Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom (Review)

By: MithrandielNi no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom certainly knows how to open with a bang: as the President of the United States is on his way to an important summit, a nuclear missile destroys the city where the summit is being held, and sends the President's motorcade into disarray. In the wreckage, the groaning, wounded body of the President is shrouded in a mysterious light as he disappears.Meanwhile, in a parallel world, the President (known as Roland) reappears before a young boy named Evan: a cat-eared prince preparing to become King of his own territory. Roland has the bad luck of landing in the middle of a violent coup, and helps to protect Evan against he guards who swore to protect him.Ultimately left without a kingdom, Evan and Roland embark on an adventure to establish Evan as a proper King. This is the journey you'll find yourself on in Ni no Kuni 2. 

Story

The story of Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom is a familiar one, and Evan's idealism may appear to be overly naïve. However, the simplicity of the story and the pacing really helps you jump in with both feet and begin your adventure in earnest. Too often, especially in JRPGs, you can lose focus of the major goal or driving factors. I think for all of its strengths, NieR Automata suffered from such an issue. Keeping the narrative simple provides an opportunity to connect with the characters and simply enjoy the ride.That being said, while you get the sensation that you're playing through a grand fairy tale, it does distinctly feel like a children's fairy tale for the substantive portion. Healing items have silly names, bad guys are won over through sheer determination and a positive attitude, cute fairy-like entities follow you around squeaking cutely and casting magic during combat...you know, those sorts of things. While the beginning chapter is pretty heavy, the journey that follows may prove to be too juvenile for some. That is, until you get down to the brass tacks of Ni no Kuni 2's combat system.

Gameplay/Combat

Ni no Kuni 2's combat takes a distinct step away from its predecessor, moving into a more action-based combat system. Each of your characters has a light and strong attack, with the ability to activate skills that are embedded within your various weapons. As you strike with your weapon, you build "zing", which further strengthens skills once it's maxed at 100%, adding a few more strikes to an ability, or making that Fireball even more impressive. You can adjust settings so that your weapons are always optimized for the maximum "zing", but that does take away some of your control.With a dodge action, blocking, numerous skills and free roam of the battlefield, you find soon enough that skill can help to bridge some pretty sizable level gaps between your party and the monsters you face. Combat occurs either on a micro-scale (within dungeons) or on a macro-scale (world map). While in a dungeon, you go in and out of combat almost instantly, the monsters wandering about and ready to engage at any moment. On the world map, you see a representation of the monster wandering around, and can approach it to initiate combat. Once combat is complete, if you forgot to grab any items the monsters dropped, they will be left on the world map for you to collect.I found there was a good balance between the bulk of the fighting happening on the world map vs. in a dungeon. I liked the design and the look of the miniaturized characters wandering the grander world - it helped to provide an early feeling of adventure and that there was a great big world to explore.Going back to the combat: it runs like a well-oiled machine. Things remain fluid and dynamic, with the variety of weapons and skills keeping you interested as the story moves on. There's also the fantastical Higgledies to consider: spirits that embody various elements and assist you on the battlefield. Some will cast healing and protective spells, others will be more aggressive and deal damage to your enemies. Finding and "catching them all" is a fun side-quest, and adds another layer to the frantic combat.Speaking of adding layers, there's also the "Tactic Tweaker" to consider. Unlocked early in the game, the Tactic Tweaker allows you to fine-tune various battle abilities, monster affinities, and even loot. When you first open it, it can be pretty daunting:The tactic tweaker is essentially broken down into 4 major categories: monster affinities, arts of war, spoils settings and elements & ailments. By divvying up battle points into these categories, you can better align your abilities to deal maximum damage to particular enemies, increase your battle prowess, decide whether you want more item drops, gold or experience, and generally have more control over how your attacks impact your enemies. It's a ton of fun to get lost in for quite some time, but the best thing about it is that you don't have to be a theory-crafting nut to enjoy the game. While ignoring this completely is not recommended, you can get away with very minimal involvement with the tactic tweaker.This is perhaps the most impressive thing about the various elements of combat in Ni no Kuni 2: there aren't any mechanics just for the sake of having mechanics. This is another common JRPG trope that is easy enough to stumble into, yet Ni no Kuni 2 provides enough purpose and direction to avoid this curse.When you're not busy battling monsters and tweaking your tactics, you will likely be managing your new kingdom. Evermore is Evan's upstart territory, and as the game progresses you will get the chance to build new structures and expand your empire.Perhaps the most exciting element of this is your ability to recruit people to your kingdom as the game progresses. Rather than simply setting you on a series of pointless side-quests, doing favors for folks will often translate in them moving to your kingdom and offering up their expertise. It reminded me of the town-building elements in Ys VIII, except a bit more involved.Overall, the depth and execution of the combat system combined with the kingdom-building mechanics provide Ni no Kuni 2 with hours and hours of fun. To be clear, it's not going to be an 80-100 hour journey. You will probably clear the main story and a handful of other tasks within 30-35 hours.

Graphics

Probably one of the most endearing elements of Ni no Kuni 2 is its striking visual style. Fans familiar with Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki's work will no doubt see a lot of familiarity in the various characters, and for good reason. The main character designer is none other than Yoshiyuke Momose, who was responsible for bringing to life the iconic characters of Spirited Away, as well as the classic Porco Rosso. The result of Momose's work is the feeling of playing through a grand Studio Ghibli film. Rich colors bring the various landscapes to life, with vivid facial expressions during dialogue and cutscenes. I even found myself noticing in combat that some of the movements seemed reminiscent of action scenes I'd seen in titles like Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke. A recent review commented that Ni no Kuni 2 is the "Studio Ghibli Game" they "always wanted". I would argue that many fans of anime and RPGs will be delighted by this cross-section, and enamored by the visuals as a result.

Overall

Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom does a fantastic job of bringing you along for a fun adventure. Even though the plot may seem overly simplistic and naïve...you ultimately find the characters are endearing, the combat engaging, and the broader experience well worthwhile. A terrific addition for any RPG fan.