Shadow Labyrinth (NS/2, PS5, XSX/S, PC) Review/Discussion Thread

[BoysenBarry]

Not sure if anyone else was following the lead-up to the release of this game like I was, but Bandai Namco's dark Sci-Fi Metroidvania twist on the Pac-Man franchise just released last Thursday. I wanted to create a space for those playing the game to discuss it, or for those interested in the game to find out more about it before buying it.

I'm currently in the game's fifth major area and I think that it is shockingly well designed! The moves are varied and mechanically interesting, the movement is tight and fast-paced, the difficulty is well-tuned, and the boss fights are fun to learn without being frustrating (aside from one boss around the end of a certain mechanical area, if you know you know). It's very mechanically similar to Hollow Knight, and in ways I think has some improvements in areas where I found Hollow Knight frustrating or lacking.

The game attempts to use a painted aesthetic with puppeted animations, much like a VanillaWare title, and while I think it has the capacity to look good, and has some great character and environmental assets, the way things come together in motion ocassionally really highlight the game's status as a budget title.

If you're interested and haven't picked it up yet, I highly recommend it so far! It has its flaws but I'm definitely having enough fun to justify the $30 price tag.

Have you played Shadow Labyrinth? Are you planning to grab it? Let me know!

 

[glokglakglak]

Shadow Labyrinth on Steam

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.

store.steampowered.com

 

[qw90700]

Checking the game I know why it wouldn't sell much:

Weird usage of Pac-Man + Little Nightmares-esque world building + whatever is popular and therefore generic regarding modern side-scrolling action games + really bad visuals that a little better than Flash games + $20 = I wouldn't expect it to sell much lol.

It seems they generated the game via AI + using codes from other games and called it a day. This is really the mentality of the current indie industry's "let's spam some random horror/porn game and sell it, people will buy it for sure" except it's too overpriced for that. However when AAA companies does it it's not indie but laziness, stinginess and lack of vision lolol.

 

[nobitakun]

God, never heard about it and after looking at the video I know why lol. I was a little bit pissed it was not going to be released for PS4 as well, now I don't care :)

Those ultra cheap 2D animations using rotations are a plague in many 2D games. I prefer animations frame by frame like Vanillaware does. This simply looks awful.

 

[JoueurCitoyen]

Not sure if anyone else was following the lead-up to the release of this game like I was, but Bandai Namco's dark Sci-Fi Metroidvania twist on the Pac-Man franchise just released last Thursday. I wanted to create a space for those playing the game to discuss it, or for those interested in the game to find out more about it before buying it.

View attachment 93291

I'm currently in the game's fifth major area and I think that it is shockingly well designed! The moves are varied and mechanically interesting, the movement is tight and fast-paced, the difficulty is well-tuned, and the boss fights are fun to learn without being frustrating (aside from one boss around the end of a certain mechanical area, if you know you know). It's very mechanically similar to Hollow Knight, and in ways I think has some improvements in areas where I found Hollow Knight frustrating or lacking.

The game attempts to use a painted aesthetic with puppeted animations, much like a VanillaWare title, and while I think it has the capacity to look good, and has some great character and environmental assets, the way things come together in motion ocassionally really highlight the game's status as a budget title.

If you're interested and haven't picked it up yet, I highly recommend it so far! It has its flaws but I'm definitely having enough fun to justify the $30 price tag.

Have you played Shadow Labyrinth? Are you planning to grab it? Let me know!

Do you know how long it takes to complete? Or have you not beaten it yet?

 

[BoysenBarry]

Do you know how long it takes to complete? Or have you not beaten it yet?

I haven't beaten it yet, but I'm about 5 hours into the first playthrough and I think I still have plenty to go