Shadow Labyrinth Switch 2 Review

Shadow Labyrinth Switch 2 Review
Version Reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2

Rarely does a game get the better of me. I tend to persevere with challenging games, because there’s nothing more rewarding than finally defeating a boss or overcoming a seemingly impossible challenge after hours of trying. I like to think that my steadfast ability to stare down difficult tasks and take them down one by one by approaching them with determination and stubbornness. So when Bandai Namco gave me a key of Shadow Labyrinth on Switch 2 to review, I confidently told them I should be able to have it ready by Wednesday… that was last week. Shadow Labyrinth broke me in a way that no game has before, and despite getting close to the finish line, I’m ashamed to admit that I just couldn’t beat it. What’s It Like? Grab your sword, prepare to dodge, and don’t forget to pack your patience as we review Shadow Labyrinth on Nintendo Switch 2.

Shadow Labyrinth aims to be like a gritty reboot of Pac-Man. You play as Swordsman Number 8, a reawakened warrior guided by Puck, a floating yellow orb with cryptic motives and a cold mechanical voice. There’s a vague sense that you’ve done this before, and the world seems to remember you. From the outset, you’re not the hunter. You’re prey, and something of a puppet to Puck. But with every fallen foe, you absorb new abilities, growing stronger and more dangerous. Puck pushes you forward, nudging you to embrace your role as a predator. It’s a slow, unsettling transformation that gives real narrative weight to your power-ups, turning the typical metroidvania loop into something a little darker.

The core gameplay sees a deceptively expansive world in which you will navigate to face dangerous bosses and unlock these new abilities. Some are easy to miss, and you will often backtrack while looking at the map to see where you may have missed a path, and that sense of exploration is exciting and engaging. That said, the exploration can also be a double-edged sword, providing little to no direction of where you are meant to be going, what you should be doing, or what you’ll need in order to do it.

When you’re not tackling menacing bosses, you will still have to fight off a range of enemies that can easily make you meet your demise. Defeat them, and you can devour them for parts and materials which will go towards crafting upgrades, as well as using the yellow gems they drop to purchase things like increasing your stamina bar, or upping your damage output. Combat tends to be a simple affair, with a standard slash and a simple dodge mechanic to use for the most part.

Some abilities you unlock help enhance your combat, like giving you an energy slash or giving you the ability to transform into your Gaia, a giant combat mech that lasts until your ESP gauge runs out. You can even transform into Pac-Man and traverse special rails while sword-slashing and leaping great distances as a traversal mechanic.

Even with all these abilities, you will die… a lot. Shadow Labyrinth manages to keep you under pressure, and just when you think you have a break in the action and walk a few screens without encountering an enemy, you will suddenly be ambushed by a group of spearman or deadly hornets that may send you back to your last checkpoint. The checkpoints are few and far between, and for a good few hours, I was being sent back to the previous area because I hadn’t stumbled upon a save or checkpoint. This led to many frustrations, especially when getting caught out by silly mistakes like sliding under cover, right into a spiked enemy, and the game often puts you in between a rock and a hard place and won’t forgive your mistakes. Some areas became an exercise in trial and error, whereas some paths I abandoned altogether, as I may have missed something that would have made taking that specific path more accessible.

Graphically, Shadow Labyrinth runs a Hybrid 2D/3D engine similar to what we’ve seen in games like Rayman Legends. It does a good job of selling the atmosphere and desolation, but at times leaves environments looking a bit bland and similar-looking. It runs at a solid framerate on both the Switch 1 and 2, with no performance dips or stutters. For my Swords people looking into accessibility options, there are no specific features to speak of, so as always, I recommend further research to see if Shadow Labyrinth suits your needs.

At just under $40 AUD for Shadow Labyrinth, with a free Switch 2 upgrade path, there’s a lot of game and challenge here for your buck. I do have to admit that it was a skill issue, and not a design flaw, that saw me hang up my controller in shame. For gamers with more experience in Metroidvania-style games who love a challenge, there are at least 25-30 hours here in gameplay here, and many more for completionists. The nods to other Bandai Namco Arcade classics are a nice touch, and old-school gamers will appreciate the throwbacks. Shadow Labyrinth took a huge risk by taking a beloved character like Pac-Man and rebooting elements of it into this dark and brooding universe, and ultimately, it’s one that I feel pays off. Shadow Labyrinth certainly broke me, but I know once I catch up on my work, I’ll challenge the gauntlet again and do what I can to come out on top. For those looking for a game that will test your mettle, Shadow Labyrinth will put you through your paces.

So What’s it Like? Shadow Labyrinth is like Metroid, crossed with Dark Souls.

In the interest of full disclosure, a review copy was provided by Bandai Namco, but this doesn’t influence my score.

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