In our recent review of Sonic Colours, we mentioned how rare it was to find a game that'll actually make you laugh. In a similar way, Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom is an equally rare beast, but for a slightly different reason. You see, Majin is one of the few games we've played that'll actually make you smile - not because you're laughing at the game, but because it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. It's a feel good game in the most literal sense, and you can't help but be moved by the relationship between your character, and gaming's newest Biggest, Friendliest Giant, the Majin.
A giant is a man's best friend.
The game begins in a world that's been overtaken by darkness. What was once a prosperous civilisation has fallen foul to a mysterious curse, and all that once was, has been consumed, the people becoming warriors of the darkness. Few survived, fleeing to the nearby wastelands, to survive as best they could, but now, the darkness is spreading. Tales told of a mythical beast, a guardian, of sorts, one that could help to turn the tide - but, as with all myths, this was just a work of fantasy, right? Fearing for his people's safety with the encroaching darkness, one young man flees the forest, and heads toward the castle, to find the guardian, and fight back against the darkness.
As you may imagine, it turns out that this is one myth that's actually based on fact, as the game opens with you, playing as said strange, largely-nosed man, finding the Majin, and helping to free him from where he's been imprisoned. It's not obvious who imprisoned him, or why, but needless to say, the big guy's certainly happy you were there to help him out. As a way of repaying you, the Majin, being the nice guy that he is, agrees to accompany you to take on the forces of darkness, as a way of repaying you. And so begins an adventure, with two friends, of very different kinds.
Most of the game, both in terms of story, and gameplay, revolves around your relationship with the Majin. He's controlled by the computer, meaning he's always quick to help you out if you find yourself under attack by the darkness, but if you want him to stay behind, if he's running low on health, or if you want him to stay close, if you think you need the help, you can issue orders to your giant friend using an intuitive system, that's never too complex. Similarly, there'll often be huge stone doors, boulders, or other objects that a weedy guy like yourself would never stand a chance of moving - luckily for you, there's a lumbering giant following you around, and a simple press of a button tells the Majin all he needs to know.
That's a person who's been consumed by darkness - they basically make up the majority of enemies in the game.
And the Majin is, basically, the nicest giant you could ever hope to meet. He follows you around as best he can, occasionally tripping up (life can't be that easy for someone the size of a small building), but generally doing everything he can to help you out. If you get into combat, he'll rush into the scene, smashing his giant fists, and generally doing his best to squash everything that may even attempt to hurt you. Should you even take the slightest bit of damage, the Majin's the first one on the scene, lumbering over to you to heal you with his powers. If you land enough hits on enough enemies, and the timing's just right, you'll often get the chance to do a double-team move, where simply by pressing B, you'll unleash a spectacular move, where you work together to finish the enemy off - and if you take down enough enemies in this way, you'll level up your friendship with the Majin. More than just making you feel like a nice person, and getting to laugh at the Majin's happy dance, levelling up your friendship allows you access to new double team moves, and other powers.
Speaking of powers, there's a further side to the sad story of the Majin, as, when he was imprisoned, he lost his powers. More than that, he lost his memory as well - and it's up to you to help him find them. As you progress through the game, you'll often spot giant fruits way off in the distance, or hidden behind a portcullis, and it's up to you to figure out how to reach them, so you can feed them to your lumbering friend. Similarly, at night, yellow flying thingies float around in places that are equally off the beaten track, which you can collect to help the big guy regain his memories. It turns out, the Majin needs you almost as much as you need him...
The Majin's more than just an, er, pretty face - he can also help launch you to higher ground using catapults.
But as heart warming as it is, there are a few problems with Majin. First of all, the platforming (of which there's a lot) can be more than a little bit awkward at times, with your hero often failing completely to reach certain platforms, as you haven't pressed A at exactly the right time. It's a good job the Majin doesn't jump too, or there'd be quite a few craters around the land where he's missed it as well. Similarly, the combat has far too much of an emphasis on stealth, where the game seems to infinitely prefer it if you creep up behind the bad guys, without alerting them to your presence, before performing a one hit kill. The problem is, stealth sections are almost always incredibly annoying, and bring nothing to a game like this - especially when smashing things with your giant golem pal is a lot more fun.But even though it's not the perfect game, at a time where generic near future military first-person shooter number #47,000 seems to be the norm, Majin is more than a breath of fresh air - it's a gale of fun and creativity. Simply put, games like this don't come round anywhere near often enough - buy it, in the hope we can start to get more like this.
Format Reviewed: Xbox 360
