For my cash, Pac-Man: Circle is the standout episode of Amazon’s anthology collection, Secret Degree. Whereas the opposite 14 episodes felt like elongated commercials for the video games they have been based mostly on, Pac-Man: Circle put an sudden spin on Namco’s iconic character, fully reimagining the pellet-gobbling yellow ball by introducing some harrowing violence and physique horror to the equation. It was daring and imaginative, and because it seems, nonetheless an prolonged business for an upcoming sport.
Bandai Namco introduced Shadow Labyrinth only a few days after Secret Degree’s launch, and like that episode, this 2D Metroidvania maintains the darker tackle the basic character. Sadly, it fumbles the execution with a boring, opaque, and in the end forgettable story, whereas irritating, one-note fight and egregious checkpointing are additional blemishes on what’s a disappointing reinvention of the 45-year-old character.
If you have not seen Pac-Man: Circle beforehand, concern not. The 12-minute episode helps set up Shadow Labyrinth’s fundamental premise, but it surely is not required viewing. Both means, you are most likely going to really feel misplaced, as Shadow Labyrinth’s story shortly devolves right into a confluence of cryptic dialogue layered with tropes, sci-fi jargon, technobabble, and bloated self-seriousness.
A part of that is presumably intentional, as you don the robes of an amnesiac swordsman, summoned from one other dimension to assist Pac-Man escape a hostile planet. Besides it is not technically Pac-Man, it is Puck (in reference to his unique Japanese identify). You are an instrument of his will. He is the manipulative satan in your shoulder. It is an fascinating setup, however the story by no means capitalizes on it. Every part primarily occurs round you, with no pushback or sense of company, regardless of Puck’s apparent scheming. You are alongside for the journey, and it is a boring one, failing to match the ominous and unnerving tone that Pac-Man: Circle achieved.
It is a disgrace, as a result of there are additionally just a few callbacks to deep cuts in Bandai Namco’s storied previous that may’ve landed higher in a extra compelling sport. Shadow Labyrinth is the primary Pac-Man sport to be a part of the United Galaxy Area Pressure timeline–a shared universe that includes lots of Bandai Namco’s older video games. As such, you will discover issues like a village of Bosconian NPCs, enemies from Dig Dug, Galaga, and Galaxian, and a number of references to the Xevious collection. They assist flesh out the world considerably, however once they’re saddled with the identical stilted dialogue and bland plot factors, it simply appears like a wasted alternative.
As a 2D metroidvania, Shadow Labyrinth is sort of linear for the primary 5 or so hours. There are nonetheless forking paths resulting in upgrades, secrets and techniques, and impassable areas, but it surely would not actually open up till afterward. At this level, you are given a number of targets and free rein to discover in any path you may. Often, this might be thrilling, however there are a selection of things that forestall Shadow Labyrinth from reaching the heights of lots of its contemporaries.
The primary is the artwork design and repetition of the areas themselves. There aren’t many areas that deviate from the abundance of caves and industrial zones, nor are there any notable variations between these areas apart from a barely completely different shade palette. This makes exploration notably rote, apart from the few zones that strive one thing barely askew; from a cave system that is shrouded in darkness till you activate numerous glowing skulls, to a valley crammed with probably lethal flowers.
One other sticking level is the sport’s stage design. Because the title suggests, Shadow Labyrinth is appropriately labyrinthine, with the map unveiling its numerous crossroads over time, resulting in new areas and hidden secrets and techniques. The sport would not offer you any steering, nevertheless. There are not any waypoints, and the clues you should purchase are deliberately imprecise, so it is as much as you to determine the place to go. Obscure signposting and paths that lead actually nowhere make this extra irritating than it could possibly be.
Development is notably gradual as properly, with hours in between unlocking completely different upgrades, like, say, the grappling hook and the double bounce. Not solely does this forestall you from reaching new areas, but it surely additionally leads to the sport’s platforming turning into fairly stale. And I appreciated Shadow Labyrinth’s platforming for essentially the most half. There are some enjoyable navigational puzzles and platforming challenges, with the very best ones reminding me of Celeste; nevertheless, the hole between upgrades does let among the steam out.
Every space can be crammed with an abundance of sudden fight rooms that lock you inside till every thing’s lifeless, placing a major emphasis on Shadow Labyrinth’s fight. You start with a fundamental three-hit combo and a stun assault, plus a dodge roll and a extra highly effective assault that every eat stamina (often called ESP). It is customary fare for the style, with a parry and air-dash unlocked afterward. The robust sense of influence makes fight enjoyable sufficient at a foundational stage, however all the motion is soured by a dearth of enemy selection, inconsistent hitboxes, horrible checkpoint placement, and an absence of significant development.
You will spend a lot of the sport combating the identical few enemies, regardless of the world you are in. Even when Shadow Labyrinth introduces new enemies, you will shortly determine that they are merely reskins of the identical foes you’ve got been combating for the whole thing of the sport. Most could be handled in a few strikes and are extra of a nuisance than a real problem once they come at you in numbers. That is primarily as a result of, whereas every enemy kind usually possesses some form of attack–whether it is melee-based or projectile–you additionally take injury everytime you contact an enemy. This dated design could be irritating while you’re already coping with a number of assaults from each angle, but it surely’s particularly grating when among the sport’s hitboxes lengthen past the 2D mannequin. I misplaced rely of the variety of instances I sustained injury after dodging, regardless of being out of the enemy’s vary.
You are fragile, too, so it would not take a lot to complete you off. Couple this with checkpoints which can be spaced too far aside, forcing you to replay prolonged sections over once more, and the fight’s flaws are solely exacerbated by how frequent it’s. You do have entry to therapeutic potions, however the sport makes use of a two-tiered strategy to checkpoints. Miku Sol checkpoints allow you to teleport, improve your character, and replenish your well being bar and therapeutic gadgets, however the smaller, extra common checkpoints are merely revival factors for while you perish. With out refilling your well being potions, it is artificially inflating the problem and simply feels low-cost, particularly when the latter checkpoints are positioned earlier than bosses. If combating a boss with out therapeutic gadgets is not sufficient of a drawback, you are additionally being pressured to spend upwards of 40 seconds working again to the boss area every time you die. It isn’t a superb time.
To high it off, every boss battle is a drawn-out affair. There’s normally little technique concerned past fundamental sample recognition, so the problem derives from simply how lengthy it takes to whittle down a boss’ well being bar whereas avoiding injury your self. You do not have many offensive choices in addition to the fundamental three-hit combo and a heavier assault, however the latter must be used sparingly to keep away from working out of ESP–if the gauge hits zero, you are unable to dodge till it slowly replenishes. There are perks you may equip that present bonuses, corresponding to revealing enemy well being bars and reducing the ESP value of dodging, however they do not alter fight in any vital means. You can even flip right into a kind of Pac-Man dragon mech for brief durations, however this simply includes extra button-mashing. Current video games like Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown and 9 Sols have raised the bar for metroidvania fight, so Shadow Labyrinth’s stale one-note design appears like a relic.
The sport’s most fascinating design decisions come from the way it weaves Pac-Man into the expertise. Puck is a passenger for essentially the most half, with even his physique horror-esque possession relegated to a cutscene on the finish of every boss combat. It is baffling that the terrifying boss-eating Puck is not built-in into gameplay in a roundabout way. Nonetheless, there are occasional moments the place you may take direct management of the yellow orb, as particular surfaces permit you to rework into Puck and journey them in basic Pac-Man fashion–complete with the enduring “waka waka waka” sound impact every time you eat a pellet. It is a novel technique to discover, however even right here, leaping is overly fiddly to the purpose of annoyance. You possibly can solely bounce in three instructions: straight up, straight forward, and diagonally. It is comparatively straightforward to line up these jumps when you might have time, however its cumbersome nature comes again to chew you when you do not.
The sport’s very worst moments happen while you’re thrown into an enemy gauntlet as Puck. Not solely are you able to not dodge, parry, and even heal, however leaping straight forward is your solely choice to keep away from most assaults. The issue is that doing so launches you thus far ahead that you simply’re usually propelled straight into the enemy you have been making an attempt to keep away from. Mercifully, these sections are few and much between, however I spent round an hour simply bashing my head making an attempt to get by way of one in all them.
The Maze sections fare greatest, transporting you to a pocket dimension the place you are thrown into extra frenzied variations of conventional Pac-Man ranges. New concepts like a decoy Pac-Man and weaponized platforms shake up the components, whereas its flashy colours and pumping soundtrack recall to mind Pac-Man Championship Version EX–aka the very best Pac-Man sport. The strict five-minute timer generally is a burden, although. It isn’t all the time clear what you are presupposed to be doing, and the fiddly platforming prevents you from doing something quick. Then once more, repeating these sections is not the worst factor on this planet.
Regardless of every thing I’ve simply stated, I did not have a horrible time with Shadow Labyrinth. There are means too many irritating moments, the story is mind-numbingly boring, and a variety of what you are doing is monotonous. But, for lengthy durations, it is also merely simply high-quality. It is a by-the-numbers metroidvania woven along with an occasional Pac-Man remix. An odd mixture, for positive, and one I want had a greater sport constructed round it, however at the least we’ll all the time have that one Secret Degree episode.