It’s hard to argue against Majin and Forsaken Kingdom’s shortcomings. Muddy, ugly visuals, laughably poor voice acting, general lack of polish; it’s a budget game no matter which way you look at it. But it’s a lovable game—not because it’s “so bad that it’s good”—but because, despite a multitude of smaller, incidental problems, Majin cleverly combines Zelda-esque, dungeon-like puzzle solving with some interesting combat resulting in a surprisingly engaging experience through and through.
What’s most exciting about Majin is that though it unmistakably takes queues from other games like The Legend of Zelda series, at the very least it implements these mechanics in some pretty clever ways. It’s definitely not a completely original game, but it’s a game with no real mechanical problems. Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom knows it’s not a game changer, and it’s a better game because of it. It quietly goes by its business and does it very well. It’s a game that will no doubt keep you entertained throughout its ten hour adventure.
You play as Tepeu, a young thief that accidently stumbles upon the Majin, a giant mythical creature imprisoned inside a seemingly abandoned castle. Unbeknown to Tepeu, the Majin is actually the protector of the kingdom and has been imprisoned by the darkness that has shrouded the entire land. Unfortunately the Majin has been stripped of his mystical power and must regain it back to save the Kingdom. Tepeu agrees and the newly befriended pair sets off on their grand adventure.
Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom plays extremely similar to a Zelda dungeon—the ones seen in the 3D console games (like, for example, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or The Wind Waker). The map is split into smaller areas each possessing one or more puzzles that will lead off to more parts of the map. Think of the game as the forest temple, fire temple, and water temple all combined into one massive game. It doesn’t feature Zelda-specific items like small and boss keys per se, but destroying small masks throughout the environment will cause other doors to open around the world map. It’s not a concept that gets dull, despite having a very repetitive-sounding nature.
Each area of the world map mostly consist smaller sets of puzzles or one big puzzle to solve, including enemies to take out. The puzzles are very Legend of Zelda-esque, including sliding boxes around the environment and hitting cleverly placed switches. But Tepeu by himself isn’t very useful, and this is where your companion—the Majin—comes in to play.
Most of the puzzles—including the combat—is done by commanding the Majin to do context-specific abilities. Sometimes you’ll need to open large, heavy doors while in other instances you may need him to lift Tepeu onto higher ground. It’s a giant escort mission, sure, but it almost feels as if the Majin is escorting YOU, instead. Tepeu is weak and will die easily, plus he wouldn’t be able to solve any of the puzzle by his lonesome. Commanding the Majin is one of the biggest features in the game and it works seamlessly with the trigger and face buttons.
Sometimes you’ll also have to face off against a small group of enemies and the Tepeu-Majin combination comes in to play here, too. Most of the combat feels standard for an action game, including press the X button for small attack and using a jump-attack will take out flying enemies. The Majin, however, is the character to keep track of because he will do the most damage, plus letting the Majin die will cause a game over. Commanding the Majin to attack the most powerful enemies isn’t always the most useful tactic, too, because Tepeu can rarely take out any enemies by himself. This is where you’ll have to combine both Tepeu’s and the Majin’s attacks together.
The combination attacks are what kills most of foes you encounter throughout the game, and combining their attacks together is immensely satisfying. Allowing the Majin to attack the smaller enemies will cause them to become stunned, allowing Tepeu to run over and start the gain attack by pressing B. Strategy comes into play when the Majin gains more powerful abilities—such as Fire and Wind—that allows you to attack multiple enemies at once.
The solid combination of puzzle solving and combat is well done. It’s not a taxing game by any means but you may get stumped by a puzzle every once in a while. The combat too—especially late in the game—can get pretty intense. Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom even includes boss fights, as well, that put the Majin’s skills to the test.
Being a budget game in every sense of the word, Majin clearly looks and sounds the part. The art style, while not being necessarily awful, is just very generic and has no real uniqueness—especially the enemy design. Some of the textures are pretty ugly, and the game’s frame rate hitches early and often. Unfortunately Majin’s audio is just plain shoddy. The incredibly compressed voice work in particular sounds like it was recorded underwater and although the music fits the high-fantasy vibe very well, it’s also compressed-sounding.
It’s unfortunate that Game Republic didn’t receive very much funding for Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom because the game, in all seriousness, is a blast to play. The base mechanics, while not being any especially new or groundbreaking, are incredibly tight and responsive. Commanding the Majin around the environment just feels right, and it never truly feels as if any of the underlying escort mechanics are dragging down any of the core experience. Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom ultimately feels like one massive Legend of Zelda dungeon, and regardless of some issues that encompass most of the game’s presentation, it’s a game that is enjoyed in spite of its blemishes.