When it comes to JRPG’s, I have to admit I’m fairly new to the genre. I’ve always been a big RPG fan but I’ve never really ventured this deep. I played Final Fantasy XV back in 2016 and that was my first step into a JRPG, I loved it: For how mixed that entry into the series was for many people, I will admit I loved it. This sparked an interest to delve into some deeper cuts of the genre. That’s when Ni No Kuni 2 caught my eye,during its trailer at PSX 2016. I never heard of this series before but like many others I was blown away by the beautiful visuals that echoes the marvellous animation of studio ghibli (Who sadly did not return in their involvement from the first game). Although it took me a while to get to it, I knew I wanted to give this game a go. Unfortunately I have not played the first game and I am aware that the combat is much different, however after hearing that this game was not related to the first in story I thought it was okay to jump in from here.
Let’s just get it out the way, this game is gorgeous. Every reviewer is saying this and you cannot deny the beauty of the visuals in this game. All the characters pop within the vast landscape of colour that is the world of Ni No Kuni 2, with each of them having their own unique design that is memorable as well as every town you visit leaving a visual imprint on your memory. The story is wonderfully charming, albeit a bit cheesy at times but you can’t help but smile at certain plot points in this game: Although it may make some gamers cringe a bit at times. I didn’t expect so much humour in the game as well, the story has its dark moments but they are well balanced with moments of levity. Characters develop very well throughout the game, particularly in Evan as he gradually learns what it means to be a king and rule a nation. However, there is one chapter in this game towards the end that seems a bit unnecessary and odd, it came off as a cheap way for the group to attain something they needed.
Now for the game play, this is where the game truly shined for me……most of the time. The combat in Ni No Kuni 2 is now more hack and slash than the original, of course with RPG elements such as magic, items to aid in battle and having equipment that can be attained from exploring or completing quests that you can swap between: Each having their own attributes that help against certain foes. All of this worked great and I loved every battle that I got into, I enjoy making my character as strong as possible you see,before the final battle. The game really does a fantastic job at making you want to engage in random encounters that you face, especially with the incentive of good loot. One of my favourite mechanics in this game is the ability to turn a battle you are struggling with potentially in your favour using the “tactics tweaker”. This feature allows you to invest battle points so you can select whether you do more damage to certain types of enemies, have further resistance to different elements and in general aid you in each fight. You can even choose whether you want to earn more loot or more EXP from fights also, this feature really gives the player a ton of freedom especially if they are struggling.
In the nature of most RPG games, the developers tend to force the player to engage in all mechanics within the game.Sometimes this is a really good thing if all the mechanics are fun to play and you are happy to play more of it, although if there is mechanics that are not fun and become more of a hindrance then the game overall suffers for that fact. Ni No Kuni 2’s pace comes to a screeching halt when it prevents progress as it is compulsory of you to take part in skirmishes and kingdom building. I sadly did not enjoy the skirmishes, this rock paper scissors type combat wasn’t really that fun to engage in and I would have much rather had it just be the polished hack and slash combat that they already did so well. I was even more gutted when one of the coolest bosses visually in the game is nothing more than a skirmish battle. The kingdom building I enjoyed more, however at certain points the game stops you from progressing on with the story until your kingdom is a certain level. If you weren’t developing this as you went then prepare for the pace to slow down immediately for a while. The only redeeming quality of this was that it was very satisfying to see your kingdom fully built and side quests to recruit citizens could be fun, but I think forcing the player to engage in all mechanics of the game can sometimes halt the experience if its not fun to do in the first place.
Whilst I was complaining a fair bit there, Ni No Kuni 2 is still a fun time just for the battle game play, stunning visuals and charming story. I’m really glad I picked this one up and its one of those games that gets better as you level up your party. The devs really made this world fun to explore and you could tell they had a blast making this game. However, if there is a Ni No Kuni 3 then I hope that they put stuff like skirmishes and kingdom building to the side as an optional feature. Halting progress in the story did not help the pacing of this game and it became a little tedious at times. Overall though, I would very much recommend Ni No Kuni 2 to newcomers to the JRPG world like myself and I believe hardcore fans can find a lot to love in this charming game. In regards to the budget gamers out there, I consider this game a one to give a try especially if you want to get a lot of content out of a less expensive game. At the minute this goes for £20-£25 in the UK and for how much there is to do you will certainly get more than your money’s worth with this one. This game holds a lot more content than most AAA games that are double the price so its certainly worth the spend.
Flexible Budget Gaming
Flexible Budget Gaming 