Darkness has overtaken the kingdom and Tepeu - an outsider who can communicate with animals - has come to save the day, or at least discover what's causing the darkness to harass his woodland. Nov 22, 2010 Review: Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom. A kingdom has been overtaken by a substance known only as the Darkness, which envelops living beings and turns them into mindless, nigh invincible soldiers of evil. Tepeu, a young thief who can talk to animals, steals his way into this kingdom to protect his own home from decay.
Barcelona is a city of cpalm trees and distressed concrete; a city where hardcore religious mania has delivered on some top-quality joke architecture.
Half the place looks like Sarajevo filling in for LA on five minutes' notice, the other half suggests that Gaudi did his best work by inhaling a few bags of plaster of Paris and then sneezing on some whale bones.
It is, in other words, comfortably nestled amongst the great cities of the world. While Namco Bandai doesn't make a huge number of games here, you can understand why the publisher has chosen Barcelona as the venue to show off its new line-up.
And some of the games being demoed offer a similarly intriguing blend of styles. Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom is a particularly good example. Beyond the silhouettes and flickering lights of this Japanese fantasy's gentle scene setting, the action itself takes place in a bloom-ridden bucolic world of tumbledown castles and lush yellow grass.
The enemies, in contrast, are nasty little splodges of inky darkness, angry and angular. The heroes are Tupue, a spindly thief with a pineapple haircut, and the towering Majin, brutally powerful yet worryingly childlike: a rock-hewn monster who thuds through the dirt with the gaping lantern-jaw of Grover from Sesame Street, tiny amber eyes, and root vegetables sprouting out of his back.
Majin is built from combat and puzzles - though cynics might also observe it's built from Team Ico games and Zelda. It's probably best to put cynicism aside here, however: Game Republic's hardly the first developer to turn to Link for help, and members of Majin's development team previously worked on titles like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.
Namco assures us that Majin's been in development long before Last Guardian was announced and, besides, there's something of Darksiders' approach to creative pinching here anyway. You sense the team is borrowing ideas because it cherishes them, rather than because it can't come up with any of its own, and you sense it loves the genre it's trying to become a part of.
Most importantly, Majin has plenty of its own character in the first place. Game Republic's previous title, Folklore, is far from perfect, but it's also very hard not to love. The game makes its presence felt with the beautiful and oddly Christmassy blasts of light that mark out the exhilarating combat, and the team seems to have more than enough ideas when it comes to creating unique puzzles based on this duo of mismatched heroes.
The story of Majin is pretty placeholder, however. In a land filling up with a mysterious darkness, an agile thief throws in with a lumbering, oddly vulnerable Majin to save the day. Crimson tears band nepa. Friendships blossom, moves get unlocked, pressure switches are weighted down.
One of the things that gives this set-up an unusual force of impact, however, is that, despite his size, Majin is an innocent. His dialogue lines appear to have been written by whoever is currently the custodian of the Drunk Hulk Twitter account, but his Muppety features clash in interesting ways with his meaty arms and legs. While he's happy to take care of himself in battles, he needs the thief to guide him through the more complex levels one obstacle at a time.
For those of you who haven't been keeping track, is best described as Prince of Persia meets Legend of Zelda, with the slightest touch of Ico thrown in for good measure. That initial image may sound odd and confusing, but after playing through the first couple of hours of Game Republic's newest action adventure, it's easy to see that this isn't the easiest title in the world to pin down.Without entering into major spoiler territory, Maijn's story is set in a once prosperous and fruitful kingdom, which is overtaken by a mysterious darkness and thrown into disarray.
While many citizens attempted to explore and find out what's going on, they were never to be seen again, and the decay continued. To cleanse this forsaken kingdom (see what they did there?) of the darkness, a young thief named Tepeu sets out to free the mythical Majin - an all powerful and mystical beast, to reclaim its power and restore the land to its former glory. It might not seem like much, but it's a narrative that contains more than enough meat to kick start your adventure. As you begin to get acquainted with Majin's world, numerous animal NPCs will serve as your personal guide or hint at your next objective.
This would be helpful if the characters didn't quickly become so grating – thanks largely to the cheesy voice acting - leaving us wanting to wander the landscape and ignore them instead of engaging. Cuphead x mugman kiss. It's a shame, as this style of game needs to really charm the player to draw them into the fantasy setting. Even the relationship between Tepeu and the Majin seems slightly strained.
But with early hints of a deeper and more involving back story, this is a concern that could very well be rectified as the narrative progresses. Controlling the Majin is actually a surprisingly smooth process. A press of the right trigger brings up an action menu, which once enabled allows you to order the beast around or direct him towards a context sensitive area or object. The implementation of this mechanic paves the way for a multitude of co-operative puzzles to progress through the game. One of the first puzzles, for example, sees the Majin taking hold of a catapult as you climb inside so that you can be flung to a previously unattainable area. Tepeu can also order the Majin to knock down weak walls to incapacitate large groups of enemies or lift heavy doors.After+a+few+minutes+carrying+the+keg,+Steve+really+wished+they'd+just+sprung+for+a+cab+to+get+to+the+party.
Your gigantic friend also becomes a key component in combat encounters. While Tepeu is able to attack enemies of the dark, he lacks the skill to fight an entire horde on his lonesome. Rather, he requires the brute strength and power of the Majin to stay alive, resulting in a dynamic that relies on both parties protecting each other. Substantially weaken your enemy and you will trigger the ability to complete a deadly combination attack. Complete numerous combination moves in quick succession and watch as your combination gauge increases, allowing a truly devastating finishing attack once the gauge is filled.
The cooperative nature of the combat definitely helps keep it fresh and enjoyable; plus it's a nice change to have to work together to succeed rather than being the stereotypical one-man powerhouse. As the game progresses and your characters level up, new combination attacks - such as throws - will become available to Tepeu and the Majin. On top of that, there is also an entire world to explore with numerous pieces of fruit and shards to track down and collect that will help boost the duo's strength, abilities, and most importantly, friendship. When it comes to presentation, Game Republic's world is a bit hit and miss. The introductory level, taking place within the castle ruins of the kingdom fails to show off anything particularly noteworthy.
Environments are fairly bland, and needless to say, it's a little uninspiring. Once you escape the walls of the kingdom though, things start to shape up. Surroundings transform into lush greenery, while the overall world is given more detail, employing a wider colour palette.A+ninja+and+what+appears+to+be+a+juggalo. A couple of hours in, it's quite obvious that is going to demand some serious investment in order to develop a proper appreciation. This is a title that aims to build and foster the relationship between Tepeu and his mystical friend; a companion you will come to care for and strive to protect. While there are certainly hints of that foundation being laid, the complete emotional attachment hasn't hit our heart strings yet. This may very well be due to the game's early stages, and with a reported 30 hour adventure, players should have ample opportunity to become drawn into this fantasy world.
So with a bit more polish and some solid character development, Game Republic might not only achieve their ambitious feat, but provide one of this year's surprise gems. We'll find out soon - Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom is out in late November.