Review: Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom

Platform: Xbox 360 (also on PS3)

Developer: Game Republic

Publisher: Namco Bandai

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: B+

Proof that decent single player game experiences aren't quite dead just yet, Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom is a nice surprise in this insanely busy holiday games avalanche. In this console cycle of endless AAA shooters, non-stop action games packed with multiplayer modes or games where some sort of mandatory online presence have become mainstays, Game Republic's lengthy and quietly beautiful little fantasy wants you to put down the caffeine, turn off the testosterone, pull up a comfortable chair and set a spell with the well-worn tale it wants to tell. Like Namco Bandai's other excellent single-player focused sleeper, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (and Game Republic's PS3 launch window title, Folklore), there's a lot of love that went into putting this one together and you can see it as you play. While the overall experience isn't flawless, the game is a guaranteed near-total joy for those who fully surrender to its charms.

Majin & The Forsaken Kingdom Shipping Early (Well, Now - That's Cool!)

You usually don't hear a whole lot about games shipping on time, so it's awesome to find out there's at least ONE game that's had it's release date pushed UP a bit. Namco Bandai has announced that Majin & The Forsaken Kingdom for the PS3 and Xbox 360 will be hitting retail on November 23, 2010. The Game Republic-developed action/stealth/puzzle game features a single player story driven experience in which players will team up with a hulking forest spirit-totem in order to save a mythical kingdom. A bit of press release below the jump. I absolutely loved this when I saw it in action a few months back and it definitely has "sleeper hit" written all over it, that's for sure...