Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom

About halfway through, I finally figured it out -- I'd been misled by the fact that the game took place almost entirely outdoors, but Majin's main inspiration is really the block-pushing, switch-pulling dungeons of the Zelda series. While Majin's four overworld regions are all connected - much like PoP 2008's overworld - each one has a distinct theme and story, and a new magic power for the Majin. The powers, in turn, are used in puzzle-solving and in fighting the region's end boss (in addition to being useful in ordinary battles).

The boss battles are actually pretty exceptional, although the final boss is a bit of a button-mashing endurance match. In fact, the combat in general got quite a bit more interesting from the second power (lightning) onward -- not just because of the magic powers, but also from increased enemy variety and, oddly, new combination attacks from leveling up. The odd part is that later experience levels, while no more difficult to get than earlier ones, seem to bring new moves with greater frequency.

And that's symbolic of the game's biggest flaw, moreso than the loose controls and the uneven graphical polish: the first half just doesn't have enough stuff in it. There are so few abilities, so few enemies to fight, so few puzzle types to solve, and so few interesting story facets; everything comes together as the game marches on, but the first six hours are comparatively vacant. And the whole game is only about 12 hours in total (maybe as much as 15 if you go back for all the hidden collectibles), so even by the end it's hard to forget about its early moments.

I sincerely hope that Game Republic would consider a sequel, because I think having a second chance at this formula, and the opportunity to pack more stuff into it, could come up with something seriously rivalling the genre heavyweights like Zelda. But the fact that you can buy Majin new for $13 makes me think that there might not be a whole lot of confidence left in this idea.

Better than: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Not as good as: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Could maybe be remarketed as: Of Mice and Men: The Video Game, what with the Majin tripping over himself every few seconds.

Progress: Beat the final boss