PAC-MAN: Circle

The reason why I think this episode kind of works, is mainly because of the fact that it fits with vibe with the rest of the episodes, we've had games like sifu, dungeon and dragons, etc. So this episode I was wondering how it's gonna work. Cause it felt out of place. Now while this didn't entirely feel like pac man, i didn't care. Mainly because i thought it was a pretty creative idea, and i still can't get the ending out of my head, and the quote, eat or be eaten out of my head. Overall though i thought the episode was alright, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Not everything is gonna be what we want.

It caught me off-guard ! This episode takes an unexpectedly dark and haunting approach to the Pac-Man universe, leaning heavily into horror. We have a change of visual style this time, which is appreciated after all the amazing but repetitive photorealistic episodes. Here, instead of a "commercial" cinematic, the base of the game have been altered to expand into a new approach of the game. The neon-lit maze is transformed into a eery, nightmarish and wild jungle where survival feels genuinely tense. This bold reimagining turns the family friendly chase dynamic into something far more sinister and atmospheric. It's a strikingly different take on the classic game, exploring fear and desperation in a way that's both unsettling and compelling. Reminds me of a recent animation called Scavengers Reign. Those who have seen it, will know what sequence or characters i'm thinking about. While the minimalist, and creepy storytelling might not appeal to everyone, it's a creative and thought-provoking tribute that leaves a lasting impression. More episodes like this one, that expand the base of a game and extend its creativity...I'd like to see more like these !

Hmm, I'm all for an interpretation of a concept as much as the next guy. But this was a swing and a miss. It felt like it's own thing that they just added on references to Pac-Man seemingly after they'd already come up with something. It all just feels a bit too tacked on.

A better idea would have been to actually have the ghosts be chasing him through the "maze" But these things are t even ghosts. They are monsters with glowing things in their heads and they only show at the "end of the maze" It would have made more sense to have him run around the maze trying to collect something only to find that the maze is never ending and it just resets after he's gotten it all... Or hell if you must have the eat or be eaten thing.. make him a zombie whose skin has gone jaundice and his mouth is always opening and shutting.. (just like pacmans yellow pukka pukka look but grosser) So many good ideas can come from the abstractness of the game ... and still actually be closer to the concept than what this was.

A real shame.

Oh man, i have watched the first 6 episodes so far and some of the pervious episodes are better in terms of story telling and "source material" and probably more slick but this reimagining of Pac Man was wonderful. It really was. Unlike the Warhammer episode were they had much more to work with to make a modern "secret level" of the franchise. In this episode they needed to be creative to make a watchable story of a 1980 Atari game and i think they did a fine job! I think it was brave of them to select very simple (and archaic) action maze game and tell a more modern story for a more modern audience. In the next season i would love the team to try an bring "Tetris" alive or maybe even "pong". Now that would be a challenge!!

Altough many were criticizing this episode, even well before the release, due to how this takes such a different path from the original videogame, I found it to be quite interesting and I actually appreciated that they took such a risk on this episode.

This episode takes the core of the classic Pac-Man game and manages to write a whole lore around it, while still including and referencing parts from the original. I thought the ideas and the overall excecution here were excellent!

While most things here are completely fresh, I found it to be interesting enough to keep me engaged throughout the short runtime. And the way parts of the original game were implemented into this episode was just so creative and actually fun to spot.

However, I think the biggest flaw with this episode is that altough they managed to create something brand new around such a simple game, it still falls into a few clichés that we have seen many times before. Still, overall, this was an excellent and well-crafted episode.