Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom (Ps3/360)

[saturn-gamer]

Demo is out on Japanese PS store and while the speech is English, the interface is not. So I don't know what commands I give our big fella (its a command wheel via L2, or R2?, with 4 commands based on the 4 face buttons) but I do like the game. It looks and feels light hearted, the monster is cool. Atmosphere is good, graphics are decent but not without some serious jaggies. I think Folklore looked better.

You let the monster open up doors, smashing enemies down and you can also smash a bit and do finishers on downed opponents. Its not really all that deep it seems.

I think this is a good atmospheric action adventure suited for the holiday season.

[Friction]

The demo is also up on Xbox Live (UK). Just downloading it now, looks quite good

[JP]

Just had a play on this and although it doesn't seem to be anything special at the moment it seems decent enough. I am finding the creature's voice to be incredibly annoying and for some reason the game won't let me stab his idiot vocal cords out no matter how much I try.

I'm going to give the game time though and although it's probably not going to be an instant buy I may pick it up when the price drops.

More than anything else it's just made me want to play Folklore again and thinking of the price of that now it may be worth picking this up sooner rather than later.

[saturn-gamer]

The monster's voice is overdone but I like how he sets bombs on fire, heals you, throws you for a finish move... He's not a gimmick buddy. The wall push was a neat trick on the demo boss too. I thought his goofyness and gestures were cool.

This game somehow reminds me of Kameo, which I thought was vastly underrated.

Loved Folklore but never got to beat it. Sadly don't have it anymore.

[saturn-gamer]

I played this for a few hours (until I beat the first General) and I think its a quality game. First of all, the full game has proper AA so its better on the eyes than the demo was.

This games oozes quality; its charming and pretty much like other Game Republic games. This game reminds of games like Kameo, Medi Evil etc. Atmospheric and light hearted action adventures.

The setup is more or less Metroidvania. You're not really being directed around, and you can go anywhere but some parts need to be saved for later for when you have the right powers to open up the path. The game utilizes a day/night cycle as well, at night you'll encounter stronger monsters and extra items. There is also an equipment system which will make your character look actually different, but will improve abilities as well.

The Majin annoys me far less now as he doesn't talk that much outside of battle really. Its heartwarming to see him accidentally trip, or the way he shakes your hand. The resting scenes they share, accompanied by touching music, are powerful too. You'll want to unlock his memories, as I found the story to be actually interesting up until now. There is more to him, you, and this world.

Among the wastelands of call of duties, I think this is a refreshing game to have and play. Especially during these dark days.

[Number45]

Thanks for the impressions, definitely going to pick this up a little down the line.

[mugetsu]

i just got out of the castle at the start, so far so good, pretty good fun.

it was either this or splatterhouse but im glad i went for this now.

[saturn-gamer]

To be fair I bought this along with Splatterhouse for cheap and I enjoy that game as well, its tasteless gore in a good way. Very dirty and sleazy game, almost snuff like.

But Majin would be the better choice of the 2.

What I also like about Majin is that its asking for my gaming skills more than a lot of adventures of today. Sometimes I jump too careless and I fall off, there is no assist here. What I like less is that pressing X lets Tepeu release a ledge instead of climbing it. I tend to mash X after a jump as in most games, but in this game holding LS upwards does it.

[Dezm0nd]

I am about 6 hours into this and it's a great platformer. It reminds me of being in a Zelda dungeon pretty much all the time, in a good way, obviously!

[saturn-gamer]

On my way to the third general, this is holding up well and some puzzles, and the boss battles, make you think for a bit. The world does feel small and claustrophobic as its always corridors, but thats the Metroidvania approach right there and it works. I like the backtracking to old locations with new power ups myself. There is even warp rooms across the map.

[saturn-gamer]

Ah, I love this. Won't continue GT5 until this is beaten. Puzzles are satisfactory, design is brilliant. Thought I was on a dead end, but no I wasn't.. there is always a way. About 9 hrs in, just beaten #3. Boss fights keep being on a steady level. One left (and the stages do get bigger with each one), + final chapter... I think this'll last a good 15 hours. Thats without too extensive searching and backtracking for upgrades.

[fuse]

Just started this today. It seems alright... maybe? One thing's for sure, the voice acting is hilariously bad.

[mugetsu]

its a good little zelda/puzzler game, really enjoyed it.

[Eight Rooks]

I actually really, really liked this. Very flawed, lo-fi and rough around the edges but it's a very solid game. The kind of buddy relationship Enslaved - which was dull and underwhelming - should have been: it's like you're Trip, only you can actually do stuff, and you're ordering Monkey around. Puzzles and combat both of which stretch your brain a bit, a fairly big world to get around, story's reasonable and some fairly decent art design despite the low tech... and I actually wouldn't call the voiceovers bad, just horribly mis-judged. I wish to God they hadn't made the Majin an idiot child, but the actor does an okay job with a terrible part. Nice surprise, and hugely under-rated at release. I'm not too fussed what Ninja Theory do next, but it'd be a shame if GameRepublic tanked when they've finally shown they can actually make a decent game like this.

[saturn-gamer]

It was also very fun to Platinum this game, it requires a little bit of level grinding but on the whole its fair. True Ending was satisfying too as I saw the regular one first. All this cost me exactly 20 hours. Let it be Genji, Folklore, this.. all GR games nail the atmosphere.

According to some employee, the team wanted the Majin to be bad ass but Namco insisted on a kiddy approach.

As for Namco, they did send this out to die. Even on the same day as Splatterhouse (a game I enjoyed too).