Majin The Fallen Realm from Game Republic 360/PS3

[Sketcz]

Played the demo.

So basically it's a hopelessly generic and uninteresting 3rd person action platformer, with a mentally handicapped Disney reject as your AI-controlled ally?

Christ, after the magnificence of Folklore this is absolutely ****ing terrible. Who the hell approved development of this for so long? Appalling.

I got really excited when the title screen implied some kind of Javanese shadow puppetry theme. Sadly not.

I couldn't even be bothered to finish the demo - 3rd person action platformers are ten-a-penny, and nothing here makes it stand out against any thing else. Hell, it's not even as compelling as Folklore was. Folklore was one of my favourite games this generation, whereas this is dire.

[saturn-gamer]

Yeah, well, I'm looking forward to something light hearted like this. Kameo is the last true action adventure game I've played and I enjoyed that a lot. Such games are not on Ps3 and Ratchet isn't quite like it also (thats more like a TPS to me). Although very good, Enslaved wasn't like that either.

Majin's supposed to have a very open structure. Levels look big and complex, full with puzzles and secret paths. The gameplay i've seen on YT seem to confirm this. I just hope you can mute the creature somehow. Although I have the feeling that he will evolve over the course of the game, there is more to the character than is shown.

[Number45]

3rd person action platformers are ten-a-penny

This seems to differentiate itself somewhat from the current-gen crop by taking a much more light-hearted approach, which is why I mentioned Kameo. I like the style anyway, although I haven't played the demo.

[Sketcz]

Well, the style is kinda similar to Folklore, they can certainly do wonderful colours, which more developers need to do. But the gameplay mechanics and personality of the sidekick put me off.

After this I went through my catalogue of demos (over 300 gigs worth), and found plenty of other mediocre 3rd person actioners. Someone mentioned Enslaved earlier - the demo for this was spectacular. Compared to say Darksiders and Majin, where the demos were just yawnfests.

[Number45]

But Darksiders is great, and from what I can gather Enslaved (up next) is very much a combat focused game.

[Sketcz]

But Darksiders is great

Well, Majin might be great too, but the demos to both didn't make me feel this (Folklore's demo convinced me to buy it though).

My extreme dislike of Majin based on the demo is a little unfair, but I think this highlights the major importance of releasing only a quality demo. Otherwise better not to release one at all.

Did you feel the demo for Darksiders was representative of the overall game? Because I played for a while, got deep into some basement, and was so bored I deleted it in disgust with no intention of even looking at the retail release.

EDIT:
crikey, I'd forgot this was a Headlines topic. Any chance a mod could cut and shift the later half to First Play?

[Number45]

I can't comment on the demo unfortunately, I didn't bother with it. I almost never bother with demos, usually what a game looks like and how it plays (from a description) is enough for me to come to a decision - crippling reviews across the board aside.

[Number45]

http://www.gamersyde.com/news_majin_tfk_video-10151_en.html

New developer diary.

EDIT: Erm, doesn't look as though it's actually up yet.

[Number45]

http://www.gamersyde.com/news_new_majin_and_the_forsaken_kingdom_video-10205_en.html

And another. This is out next week apparently.