Ni no Kuni II - Revenant Kingdom PlayStation 4 - Day One Edition

Beautiful story and game! It is very whimsical in some ways, and heartwrenching in others. Watching the characters grow and the plot progress was a joy. The gameplay mechanics are very fun, too. Love this game!

First, it must be said that the game's latest patch added in a difficulty setting which solves the problems a lot of people had with early-game boredom. Difficulty can be changed at any time, and when you have it on a harder mode you do also get more and better items, so there's an incentive. Ni No Kuni II would be one of the greatest RPGs of all time if all you were judging it on were its gameplay systems. Its core combat is an incredibly well-done version of the action RPG combat made famous in Tales and Star Ocean. You take 3 of the 6 party members along with 4 helper pets into battle, each party member having 3 main and one ranged weapon. So much customization that I can't even begin to figure out the "best" way to play. There's also city management, random loot reminiscient of Diablo, random sidequest dungeons, 60 optional bosses, army management, and a lot of places to explore. The endgame is amazing as you have so much optimization you can do via the bonus dungeon and crafting and item drops. Now you can even challenge yourself to do it all on expert difficulty, so the game is plenty worth your money. Where the game falls short, in a big way, is its characters and story. They aren't awful or particularly annoying, but they are just kind of boring. On the plus side, the best story moments for me were the ending bits, so I guess there's something to look forward to. But you have to really enjoy RPGs more for their gameplay than just the story if you want to love this game. Or perhaps it would make a good starter RPG for a child. I mean it's not sexual or crude in any way, so a child might get really into it more than I could. In the end, I can't deny the game a 5 star rating on the strength of its gameplay alone.

If you’re reading this review, it’s likely you’re a true old-school RPG fan. And that’s EXACTLY who this game is for, to be honest, for better or worse. They aren’t breaking the mold to bring in a ton of people from other genres to make more money. They’re aware that those buying this game love RPGs and want some classic-RPG-love. For those reading this review, this game is great. Tone-wise, for comparison, games that are similar in feeling to me are Chrono Trigger, Suikoden, Blue Dragon, the Tales of series, and Dragon Quest. THE GOOD: - The look is colorful, cartoony and pops with boldness in every corner. Golden sunsets, giant mushrooms, forests that glow with blue lights (because, well, that’s what RPG forests do…), cavernous gorges with monsters strolling along, dog/cat-people with half-human kids… it’s all here. Though this is based on a Studio Ghibli (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) game originally, this one is slightly different. It’s not produced by them directly and it’s apparent as it feels just a bit off from the studio’s style… but it’s still very close and gorgeous to look at. Oh, and the Chibi world-map style is a fun and new departure from a standard world-map RPG crawl. - Castle-building is pretty fun. As you get into the game you’ll find people to join your kingdom and they’ll contribute to your economy and play styles. You could easily ignore most of this if it isn’t for you, but I personally love spending lots of time in my kingdom. The location for buildings in your kingdom is pre-set, but still fun. I’d love a bit more control, but in the end, I’m having a blast with this portion of the game. You aren’t playing this game for the story anyway (see below). - Items pop up all over the place, giving Diablo a run for its money. You can’t go 5 minutes without having picked up 10-20 or more items. Battle, world map, towns… items pop up everywhere. - Gameplay is snappy and entertaining. The field of battle is a bit chaotic (in a good way) and it’s fun to watch. They’ve kinda nailed the joy of fighting in an RPG. Button presses are responsive and fast, spells are fun to use and the Higgledies are fun to watch fight and be blown around the field. I don’t know how they did it, but it feels new and classic all at the same time. I feel like I’m playing a 90s RPG again, and I mean that in an extremely endearing way. MINOR GRIPES: - This is my major-minor gripe- The game can verge on ridiculously easy most of the time. Main boss battles require very little tactics and if you ignored upgrading a ton, you’d still be fine with button-mashing through most battles. Some of the fun of old-school RPGs is grinding to get better stats and weapons before moving on, but this game mostly stays on par all the time, meaning that as you move forward the battles may feel barely longer (not, per se, tougher) for a bit but it’ll get really-easy too quickly. The few battles that have given me a (emphasis on) *little bit* of challenge are the best parts… but there’s plenty of optional battles in the game with high-tier monsters if you want to focus on that. It just doesn’t hold that part of your brain that likes the challenge moving into a new area. This has caused me to get bored a few times, which is the biggest downfall of the game. It’s not a deal breaker, but a bit more challenge would have been better. - Item management feels a bit too sluggish. I’m hoping they add some features down the road… Right now I’m 10 hours in and have to sell one weapon at a time to clean up my menus, and it’s a (relatively) long-process of “This one?” “Are you sure?” “It’s been sold.” with a little stalling-time in-between screens for some reason. When you’ve stored up 70 weapons because you get a million items… it adds up. I’d love a “junk” setting to throw in my useless items to sell all at once when I hit town. - Story is okay. Nothing here is gonna blow you away and the sappy sweetness of the 90s-styled story and stereotypes are here along with everything else. Macho soldiers, women who need to be saved, a gambling town, air pirates that join you instead of kill you, an overly-optimistic 10-year-old that is somehow convincing people to leave their lives and join his kingdom to form a worldwide allegiance… and by golly, he’s gonna do it! In some ways this is actually a welcome addition to a genre of RPGs-of-old that I miss. In others, it’s hard to go back to this kind of story with amazing storylines out there that have done away with old stereotypes and unrealistic plots like this for years. Overall a solid game. The pros strongly outweigh the cons and nearly all the cons could be (and hopefully will be) patched as time moves on. It’s definitely scratching that classic-RPG itch I get from time to time.

It is faster than the original Ni No Kuni and has much better graphics. The design is more modern but still retains the Ghibli feel that we all know and love. It is definitely one of the best RPG games of the year. There are annoyances like over reliance text versus speaking, and easy fight sequences, but the intricacies and immersive game play make it a 5 star game. Check out Youtube reviews if you want to see game play and learn strategies. No one's uploaded a complete game walk through after a week in release. It goes to show just how effort was put into the design of this game. I expect my kids to put in 60 plus hours of play, maybe 100 plus if all the side missions are completed. We bought before the release with a $13 Prime member discount. I don't know if I'd pay full price, but know that the new price usually chases the used inventory. Used could be a good deal since there are no account specific game packs included with this version. Additional game packs are available for $20 each on PSN.

Let's get something out of the way: This is a JRPG. It has every element you would expect from JRPGs: open world, stats for every piece of gear and weapon, and tons of side quests. If you're not into that: stop now. Otherwise read on. Overall, I'm personally a big fan of Ni No Kuni 2. I've completed the main story line and am closing in on the platinum trophy, so I've experienced mostly everything it has to offer. I personally did not play Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch but I've watched a full playthrough on YouTube so I'm familiar with its mechanics and story. The elephant in the room: The familiar combat system has been removed and replaced with a more traditional combat system that you see in games like Fable or The Witcher. I was initially disappointed by this, but got over it quickly. The combat is simplistic, but ramps up as the game goes on, and there can be a lot of strategy involved if you're trying to take on enemies who are higher level than you. The higgledies in particular caught me off guard but are endearing when you realize just how helpful they can be in combat. Story: I'd say the story of this game fell flat compared to the original. It's easy to understand, has a touching moment here and there, but overall was predictable. Almost every seemingly bad NPC seems to change their mind about things in the span of a few lines of dialogue. The best thing I can say about the story is it will get out of the way when you want to do other things. NNK1 did not try to be Final Fantasy in terms of its story, but I do think it was more compelling and less predictable. Skirmishes: This new RTS mini game is worth the price of its admission. It's enjoyable, challenging and makes sense in the context of the game. I just wish the game encouraged you more to level up your armies because I found myself significantly underleveled for most skirmishes up until the point I Googled how to level up my armies easily. Art: Visually, I love the game's art direction. It's vibrant, easy to look at it, and suits the lightheartedness of the game in general. Although I am not a huge fan of the bobblehead like nature of your characters on World Map. They look odd and are not as detailed compared to when you're in specific locations. Drippy vs Lofty: This might seem like a minor quibble, but your primary companion, Lofty, does not feel nearly as important or endearing as NNK1 made Mr. Drippy feel. He does his job and is useful, but Mr. Drippy was much more than that. That said, this game has to balance a lot more character personalities so it's not shocking that each one is not as vibrant as NNK1 made its characters. Kingdom building: Definitely the most satisfying element of this game is bringing your kingdom to life. It's not complex, and most things are predetermined. But its just satisfying... kind of in the same way cookie clicker is satisfying. And I don't mean that in a bad way. The point: If you like JRPGs, you'll probably like this game. It's not the most challenging game out there, and you'll see the story coming a million miles away, but the developers took the time to flesh out the mechanics to make an enjoyable experience. DLC Disclaimer: I wrote this review before the two anticipated major DLC expansions have been released.

Really, this game is so poorly directed, I was shocked. I expected a charming hit, but the story presents a shallow and naive world view with messages that are poorly thought out. The town management is no more complicated than a Cookie Clicker mobile game, and the story is almost nonexistant. Characters never talk to each other about anything other than the immediate plot of "where do we need to go and what do we need to do". There are no relationships. The game is a failure of a JRPG. Even the Joe Hisaishi soundtrack is weak and poorly implemented. How did this review well?

Ni No Kuni II is an incredibly beautiful and heartwarming tale of adventure and kingdom building. I found the story very interesting starting off with a kingdom under threat as a child king Evan escapes and learns how to run his own kingdom where good can prevail over evil. The simple story goes across different cities where people live very differently and sometimes takes very unexpected turns. Going to each city was very interesting along with meeting all of the various characters who would join Evan's kingdom. I know that the game is quite easy, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the action-packed combat along with exploring the many lands and cities. The art style of Ni No Kuni II was breathtaking with its bright color scheme and vivid details from a Chinatown-type city to a very old city surrounded by water. Throughout the story you will also build your kingdom and research different topics which will help you with skirmishes or picking up certain resources. Another part of Ni No Kuni II that I really enjoyed was going through the Dreamer's Doors scattered across the map would challenge you to explore and fight higher level enemies. I thoroughly enjoyed this game and encourage anyone to check it out since it stands apart from most modern games.

NI no Kuni II is a decent game, but a few things keep it from reaching similar heights as it's predecessor. Clearly, the goal of the developers was to produce a game that differentiated itself from the first game in the series and with this entry they have successfully done so. The game itself is relatively fun and I recommend playing it. However, I would not recommend it as a must buy for JRPG fans. There are several improvements that the sequel implements that make it slightly superior to is predecessor. First, is the newly updated battle system. Gone are the days of familiars performing the majority of the actions... The new battle system feels fresh and different, with the player taking an active role in how the battle plays out. There are several settings that the user can customize to ensure victory in some key fights, but for the most part I ignored the Tactic Tweaker. With the exception of a few select battles, I relied mostly on strategy to defeat more difficult opponents. I also enjoyed the new RTS mechanic, but found that it was relatively shallow compared to other similar games. There is a lot of potential for the skirmishes, but I feel that the developers fell short of their intended goal. Building my kingdom was probably the aspect that I enjoyed most in this game and I spent more time and energy completing Evermore than I should have. If they ever release DLC that lets me work on Evermore with more detail and control, I will likely spend dozens of hours doing so. Where the game fails the most is the story and pacing... At the initial moments of the game, you feel a sense of awe and quickly become immersed in Evan's story. As the game progresses, the narrative's faults become quite apparent... Transitions between scenes do not flow cohesively, effectively reducing the player's attention to the story. The story itself feels underdeveloped and rushed. It drags on without ever really connecting you to the characters. Evan is the only character that I care about by the end of the game and everyone else is too underdeveloped. Tani was one of my favorite supporting characters due to her dialogue as well as her Leafbook posts, but there was so much more that could have been done with her character. Flippin' heck. There was so much potential in character development lost within the confines of sidequests and errands... You can get a good glimpse of the characters, but it never really comes to fruition. As a huge fan of Ni no Kuni, the sequel felt disappointing and flat. As a standalone game, Ni no Kuni definitely has it's moments, but the story and pacing hold it back from being a truly great game. 7/10

You do not need to play the first game in order to play Ni no Kuni 2. Ni no Kuni 2 only references small things here and there from the first game and the stories aren't linked at all. I still think you should play the first game since it was really good but it's not necessary in order to play the second. This game is so amazing and I love it! The first game was made by Level 5 in partnership with Studio Ghibli but the second one is not. You won't find Studio Ghibli's name anywhere on the box or in the game. Despite that, not much has changed with who is making the game because the producers approached a lot of the key members who worked on the first game directly and involved them directly with the creative team and process for Ni no Kuni 2.

Thank you !!

Escelente juego. Llegó muy rápido. Es un juego de ROL (RPG) de acción. Es decir, no tienes un Menú de opciones para Atacar y usar Magia. Con CUADRO son ataques leves y TRIANGULO son ataques fuertes. Hay combinaciones de botones para usar magia. Tiene todos los elementos de un juego RPG de consola. En tu equipo puedes usae 3 personajes y tu controlas a uno de ellos. Pero puedes cambiar de personaje en cualquier momento. También hay combates de ejercitos donde manejas hasta 4 escuadrones. Al Salir mapa completo los personajes cambian su perspectiva y se ven mas pequeños (Como los FUNKO) los combates no son al Azar, ves a los enemigos como en los juegos de ROL de Mario & Luigi o Paper Mario. Y puedes ver el nivel del enemigo antes de enfrentarlo. Excelente juego.

A mix between two of my all-time favorites, Star Ocean 2nd Wave and Suikoden. The battle system is fast paced but not just a button masher, with the harder battles you do need to pay attention and avoid getting killed. The characters are alright. LOTS of characters to recruit, but only a handful can be used in battles. The army battles are a bit repetitive, but provide some nice optional depth. The kingdom building is fairly canned, in that you have to follow the mandated design plan. But it is rewarding nonetheless. The crafting system is easy to figure out, and is dependent on upgrading your kingdom. The graphics are very colorful, sharp and clean. Very polished like playing a Hayao Miyazaki cartoon. All in all, a very good game. i've already invested close to 30 hours, and haven't finished the main storyline yet. But I love to complete all side quests and recruit all characters. If you aren't the kind to try and get all of the optional stuff, I feel you may find the game less rewarding.

I ordered the Day One Edition but i received this. But no issues👍