini-puck” whenever they make contact with this glowing blue line. While novel, I couldn't help but compare the execution of this ability to the Spider Ball from Metroid: Samus Returns, which allows the player to stick any nook when activated.

It didn't help, either, that I found mini-puck's controls to be rather unwieldy. There are multiple in-game prompts that detail how jumps in this form are affected by the direction and angle of the analog sticks, but those points become moot when the player ends up flailing in the air instead of leaping to the next D-Line. These control issues are exacerbated by the introduction of Mazes—PAC-MAN Championship Edition-style stages that wildly iterate on the arcade game's core concepts. While some Mazes can be a thrill to play, the finicky controls led me to avoid these segments unless they were necessary for plot progression.

On the topic of progression, Shadow Labyrinth's pacing is a mixed but occasionally frustrating bag. The first opening eight to ten hours of the game are strung along a rather linear path while highly limiting the player's navigational abilities. After a series of stunning revelations, the game opens up greatly and starts to come into its own. However, I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd just slogged through an okay action game to unlock an all right Search Action adventure. It's at this point that Shadow Labyrinth reveals its issues with breadcrumbing, especially when I felt as if I were sent on a wild-goose chase to find a double jump ability that gated my progression.

There's something of a tip screen in the game's map menus, but it seems as if players are often left to spin their wheels instead of providing curious threads for them to pull on. When No. 8 was fully upgraded, I came to quite enjoy navigating the world, but that wasn't until the clean up process prior to the endgame—roughly thirty hours in. Now this sort of pacing might be great for players in the market for a podcast game or something to keep their hands busy while chatting with friends, but I'm not crazy about games that eventually have me thinking, “Please, get on with it.”

I found another form of friction in the game's implementation of Dark Souls-style player progression and gameplay elements—stamina bars, health vials, bonfires, stun gages. These elements made the game less of a satisfying challenge and more of an annoying pull on my time. This approach makes sense given Bandai Namco's intimate involvement with these style of games, but the constant aping of these design choices (even in Search Action titles), has worn out its welcome.

More than once, I found myself face-to-face with a boss only to think, “I just want to get through this and move on, this isn't fun.” This is primarily because only a handful of the game's colossal opponents provide the player with a satisfying combat puzzle to be solved. The rest of the time, players will find themselves doing the old song and dance of “hit, roll, hit, roll, hit” until they win. I would probably would've been more okay with this approach if it felt as if No. 8's slashes were actually leaving a dent. Aside from some well-hidden, endgame sword upgrades, most boosts to these attacks are minor at best.

Shadow Labyrinth is visually reminiscent of the mix of traditional illustration and digital art one might see in a Vanillaware title like 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim or Muramasa: The Demon Blade, but not quite as lavishly rendered. Funny enough, the vibes and gameplay of No. 8's journey might be right at home with similar titles from the Xbox 360 LIVE Arcade lineup. On the aural end, the game's score has few rousing boss themes and cute uses of classic arcade sound effects, but it's not exactly a memorable soundtrack otherwise.

$29.99 is a fair price for those looking to sink their teeth into a densely packed adventure, but I'd personally wait for the titles to hit that $20 sweet spot. I might've been more comfortable with the initial price point if I didn't occasionally feel like I was mowing through empty gaming calories—especially after spending 35 hours (38 on the in-game clock) with the game. Shadow Labyrinth is a solid-enough Search Action jaunt with intriguing twists on Namco's classics, but as a new title in such a crowded genre, I'd wait for a sale or pick through a few other titles first.