Game review Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

In recent years, the genre of Japanese role-playing games is experiencing the best of times. Of course, the developers periodically delight us with wonderful projects like , but it is foolish to deny that the number of quality JRPG in our days significantly decreased. The Japanese Studio is struggling to preserve the tradition of classical genre, but regularly brings something new and fresh in their game. Today I will tell you about the wonderful role-playing game Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Russian version of the name – "Ni no Kuni II: rebirth of a king").

Game: Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
the Platform: PlayStation 4, Windows
the Genre: JRPG
the release date: March 23, 2018
the Developer: Level-5
the Publisher: Bandai Namco games

Should Start with the fact that the game is a great JRPG sequel, released in 2011 under the name Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. In the prequel, the player assumed the role of a boy, Oliver, who in the course of unexplained magical events comes from the real world into the world of fairy, where he will undergo a lot of testing, to eventually bring back to life his dead mother. A touching plot, vivid characters and animation inserts created by the artists of Studio Ghibli (I hope that my readers are familiar with the works of legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki?), great music, written by composer Jo Hlsalshi ("My neighbor Totoro", "spirited away", etc.) – all this did not go unnoticed by fans of the genre. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch has gained success among game critics and sold over one million copies.

Events of Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom takes place hundreds of years later after the ending of the first game. It all starts at the moment when a certain country in a real (read – our) world is subjected to nuclear bombardment. Motorcade of the President of Roland crane overtakes the blast wave, but instead of die, a politician magically transferred into the fairy world inhabited by wonderful creatures. Roland finds himself in the Kingdom of Coronel in the midst of a coup. So he meets a young Prince Evan Doripenem Nangalam that must ascend the throne after the death of his father king Leopold. But it turned out that the previous ruler was poisoned by his former ally – sneaky Crisaean. Of course, the heir to the throne in the person of Evan him alive is needed so the Prince opened a real hunt.

Roland, being a man of kind and sympathetic, called to help Evan escape from the Royal castle. Together they decide to restore justice and to return the young Prince to his rightful throne. For a start they need to enlist the support of magical beings, confirming Evan on Royal power, and then to unite under its banner the scattered state of huge fairy world in an attempt to put an end to endless strife and war. In the course of a long journey for Roland and Evan joined by new friends, the heroes discover a completely new abilities and learn a lot from each other. But most importantly – together they founded their own Kingdom Maluniu, which becomes a beacon of hope and a new home to many of the desperate.

Serious changes have been made to the combat system. Now everything happens in real time, therefore, you will not have to wait for your character to wait your turn, save stamina and will have the right to strike at the enemy. Also now you can't control minions (in the first game they were called Familliars), but they are replaced by natural spirits "of Funaki" (original – Higgledies), running around the battlefield and provide you full support. For example, from time to time you can ask them to heal your wounds or be transformed into a huge gun and start shooting at the enemies. Pro funasa we thoroughly talk later, but for now take a closer look at other interesting features of the updated combat system.

In the battle can participate up to three characters from your party, each of which you can control by switching between them. All the characters are happy owners of so-called "ring-Arsenal" — a magical accessory that can accommodate from four types of weapons: three melee attacks and one — for far. In other words, each character has on hand, for example, three swords, three lances or hammers, and one weapon like a pistol or bow (extra bonus: the ring generates infinite ammo!). Why do you need so many weapons? It's very simple. Attacking enemies with a sword, you gain it magical energy. The higher the energy, the more damage the weapon does to enemies. But if you use special attacks, magical energy is rapidly consumed. At the moment when it ends, it would be best to switch to the next weapon with the accumulated mana and so on. If you do not want to bother with manually switching between their swords – can be trusted with this function the automatic tuning in the special menu. There all just like in the car: manual, semiautomatic and automatic. In fact, the system is intuitive and very easy to use.

Every character in the game has a set of five basic characteristics: melee attack, remote attack, magic attack, physical defense and magical defense. They pumped automatically as growth of level of the hero. Of course, you can also improve performance by magical pendants, rings and rings, but in the game another great way to improve the combat performance of the characters. This system is called "Fighting equalizer". Obtained during battles with the enemies "battle points" you can spend the setting is very important parameters. For example, to strengthen the attack against certain types of monsters (reptilians, fairies, demons, animals, Golems and so on). You can also make members of the squad resistant to the attacks of the elements (fire, water, wind, light, darkness), or to negative effects like poison, sleep and confusion. There are equalizer such perks as accelerating the flight from the battlefield, enhancing the effect of healing items, increased melee attacks and so on. You can even adjust the loot drop from defeated enemies. For example, you can get more materials and resources, weapons and accessories, gold, or spit on the material world and to focus on increasing gains experience. In other words, "Fighting equalizer" — a very useful thing, and to master its intricacies you need in the first place.

As I said above, to replace the "Pokemon" from the first game came natural perfumes — Funaki. These magical creatures will be a great help in the course of your adventures and fights with enemies, so try to give them due attention. All funasa has its own element — fire, wind, water, light or darkness, which gives them attack power of this element. During the battle of Funaki attack opponents along with the main characters, but also allow you to use their special attacks and skills. Unfortunately, the level of funas not grow by itself, so in between battles do not forget to feed them with different Goodies. With a battle you can take only a few of these magical creatures, so carefully plan the encounter in advance, depending on who is your opponent. At a certain point in the game you will create a new funasa for his party, but we should not forget that especially rare spirit helpers you can have in your army only on special altars, making the right offering.

Fundamentally new mechanics for the game is the presence of strategic battles. Yes, I mean the elements of this strategy in real time, quite harmoniously embedded in the core gameplay. From time to time, the troops of the young king Evan will face the armies of the enemy. Battle takes place on the world map. You control a tiny main character, around which are concentrated several types of troops: archers, swordsmen and so on. Rotating them around the protagonist using the buttons of the gamepad, do you give vulnerable troops in the background, sticking out forward the most appropriate at the moment fighters. Everything is subject familiar to fans of Japanese games "system triangle" when the sword is stronger than the hammer, the hammer is stronger than the spear, and the spear is mightier than the sword. Have your troops and special attack, with which you will be able to call, e.g., air pirates, bombarding the enemy from the air, or to paralyze the enemy troops with a powerful electrical discharge. Your army, like the army of the enemy, there is a certain stamina, which is consumed to replenish its numbers, and special attack. Don't forget to follow this value, otherwise there is a risk to attack an obviously stronger enemy.

Very cool implemented in the game the possibility of developing their own Kingdom, namely — the Royal castle and the adjacent territories. You start with the search of building materials for the erection of a magnificent castle, and then place around it are numerous buildings like shops, ateliers, workshops, farmland, sawmills, magical academies and centres for the breeding of funasa. In General, the development of the Kingdom resembles a cross between a mobile "fun farm" and wonderful Japanese role-playing game Suikoden. In it, the player also had to develop their Kingdom, why it was necessary in the first place to search for professionals in various fields. In Ni no Kuni II you also have to look and make their subjects (usually after performing some simple quests), a talented swordsmen, merchants, magicians, lumberjacks, weavers, travelers, miners, farmers and so on. Every new...