Ni no Kuni™ II: Revenant Kingdom

Rating: 3/5 Good! ------------------------- 1 step forward, 2 steps back. There are things to like in NNK2, but there are some things to hate as well. You will feel like you are playing a mobile games at times, and others, you feel like this could have been a visual novel. Gameplay: This feels like what NNK1 wanted to be, but they went for creatures/turn system instead. The combat is nice, though floaty, but it feels nice enough that it can carry the game throughout. The gear/drops are a mixed bag and it runs into the same problem as NNK1 where the power spikes are harsh and abrupt. There are some great synergies for builds + gear, but they don't really come into their own until the endgame. Story: There is some magic lost from the first game, but it is still very much a fairy tale. It isn't as cute, but the more mature themes are handled well. Sound: very mediocre. It is just okay. The VO is good enough, but there aren't enough spoken dialogue lines to make the experience feel more than what it is. Overall, it is a nice game and does something different from its predecessor. There will be those who wanted more of NNK1 and they will be disappointed. For JRPG fans, this is a nice game that unfortunately isn't as special as the first. However, there are enough mechanics to make the playthrough fun, albeit formulaic and generic.

love this game, its a classic

Good ♥♥♥♥. Not your usual linear JRPG

整体良作，典型jrpg，战斗算是爽快，养成经营趣味尚可，音乐享受，吉卜力画风加分，剧情老套王道热血，世界跑图设计敷衍。

Important things to know about this game: -This game is aimed at younger players, you will not see more mature themes and the story is a kin to an episodic Saturday morning cartoon. -This game is a collectathon on JRPG railroad tracks. It's fun but this isn't a Tales or FF game. It has it's own thing going on. Good game, though the sound track is about 5 songs and four of them suck.

I played many many hours, and there were things I loved, but the things that irritated me just kept piling up. * Quests given at beginning you can't do till after you beat the boss. Why not just wait? * Can't finish Kingdom without doing a super hard Dream Door that requires way more grinding then I want to do at this point. The Kingdom was my favorite part. I had a lot of fun building it, but have zero desire to grind or buy the DLCs to help grind easier. * Bad, bad, bad story writing. * Chests that generally give junk * The annoying skirmish mechanics * A game about bringing all the races/lands together, but besides Evan, the player characters are all human

i only played around 1.5 hours of ni no kuni II so far, and honestly i wasn’t sure what to expect. the only jrpg i’ve played before was persona and im not used to jrpg/jryo games so i came in pretty much blind. but to my surprise i’m actually having a really good time with it. the combat feels really fun and satisfying! fast, flashy, and a little addictive in that “just one more fight” kind of way. it actually reminded me of when i used to play on my nintendo ds as a kid, that same cozy, exciting feeling of exploring a colorful world and discovering new things. the art style is super cute, the music fits really well (joe hisaishi <3), and it just has that playful, magical vibe that makes it easy to sink into. makes me wish i had a nintendo switch so i could play this curled up in bed or on the go, because it feels like the kind of game that would be perfect for that. when i finish the game, i’ll update this review.

I feel luke-warm towards this game, so I'm recommending it with caveats; that is, buy it on a steep sale. The graphics and game play are a big step up from Ni No Kuni 1, pivoting from the monster collector aspects of its predecessor to a more strict adventuring RFPing here, with a stable party. The gameplay, set design, and world-building are all top-notch, with rich cities to explore, and little nooks and crannies everywhere to peek into on the world map. That being said, little is done with much of the world they've concocted. The plot is minimal, twee, and too often, extremely cringey. The playable characters join your party for no reason in particular, and they have the interiority and emotional complexity of tinfoil. There is also a strange 9/11 // USA allegory in here that, in my opinion, aged very poorly. By about a third of the way through the game you'll have learnt every skill available, and battles boil down to a button-mashing slugfest using the same 2-3 skills you've been spamming for the whole game. Regarding the DLC, you could also buy that on sale. It's lazy and repetitive, as others have noted, but once you experience how unpersuasive and boring the main storyline of the game is, you'll be grateful there isn't more of it post-game.