The one memory you will likely take from Majin and The Forsaken Kingdom, is the abysmal voice work for the loveable monster protagonist. While the game it'self is rather fun and provides a fair deal of variety, the constant child like phrases that you have to listen to, become repetitive and annoying.
The games story is told through beautifully designed 2D cut-scenes, it begins with Majin who has failed to fulfil his duties as a protector. A hundred years ago, Darkness infected the kingdom's leaders and plagued the countryside., causing the death and destruction of almost everything and everyone. You play as a young thief in the present day who has the ability, much like Dr. Doolittle, to communicate with Animals. You meet Majin in a sad way, tied up and left to starve in a castle, the nameless thief rescues Majin and the pair team up to take on four Dark Generals and the King, with the hope of restoring the land to the way it was.
Although you can't climb on Majin and catch a ride, you do get to control everything he does. Issuing commands is very easy, Majin is essentially a well trained dog and he'll follow, attack, eat to replenish his health, wait or crouch for you. After he regains some of his lost skills, you can command him to use them on enemies, or specific parts of the environment to open up new areas. Majin is fairly obedient but his clumsiness can sometimes leave you feeling frustrated.
Although you can't climb on Majin and catch a ride, you do get to control everything he does. Issuing commands is very easy, Majin is essentially a well trained dog and he'll follow, attack, eat to replenish his health, wait or crouch for you. After he regains some of his lost skills, you can command him to use them on enemies, or specific parts of the environment to open up new areas. Majin is fairly obedient but his clumsiness can sometimes leave you feeling frustrated.
With the giant stripped of his former powers, you'll fight to locate massive berries which will recharge his strength, stamina, and abilities of fire, wind, lightning and purification. Throughout you're journey together, there will be various types of darkness-infected creatures to survive. Killing enemies releases gems which level up the thief and help strengthen the bond between the two heroes. There are some cool finishing moves which depend on how strong the bond is, this is the reason to battle and work together.
Combat is fairly simple, hacking and slashing is assigned to one button and then two other buttons are used to unleash a more powerful lunge. If you can sneak up on an enemy undetected, you can finish them with one devastating blow. You'll likely have a hard time defending you're self against the darkness in the early stages of the game before you have levelled up the young thief. If you're health is lowered you will be covered in dark matter until you die, death however is not a final end, you're giant furry pal will have a short amount of time to bring you back from the darkness of death. The frustrating thing is Majin focuses on fighting more than helping you, so it can become really annoying when you really need him and he is more interested in an enemy.
There is never a dull moment on the battlefield and you'll constantly be fighting for you're life. One of the thing's i personally really enjoyed was the way the game introduced various enemies with different fighting styles. You will fight many strange thing's such as weird bat-like creatures, as well as archers and all of these enemies will provide a tough test.
Battling is only one part of the action. Each area incorporates some light puzzle elements, like reaching a switch to open a door to acquire some delicious berries for Majin. Unlike the great deal of variety and effort put into the enemies, the puzzles seem too standard and there is really nothing unique here, expect to pull allot of switches. There was only one puzzle, towards the end of the game, which caused me any real trouble. The map lists how many treasures and hidden items are in each area, i loved this, it was like collecting the riddler's clues in Arkham Asylum. When you know how much to look for, it makes the search and discovery feel exiting and satisfying.
The bosses in the games also incorporate a puzzle element to them, you can never defeat them with brute force. It was actually really strange though, the bosses got easier as the game went on, instead of harder. With only 5 big challenges it really feels like a disappointment considering it's tougher to get Majin to follow his orders, than defeat a boss.
The biggest disappointment though, is the lack of a good fast travel system. You will have to run back and forth through areas you have already been quite often in the game and it all feels a bit boring and time wasting. Fast travel is unlocked in the latter stages of the game, but it's even quite far to walk to the transportation room. The game uses save statues, so i think it would have been much better to transport to any save location rather than a general area.Finally, the game does look nice and has a variety of colourful places. The animations on the characters are solid for the most part but it's not anything new or unseen before in a video game.
Overall Majin and The Forsaken Kingdom is a bit too cliché for me, the loveable giant "Majin" is just not as loveable as he should be. His voice acting is annoying and commanding him is not satisfying. The game looks good and the cut-scenes are arguably the best part of the game, but with no real depth to combat and poor puzzles the game falls short in the most important areas.
Majin and The Forsaken Kingdom is a good game, but far from great. 6.5/10
There's so much I disagree about this review! Firstly I found Majin himself to be a wonderfully endearing character who's naivety, clumsiness and child-like qualities important in establishing a good relationship and emphasizing the protagonist's role.
ReplyDeleteYou also say that Majin is "easy to control", does help you out in battle, and yet also say "Majin focuses on fighting more than helping you". With the easy to grasp control system, I found it easy enough to balance dishing out damage, supporting Majin as he does what he does best, and calling him to my aid to heal me. There are even specific controls for calling Majin to you when you need him!
My final big gripe, asides from poor writing and spelling mistakes, is that you say that the animations are "not anything new or unseen before in a video game." What exactly were you looking for in the animations? The characters themselves move with a very reasonable fluidity to their animations, and Majin in particular has a lot of mannerisms that again help cement him as a loveable hulk.
Should this comment be published, which I doubt, I would like to tell gamers that they should really try out the demo if nothing else. It was enough to sell me on the game, and it includes a section of gameplay you barely covered: the stealth missions. Sneaking around guard patrols is a somewhat standard gameplay mechanic but does great work for the pacing of the game and contrasting the sense of power one gets watching Majin let loose!