Shadow Labyrinth Is A great game that I feel gets criticized a little too much!
Here are the things I like:
-expansive world to explore that is designed pretty well and is fun to get lost in (it took me about 40 hours to complete! Though it can be longer if you decide to 100% the game)
-It's $30 which is a great deal for the amount of content that is in this game and amount of time you are going to sink into it if you decide to not ditch it early on!
-graphics and art direction are great and is pleasant to the eyes (I played on PS5 so no performance problems!)
-game has the right amount of challenge, it's on the harder side when it comes to bosses and check pointing but is pretty manageable!
-lots of side content (mazes, battle arenas, secrets to find, extra bosses and collectibles to obtain)
-pac-man seems to be integrated into the metroidvania formula quite well!
-Of course the mazes in this game are pretty fun to play
-the callbacks to other namco games was nice!
Things I didn't like:
-enemy variety is lacking (you'll see every enemy type by the 10 hour mark)
-pac-man jumps now and it's clunky!
-you have a Gaia mode and I find it hard to consistently transform to it as R3 grabs dead enemies for fuel and clicking both L3 and R3 will either transform you or grab which is frustrating! (especially when fighting bosses)
-bosses can tank damage and can kill you rather quickly! (even with a sizable life bar, extra healing flasks and maxxed out damage output, you'll always feel underpowered!)
-upgrades and extra moves/powers feel underutilized/ not substantial!
-The end game is exhausting consisting of 9 bosses and 4 mazes to complete before rolling the credits (4 of the bosses are back to back and if you die during the final 4 you have to start over!)
-I got lost around the part after you fight the Lord of gluttony boss (you are supposed to go to torn lands after said boss to find a grave to give you a power to get through the cemetery of fallen soldiers for those that also may get lost during their playthrough)
Overall I'd say give it a shot and hopefully a sequel is made in the future that will iron out the kinks! Good game!