PAX East 2025: Shadow Labyrinth Reinvents Pac-Man

Reimagining Pac-Man—sounds wild, right? But let’s dive in. Okay, so you could go the Pac-Man 2 route and have him dodging rocks. Yeah, that’s a no. But throw him into a Metroidvania world like Shadow Labyrinth? Now we’re talking.

Anyway, I’m at PAX East 2025, trying out Shadow Labyrinth on a Switch. The guy next to me? He’s on a PC with a screen so big it might as well be a cinema. Oh, and there’s an Amazon show, Secret Level, that sets the stage for the game. Weirdly enough, on the Switch, it’s stuck at 30 FPS—Nintendo, what gives? But hey, it’s smoother on PC. Fingers crossed for 60 FPS on the upcoming Switch 2. Yeah, there’s hope.

Now, the game itself is all about platforming and combat—classic stuff. So you’ve got this dude, Swordsman No. 8, doing all the jumpy-jumpy things. There’s this whole Pac-Man transformation bit where you gobble stuff up. Buzz saws included. Tried a platforming challenge once, realized I’d need total quiet. Nope, not today.

Combat’s a big part too. They’ve got a move list, thankfully, because, who remembers all the buttons? Attack, dodge, heal—the usual suspects. And Pac-Man? Turns into a hulking giant to chomp down baddies. Pretty satisfying, actually. Managed a parry on a boss, and the adrenaline rush was real. Looked a lot like Metroid Dread, though. Or maybe it’s just me.

After beating it, I got a nifty laser attack and blasted my way through walls. How cool is that? Then, in this maze-like bit, couldn’t kill some weird enemies with a sword. But my buddy figured it out—inflate them with a grapple hook until they pop, straight outta Dig Dug. Oh, and they dropped hints there are more Bandai Namco Easter eggs. Galaga or Rolling Thunder, maybe?

Mark your calendars—Shadow Labyrinth drops July 18 on every platform under the sun. You got three editions, where one even includes a map with secret stuff revealed by black light! At $60? That’s a decent deal. Less than $100, and you’re set.

Left the demo feeling curious—it’s gritty, it’s got that Metroidvania vibe, and a nod to Hollow Knight. Makes you wonder how all these Bandai Namco worlds fit together, but somehow they just do.