Review by Mellie V.
Ni No Kuni 2 follows the adventures of Prince Evan, a young king who was overthrown from his kingdom and miraculously survived the coup with the help of his governess, Aranella and a stranger from a different world, Roland. With the help of his new found friends, he sets out to build his own kingdom - Evermore, a kingdom where everyone can be happy and free.
Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, the king of Ding Dell, usurped by his father’s advisor, Mausinger
Aranella and Roland, Evan’s first party in the game
Presentation
Ni No Kuni 2 maintains the look and feel of its predecessor, thanks to former Ghibli character designer Yoshiyuki Momose and music composer Joe Hisaishi, both of whom worked on Wrath of the White Witch. Ni No Kuni 2 exudes immersive Ghibli themes - complex character designs, beautiful landscapes, and immersive world building.
The city of Goldpaw is reminiscent of Spirited Away, and Evan looks like he’s one of the characters from The Cat Returns
Reminds me of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Storybook style illustrations in between scenes is <3
At first glance, Ni No Kuni 2 may look like a JRPG for kids with its cute and whimsical style that Studio Ghibli is known for, low difficulty cap, straightforward missions, and the typical good VS evil storyline. However, underneath all that, the game tackles different issues and themes relevant to today’s society - both in its main story and side quests, from small personal ones like unrequited love, healthy eating, the search for passion, taking control of one’s life, to the more profound issues like equal opportunity, feminism, dictatorship, sustainability, racism, and how technological advancements create an imbalance.
Each small storyline gives us something to think about – they give us hope and open our minds to the possibility that maybe, if every single individual is mindful of each other, if we just start to think beyond ourselves, and start to understand each other and work together, we can all actually live in a better world.
It’s pretty deep when you think about it.
Who run the world? Girls!
The depth of simplicity
Gameplay
Ni No Kuni 2 gives you a little bit of everything – open battle system, linear storylines and quests, a bit of puzzle solving, RTS, Familiar breeding, and Kingdom building. It’s fun because it gives you variety. You can shift from one mini game to another depending on your mood or what you want to do during that day.
While this game is entertaining, there’s too much stuff served on your plate and there’s a lot to digest. The game keeps you full, but it never gives you any satisfaction when you finish a task.
All the gameplay features were enjoyable but lacked challenge, depth and customization. While the kingdom builder feature has pre-mapped out facilities locations and I never got to design my own kingdom layout, I still found it engaging because building new facilities and improving existing ones gives you access to additional characters and status boosts for your party.
Grow your kingdom by leveling up each facility, accepting quests and recruiting people for Evermore.
Finish quests to recruit people for your kingdom.
The RTS game mode (a.k.a. skirmishes) were unrewarding. I was really not into it. It was one of the mini games that I did not look forward to. Basically, you just defeat the enemies by rotating your units around Evan and attacking them based on their element type.
Meh.
On the other hand, the open battle system was responsive and fun. It devolves into button smashing when you’re already over leveled. While you can still practice minimal strategy by customizing the skills of your team using the tactics tweaker, I rarely get to use it because the difficulty of the game was too easy. I have quests and defeated bosses by just upgrading my weapons and equipment. I rarely changed my roster of familiars too. There was simply no need to. Most of the custom features were underutilized for me.
You can tweak the buffs and boost status to improve the entire party's abilities during battle.
Higgledies provide support during battle. They can also be used to unlock items and paths during your adventure.
You also get support from your party + your Higgledies (familiars)
While admittedly simple, kingdom building and citizen recruiting are still very addictive.
To summarize:
+ Stunning visuals
+ Great soundtrack
+- Not a hard game overall (Putting this both as a positive and negative point because: it’s a relaxing game, you can play with just a little challenge and enjoy the story as you progress, however, not recommended for people who are in it for the challenge)
+ Real time combat is fast and responsive
+ With distinct places to visit, completing the world map was fun. Aside from visiting new places, you also get to search for hidden temples and enemies
+ Grand ambition, drive to make the world a better place – a naive quest, but we all need something positive these days
- Missing the challenge
- Far too easy combat system
- Too many colorful personas but lacks character development
Weirdly enough, despite its straightforwardness, I still look forward to playing it. Overall journey is fun, giving me the drive to do more side quests just so that I can recruit more people, level up my kingdom and boost my stat spells, upgrade and craft new gear, and develop additional benefits for my party during combat and skirmishes.
Sorry for the late review.
8.5Overall10Presentation7.5Gameplay8Value