Game Republic

Awful and Awesome in Equal Measure

HIGH Many of the boss fight "conclusions" are jaw-droppers.

LOW The absolutely wretched signposting in the confusing free-roam levels.

WTF Minukelsus is... a supreme bad-ass?!?

This Room Looks Familiar

HIGH Ripping through Rapunzel with Maar's Lance.

LOW Finding out I lose auto-save data when I turn off my console.

WTF Climbing a ladder and climbing vines is the same animation.

The Sixty Dollar Indie Game

HIGH The eureka moment, not in discovering the solution to a puzzle, but in discovering the solution to approaching the game itself.

LOW The early hours with the game, where each uneventful hour felt like an eternity.

WTF I still can't figure out how to say "this game feels like a 10 dollar downloadable" without it coming off like an insult.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

HIGH Ping-ponging a room full of enemies with a combination of spell and scythe, and watching them all meet their grisly fate simultaneously, tangled in the vines of Mag Mell's Rose.

LOW Getting knocked down a hole after failing a boss QTE 20 times.

WTF For being upset at having to execute all of her sisters, Gretchen sure seems to love making a graphic display of their demise.

Ordered a Tapestry, Got a Quilt

HIGH The slurping giggle the Majin does when you're bringing him fruit.

LOW The tedious final dungeon, featuring repeated appearances by an irritating mid-boss.

WTF Quit telling me you're going to use the lightning and just use the freaking lightning, big guy!

I scored a copy of Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom for cheap during Black Friday, and I've been putting time into it since then, albeit haphazardly. While it's true that my work schedule has been kind of erratic and disruptive to my game schedule (which clearly, is far more important) the truth of the matter in this case is that I'm having a hard time finding the motivation to push forward. The game is cute and I'm always interested in how developers implement team/partner mechanics in singleplayer titles, but Majin just isn't doing much for me.

It's as sure as death or taxes that anyone who takes up videogaming will find themselves rooting through a bargain bin or scouring pre-owned shelves sooner or later. For those that do, few things feel as satisfying as saving hard-earned cash and getting a gem of a game at the same time.

After my first session with Brave Story: New Traveler, I was fairly convinced that I had gotten stuck with another by-the-numbers effort copying the same schlock that's been less than thrilling for the last few years. I was about to put my brain on autopilot and zone out until the credits rolled for the sake of the review when I noticed something strange—the longer I played it, the better it got. By the end, it was really good.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Language, Mild Fantasy Violence, and Suggestive Themes.