REVIEW

Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom Review

by Rob Pritchard, March 26th, 2018

The original Ni No Kuni was released exclusively in Japan for the Nintendo DS in 2010 as a co-development between LEVEL 5 and the legendary animation studio, Studio Ghibli. An enhanced version of the game, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch arrived in the West for the PlayStation 3 at the beginning of 2013, receiving critical and commercial success from gamers and anime fans alike. Earlier this week, LEVEL 5 have finally released the long awaited sequel, Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom after several delays to improve the quality of the game. Thankfully in this case, the extra time has definitely been worth the investment from both a graphical and gameplay standpoint.

The sequel takes place several centuries after the events of Wrath of the White Witch, but you do not need to have played the first game to understand what is going on. After being forcefully abdicated from his throne during a violent coup, a young king named Evan must join forces with a mysterious stranger named Roland who has been summoned from another world to reclaim his royal status. Along the way, Evan must forge new alliances with his neighbouring kingdoms to build a world where everyone can live happily ever after. The story doesn’t feel quite as strong as Wrath of the White Witch, but the narrative is filled with plenty of twists and turns such as the betrayal of one of your closest allies. One of the best moments is a scene which takes place within the first hour of the game, involving a strong willed character which the player will inevitably form a close connection to.

Ni No Kuni II’s battle system has been completely overhauled since the original game. Instead of utilising traditional turn based systems, Evan and his allies now fight their enemies in Kingdom Hearts styled real time combat. It is now possible to attack your foes with a combination of light and heavy melee attacks, in combination with a projectile weapon such as Tani’s crossbow, Evan’s magic wand and Roland’s pistol. This new system feels much more user friendly than the one found in Wrath of the White Witch, and is certainly not as tough to master as new mechanics are continuously added to the mix.

The difficulty curve remains fairly consistent throughout the game, although there are a few occasions where the bosses tend to jump several levels above your party average, particularly when you reach the Goldpaw area in the third chapter of the game’s storyline. The improved frame rate and lack of delay between choice and attack makes each encounter feel much more exhilarating, making the time honoured tradition of grinding for experience much more enjoyable.

Alongside these battles, sometimes you will need to fight in Skirmishes on the world map. These fights rely on you controlling several groups of soldiers to defeat several enemies and claim the territory as your own and earn Kingdom Points to help your own kingdom’s vital facilities grow stronger. The controls are mostly identical to regular battles, except you have the option to summon more soldiers when your squadrons reserve is getting low. While these battles can be entertaining, they do not feel as compelling as the real time action battles, often feeling more like an unnecessary optional battle type to mix up the formula similar to the Rotation Battles featured in Pokémon Black and White.

If you have ever felt like an RPG lacks distinct types of weapons and dropped items during combat, Ni No Kuni II will safely satisfy that void in spades. Every enemy encounter, treasure chest and breakable container in the game world has a vast array of weapons, consumable items such as health restoring Soreaway plants and essential items to help build your new kingdom. While not all the weapons and items will have a specific value, the sheer amount of possible collectables obtainable in game shows the developer’s dedication to improve on the limited inventory from the original game.

The Pokémon like familiars have also made their departure, replaced by several breeds of elemental spirits known as Higgledies. These cute sprites are watched over by Auntie Martha, who Evan can turn to in order to power up his higgledy friends and cook up entirely new species once she is a citizen of his kingdom. Like the familiars, the Higgledies follow you into combat, but you do not have direct control over them. Once you activate their special abilities in battle, they can attack enemies with a catapult, heal your allies or create a shield that blocks all but the strongest of attacks. Although it is a shame to see the familiars go, the Higgledies are a competent replacement, and often feel more effective than their pocket monster styled predecessors.

Outside of battle, Evan and his allies have the option of completing the main storyline quests, several side quests or continue to build Evan’s new kingdom. The kingdom building feature feels very similar to the Georama mechanic featured in Dark Chronicle, one of LEVEL 5’s critically acclaimed PS2 RPG’s, also known as Dark Cloud 2 in the United States. By recruiting citizens from several locations across the map and placing them inside one of the kingdom’s vital buildings, it is possible to unlock new bonuses that will make the game easier to complete. This process is entirely optional outside of the initial tutorial sections, but the additional abilities such as quicker movement on the world map and powering up weaker weapons provide a strong incentive to build a better world for Evan and his people.

Despite the lack of direct involvement with the studio this time around, Ni No Kuni II uses the same Studio Ghibli art style that made the original game a visual masterpiece. There are very few cases of graphical tearing or aliasing artefacts throughout, and the frame rate remained consistent on the PS4 Pro except in some of the more demanding enemy encounters. The high quality orchestral soundtrack has returned, filled with the same type of sweeping songs and interlude music as featured in Wrath of the White Witch. One of the highlights is the theme for the series, which has been given a new arrangement that was originally featured in the promotional material for Ni No Kuni II. The quality of the voice acting has greatly improved this time around, with some of the best performances coming from the perpetually optimistic King Evan and the delightfully evil speeches given by the rodent antagonist Lord Mausinger.

Overall, Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is everything that fans could have wanted in a sequel to the original game. The improved battle system, alongside the charming emotionally charged storyline and the beautiful high definition graphics make this one of the PlayStation 4’s best RPG’s to date. Whether you are looking for the next big JRPG to fill your adventure shaped void inside yourself, or if you have never played a JRPG, Ni No Kuni II is a game that will almost certainly meet all your gaming needs.