Written by: Ian

 

 

 

With a quiet release right at the end of the holiday schedule, and a slightly underwhelming demo, how does the full release of "Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom" work out on the PS3? The Xbox version at least looked pretty good, so let’s see how this new IP works out in this crowded Christmas release period.

 

 

Majin tells the fairly cute story of a lumbering, simple beast, who is massively powerful, who has failed in his duty to protect his fantasy land from harm, and has been captured and locked away, with even his memories gone.

 

A nameless hero manages to set the Majin free, and then the pair progress through the land, ridding the land of the evil dudes. It’s a classic (and, ultimately generic) tale, but it done well, through the addition of some beautiful 2D cut-scenes, which are done in a lovely carton style.

 

 

Majin is best described as a puzzle platformer. Most of the puzzling is simple, so don’t expect to have your brain taxed. The platforming is also generally very easy. It’s therefore surprising that the combat element is actually pretty tough. As the hero, you really need to rely upon the Majin, and not just for the puzzles.

 

 

You’re a nimble, but very weak fighter, and as you are pretty much always vastly outnumbered, going it alone is a quick way to an early grave. Whilst the Majin might be slow, it’s really powerful, and once it stuns an enemy, you can use a combo attack for extra damage. This also gains you friendship points, which allows you to level up your friendly chum. This RPG element is extremely light, but it’s still a nice touch to see in the game.

 

Even the bosses require more puzzling than actual combat, which is pretty simplistic, even with the Mjin to order around. Most of the time, you just need to wade in with combo attacks at the appropriate time. Sometimes, you have to face sections without the Majin, and these are pretty rough, because they seem far harder in comparison. There’s a good amount of content to the game- with a 12-15 hour single player experience.

 

 

However, I was pretty bored by the end- I felt like the puzzles and the platforming were too easy, and there’s also quite a lot of backtracking involved, which is tiresome. It takes too long to activate fast travel, and then it’s still not that useful, whilst the save point system feels antiquated and frustrating, with often too-long gaps between saves, and a long save process.