REVIEW - Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom - I Just Can't Wait To Be King

Name: Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom
Developer: Level-5
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment Japan, Level-5
Platforms: PlayStation 4(reviewed), PC
Release: 23/03/18

Here's a sequel to a game I loved I didn't think I would get. I played the original Ni No Kuni when it came out on PS3 purely because the marketing said: "Studio Ghibli" and "RPG" in the same sentence. (I'm a mark, what can I say?) The game I got was a hybrid of Final Fantasy world exploration with a Pokemon battle system, complete with monsters you caught and evolved. (If none of that strikes you as something that would interest you, fear not) Up until I got Ni No Kuni 2 myself, I read literally nothing about it. I went in expecting exactly what the previous game had laid out, with some added extras to keep people happy.

What I got was a combat system that had been completely revamped, instead opting for a more hands-on, free-flowing experience. As a party of three, you encounter groups of enemies. You then take control of one of the characters while the others are controlled by the computer. You can swap between them at any time and using each of the characters learned skills is as easy as holding R2 and pressing one of the face buttons. In my experience, most standard fights take between 10-30 seconds, and enemies are visible on the world map so if you want to avoid combat, you can just give them a wide berth. Avoiding fights isn't really the end of the world in terms of levelling up either. (As fights only take a matter of seconds, I've found that I avoid far fewer fights than I would in any other RPG I've played of late)
The story moves at a fair click if you keep with the main missions but there is plenty of side stuff to do that can earn you lots of both money and experience. (You'll know you're in trouble if where you're trying to go is covered with enemies with their names highlighted in red, steer clear) Getting a Game Over isn't that big a deal either, as the autosave feature is pretty liberal for a regular games standards, never mind an RPG. With that in mind, taking the occasional risk with a high-level boss creature isn't too daunting and can even be highly rewarding if you can pull off a victory.

In addition to the new combat system, there are also army battles that you can take part in. (I know, we've gone from "I choose you" to "Behold the glorious ranks of the Imperium" but it's cool, bear with me) Unlike regular combat, there are set places where you can take part in these battles, and more appear as you play through the game. Here, you move with a unit of up to four captains. Each captain has a squad of whatever type of unit they specialise in. (For instance, I've consistently used swords, spears, bows and rifles for most of my engagements) The three main close range units (sword, spears and hammers) operate in a rock/paper/scissors fashion, meaning it pays to check what kind of troops your enemy will have before going into the fight. (I've gotten the Game Over message most often because of these army battles purely because I haven't been paying attention to enemy level/troop type)
The level system for these fights is separate from the regular levels. So even if you are out there hacking down dragons in the time it takes to reheat soup, you'll have to work your way from battlefield novice to battle-scarred veteran separately. Not too much of a hassle and only a handful of these skirmishes are mandatory if you're not that into them.

Now for the smallest of small gripes before I get into what I considered the "crowning jewel" of this game. Throughout the game, you're given your main plot, "Help the Young King Build A New Kingdom After Tragedy", which is fantastic and keeps you going through the game with a purpose. Great! So what the hell is your problem, Gavin? Well, there is a sub-plot which directly ties into the title of the game, Revenant Kingdom. You'll be teased for hours on what this alludes to and are even given a glimpse here and there of the main antagonist, Doloran, who is trying to operate said kingdom. After 85 hours of gameplay, a lot of which went into the activity I'll talk about next, the only real exploration of this arc was in the last 2 hours of the game. You're given a massive exposition dump and a sudden backstory for Doloran that, if it had been dispersed throughout the game slightly more frequently, I feel it would have had a much larger impact on the player (in this case, me) when the final confrontation occurs. Like I've said, it's the smallest of issues, and I only feel I have the issue because I like the game as a whole so much. Just to clarify, I really like the story, just not the way it's told.

On to my absolute favourite part of the game. You get your own kingdom to build! (I may or may not have yelled a little when I found out this was in the game) About 10 hours into the game, which for a standard RPG is the intro sequence and the tutorial, you get given your own spit of land to build a brand new kingdom on. Here you can build a blacksmith and an armoury to research and create better weapons and armour. You can research ways to gain more experience in from fights and also skirmishes. You build resource farming facilities to gain basic materials to make weapons and healing items. I know. That sounds like a lot of work and the resource thing happens in real-time but it's actually really easy to use. (I would leave the game running in the background while I went to the shops of made my dinner as I knew when I went back the game would have something for me) For anyone who has played a real-time strategy game and built a base, this is that but without someone coming over and smashing it with a dreadnaught or something.
As the game progresses, you recruit more subjects to your kingdom which in turn allows you to expand and build more buildings. I can't express enough how satisfying I found this whole aspect of the game. (There may have been a maniacal laugh or two, not that I'm some evil overlord or something... ahem) Going out into the world and finding people to join you provides hours of sidequests, which admittedly leads to King Evan being used as everyone's personal Amazon/Deliveroo courier. Not a major hassle when all that really boils down to is "Go explore this beautiful game".

Would I recommend this game to you? If you're after a game that is not only a delight to look at but also has so many individual elements that make it one of the best RPGs I've played in years, then yes, this is a game for you. On the other hand, it's a real time real-time investment and it's also an RPG, if you have neither the time or a love for the genre, it's not going to do anything for you.

Available for around £40-£50, depending on how savvy a shopper you are. (I went totally insane and bought the £140 "King's Edition" because I'm a fucking lunatic, very happy with it though)