Shadow Labyrinth (2025)

Shadow Labyrinth is a 2D action platformer and a genre-twisting alternate take on the iconic PAC-MAN. As The Swordsman, you wake on a mysterious planet amidst relics of wars past. To survive you will discover secrets, consume your enemies, and grow from prey to apex predator.

Platform Adventure Action Science fiction metroidvaniaXbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch

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Character

Epic, plot-driven, grave and unpretentious.

intimateepic
character-ledplot-driven
gravecomic
unpretentiousprestige
contemporarynostalgic

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From the critics

A few lines from each review; the whole review is on the critic's site. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.

TheGamerEric SwitzerJul 20254.5/5 stars
I’m old enough to have grown up with unforgiving games, and so I can appreciate a project that goes against the grain at the risk of alienating modern audiences. Even coming in as a genre appreciator, I felt alienated by Shadow Labyrinth.
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Hardcore GamerZach MckayJul 20254.5/5
A dark twist on a classic game, as Swordsman No. 8 and PUCK enter uncharted territory in Shadow Labyrinth.
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TechStomperStuart CullenAug 20255/5 stars
Shadow Labyrinth takes a beloved character and goes wild, crafting something bold and impressive.
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Metro GameCentralJul 20254/10
Mixing Pac-Man with Metroid seems like an enjoyably strange idea at first, until you realise just how bland and unimaginative the end result is.
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IGNJarrett GreenJul 20255/10
From exploration made tedious by annoying checkpointing to the one-note combat, Shadow Labyrinth is a largely dull adaptation of Pac-Man's gritty Secret Level episode.
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Snippets via OpenCritic, where 37% of critics recommend it.

About the game

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch
Developer: Bandai Namco Studios
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Released: July 18, 2025
Modes: Single player
Perspective: Side view
Engine: Unity
Time to beat: 20 h main story

IGDB rating 7.0/10 from 4 ratings.

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