Bear in mind Secret Degree, that Amazon Prime mini-series of quick movies impressed by fashionable video video games? the episode that recast Pac-Man as a marooned warrior abducting strangers to assist it combat its approach out of a jail planet? Properly, Bandai Namco fleshed that concept out right into a prolonged metroidvania referred to as Shadow Labyrinth – a uncommon Avenue Fighter: The Film-type beat – and this weird reimagining of the trade’s oldest eater has been a really difficult expertise for me up to now. Not essentially as a result of it’s tough, because it’s not a cake stroll however I’ve thrown myself in opposition to the rocks of extra tortuous video games in the previous. No, my greatest wrestle after 10 hours with it has been with staying in Shadow Labyrinth’s cryptic, gradual, and albeit boring story whereas additionally combating via some brutal checkpointing.
I’m not utterly in opposition to the thought of a gritty reboot of Pac-Man in principle, however the execution right here has not made an amazing case for it in observe at this level. The story, which drapes you in the rags of Puck’s (learn: Pac-Man’s) sword swinging goon, kind of exists round you. It makes some sense given you’ve woken up with none recollections or understanding of the wreckage of warfare that you just’re being lead via by your scheming yellow companion, however Shadow Labyrinth’s insistence on making you stand round and watch damaged, imprecise, trope-bloated dialogue between the handful of lively characters is arduous.
The ten-minute Secret Degree episode does a way more efficient job of weaving an attention-grabbing parable through the use of the “cycle of survival” story as a parallel of the cyclical nature of Pac-Man’s eat-die-repeat gameplay. As a direct sequel to that quick, Shadow Labyrinth expands on the story exponentially, however appears to fill that new area with dense, rote sci-fi lore that has up to now had only a few compelling plot happenings sprinkled all through. I’ll hedge all of this by saying that, on the time proper earlier than penning this, the journey of Puck and the Swordsman took a reasonably main flip that may unlock much more potential for an actual compelling story to be informed – however primarily based on what I’ve seen up up to now, I’m not going to carry my breath.
Shadow Labyrinth seems fairly good, although. The kind of shifting paper doll animation used so effectively in video games like Salt and Sanctuary is usually strong right here, too. There’s a shocking degree of element in lots of the monsters I’ve encountered, particularly the mechanical ones with all of their bits and doodads. Animations can really feel slightly stilted and floaty, like a marionette on strings, however it doesn’t have an effect on the motion in any significant approach. The degrees themselves make good use of shade in their fore and backgrounds, however I wouldn’t name its renditions of the depths of a lava crammed cavern or the numerous tales of a excessive tech tower all that distinctive. I haven’t discovered a zone that actually has that sort of evocative wow issue, but.
The precise process of shifting via these expansive areas has turn out to be progressively extra participating. Platforming has but to be a lot of a problem, with some aspect paths often resulting in extra harmful mini-puzzles and obstacles that’ll check your timing and reflexes. I used to be recurrently introduced with rails that morph you into the spherical yellow chomp machine all of us acknowledge. These tracks mean you can waka waka waka up designated partitions, round corners, and throughout ceilings, munching on pellets (which is a forex to spend on perks and upgrades) as you go. Hopping from line to line or launching Puck at foes with a spinning sword assault is humorous at first, however I haven’t actually encountered a bit of this that feels really intelligent exterior of the truth that the gimmick exists in the primary place. These are such remoted experiences at this level that should you eliminated all of those sections from Shadow Labyrinth, I wouldn’t miss any of them.
Whereas on foot, obscure signposting and an abundance of crossroads typically makes it unclear the place the vital path lies and has had me recurrently stumbling into aspect paths accidentally, which typically results in goodies like bonus well being, and different occasions results in a roadblock that I don’t but have the improve to surmount. Sauntering round these corners has additionally felt oppressively harmful as demise will jettison me again to a checkpoint that nearly at all times feels miles away from the place I fell. It’s made extra worrying as a result of the checkpointing system is definitely two-tiered: there are bigger Miku Sol factors you could improve your warrior with and teleport between, and smaller pylons which are checkpoints in the strictest, old skool sense of the phrase. As assets dwindle and the paths to discover splinter and multiply seemingly endlessly, slightly misstep right here or there may erase a lot of my progress that I can really feel simply as trapped in these locations as Puck does. Perhaps that is the purpose, they don’t prefer it and neither do I.
To date, fight is filled with your customary fare for a sport like this. You may dodge round and swing a sword in a primary combo from the beginning. You unlock an influence assault that’s used alone for big ranged injury or linked to the top of your primary combo as a satisfying finisher. There’s an air sprint, a grappling hook, a parry, and many others. all ready to be discovered and added to your repertoire as effectively, every of which price slightly little bit of your ESP gauge to make use of. Operating that meter to empty places you in a Avenue Fighter 6-style burnout situation, which means you’ll be able to’t do something however assault till it recharges once more. This can be a heavy penalty, however a significant one and requires you to essentially take note of how a lot offense you’re trying to unload directly. Perks can alter you in smaller methods, like making your dodge price much less ESP or exhibiting the remaining well being of the final enemy you hit, however I have not discovered sufficient of them to find out if their impact on fight is important. At about 10 hours in, all of those parts haven’t but mixed to create a classy movement or ability checking eventualities to boost the act of turning enemies into mud past rather more than rote button mashing.
Puck can get in on the motion once in a while, combining together with your swordsman to turn out to be a kind of mechanical dragon creature that rips and tears till its timed power bar is completed. It’s enjoyable to be sufficiently big to disregard enemy injury and opposed terrain for a brief time frame, however you might be nonetheless largely simply mashing the fundamental assault button till you’ll be able to’t anymore. To recharge this mode, it’s a must to devour fallen foes, which additionally provide you with varied crafting supplies that I’ve fairly actually by no means checked out exterior of the one time it was prudent to – the one time I’ve seen the seller that offers with them was in passing early on.
I’ve run into fairly quite a lot of various kinds of enemies to make use of all of this offense on, however you spend a lot time in massive zones that baddies flip from new challenges to nuisances fairly shortly. Enemies you could’t merely whack to demise at first sight are few and much between, they usually’re not often organized in a approach that makes them an actual risk to progress, the occasional archer standing on a platform that you must soar as much as hit however. Bosses as of proper now haven’t required a lot technique exterior of primary sample recognition, both. An enormous rooster mini-boss gave me a possibility to make use of my air sprint optimally simply after unlocking it, however no different boss has nudged that sort of additional technical layer out of my fight technique, but.
I’m definitely a bit down on my time with Shadow Labyrinth up to now. I’m leaving my expectations open for the chance that its only a gradual starter, even when 10 hours is a protracted runway to offer a sport like this in hopes it should take flight (we’re informed a playthrough may take 30+). I like however don’t love its fight, which sticks to the melee-heavy metroidvania method dutifully. I’m hopeful that the degrees themselves evolve each in how they appear and the way they problem my platforming and swordswinging expertise, as they’re exhibiting small indicators of ramping up the depth. I am not as optimistic for extra compelling storytelling from the characters and areas I am presently in, as my mind has been wandering this seemingly infinite maze of lore chasing the ghosts of the extreme, affecting promise that the Secret Degree quick that is primarily based on is teased.