PAX East 2025: Shadow Labyrinth Reinvents Pac-Man

When I think of flipping Pac-Man’s world upside down, there’s all kinds of kooky directions you could take. One’s like—hey, let’s try a rock-throwing Pac-Man 2! Nah, not my cup of tea. But then, what if Pac-Man’s diving into a Metroidvania called Shadow Labyrinth? Now we’re talking.

So, here’s a slice of life from PAX East 2025. Me? Totally playing Shadow Labyrinth on a Switch in handheld. Some other lucky person? They snagged a turn on a big-screen PC setup. Oh, and if you caught that Secret Level episode on Amazon, that’s your gateway drug to the game’s backstory. Just a heads-up: your handheld treat runs at 30 FPS on Switch. Kind of the Nintendo way these days, huh? But PC flexes a smooth 60 FPS. Anyway, the Bandai Namco folks promised me we’d see that sweet 60 FPS on the Nintendo Switch 2. Can’t wait for smoother battles there.

So, let’s dive into what I actually got to play. Picture this: jumping, double-jumping, dashing—your basic playground stuff for Swordsman No. 8. But then—hold on, here’s the twist—you turn into a mini Pac-Man, zooming and chomping all over. They threw buzz saws in, just because. And there’s this one gauntlet section that just chewed me up and spat me out. Ugh… conventions aren’t really my zen zone for mastering stuff.

And then there’s combat, right? Really dig how the demo has this on-screen move list—because who remembers what each button does in the heat of stress? Attack, dodge, heal, shoot… or just Hulk-smash Pac-Man style and gobble down your enemies. There’s also a parry move that made me feel like some kind of gaming wizard. Our first boss even had this vibe; kinda reminded me of that Metroid Dread boss. Wild, huh?

Beat the boss? You get a laser attack. Bonus round! The next bit had me blasting walls and figuring out puzzles while running around like a headless chicken. Anyway, there’s also this Dig Dug homage—a colleague figured it out, not me, by drilling enemies with air till they went kaboom. What a moment! Spoke to the Bandai crew, and turns out, other Namco games sneak into different zones too. Fingers crossed for Galaga and Rolling Thunder cameos!

Circle July 18 in your calendar, cause that’s when Shadow Labyrinth drops for Switch (both versions!), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam. Three editions are up for grabs—just $30 for basics, $40 for more perks, and $60 for secrets with a freakin’ black light to reveal hidden stuff. Why don’t more games do that? It’s like finding treasure under your bed for less than $100.

Wandering off from the demo, I thought, huh, a gritty Metroidvania with loads of Bandai Namco nods might just work. And if you’re into Hollow Knight, buckle up! You wouldn’t want to miss this ride.