Systems > PC > M > Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim > Staff Review
Sign up for a free user account and you can leave feedback for this review or even submit a game review of your own!
Review by Scott Constantine
November 15, 2009
Never being able to fully influence actions units take will be annoying to many old school tacticians. However, seeing soldiers independently make use of the tools you provide is a great experience. While there's only a finite number of actions for each hero, the AI is smart and manages to utilise its surroundings appropriately. When a rogue finds some gold, she'll hurry off to spend it on trinkets from the market. Likewise, a warrior who is hurt in battle will either gulp down a health potion or flee back to town. In addition, there's a new system of emoticons that periodically pop up over heroes' heads to reflect their thoughts. These are an assortment of small faces that range from beaming smiles to furrowed brows of frustration. Emoticons assist you in getting that little bit more emotionally connected to your chaps and gives clear explanations for their behaviour. When coupled with unique names and independence, units begin to look like more than faceless, totally obedient minions. It's a fantastic direction that should have been expanded more. Heroes either wander around the map in search of adventure, go to the shops or stay at home. A little more variation as to how they interact with each other (say, through relationships) would have gone a long way and even given an opportunity to implement more comedic elements. The feud between Dwarves and Elves is mentioned frequently throughout all levels, but there's nothing stopping you building settlements in the same camp for both races. They don't really seem that bothered by each other which makes so much emphasis on their mutual dislike irrelevant. Having heroes react to the presence of their comrades (whether it be in a positive or negative way) would have added an extra level of depth to their personalities.
The preview build of Majesty 2 was a half-translated mess with dialogue riddled with grammatical errors. The full version has fixed its semantics but the game hasn't got a great deal funnier. Before, the advisor's constant nonsensical ramblings were amusing because they weren't entirely done on purpose. Other funny moments were subtle, like sexual innuendos in troop names. Now everything in the world seems to be a dry attempt to get the player to laugh and it doesn't work. Silly names are great the first time you see them, but are quickly perceived as immature when your ranks swell with people possessing the same puns. The advisor still had potential to provide a snigger, but his line delivery is so poor it's almost impossible to determine what is a joke and what isn't. This is truly Monty Python-esque humour that's funny the first time you see it yet becomes ridiculous by the third time it's repeated. The overall design of the entire title is great, but the writing is simply not up to scratch.
Conversely, missions are kept relatively refreshing by presenting interesting objectives. Most of the time you'll be sent off to kill some fantastical creature or other, although fortunately there's a different method available on every mission – from trapping giant rats in cages to catching an ogre while he naps. There's only one problem. Approaching these challenges is done in almost exactly the same way every time: Get rich, amass a force and send them in the direction of the principal antagonist of that map. Save yourself a trip to GameFAQs; I've just told you how to beat the entire game. You'll face roughly these same circumstances in all but one level (which focuses on acquiring money). If it wasn't for the gradual unveiling of new features like mages and beastmasters, then I expect Majesty 2's campaign would be rather mundane to play. The story is a vanilla 'Gain land. Tackle demon. Take throne.' affair with no twists or turns. It's difficult to become excited about the plot, yet I doubt that's what the developers intended.
Instead, there's much focus on becoming attached to your heroes. They rank up and you can retain your favourites throughout the campaign. This is where the entire focus of gameplay in Majesty 2 lies. It's great to see an appointed lord acquire a nice selection of phat loot over their lifetime. The chances are you'll probably bring them back from death a few times too. While the narrative makes a huge deal out of the player fulfilling their destiny, the experience is actually more about the unspoken bond between you and your followers. It's amazing how this relatively simplistic system can evoke such emotion. I'm not saying you'll be moved to tears when one of your soldiers die, but you will feel extremely proud when a group manages to defeat a demon or five by themselves. These are not anonymous knights which constantly obey their omnipotent commander. You're in it together with your subjects and the game conveys that message successfully.
|
|
|
Most recent video game reviews written by Scott Constantine
General Chaos (Genesis) [October 08, 2009]
Supreme Ruler 2020 GOLD (PC) [October 03, 2009]
Champions Online (PC) [September 07, 2009]
Dragonica (PC) [August 01, 2009]
Officers (PC) [June 08, 2009]
|
You can click the tabs on the above bar to choose whether you wish to read comments from visitors who have posted on Facebook, or from registered site users who have left feedback on the forums. Please leave a comment of your own if you have anything to say!
|
|
|
Follow Us |
Advertise exclusively for 1 month... only $1000!
Recent Forum Discussions
+ Alpha Olympics 2012
+ Where's SkyWard Sword's review ? And please bring back the rating feature.
+ zippdementia's Mega Jump review
+ [News] Schafer has pitched Psychonauts 2, Minecraft dev says 'let's make it happen'
+ holdthephone's Final Fantasy XIII-2 review
+ JoeTheDestroyer's Area 51 review
+ playstation vita, yo.
+ RotW January 29 - February 04 2012
+ Games to be added to the database...
+ The Final Fantasy XIII-2 thread
+ [News] Final Fantasy X HD will be a remaster, not a remake
+ [News] Naughty Dog explored making a new Jak and Daxter, made Last of Us instead
Staff Game Reviews
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| SoulCalibur V |
| The Simpsons Arcade Game |
| Quarrel |
| Star Ocean: The Last Hope |
| Pushmo |
| Medal of Honor: Airborne |
Site Staff
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |
Featured Reviews [+]
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Rayman Origins |
| Othello |
| Scarface: The World is Yours |
| The Last Express |
| Golden Axe II |
| Assassin's Creed: Revelations |
Exclusive User Reviews [+]
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Mega Jump |
| White Knight Chronicles |
| Dragon Wars |
| F-Zero GX |
| Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door |
| Pokemon Snap |
Info |
Help |
Privacy Policy |
Contact |
Advertise
© 1998-2012 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site--from reviews, guides, cheats and editorials to message board posts--may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors.
