Majogami

Feels like it’s been a while since I finished a game lol, but I recently finished Majogami. I don’t exactly remember when I added it to my wishlist, but I added it because the art style was really striking to me. The art reminded me of the Vanillaware game Muramasa, so I said sure why not. I bought it on release because I was currently playing through Fantasy Maiden Wars (fantastic touhou fangame by the way, but it’s long and it’s giving me XCOM ptsd) and wanted something a little more actiony.

And the art style is really great throughout! Some character designs I’m a little iffy on, but I really like the world designs, colours, it’s very much like Madoka (and the ending closing curtain at the end of each stage really emphasizes that). Enemy designs are fun and they don’t feel too repetitive either.

Gameplay wise I had a really good time exceeeeeept one boss fight in particular, mostly because there’s a lot of downtime. It helps that combat is fairly straightforward and it doesn’t get too complex or complicated, and instead the fun comes from the variety of enemy types and level design. The levels are fun to go through while not being too long or too short/complex, and on hard the difficulty feels fair (…except one fight/stage that went on extremely long). I also really appreciate that you can switch the difficulty down to easy to treasure hunt and leave the stage right away.

It’s kind of crazy for me to think about how each stage isn’t that long, and there’s not even that many stages, but before I knew it, it took me like 15 hours to get through the game lol. It didn’t feel like 15 hours, which is a good thing! I enjoyed my time with the game a lot and I think it’s a testament to the game’s level design and pacing that I can feel that way. It’s fun to blast through levels, enemies and hits feel satisfying, boss fights are hard but learnable from, and overall just a great time.

The characters are also pretty fun and charming. I didn’t think the story was necessarily standout, but for what the game was, I didn’t think it needed to be. Shiroha and Shiori are a fun daughter/father duo and while a little cliche at times the story was fun! I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel anything by the end of the game.

For a game I bought on release, I think it was worth it and if you’re interested in a 2d platformer/action game, it’s a good pick!