I had a hell of a time acquiring a copy of Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom to make this review come into fruition. I must say that it was worth the search as Majin holds a great deal of charm for its $40 price tag if you are able to work through some of the games shortcomings. You take on the role of Tepeu, a thief who comes across the weakened guardian of a now-polluted land, Majin. Majin’s last attempt at forever removing the darkness from the land, ended in his downfall. Now no more than a shell of a god, Majin needs the help of Tepeu to destroy five dark generals to cleanse the Earth as he failed to do 100 years ago. There are some captivating, beautiful 2D cutscenes that unravel Majin’s past attempt at quelling the darkness, each bringing some outstanding narrative. Majin is a complete dweeb stumbling to make himself useful and Tepeu is at first glance a fairly boring lead but as the two slowly work together and build an unbreakable bond, you’ll appreciate the duo. As Tepeu, you have the ability to command Majin to aid in combat, hold back, attack, and context specific interactions. The AI working behind Majin’s bulky, tree-like body works extremely well, with a streamlined method of ordering the big guy around. By ordering the big dude around, you can work your way through the variety of puzzles that hold the pair back.
Essentially, the game is a giant dungeon, with each room sporting a variety of switches and other means of progression. The only real downside to the puzzles in general, is that they are mainly based off finding levers to progress. The means of reaching each lever is rewarding, but I’m not sure I want to play another game this many levers for a while. As you explore each room or area, there a plenty of hidden treasures that will aid in leveling Tepeu or adding new items to outfit the two with. There are plenty of totems to save your game throughout each area, as backtracking slowly becomes an essential component of the game. Right off the bat, having to go through areas you’ve already tackled can be a bit of a turn-off, but a fast travel system is implemented after a few hours to help ease the pain. As you work Tepeu and Majin through each room, you’ll encounter a variety of black goop enemies that can be subdued using stealth or an all out attack using Majin’s brute strength and Tepeu’s staff. Working together with Majin in combat will yield more orbs which in turn can level your friendship with the beast, as well as orbs that can level up Tepeu. Methods of killing a fairly simple, albeit often challenging as Tepeu can be quickly laid to rest without Majin at his side. You can swing your staff with the X button, command Majin to do special attacks or just straight-up pummel the darkness.
If you dole out enough damage, you can do a stylized finishing move with the help of Majin. If you fall in combat, Majin will continue to fend off the enemies while trying to help Tepeu back on his feet. Enemy encounters are fairly intimidating near the start of the adventure, as Tepeu isn’t exactly the most elegant killing machine, but as you level, engaging in combat becomes a much easier affair. Each enemy type is pretty varied, as the game introduces new enemy types such as scouts and winged attackers. To top it off, the boss fights against the dark generals are highly rewarding, each operating more like a puzzle than a combat-heavy faceoff. These dark warlords were easily some of the biggest highlights, which in turn left me wishing there were a few more over the course of the journey. The real issue underlying the majority of the game is the voice-acting. Majin sounds like a rejected cartoon character and the actor that voiced Tepeu really nailed the sound of an uninspiring Arabian-thief. Tepeu also possesses the powers of Doctor Doolittle and is capable of talking with a variety of small, fluffy animals that attempt to aid the two. Each animal is voiced by someone poorly imitating an accent, which occasionally sent me into a fit of laughter at the ridiculous nature of their voice.
The voice-acting borders on terrible, but I really felt that Majin grew on me over the course of the game. Majin lines are pretty damn funny and he delivers on being a huggable bulk of a monster. Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom really caught me off guard. Underneath the budget voice-acting is a strong narrative and two great lead characters who begin as no more than a couple of screw-ups. I can’t help but feel that the work it took to secure a copy was worth the effort. There are some outstanding puzzles throughout the game, memorable boss encounters, and Majin actually follows Tepeu’s commands without too many failures. It all works nicely, and those 2D cutscenes are truly unforgettable. In the vein of games like Enslaved, Majin is not without issue, but I was able to look past the rough patches and enjoy the game for everything it does so, so right. While I may not look back at it much in the coming years, right here and now, Majin is easily one of favorites of 2010 easily worth the measly $40 it takes to lock down one of the best buddy/puzzle games I’ve played all year.
