Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

Gameplay - Battle As with most action RPGs, the gameplay quickly gets highly repetitive and all the spells and abilities amount to less than a simple sword with high damage output. There are things to make it unique, but they don't count for much.

Compensating for that somewhat is the way there are two types of battle. There's that standard type, but also a type of simplified military strategy game. I don't normally enjoy that type of thing, but here it's kept light and straightforward. Ultimately, neither is particularly fun, but having the variety helps to break up the monotony.

Gameplay - Other There are also two ways you interact with the world: the usual exploring; and city building. These are where the gameplay shines.

For exploring, there are tonnes of hidden areas and areas that are only accessible in certain conditions; there are riddles and quests that involve interpreting languages. And when exploring there's the usual equipment to find, and ingredients to collect, but also people to recruit for your city, and spirit-like creatures to recruit for battle. It can be a real adventure at times.

Although, quests can be frustrating at times, when they simply involve running back and forward between one person and another. In a single location, it's a little boring. But when it involves two separate locations, you need to be patient for a lot of loading as you go back and forth between the two.

For the city building, it's not overly complicated and doesn't involve heavy resource management, but it is surprisingly massive. And it's a route to unlocking new and unique spells and abilities and strategies and bonuses, in addition to getting advanced equipment, unlocking new quests, and simply watching the city grow. Really impressive and addictive.

A huge frustration, though. Is that you can't actually complete some key works until after FINISHING the game. Since trying to perfect the city is a significant part of what made the game fun for me, and there's no indication in-game that it can't be complete until post-game, it was terribly annoying to try and try and try... then look it up online only to discover I was trying to do the impossible.

Story The plot is mediocre. The world and plot line are both built on not one but *multiple* really cool concepts. But oddly, they're mostly set aside for 99% of the game and then revealed all at once at the end as if a series of big twists. Without hints and mystery related to each being spread throughout the rest of the game, though, it just ends up feeling a bit meaningless. Soooo much potential in the underlying ideas, but with minimal plot development.

Other Personally, not a fan of the goofy, child-oriented art and characters. A little here and there is fine, but in Ni No Kuni II, it's overriding.