While you can use gear to influence an individual character's strengths and weaknesses, you also earn a secondary type of experience that gets funneled into the Tactics Tweaker, a tool that lets you adjust team-wide attributes and how the game rewards your victories. From a pure gameplay perspective, it is a vastly better game. Is a loss of awe and mystique the price we must pay for a game that is so ripe with little things to do, poke at and throw around on the field of war? Ni No Kuni 2 (PS4) is a beautiful JRPG. You can concisely summarize Ni No Kuni 2 as the wholesome story of Evan, a boy prince ousted by traitors on the day of his coronation who wishes to unite warring nations under a banner of peace. Sorry, but you can't access this content! Its amazing art style and anime aesthetic are second to none, and its fresh take on real time combat is deeply satisfying and strategic. As usual, we've collected a sample of them below to give you an idea of what critics think about the anticipated JRPG. Now Playing: Ni No Kuni II Video Review It's familiar fantasy fare and a bit safe at times, but Ni No Kuni 2 bears no shortage of interesting moments. Peter completed Ni No Kuni 2's story in 35 hours, which included a few hours dedicated solely to developing his new kingdom. Ni No Kuni 2 is a solid contemporary JRPG that brings a lot of design ideas that I love into sharp, clear focus while staying entertaining and engaging throughout." It's a character-driven RPG that doubles as a kingdom simulator and even occasionally becomes a real-time strategy game. Enemies appear in plain sight before an encounter with a level marker overhead, and a color denoting their threat level helps you easily discern their relative strength. -- Peter Brown [Full review], "Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom distinguishes itself from its predecessor by layering fast-paced, real-time combat and an engaging kingdom building system atop more traditional RPG systems and quests. Ni no Kuni 2 is a solid contemporary JRPG that brings a lot of design ideas that I love into sharp, clear focus while staying entertaining and engaging throughout. Resident Evil Village Release Date Is May 7, PS4/Xbox One Versions Confirmed, PS5 Restock Updates: Check Latest Stock, Updates, And More, Xbox Series X Restocks: Check Availability Here, By And when he speaks, he cuts through scenes with wry wit, and even regularly calls out the team for repeatedly taking on errands and doing strangers favors. Rather than resort to revenge, he admirably believes that cooperation is a more important goal than domination and sets out to build a new, united kingdom. Terms of Use and Some consoles are harder to port then others, I'll give you that, but you're pretty ignorant to think this is only the Switch fault! By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's A best-in-class soundtrack that perfectly captures the game's various moods, An interesting world filled with delightful characters, Demanding combat that rewards reflexes and smart decision making, Twists and unexpected themes elevate the otherwise straightforward tale, Multiple interconnected pursuits with multi-layered benefits, Secondary activities resort to an off-putting visual style, Most characters in your party feel underdeveloped. Armed with steadfast ideals, he repeatedly dismantles sinister adversaries because they, too, are actually good at heart; they've merely been corrupted by powerful, dark forces. One minute you think you're going to enjoy a cute fantasy adventure with a sexually non … You'll likely have smiths who craft weapons and armor, farmers that harvest meat, dairy, and produce, and institutions that develop techniques for being a more efficient ruler and a more effective fighter. Sorry, but you can't access this content! -- Kat Bailey [Full review], "Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom may not nail everything it attempts, but it gets the important things right. The game also smartly limits your inventory during battle, which means you can't rely on spamming restorative items. There's something worthwhile around every corner, and usually something pretty to admire along the way. "Ni No Kuni 2 is a robust game that offers ample ways to spend your time, and even if they aren't all up to the same level of quality, it's easy to appreciate how they collectively contribute to the bigger picture. -- Cam Shea [Full review], "Ni No Kuni 2 aims for a lot of different targets: world-spanning story, management sim, recruitment game and solid combat experience. Combat could be tighter, and other supporting elements could use some polish--but like any kingdom, this experience isn't about individual contributions. You only control a single person at a time, but that alone gives you three melee weapons to manage, a ranged weapon, magic skills to consider, and interlinked meters to monitor, on top of defensive concerns. Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom is here to ruin your life. While these new elements may not always tie together in a cohesive way, they help set the title apart from its beloved predecessor. Ni No Kuni 2 takes an odd path. After suffering a few delays, Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom finally makes its anticipated debut on PS4 and PC this week. There's Goldpaw, a society that worships lady luck. Privacy Policy. There are the usual JRPG sins of a world bloated with loot and resources and missions that are essentially there to sponge up the hours, but most of it feeds satisfyingly into kingdom-building and the party combat. These are common fare for RPGs, but nevertheless frustrating to see relied upon so heavily here. There’s also the whole castle upgrading/citizens recruitment system. Ni No Kuni 2 is coming this week, and now we have a much better idea of how long it will take you to finish the Ghibli-inspired RPG. Given that you can find ways to overcome seemingly impossible odds, you can actually get by without intentionally grinding for experience points. If you didn't play the first game, don't let this one pass you by too. You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos. Building your kingdom is satisfying and engaging, even with the weak narrative hooks. Read Peter's in-depth review at GameSpot.com! Bandai-Namco provided GameSpot with a complimentary copy of the game for review. Everything in your kingdom takes money to fund and time to develop, but more than just investing in these services, you need to staff them with citizens from across the world. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a fantasy RPG game from LEVEL-5 that tells the tale of a young boy named Oliver, who embarks on a … And despite his small stature and cuddly kitten ears, Evan is a lion when backed into a corner. When pushing yourself against an enemy 10 to 20 levels higher than you, eking out a victory through clever preparation and a masterful performance can feel downright incredible. Mar 23, 2018 9:43am Player Review… Ni Nu kuni 2 on the outside going in, looks like a Hayao Miyazaki film. Kyle & William from Attack of the Fanboy take a look at Ni No Kuni 2 Revenant Kingdom on the PlayStation 4 ahead of the final review. Combat is actually fun and functional. Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos. In Ni No Kuni 2 much of this strategy has been removed and instead we have a much more action based traditional JRPG system, as such the party members now have specific melee and ranged weapons and deal in combat Ni No Kuni 2 is a robust game that offers ample ways to spend your time, and even if they aren't all up to the same level of quality, it's easy to appreciate how they collectively contribute to the bigger picture. You'll also have to navigate a kingdom where love in all forms is considered a criminal offense, and every interaction is monitored by an enormous, all-seeing eye. Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom is ambitious. This means tackling a lot of sidequests, acquired either by mingling with the populace or by completing tasks for the taskmaster. It's chock full of excellent battles and surprising moments that make for a far more memorable experience than you initially expect and leaves you impressed by your own accomplishments. -- Chris Carter [Full review]. Though you can bend over backwards and call it a potentially necessary evil, that doesn't excuse the sinking feeling that there must have been a better way, one that doesn't require the game to hide its lovely, cel-shaded face. Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? The story isn't the only area where Revenant Kingdom diverges from its predecessor. Privacy Policy, Now Playing: GS News Update: Ni No Kuni 2 Story Length Estimate. How does it play? By and large, sidequests are either a fetch quest or a kill-x-number-of-enemy bounty. It's an open-world action JRPG, but at its heart is a building sim … -- Cameron Kunzelman [Full review], "Ni No Kuni 2 is a sweet-tempered and attractive RPG with a strong castle-building mechanic, but it's dragged down by a jarringly ugly overworld, mandatory fetch quests, and a lot of padding. It could have been better if it wasn't Ni no Kuni 2013 saw the end of the dreadful (for JRPG players) seventh generation, and it came with possibly the PS3’s best exclusive RPG, Ni no Kuni. Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom - Review Grand ambitions, uneven execution. He is a massive benefit to the overall experience, even within battle. It also helped that Mr. Drippy arrives right from the start, injecting levity and a unique quality into the game. Ni No Kuni 2: Revant Kingdom is a new all-time classic JRPG from Level 5. Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom is a masterpiece, and one of the best games of this generation. On the other hand, Ni No Kuni 2's humorous writing and endearing NPCs shine through, lending something worthwhile to even the most common interactions. + by Cam Shea Posted March 19, 2018, 7:30 p.m. In almost every scene, be it serious or inconsequential, he often lingers just off-center with a dim-witted stare, mouth agape in blind amusement. -- Joe Juba [Full review], "Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is the RPG adventure that's like shooting sunshine right into your veins. For example, Evan's adult consul Roland is a dimension-tripping president from the modern day, cast into a strange time and place in the aftermath of a catastrophic military assault. In addition to that, Revenant Kingdom features kingdom building and strategy elements, often tasking players with commanding a small army of troops in RTS-like battles. GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers. Against all odds, it manages to hit them all in a way that very few games in its genre can manage. Ni no Kuni is a stupendous game because there's so much to do in it, and because all of it is just so good. It's about how those contributions come together, and the fun of this experience as a whole outweighs its flaws." Though it was released in Japan two years prior, we only got it then, and you could see it, alongside returns to form of the Tales of and Fire Emblem franchise, as a light at the end of the … PS4 Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom Review (Give Me Your Higgledys!) It's polished … Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos. Ni No Kuni 2's enemies also have strengths some characters will struggle to overcome. Kevin Knezevic on March 23, 2018 at 9:46AM PDT. Ni No Kuni 2 also does a great job of simplifying things around combat to let you focus on the action at hand. With yellow skin, a pointy head, and a red torso, he's what you might imagine Lisa Simpson looks like if someone described her but forgot to mention she's human. Ni No Kuni 2 wouldn't feel the same without him. It's a shame it delivers so few truly memorable characters and restricts so much of its storytelling to text on screen, but by the end of Ni No Kuni 2 the broader themes certainly resonate and the 40+ hour journey has been well worth it." Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom Review Grand ambitions, uneven execution. © 2021 GAMESPOT, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. Despite being proficient in either melee, ranged combat, or magic, they're weaker against the rest. Considering his impassioned pleas for a world without war, the game's simple and infrequent RTS skirmishes--large scale, rock-paper-scissor battles that require basic resource management--feel notably contradictory, but standard battles are so flashy and exciting that you'll never think twice about the peace-loving king being in constant battle. -- Edwin Evans-Thirlwell [Full review], "Level-5 is more than capable of dumping out healthy portions of its secret sauce on top of its games, but the combat of Ni No Kuni II and its attempt to do so many different things can hold it back. Your AI-controlled allies are good at self-preservation and dishing out damage, and your Higgledy friends regularly offer up a burst of healing magic or a powerful attack to keep things moving. LEVEL-5 reunites with Yoshiyuki Momose on character design and Music created by Joe Hisaishi in the production of the next Ni no Kuni tale. 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