Make no mistake, this isn’t your grandfather’s Pac-Man. Shadow Labyrinth, Bandai Namco’s upcoming 2D Metroidvania side-scroller re-imagining of the classic 1980 arcade game icon, promises not only to show off the lovable yellow puck in a whole new light, but also marks a drastic departure from its simple pellet-munching gameplay roots with its sprawling maps, complex level design and intense, challenging combat encounters.
We’ve already seen a glimpse of what the title has in store via a brief preview in May, but during an extended hour-long hands-on session with the title, we were able to get a better feel of how moment-to-moment gameplay works, and left with a notable observation – this game doesn’t even bother to hold your hand.
The preview was split into two sections: a gauntlet of puzzle-solving and combat, alongside a challenging boss encounter. While its core gameplay fundamentals and platforming elements remain unchanged from our previous session, the extended look did allow for a better understanding of its mission structure, level design and progression.
And it’s progression that ties any Metroidvania title together, Shadow Labyrinth included, as players will constantly learn new abilities throughout their journey in order to proceed forward on the game’s main narrative path, or for backtracking to open new routes for additional rewards. Pertinent examples of such skills include double jumping and the ACTIV shot, the title’s version of a grappling hook, though surprisingly, both were unavailable during some sections shown in the preview.
Without the help of these two skills, traversal is decidedly more complicated this time around. Once again, much emphasis has to be made that the game does not feature objective markers, so it’s up to the player to figure out how to move forward, identifying which areas can and can’t be accessed at any moment based on the abilities available to them at that point in time.
Take this one instance where, at one point, players are dropped into an area with no way of returning, with all other exits sealed off, bar one opening just out of jumping reach. A double jump would make quick work of the gap, but without it, and with no way back, players might feel at a loss for what to do, possibly even assuming that they had accidentally soft-locked the game by not learning a required ability before progressing to this point. The solution, it turns out, was to use a very specific ability, a mid-air dodge roll, to barely close the gap and slide into the tight opening. Waka waka and away we went!
This very example was subsequently brought up during an accompanying interview with game producer Seigo Aizawa to understand the steps taken by the team to ensure the game’s accessibility – especially for genre newcomers – and prevent players from hitting such roadblocks. Thankfully, he clarifies that this issue only arose due to the nature of the preview session, which drops players into the midpoint of the game without an explanation of core traversal mechanics.
“For this preview, we selected a section from the middle part of the game, and so we estimate that for first-time players, it would take around eight to 10 hours to reach this point,” explains Aizawa. “In the full game, after acquiring a new skill, players are normally guided through a tutorial video or a tutorial stage to help them get used to how that skill is to be used.”
“Since we skipped all these parts for the preview, players understandably might be at a loss for what to do. Rest assured that in the main version, the game is designed to let the player and Swordsman No. 8 grow together by gradually mastering the controls as the story progresses.”
Still, it remains to be seen how reliant on a player’s knowledge of the tools at their disposal the game will get, with protagonist Swordsman No. 8’s skillset bound to get even more complicated as the game progresses, requiring players to remember a constantly growing set of moves and then identifying which to use for different platforming sections.
Without objective markers, simply progressing the game’s main narrative path becomes a much trickier affair, as players might be tasked with obtaining a specific set of items to open up a blocked passage, with no guidance on where to go next.
In the preview, the main route is blocked by a gate requiring a set of three tablet pieces, with the player left to find them on their own. After exhausting all other available route options, with most being blocked off in one form or another, players will eventually encounter an elevator leading to a three-way crossroad, eventually figuring out after tackling them one by one that each leads to a piece of the broken tablet.
Reaching the end of each path is no cakewalk either, with one leading to the aforementioned area requiring a mid-air dodge roll, one featuring a tough encounter with waves of spawning enemies, and perhaps the most difficult one of all, a timed platforming challenge utilising Swordsman No. 8’s mini-PUCK mode.
While its platforming section isn’t all that difficult, it was the timed element that really ramps up the challenge. Players have to first activate a button at the start of the section, opening up a door at the end and beginning an invisible timer. The thing is, this particular challenge requires patience, with the section revolving around grinding along a set path while avoiding slow-moving saw blades, jumping between the main path and strategically placed safe zones to wait until a blade has passed before continuing.
On top of that, the entire section is suspended above a bottomless pit, spelling doom for any missed jump and sending players back to the start. Again, all this occurs while an invisible timer ticks down, and finally completing the section, only to realise that the timer had run out in the process and coming face to face with a closed door after all the effort would certainly have led to much frustration.
Granted, some might find this constant trial and error thrilling, and its difficulty might even be a major selling point, but this might prove a harder sell for genre newcomers, especially considering how gamers from all skill levels might dive into the title because of its well-known Pac-Man IP, making accessibility even more important.
To this end, Aizawa reassures that the game will adopt a step-by-step approach, allowing players to get used to the game’s systems over time. “Over the course of the game, players can obtain new skills and progress through its different stages, designed to help them naturally get used to these abilities before moving on to the next steps,” he explains.
“So I believe players do not have to feel worried, and can feel at ease while playing the game.”
To its credit, the game’s reliance on trial and error can lead to some interesting eureka moments, best seen in the preview during a closing boss encounter with a particularly challenging foe, the Jen Hybri.
The hulking Jen Hybri monstrosity is menacing right from the get-go, with a design inspired by the classic 1988 Namco beat ‘em up arcade game, Splatterhouse. In fact, many of the game’s enemy and level designs were inspired by classic Namco games, with Aizawa explaining that Shadow Labyrinth is set within the United Galaxy Space Force (UGSF), the combined science fiction world of all Namco titles.
Like the protagonist of Splatterhouse, the Jen Hybri wears a menacing mask that is more than just a fashion statement, as it is able to deflect all of Swordsman No. 8’s blows with ease. Unable to target its massive head, the fight then boils down to timing, requiring skilful parrying of its attacks to create a brief opening to strike back, resulting in a risky back and forth while slowly whittling down its health.
While achievable, this method is definitely challenging, with the game actually featuring a much easier solution instead – the use of Swordsman No. 8’s GAIA mech form. When using GAIA, players are now able to shatter Jen Hybri’s mask (something the game never makes known), exposing the boss’s weak point. The tradeoff here is that it switches up its attack patterns upon its mask being broken, now featuring much more aggressive strikes. Still, with its head exposed, players are then free to utilise mid-air strikes to make quick work of Jen Hybri’s lengthy health bar, making the fight much more manageable in the process.
It’s in these cases that the game’s sparse guidance really shines through, offering the satisfying feeling of discovering new tactics to deal with challenging obstacles and encouraging players to experiment with new combat techniques with every encounter, with this combat flexibility being something that Aizawa is personally the most proud of.
“I really enjoy the heart-pounding action we created, and the variety of moves available. Once players get the hang of it, they can combine moves like ACTIV shot, aerial attacks and chain combos for some really stylish battles, something I hope everyone can enjoy.” Aizawa concludes.
As it stands, Shadow Labyrinth has the potential to be a divisive title. On one hand, its near lack of guidance can make it daunting for players less familiar with the Metroidvania genre; on the other, the emphasis on player discovery can lead to immensely satisfying moments that simply won’t exist with traditional objective markers. The question now, then, is whether the game can balance out these two extremes in its full release.
Shadow Labyrinth will launch on 18 July 2025 for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, the Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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