For my cash, Pac-Man: Circle is the standout episode of Amazon’s anthology collection, Secret Level. While the opposite 14 episodes felt like elongated commercials for the video games they had been based mostly on, Pac-Man: Circle put an surprising spin on Namco’s iconic character, utterly 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 recreation.Bandai Namco introduced Shadow Labyrinth just some days after Secret Level’s launch, and like that episode, this 2D Metroidvania maintains the darker tackle the basic character. Unfortunately, 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, worry not. The 12-minute episode helps set up Shadow Labyrinth’s primary premise, nevertheless it is not required viewing. Either manner, 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.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. Except it is not technically Pac-Man, it is Puck (in reference to his authentic Japanese identify). You’re an instrument of his will. He’s the manipulative satan in your shoulder. It’s an fascinating setup, however the story by no means capitalizes on it. Everything primarily occurs round you, with no pushback or sense of company, regardless of Puck’s apparent scheming. You’re alongside for the trip, and it is a boring one, failing to match the ominous and unnerving tone that Pac-Man: Circle achieved.It’s 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 recreation. Shadow Labyrinth is the primary Pac-Man recreation to be a part of the United Galaxy Space Force 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 looks like a wasted alternative.As a 2D metroidvania, Shadow Labyrinth is kind of linear for the primary 5 or so hours. There are nonetheless forking paths resulting in upgrades, secrets and techniques, and impassable areas, nevertheless it does not actually open up till afterward. At this level, you are given a number of aims and free rein to discover in any route you possibly can. Usually, this might be thrilling, however there are a selection of things that stop Shadow Labyrinth from reaching the heights of lots of its contemporaries.The first 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 totally different coloration 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 varied glowing skulls, to a valley crammed with doubtlessly lethal flowers.Another sticking level is the sport’s degree design. As the title suggests, Shadow Labyrinth is appropriately labyrinthine, with the map unveiling its varied crossroads over time, resulting in new areas and hidden secrets and techniques. The recreation does not provide you with any steering, nonetheless. There are no waypoints, and the clues you should purchase are deliberately obscure, 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 may very well be.Progression is notably sluggish as effectively, with hours in between unlocking totally different upgrades, like, say, the grappling hook and the double bounce. Not solely does this stop you from reaching new areas, nevertheless it additionally ends in the sport’s platforming turning into fairly stale. And I favored Shadow Labyrinth’s platforming for probably the most half. There are some enjoyable navigational puzzles and platforming challenges, with the perfect ones reminding me of Celeste; nonetheless, the hole between upgrades does let a number of the steam out.Each space can be crammed with an abundance of sudden fight rooms that lock you inside till all the pieces’s useless, placing a big emphasis on Shadow Labyrinth’s fight. You start with a primary three-hit combo and a stun assault, plus a dodge roll and a extra highly effective assault that every devour stamina (referred to as ESP). It’s customary fare for the style, with a parry and air-dash unlocked afterward. The robust sense of affect makes fight enjoyable sufficient at a foundational degree, however all the motion is soured by a dearth of enemy selection, inconsistent hitboxes, horrible checkpoint placement, and a scarcity of significant development.You’ll spend a lot of the sport combating the identical few enemies, regardless of the realm you are in. Even when Shadow Labyrinth introduces new enemies, you will shortly work out 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. This is principally as a result of, whereas every enemy sort 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 whenever you’re already coping with a number of assaults from each angle, nevertheless it’s particularly grating when a number of the recreation’s hitboxes prolong past the 2D mannequin. I misplaced rely of the variety of occasions I sustained injury after dodging, regardless of being out of the enemy’s vary.You’re fragile, too, so it does 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 recreation 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 whenever you perish. Without 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 an obstacle, you are additionally being pressured to spend upwards of 40 seconds operating again to the boss enviornment every time you die. It’s not time.To prime it off, every boss battle is a drawn-out affair. There’s often little technique concerned past primary 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 operating out of ESP–if the gauge hits zero, you are unable to dodge till it slowly replenishes. There are perks you possibly can equip that present bonuses, similar to revealing enemy well being bars and decreasing the ESP value of dodging, however they do not alter fight in any vital manner. You also can flip right into a type of Pac-Man dragon mech for brief intervals, however this simply includes extra button-mashing. Recent video games like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Nine Sols have raised the bar for metroidvania fight, so Shadow Labyrinth’s stale one-note design looks like a relic.The recreation’s most fascinating design decisions come from the way it weaves Pac-Man into the expertise. Puck is a passenger for probably the most half, with even his physique horror-esque possession relegated to a cutscene on the finish of every boss struggle. It’s baffling that the terrifying boss-eating Puck is not built-in into gameplay ultimately. Still, there are occasional moments the place you possibly can take direct management of the yellow orb, as particular surfaces let you remodel into Puck and trip them in basic Pac-Man fashion–complete with the enduring “waka waka waka” sound impact every time you eat a pellet. It’s a novel strategy to discover, however even right here, leaping is overly fiddly to the purpose of annoyance. You can solely bounce in three instructions: straight up, straight forward, and diagonally. It’s comparatively simple to line up these jumps when you will have time, however its cumbersome nature comes again to chew you when you do not.The recreation’s very worst moments happen whenever 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 drawback is that doing so launches you to this point ahead that you simply’re usually propelled straight into the enemy you had 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 every of 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 system, whereas its flashy colours and pumping soundtrack recall to mind Pac-Man Championship Edition EX–aka the perfect Pac-Man recreation. The strict five-minute timer is usually a burden, although. It’s not at all times 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 the earth.Despite all the pieces I’ve simply mentioned, I did not have a horrible time with Shadow Labyrinth. There are manner too many irritating moments, the story is mind-numbingly boring, and plenty of what you are doing is monotonous. Yet, for lengthy intervals, it is also merely simply positive. It’s a by-the-numbers metroidvania woven along with an occasional Pac-Man remix. An odd mixture, for certain, and one I want had a greater recreation constructed round it, however not less than we’ll at all times have that one Secret Level episode.
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