If there are two things that Inti Creates excels at, it’s fan service and 2D action platformers. For decades, they have made a career doing one or the other, and once in a while, the two shall meet. Most of their 2D action games have retro-inspired visuals, leaning on pixel art and their signature tight controls.
Since the early 2000s, they have done several Mega Man games, a trilogy of Blaster Master, about five (maybe six) Gunvolt games, and so much more. You could always tell when a game was made by Inti Creates. For Majogami, they have eschewed their comfort zone and are aiming for something ambitious that almost resembles something that Vanillaware would make, while retaining their panache for 2D action.
Combining the lush illustrative art with intense, high-octane action seems almost impossible. Yet, somehow, the mad lads at Inti Creates pulled it off! How did they do it? Does it stick to landing? Find out in our Majogami review!
Majogami
Developer: Inti Creates
Publisher: Inti Creates
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 (reviewed)
Release Date: October 30, 2025
Price: $34.99
Majogami looks fantastic. It is the most visually appealing and stylish game that Inti Creates has ever designed, which is quite a statement considering their previous titles are already known for their great aesthetics. The art style of Majogami blends handcrafted paper art with 3D models and vibrant effects, alongside fluid, traditionally animated, illustrated 2D characters.
The result is outstanding, as the character art demonstrates expertly applied volume and depth, ensuring that the characters are firmly integrated and grounded in their environments. The majority of the cast is female, and meticulous attention has been dedicated to showcasing their most appealing characteristics. The elaborate attack animations, complete with cut-ins and dynamic camera zooms on anatomy, create a striking, dramatic effect. It’s truly breathtaking.
While most of the bosses have gigantic endowments, one might wonder, “How well-endowed is our heroine?” I hear you ask. “Surely, this samurai-witch protagonist with shapely legs must possess significant assets?” I also hear you ask. In a genius move, Inti Creates’ artists have made Majogami’s protagonist as flat as a board in a world where all of her opponents are heavy with breast meat, signifying an underlying grudge between the hero and the villains.
Unfortunately, “Majogami” is not about a flat-chested, katana-wielding witch with a petty vendetta against more powerful witches with bigger breasts. The actual story is far less interesting and funny than that premise suggests. However, the writers seem to take it too seriously, relying on numerous tired anime clichés without bringing anything fresh or engaging to the table.
Shiroha has amnesia, but she still remembers how to cut suckers with a blade. Her only companion is a sentient bookmark who claims to be her father and who makes many unwanted physical advances on her. If you find incest hilarious, this guy’s attempts at humor will make you die of laughter. Never mind the handsy bookmark, our girl has to regain her memories by defeating the powerful craft witches…probably.
The story failed to connect with me. The premise and cast of characters are very standard anime tropes that have been done to death. All of the typical archetypes you know are all here, and nothing clever is done with them, and the presentation makes it hard to get invested.
Despite Majogami’s visual flair, its cutscenes are dull and depend on a spartan visual novel presentation style. It seems as if two different teams were working on this game: one team striving to create the most exciting 2D action game ever, while the other consisted of a struggling manga writer trying to revive a previously failed pitch idea that nobody wanted.
The dialogue is excessively long-winded, making it difficult to convey basic information. Additionally, the portraits are static 2D artwork without any animations, and all the audio is in Japanese. If this were in English, it might be entertaining to hear voice actors deliver the admittedly amusing yet politically incorrect dialogue. However, in its current state, Majogami’s narrative comes off as pretentious given its simplicity.
Maybe you won’t care about Shiroha’s quest for identity and want to get some action. Thankfully, Inti Creates delivers the good and then some. If you thought this was going to be a typical action platformer, think again. At first, it seems like Shiroha will control like any 2D character, hacking and slashing her way through levels with varied platforms and big bosses, but all of that is meant to support her main gameplay mechanic: the Setsuna sword drive.
Setsuna is Majogami. When Shiroha is close enough to a foe, a target appears on them, and pressing the right trigger makes her teleport instantaneously to her foe with a vicious sword attack. Not only can Setsuna be chained multiple times and skillfully be used to keep Shiroha perpetually in the air, but it also has some physics to it, which helps reach far ledges for treasures and secrets.
Most games would develop the Setsuna ability this far and stop, but Majogami doesn’t settle and takes its concept much further than you could imagine. As the game progresses, Shiroha’s abilities expand, and so do the enemies and their tricks. Setsuna can be charged for dispatching shielded foes. Other times, you’ll need to attack enemies from the back only, and once in a while, missiles can be reflected to the sender with a timed hit.
Shiroha faces a variety of challenges when she encounters her foes, which become more complex as she gains new forms for her sword. After her magical girl-style transformation, her abilities expand significantly, introducing exciting additions like double jumps, grapple hooks, downward slam attacks, and even massive screen-clearing attacks that corkscrew through entire levels.
Although the main stages are enjoyable, they are somewhat simplistic in design. The graphics are impressive, but it’s clear that they were created using a basic level editor, which limits their creativity. The highlight of Majogami is undoubtedly its boss battles. Each of the witches that Shiroha confronts feels as though the game was specifically designed around them.
Every boss has their bespoke gimmick, and you won’t beat them by playing normally since each one is radically different. No matter what, you’ll need to use Setsuna in some capacity, but also think on your toes about how to flip the script against each witch. These were the story moments that made a bigger impact on me because they involved the player interacting and paying attention to visual and design cues.
Majogami is an action-packed game that delivers incredible value for its price. With over thirty levels and a multitude of bonus challenge stages, players can easily earn extra cash to purchase accessories and upgrades. The guardian force system significantly enhances Shiroha’s combat abilities, and optional character conversations provide deeper engagement if you find yourself caring about the story.
While the production values may not reach the heights of Vanillaware’s work, they undeniably showcase Inti Creates’ unique flair for anime art. The game boldly embraces girl battles, complete with dynamic cutaways and iconic “beam struggle” climaxes. If the storytelling were more compelling, this could easily be Inti Creates’ best title to date. When it comes to pure gameplay excitement, few 2D action platformers can compete with Majogami.
Majogami was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2 using a code provided by Inti Creates. Additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy is here. Majogami is now available for Windows PC (via Steam), Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2.
