Can you think of any father-and-daughter adventures off the top of your head? In games, I mean. I can’t really think of any, but then again, a lot of the games that I play often don’t always commit to memory. Can I say otherwise for developer INTI CREATES’ latest 2D action-platformer? Not quite, but I did very much enjoy ‘Majogami’ for its fast-paced action, lovely presentation, and fun boss fights.
In Majogami, players take on the role of an amnesiac swordlady named Shiroha, who finds herself in a bizarre papercraft realm with creepy voodoo magic-esque paper baddies and things with teeth, all trying to kill her. But she isn’t alone in this: as I alluded earlier, her father is tagging along for this ride. Except this “Shiori” is a paper mâché himself, black suit with a red tie and all—and after lodging himself as close to his daughter’s heart as a piece of paper can get, the duo set out to escape this freakshow of a world with their hats intact. Unfortunately for them, several “Craft Witches” stand in their way, holding these “Recarte” cards that Shiroha needs to get back home. So, you do what INTI CREATES would like for you to do best: cut ’em all up and, maybe, feel bad about it on the way to the climax.
Majogami is a 2D platformer, but I almost want to consider it a boss rush style of game. There are multiple “acts” of chapters and within them, typically three or four scenes to complete. Most scenes tend to be short platforming levels that test your might and understanding of the mechanics that get introduced overtime. The enemies here produce “konoha”, or currency that can be spent at the shoppe of a young lady named Etcetera, who has all sorts of goods—including some new moves, charms to help against certain attacks and status effects, and heals. Etcetera herself is also a lovely chatting partner and, like many merchants in the gaming business, is capable of doing business anytime. Anywhere.
As for the action part, this is where Majogami really shines. Shiroha’s main weapon is her katana and besides your basic attack, you’ll be using her special “slash” function every chance you get. See, Shiroha’s basic attack has no forward momentum, so what you’ll primarily be doing is firing off your rudimentary cuts to build her charge meter which in turn, lets you slash enemies within our witch killer’s radius. This slash is important to master because it launches Shiroha forward at top speed with an added boost to potentially jump to places you’d normally not be able to reach. This is also your major damage dealer, and some enemies can only be defeated by breaking the barriers that protect them.
See, her slash can be executed vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Paying attention to which direction you need to cut enemies is important as just wanton mashing will waste precious charge and break your flow, which will leave you vulnerable. Once you master this, you’ll be cutting through entire levels at near breakneck speeds in no time.
I would say that Majogami is easy to pick up and not too difficult to master. But amusingly, the tutorials that pop up during play often ended up confusing me, either by interrupting action at inopportune times or offering conflicting information when I wasn’t ready. Take the Astrals you’ll unlock, for example. A key component to safely cutting your way through levels is by cutting up foes and charging your Astral meter—once it’s ready, Shiroha can fuse with the Astrals she has made friends with to evolve and unlock additional abilities, such as double jumps, powered up attacks, air dashing, so on and so forth.
This is incredibly useful, but upon unlocking each Astral, you’ll be glassed with five to six text boxes each, filled with combo bytes and the like. This is the absolute worst way to teach someone how to use a new mechanic, and at one point I was given a tooltip about an ability I could use to defeat a foe… Except that in order for me to use that ability, I would have to fully charge up my Astral meter as opposed to the bare minimum required to enter the form. Which led to me mucking about, trying to see if I was just playing terribly.
This also extends to the boss fights as well. The meat of the game is here, and these are my favourite moments of Majogami. Each boss has multiple phases that you need to “cut” through in order to defeat them. Learning their patterns and retaliating at the most opportune time is essential to keeping alive and your sword charge in check. Bosses are varied in visual construction as they are in mechanics, and I enjoyed fighting a single one of them. These fights can be a tad cinematic, though, and it took me a while to understand how counterattacking worked as the related move can also be triggered with a different button combination.
That aside, the levels themselves are fun and thankfully quite short. A problem with Majogami is that Shiroha’s forward slash attack is the main gimmick and while it can be fun, tearing through scores of enemies to the next part of a level, it ultimately does get a tad repetitive. On the flip side, thanks to the short runtimes, you can blast through all the levels across easy/medium/hard for the best times and take on trials to cement your name amongst the leaderboards. Hop on those quick before some cheating lowlife gets to them first!
I think what I really enjoyed about this game was how good Majogami looks. The world of… Orchesgra or whatever it was called is this chaotic mess of harsh black, violet, dingy colours that are oppressive and compliment the game’s cast of characters. The artist behind ‘Blaster Master Zero’ is here and their art is nothing short of spectacular, giving what I typically associate with Rockman-style character composition a bewitching feel. Another detail I noticed was the inclusion of 3D models and specific set pieces that blend in quite well, offering a “pop out” effect that enhances the overall image quality.
INTI has opted to only include Japanese dubbing this time around, but the casting is great. Personally, I wouldn’t mind being yelled at over and over again by Maxi’s Fairouz Ai, and I’m not afraid to say otherwise. My lack of etiquette aside, INTI CREATES has also tagged a few vocal tracks along as they always do. Standard pop and rock fare, but you won’t catch me complaining about that.
Majogami is a fun, fast-paced romp with a fair bit of replay value. It can get a bit repetitive due to the nature of the main character’s gimmick, but you’re encouraged to finish up each level as fast as possible. And despite the speed of the game, the composition of the visuals makes it easy to distinguish between foes and the direction you’re going to rend unto them. A great action-platformer all around. ∎
Majogami can be played on PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch/Switch 2 consoles on 30 October. Demos are available across both platforms for your perusal.
Majogami
Played on
Windows 11 PC
PROS
- Fun, fast-paced action-platforming.
- Visual style is chaotic, but mechanics are clearly defined.
- Great voice cast and enjoyable music.
- Enjoyable boss fights.
CONS
- Tutorials can be a nuisance.
- Shiroha's gimmick can be repetitive.
