Review for Ni No Kuni II: The Destiny of a Kingdom. Game for PC and PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 23/03/2018
When Bandai Namco e Level-5 they announced Ni No Kuni II: The Destiny of a Kingdom, many wondered how much this franchise still had to tell after a controversial first chapter and not uniformly praised by audiences and critics. Well, the answer to this question can only be: a lot, because Ni No Kuni II takes all that was positive in the first and exalts it, managing also to innovate and improve everything that was not fully convinced in the previous chapter. The Level-5 title tells a story with childish and light-hearted tones, but with a reflective breath almost as if we were in front of a coming-of-age novel.
Geopolitics of animation
Ni No Kuni II: the Destiny of a Kingdom is set centuries after the vicissitudes of its predecessor, more precisely in the kingdom of Gatmandù (Ding Dong Dell in English) where King Leopold has just been assassinated in a coup organized by the usurper Ratoleon, exponent of the murinids, one of the two races of the kingdom together with the felinids (of which Leopold was an exponent). In this context, the story will follow the events of Evan Pettiwhisker Felix, son of King Leopold and heir to the throne forced to flee to save his life, and of Roland, a traveler from another world - ours - who will help Evan in his growth path.
The journey that awaits the two protagonists will lead them not only to make incredible encounters and to visit various kingdoms, but it will lead Evan to a clear and important maturation both as a man and as a king. Over time, however, Evan will understand that removing Gatmandu from Ratoleon's clutches is not what he most desires: his goal must be to create a kingdom without conflicts, which allows all races to live in harmony and happiness. Mainly supported by Roland, Shanty and Zoran (members of the Pirates of the Skies) Evan will create the kingdom of Eostaria, in which he will host anyone who needs a new home. At this point Evan's real journey will begin which will take him from one part of the world to the other in search of the other kings to enter into covenant agreements and establish his kingdom without conflicts.
Between gigantic monsters and ancient legends, Evan will face all kinds of difficulties; to help him, however, he will also have his tutelary deity, a legendary creature with which every king binds to protect his kingdom. In the case of King Leopold's son, his deity will be Solarius, a bizarre still budding being who, just like Evan, has yet to mature and establish himself as a tutelary deity.
Fairytale brushstrokes
The narrative in Ni No Kuni II: The Destiny of a Kingdom flows smoothly, with a pleasant linearity that accompanies the player from start to finish without being cloying. Alongside the narrative, however, another element is really compelling: the artistic component. The “Miyazakh” influence of Studio Ghibli pervades every corner, without however overflowing; Ni No Kuni II is the right mix between Level-5's fairytale vision and the immersive animation of the Tokyo film studio. The characters, the levels, the environments even in the form of diorama are all well characterized, unique and memorable. The bright colors, almost like painted with wax crayons, help make many of the places you visit and / or scenes you will witness unforgettable. This light and lively cel shading also helps the performance of the title which from a graphic point of view remains solid at 60fps.
To conclude this sensory exaltation, the soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi: perfect in every respect. For years an OST of this level has not been heard, every trace remains etched in the memory passing from whistling motifs to moving sounds, in what we could define the symphony of emotions. In contrast, the title features a staggering Spanish subtitle localization, which too often takes advantage of poetic licenses with respect to the true meaning of English sentences. Even the dialects assigned to some characters, although an overall positive first impression, in the long run are a bit misleading.
Virtuous dynamism
The most important innovations are nestled in the combat system and more generally in the solutions adopted by Level-5 in terms of gameplay. Dynamic, immediate and intuitive: the battle system of Ni No Kuni II: The Destiny of a Kingdom abandons the turns by embracing a more action path made of two hits (fast on the square and heavy on the triangle), of a dodge and parry system entrusted to the different use of L1, of a skill system entrusted to the combined use of R2 plus square, triangle, circle and ex, and the use of ranged weapons, entrusted to R1. This new system is then supported by a weapon management system based on percentage charge.
Each playable character (three active in the party and two reserves) will have three melee weapons including swords, sabers, axes, hammers and spears and a ranged weapon between guns, bows and magic wands; the three melee weapons that each character will carry with them will have a percentage bar from 0 to 100 that will manage the amount of damage (at 100% obviously you will do more damage and have more chances to make critical hits). This bar will charge with increasing hits to the opponent and will charge for all three weapons simultaneously; once the bar is loaded, this will allow you to do more damage and if you use one of your four skills you will create a huge damage, under penalty of zeroing the bar. You understand that by loading all three bars together, and being able to switch from one weapon to another with L2, you will have the possibility of three greater damage.
Alongside all this there are: an elemental damage system and one of classic RPG armor, which act as balancers between old and new. The elemental damage is re-proposed in a classic version and includes fire, water, wind, lightning, light and darkness, which are intertwined in a system, also classic here, of resistance and weakness. There will also be a tool, called Equalizer, which will allow you to manage this system by influencing the play of elemental resistances and weaknesses of your attacks.. Weapons and armor will be entrusted to a random loot system that can be dropped by enemies and chests, plus in the shops you can buy the same equipment even if in a basic version, i.e. without elemental damage and / or increased statistics.
As if that were not enough, in addition to all this, cioffi must be added. Cioffi are nice natural sprites that will help Evan and his companions in battle, offering every few seconds the possibility of a different support based on the element. You will have cioffi that will heal you, cioffi that will shoot the enemy or cioffi that will reduce its elemental defenses; in short, a further element of depth for a combat system so devoted to action, but with several strategic nuances. In the boss battles, moreover, there will be special cioffi called "tutelary cioffi", which will provide surprising supports from the point of view of game design.
The management of a kingdom
In addition to the classic fights, Ni No Kuni II: The Destiny of a Kingdom adds pitched battles. This type of clash, unlockable after the construction of Eostaria, represents the RTS component; Evan, along with four troops chosen by the player (swordsmen, heavy troops, pikemen and archers), will have to fight other armies in defense of Eostaria or to conquer new territories. Unfortunately, however, this mode struggles and, despite the possibility of using special skills, in the long run it is too repetitive and without epic moments. Not even the top view with the characters in chibi format (the same used in the exploration of the map) helps to make the pitched battles enjoyable in the long run.
On the other hand, the management system of the kingdom is quite different. Once built, in fact, you can and will have to take care of it, not only by building elements such as the barracks, the forge, the market, etc., but also by recruiting allies to work there and taking care of their requests in order to make them perform at their best. If building construction is scripted enough, with the game itself telling you where to build, that's not the case for personnel management: recruiting allies, called Talents and meeting their needs make up the whole system of side missions of the game; we assure you that not only are there many, but they are also extremely important.
The view during the management phase of the kingdom or navigation inside is always from above with the characters in chibi format; we would have liked to wander around our kingdom observing it from the inside, but we must nevertheless note that this view is perfectly functional and not tired even after many hours of play.
Ni No Kuni II: The Destiny of a Kingdom is a romantic fairy tale, an emotional tale with a dreamlike flavor. The work done by Level-5 is excelled, with a thoughtful innovation in the combat system that gives freshness and fun. At the same time the conservative elements of the JRPG genre integrate very well in a pleasant mix without smudging. Artistically magnificent, with a memorable soundtrack, Ni No Kuni II is an adventure for young and old that will transport them to a magical world. In spite of everything, the regret remains for a system of short-lived and unsatisfactory pitched battles; managed differently, it would lead to excellence.
► Ni No Kuni II: The Destiny of a Kingdom is a JRPG type game developed by Level 5 and published by Bandai Namco for PC and PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 23/03/2018
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