Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Who hasn’t dreamt of joining the royal family? This adorable JRPG adventure sees you take the throne and lead your citizens to glory…
Imagine being kicked out of your home by your own dinner. While the likelihood of a roast chicken leading a mutiny against you is thankfully slim, Ni no Kuni II’S hero Evan – a descendant of cat royalty – is embarrassingly usurped as king of Ding Dong Dell by a band of rebel rats. Most game plots would then see you formulate a revenge plan – but in this JRPG you’re instead tasked with building a new kingdom and achieving world peace.
Of course, there are still many monsters to kill and kingdoms to save, as a mysterious villain keeps stealing control of powerful beasts and wreaking havoc on the realm. But while this story is successful at recapturing its predecessor’s wacky charm, it fails to live up to the grand adventure of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.
In terms of combat, though, the sequel has made changes for the better by ditching the Pokémonstyled combat in favour of a more traditional real-time system. When confronted by a monster, Evan and his party will jump into an enclosed arena to duke it out. This revamped combat is not without its flaws, though. Fights are rarely balanced; if enemies are a couple of levels below you, a couple slashes of the sword will quickly put an end to those fiends.
Fortunately, preparing for each battle is a lot more rewarding – the upgrade system is among the best we’ve seen in an RPG. Being in charge of a new kingdom means you can build facilities that give you access to more powerful gear and magic spells. The catch? You need to persuade characters to join your kingdom to build and operate them. Recruit enough people and you’ll soon see your settlement grow into a bustling city.
While developer Level-5 has to be applauded for taking risks by overhauling the combat and introducing the kingdom-building feature, it hasn’t quite hit the heights of its predecessor. That said, Revenant Kingdom is still a great game. If you’ve a sweet tooth for the wacky, you’re going to fall in love with the world of Ni no Kuni.