Ni no Kuni™ II: Revenant Kingdom

I wish this rating system was a little less binary. I have mixed feelings about this title. I have rated it negatively, but I don't hate the game. It is, however, deeply flawed. The overarching narrative is decent, though at times predictable, and even a bit rushed. Regardless, it was a solid story. That said, while the characters were likeable, they weren't special. At no point did I find myself connecting with any of them. I formed no attachment at all, and if you were to remove any individual character from the game, I don't believe the dynamic would change at all. Any depth to any character is surface deep at best, and any time they attempt to be deep, contemplative, motivational, or perseverant it just doesn't feel believable. This isn't helped by the voice acting. When they commit to actually voice acting a scene, it's usually pretty good. At least for most of the characters. A couple are a little thin. The quality doesn't matter much since most of the time you don't actually get any voice acting. Instead you get a noise, or a word, at the start of each line of dialogue as you read it. Acceptable practice 25 years ago. now it's just lazy. I expect better from Level 5. The gameplay is fun at times, with the combat system being fairly engaging, but eventually becomes a bit repetitive. The skirmish fights are even worse in the repetition department, and felt more like button mashing and luck, rather than strategy. Though it would be unfair to completely write it off as my dislike for the system kept me from exploring everything it had to offer. It could be very competent, and I just didn't quite get there. The exploration in this game is severely lacking. The world map has a lot of regions and things to see, but exploring it will rarely reward you. Occasionally you will find a dungeon that you didn't know anything about, but most of the time there is nothing to find in them until you activate a specific side quest that takes you there. Most of the side quests are simple fetch quests, or basic single monster hunts. I've not found them to be very interesting, nor do they typically expand on the world lore, or contribute to character development. The town/kingdom building in this game can be pretty fun, but for me it was mostly something to do while I was deciding whether I wanted to do fetch quests or push the story along. All those things combined make for a pretty mediocre experience for me. At times good, at other not so much. The game never quite seems to know what it wants to be, and so it shifts its focus back and forth from its many mechanics, which at times can pull you out of the story. On a positive note, the music and the artwork in this game are fantastic. The visuals are very immersive, and the music can really add to that immersion when they pair the right track with the scene. Though that doesn't always happen, and sometimes it feels like a lot of the tracks are recycled, which can take away from the uniqueness of any given area, depending on what is playing. All in all I would give this game a solid 5 out of 10. Right down the middle. I enjoyed myself at times. I didn't in others. It may check more boxes for you than it did me, but I would not recommend this game outside of a deep discount, having most of your backlog cleared or just needing a break from whatever your go to game(or series) happens to be.

I have fully completes the base game, all DLCs, and have 100% all achievements in the Game. It took me a bit over 184 Hours to 100% the entire game, and all DLCs. The base game is an absolute treat. It does have it's flaws though. For those who enjoy it. The story is very similar to a child's story book, but with added nuances, and darker themes. Overall I loved the game. I played this game on PC with mouse, and keyboard. This game is meant to be played on controller. So the controls are a bit clunky on PC. One feature of the base game that I didn't like was the skirmishes. They felt clunky, unresponsive, and overall a bad experience. Outside of this I highly recommend this to those whom love Fantasy RPGs. Other than watching the additional story, or if you need then for a 100% achievement run, then do not get the DLCs. The stories are good, but the gameplay is horrific.

Про эту игру хочется рассказывать и рассказывать, не смотря на то что изначально я относился к ней предвзято за счёт того что она для меня выглядела детской (сюжетная часть) я всё же решил дать ей шанс и не пожалел, эта игра имеет великое множество положительных качеств и заканчивать прохождение было грустно (то самое чувство когда заканчиваешь проходить игру в которую влюбился), отметить хочется множество деталей но понятное дело я не "Обзорщик" там какой либо да и по комментариям Стима мало кто ориентируется но не могу не сказать что игрушка стоит вашего внимания и вот почему: -В ней большое количество разных механик (К сожалению большая часть бесполезная либо же выглядит как рудимент) -Красивая графика (Для тех кого не отпугивает аниме стилистика она будет шедевром (наверное)) -Относительно хороший и в некоторых случаях забавный сюжет (Да детский но если абстрагироваться от логики и просто наслаждаться повествованием то он Вам может понравится) Считаю что Вам тем кто сейчас сидит и думает "А стоит ли она моего времени и денег?" (Кстати со скидкой за копейки можно взять) Я рекомендую к покупке, и да, это JRPG и в нём есть фарм НО для комфортной игры на средней сложности фармится особо и не надо, просто откиньтесь с джойстиком в руках (ежели такой имеется) и наслаждайтесь красочным аниме шедевром! Всем удачи и добра! <3

This game is a crasy downgrade from the quality of Ni no kuni 1.

Great game, overall!! The story is a bit dumber than in the 1st game and some characters are weirdly (and subtly) sexualized, but in the end the moral of the story is absolutely valid: forgiveness. That's what Christ did for us in His cross: redemptive and free forgiveness of every mistake and mental prisons for everyone who solely believes He is Lord and God, the One who teaches us how to forgive by loving us to death first. Welp, but I digress... as I was saying: The game is beautiful (although enemies and dungeon scenarios are reused a LOT) and has a surprising amount of mechanics involved: apart from the hack 'n slash combat, which in and of itself is already quite complex, Ni No Kuni II also brings to us city building/management and skirmish war battles; there's so many things to remember and do in this game that it can be quite overwhelming sometimes, hahaha. So, this game certainly is NOT a walk in the park, specially if you play on Hard. Endgame is REALLY grindy, so be aware of that if you want to complete all the quests. Free DLC is bugged and may stress you out (we're talking about a non-stop and non-saveable 2h dungeon, so any softlocks and crashes are absolutely devastating). Be aware of that! Haven't played the paid DLCs but, from what I've heard, they're just basically more grindable content, so no thanks!

Пожалуй, худшее action jrpg на данный момент, которое я играл. Впервые познакомился с ней в 18 году, до того дня не играл в jrpg в принципе, но игра меня впечатлила, на тот момент прошёл немного, всего 2-3 главы. Но сейчас, поиграв в другие jrpg, я скорее расстроен этой игрой. Она короткая, это идёт ей на пользу, но как будто наполнение игры...пустое. Единственные два королевства, которыми я был впечатлён - Лай Дзинь и Коронелл. Атлантос и Гранд Фактория какие-то невразумительные, имхо. Поначалу идёт бодро, даже своё королевство развивать кажется интересным, но оно как будто не нужно в этой игре, снаряжения достаточно и от мобов, которое из них падает и в итоге развитие королевства кажется ненужной рутиной и жутким гриндом, про сайд-квесты говорить не буду, они базовые. Но что меня добило и заставило дропнуть игру, плюсом учитывая то, что под середину-конец мне уже стало скучно и я скорее добегал игру, чем полноценно играл - обязательный третий уровень королевства, а для этого ты ОБЯЗАН заниматься гриндом, тебе нужно много денег и 50 подчинённых, а чтобы тебе их получить - занимайся гриндом, это меня добило и я не выдержал, и ведь это перед самым концом игры, поэтому я просто посмотрел концовку в интернете и она...хорошая, история здесь действительно неплохая, но обёртка для этой истории мне не понравилась.

I wish I could give this a middling score. It's not a bad game by any means, but what its is, is complicated. Below, I'll be posting a spoiler-filled rundown of what my issues and loves for this game were. For a Tl;dr, I'd give this game a 7/10. Fun, but not as good at the 1st game. This sequel abandons a lot of what made the original so unique - gone is the Familiar system, as well as the heavy lean into hands-on learning. One of my big, early complaints was the loss of the Wizard's Companion; the first game's spellbook, full of creative flavor text, lore about the world, folklore, and ancient legends that reflect on current events. This added in a very fun system - making people [i]read[/i]. To finish some puzzles, you would need to scour the compendium, read the stories, learn the history for yourself, and grow alongside Oliver. It wasn't some pop-up on screen that narrated the story at you, but an account written by the holders of the book, telling their story. It was far more immersive and engaging. The gameplay is a bit more hands-on than the first game; the original had a very click-and-go style to it. Attacking, for instance, was automatic once you hit the "attack" button, giving you some degree of control over NPCs. One of my big gripes of the 1st game was how the NPCs would actively chase down recovery items, denying the player the ability to restore mana or health with anything but items. The sequel fixes this by having less of an emphasis on pick-up items, but also by leaning more into recoverable mana through attacks and equipment. The "auto-attack" aspect was removed, making the game feel more hands on, with active combos to use unique attacks. One thing I genuinely missed were runes. It's a small thing in the original, but every spell had an accompanying rune, which had neat lore implications. For instance, the spell to summon powerful monsters is a combination of two different runes, which shows the living aspect of the world - it feels like mages genuinely experimented with magic to discover these new things. The way spellcasting felt in the original was more snappy, too. It's hard to explain, but in the first game, I [b]felt[/b] like a mage, whereas with the sequel, it feels like I'm playing a mage in an RPG. This isn't bad, but it lacks that oomph of the original. Lastly, there are the cutscenes, and this is at no fault of the game devs. Ni No Kuni 2 lacked the touch of Studio Ghibli, at least in full. They kept the art style consistent, which was a good idea, but the loss of fully animated cutscenes could be felt. The still images or 3d cutscenes lacked the whimsy and charm Ghibli's animations brought to the original. This is at no fault of the developers; Ghibli is not a video game company and were too busy to be a part of the sequel. [spoiler]However, my biggest issues come with the writing. My first complaint is on missed opportunities. Ni No Kuni 1 was a gem, a wonderful game with a rich, vibrant lore, fleshed out through in-game storytelling and the supplementary reading in the Wizard's Compendium. There were loads of untold stories: where would the world be generations later? Would we walk through the shoes of the Wizard King? Perhaps we'd play as the Sage of Ages? Maybe put in in Nazcaä? So many options. And yet, Ni No Kuni 2 completely throws the story of the original to the wayside. Not only is it set in an alternate dimension, they made it clear that the events of Ni No Kuni 1 happened, but happened in a way that was different to the original. The familiar characters were there to tug at your nostalgia, but the story had almost no relevance to the events of the first game. When I started in Ding Dong Dell, I was excited. I thought this surely must be a continuation, since the Tildrum line was still standing and it's freakin' Ding Dong Dell. But rapidly, it became clear this wasn't the case - from the map being wholly different to nations being entirely unfamiliar, to core lore being entirely absent, replaced with new supplements - such as Kingmakers instead of Familiars. [spoiler]One of the key points in the 1st game's story was the cyclical nature of the world - how history repeated itself. Oliver was just one in a long line of people who lost everything they loved. But unlike the other people in the story, he embraced the pain, and didn't walk the road of vengeance instead. He broke the cycle. The nature of Oliver and Shaddar was not overt - there were clues there that one could follow, inconsistencies in the narrative that, if you looked closely enough, showed you the twist before it got close to it. The Doloran/Roland reveal was ham-handed in comparison. Not only was it retreading that same plot point - a Soulbound villain, tied to the hero, with a "if you wish to kill me, you must kill yourself" narrative. I understand the cyclical nature narrative, but come on. In the original, Oliver was confronted with this reality, then followed through, still destroying Shaddar and almost being erased himself. This was far more poignant in comparison to Roland, who simply beats his double up, then doesn't need to deal with that conflict again. It goes to show the vast gap between the two, in terms of emotional weight. I wasn't so bothered by the story sharing similar beats - a boy coming to bring all the nations of the world together, under one banner - that fit the nature of cyclical storytelling far better. But it was those key moments, where they skipped on the chance to do something different or unique, that really hit me. Now, some good; I really enjoyed the Kingdom Building mechanics. It was oddly rewarding, and felt nice to upgrade things slowly, watching the progress as you grow from a wooden palace with only a few huts, to a thriving capital. Recruiting the key villagers was a really neat idea - having to actively go out and hire people who were knowledgeable felt right; personal. A bit more bad. Much like Shaddar and Oliver, the reveal of Pea and her role in the story was something you could figure out early on, without being spoon-fed the truth. However, Ferdinand was absolutely uninteresting. His name only comes up a few times: once from Boddy, then from Evan in a speech, and maybe one more time. But ultimately, he wasn't a major or interesting character. But surprise: he is a pseudo-time traveler who created a Bootstrap Paradox, and he is actually Evan's son. Boddy is a seer, somehow. Time Magic in Ni No Kuni 1 was extremely fickle and dangerous; you could only leap through time once. Now, a character is randomly born who can just [i]send their mind through time from birth, because reasons.[/i] It all lacked the punch of Pea being the "inner child" of the game's Big Bad. Now, some more good. I did love [i]most[/i] of the game's writing. Was it cheesy and cliche? Sure, but no more than the original. One must remember, this is a game geared for younger audiences. With that in mind, there is a clear throughline in the narrative that remains strong. But I do think some things could have been better touched upon. In fact... How the flippin' heck did Roland end up in another Dimension? In Ni No Kuni 1, Oliver needs to open the gate himself - nobody is just [i]brought across dimensions[/i] with no rhyme or reason. And yet, here's Roland, being scooped across dimensions, just because. And did they seriously open the game up with New York City being nuked? Excuse me? Could you, like... explain that a bit? Why the heck was NYC getting bombed? It's massive tonal whiplash, and not in a good way.[/spoiler] I enjoyed Ni No Kuni 2. I played through the whole game - writing this while the credits are paused on the other screen - and am now about to start tackling post-game content. But if someone asked me whether the first or second was best, I would very clearly tell them: "Play the first. It's the far superior game."

Ni no Kuni II is a charming and feel-good RPG that’s easy to get lost in. The art style is bright and colorful, giving it that classic animated look that makes the whole world feel alive and inviting. The combat is fast-paced and more action-focused compared to the first game, which keeps things moving and makes battles fun without being overly complicated. On top of that, the kingdom-building system adds a nice layer of progression that gives you something meaningful to work toward outside of the main story. The story is simple but heartfelt, and the overall tone makes it a relaxing game to play when you just want to unwind. If you’re looking for a light, enjoyable RPG with plenty to do and a lot of charm, Ni no Kuni II is definitely worth your time.