Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

Ni No Kuni II is really not an easy game to review, despite it being a pretty clear cut game, and that's because its a bit different than the first. When I first played Ni No Kuni years ago and despite it being a bit slow, I liked it and found it one of the best modern RPGs with a solid story, decent enough characters, and a cool art style. I was excited when Ni No Kuni II was announced and it looked to be an improvement, especially since the first game had some big flaws, especially with its combat system.

Ni No Kuni II changes a lot and is unrelated to the first game, it has a completely different story with different characters and the combat system, focus of the game, and storytelling are different. I'll start with the story and characters since most RPGs mainly revolve around a strong story and characters to make up for the usually basic gameplay. Ni No Kuni II just doesn't have an interesting story or characters and that's its biggest weakness. I did not care for any of these characters, they hardly got any development and felt so bland and generic. The main hero of this feels so underdeveloped and bland, and hell this game even made me miss Drippy a little, although we do sort of get an equivalent in this, but he hardly even has any dialogue and is more or less just used as a plot device. The side characters are even more pointless and boring than the main characters and it didn't help that I hardly used any characters outside the main 3 or so. The story itself is just okay, its nowhere near as heartbreaking or epic as the first games, the main villain in this game is lame and I just didn't find the story be engaging enough to fully pull me in. It does get a little better near the end, but by that point I already was bored from most of it and I actually found the monster hunts and side content more interesting at times than the main story. And the fact that it felt a bit too short also was a letdown considering the first game took me quite a while to beat.

Now in terms of World building, this game is okay, I liked the first game's World a little better, but this game has some nice looking towns, and the graphics are pretty decent. You get a variety of environments and it does its job. Its a bit generic, but I actually found it suitable enough. Now in terms of gameplay this game is pretty average. It sort of plays like the Tales games in terms of combat, the combat of the first game is gone and now you attack like an action RPG where you control a single character and get to attack in real time. If your character dies you can take control of one of the other characters that haven't died. Its basic, and it does its job, but it was kind of boring, and it wasn't improved enough from the first game. I didn't dread the combat in this game, but I also didn't find it to be enough to make me excited, and the bosses in this game also felt the same, although I'll admit, the bosses were way less tedious in this game and actually somewhat fun.

Now the one thing this game did that was completely different was the base building and town management. You basically have a home base in this game that you can customize and you can assign villagers you recruit through the main story and side mission to various stores which will gather valuable resources for you that you and money that you can use to further upgrade your buildings. The higher level you upgrade buildings the more they can do, for instance the further you upgrade your armor shop, the more powerful armor you'll have access to create. There are nearly 100 buildings you can build total, and many will gather resources for you that you can use to build things or make certain food items that help you in combat. I mean yeah this city building aspect is pretty basic and does get repetitive, it took me at least 10 or more hours to fully upgrade everything, but it is addicting. And to be honest, I almost enjoyed fully upgrading my base than actually going out and doing the story or side missions.

Speaking of side missions, they are pretty boring as well, they are super repetitive and just consist of going to an area, talking to random NPC, or going to random area and fighting random monsters. There are also hunts in this like the first game, but the hunts are essentially just beefed up versions of enemies you already fought in the main story, and they get really repetitive. There are also skirmishes where the game essentially tries to be Fire Emblem and you use armies to battle on the open World map. This is also pretty basic, it is mildly amusing, but again, gets boring after a few of them.

So overall, Ni No Kuni II, isn't a terrible game, its just the definition of an average RPG. The story and characters are just bland and generic and come nowhere close to the last game, the gameplay is slightly improved from the first but not enough to make a difference, the side content is a bit tedious and repetitive, and the only thing I felt was worth much was the base building aspect, which was more addicting than it was good I'd say. I just felt this game was more forgettable than anything else, I wanted to go into an engaging story that would pull me in like the first game, and instead was greeted by an average, by the book RPG that played it way too safe and did nothing new or interesting. Sure the fact that it isn't too difficult makes it a bit easier to complete everything and its on the shorter end, but I'll take the first game any day of the week over this. This just felt like it was made from a completely different studio than the first game and it shows in about every aspect.

completely mindless -- as in equip-the-highest-number equipment and button mashing to no end. the characters were juvenile and the story was banal. beyond that the game was completely bloated with pointless battle abilities and modifications that you aren't even required to edit, let alone acknowledge. the army battles were torturous to get through and either i'm dumb or they were the only part of the game that was even moderately difficult (mostly due to how clunky they were). made it about 70% through before my file became corrupt, and i was relieved to just watch someone else play the rest on youtube

one of the main redeeming qualities is how nice-looking the cities are, they manage to redeem that cinematic studio ghibli charm despite the characters and story being subpar

Back in 2013, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch made a home in the hearts of those who played it. The collaboration between Level-5 and Studio Ghibli birthed an incredible and charming adventure. That’s why, when they announced its sequel, we knew the wait would be a long one.

Revenant Kingdom is a great game that addresses most of the issues its predecessor had. It manages to keep the feeling of the first one while adding its own touches. It may not be the perfect video game, but it definitely is a must-play.

It starts off with a bang, and you’re introduced to the two central characters. Roland is a modern day president who gets teleported to another world. He finds a young to-be-king there named Evan. After watching him get dethroned and cast out from his kingdom, he decides to stay and help him build a new one.

Along the way, you’re introduced to several party members who aid you with your cause. They all have great introductions, but they often end up taking a backseat to Evan and Roland. They get some excellent moments, but most of their dialogue ends up being there to chime in every now and then.

Thankfully, Evan and Roland are fantastic characters through and through. Evan’s youthful optimism makes it hard to not want him to succeed. Roland is always calm and cool. His desire to save a world completely foreign to him, and his undeniable confidence in doing so, make him the perfect companion for Evan. Their trust, and the way they learn from each other, make them a great duo.

The personalities of these characters are made even stronger by their excellent English voice acting. Every line is delivered with a high amount of believability—it’s just a shame there isn’t more of it. The use of spoken lines is inconsistent with most of them taking place in the bigger cut-scenes. A lot of the weight is missing when the character only speaks one word of the sentence you’re reading.

The soundtrack is great and has a lot of standout pieces. Each town has its own unique song, but a lot of the game tends to rely on different variations of the main theme. This is a piece we’ve been hearing since the first Ni no Kuni so it’s odd that they’d overuse it here.

Music isn’t the only thing that gives the towns personality. Each one is thematically unique. The city of Goldpaw is steeped in Chinese aesthetic, while Hydropolis is a large blue fishing town. The size and detail of these places is astonishing. They’re some of the best towns in JRPG’s.

They replaced the high difficulty of the first game with a much more grind-free one. Without that need, the door is open to playing the game with little stress. Instead of wasting hours on fights, you’re able to experience the game’s activities at your leisure.

Except for the end game fights, there is very little challenge here. Even the big boss encounters are a breeze to get through. The size and spectacle of them make it seem like they’re going to be tougher than they are going in, but I often ended up feeling underwhelmed. Fights were usually made more enjoyable by entering them under-leveled.

The best thing about combat this time around is how great it feels to play. Unlike the first game, you now have full control over your character’s actions.

There are three different types of weapon users in your party: swords, hammers, and spears. Each character gets a projectile as well that they can use as long as they have enough magic power.

The spear users are a little clunky to use, but the rest of them feel very natural. Evan moves fast, swinging his sword around wildly, while Batu’s hammer moves are slow and heavy. With six party members to choose from, there’s a lot more variety this time.

Another element to combat that makes things more interesting are the higgledies. These cute creatures aid you in battle by supplying buffs and helping with attacks. Some boss fights make good use of them, but they’re rarely necessary to win a fight.

The quick nature of combat makes it less frustrating when you get into battles over and over. Outside of the world map, transitioning into fights is seamless. There’s a very brief victory pose when you win, but besides that, everything is so fast. Even leveling up is just shown above your head whenever it happens.

Ni no Kuni II has plenty of other things to offer as well. Evan has to build the kingdom of Evermore from the ground up, so it’s up to the player to help it grow. You’ll need to gather citizens and expand the kingdom with several different establishments.

Watching your kingdom develop from a tiny village into a massive civilization is both fun and satisfying. While doing it all isn’t necessary for beating the game, the upgrades it gives you are a great help. Leveling up your armory gives you better gear to pick from, and doing the same for the spell works lab gives you a wide range of upgrades for your magic.

However, if you’re not a fan of completing several side missions, and you’d rather get through the main story without any distractions, you’re out of luck. At a certain point, the game blocks your progression, forcing you to have a certain number of civilians in your kingdom to proceed. Not only that, but you need to have some buildings be at a certain level as well. This only happens twice, but it was frustrating both times.

Thankfully, the game lets you know which quests will earn you new civilians before you start them. These quests are some of the best in the game since most of the civilians you collect have engaging stories to go along with the tasks they ask you to do. One of them gave a lot more insight into Roland’s backstory that you would have never known without deviating from the main game.

The way you upgrade your buildings is by gaining a specific form of currency called kingsguilders. Earning this money is done by waiting around or going off and playing the game. It’s similar to how you gain coins in a lot of mobile games. You can earn a lot of it in a short amount of time so it rarely feels like an issue waiting around for it to build up.

The other important element to Ni no Kuni II are the skirmishes. These are strategic fights that pit Evermore’s army against invaders, bandits, and monsters.

There isn’t a lot to skirmishes, but they can be fun if you take the time to do the tougher ones. The easier ones mostly involve you placing your units next to the enemy’s while waiting to see who wins. Special attacks and buffs can make this more engaging. You’re only forced to do these a handful of times with the majority of them found in side quests. If you don’t feel like doing these side skirmishes immediately, their location is left on the map for you to go back to.

The map itself is reminiscent of the JRPG’s of old. Your avatars shrink down to adorable small versions of themselves, and it works surprisingly well. The view is top-down, and the enemies are all visible on-screen so there are no random encounters. This is great because it feels like a more modern take on everything that was so good about the classics.

Ni no Kuni II’s strongest points come from the heartwarming tale it tells. Some things that seem generic and bland come into their own by the end of the game. I was touched by Evan’s persistent desire to find the good in people. His view on life is one that will strike a chord with anyone who plays.

The issues I have with this game are outweighed by the number of great things it has to offer. There were some odd choices here and there, but I had a fantastic time with Ni no Kuni II. The growth of my kingdom, and the growth of the characters in the game worked hand in hand together to create a truly special