Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: Bandai Namco, e3, E3 2017, level 5, Ni No Kuni II, Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

The JRPG-est of JRPGs: Hands On With Ni No Kuni II At E3

Level-5 and Bandai Namco's Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is quite possibly the most JRPG feeling JRPG that made it to E3. That Bandai were the ones to bring the most Japanese role playing game to the show is not much of a surprise. Ni No Kuni II is gorgeous with highly stylized art, a textbook exploration setup, and a decent amount of turn-based strategy thrown into the mix.

It may not have been anyone's Best of Show, but Ni No Kuni II is absolutely what you'd expect. The controls are a bit  complicated, but you ought to expect that of it, however it shouldn't be too archaic for western audiences at all. However, outside of looking like a bizarre turn-based RPG spliced together with an RTS, I can't tell you anything that totally stuck with me other than just how pretty the game is. The story is boring enough to be negligible, the combat is changed but still nothing to special, and the game isn't the most impressive thing even on paper.

It is… adequate. Sadly enough, it was the star of the Bandai Namco stable this year and attracted the largest crowds.

While fans of the first game will notice a decent amount of changes, including the loss of familiars and some rather steep gameplay changes, the core of Ni No Kuni II is exactly what you'd expect. Rather than have familiars follow you around, you've got a posse of Higgledies who help affect the flow of battle. They group around you and follow your character much like a bunch of troops in an RTS. They even have cute little green circles under them to let you know that they're allies.

All that said, there were press, industry folks, and gamers on "consumer" badges who were absolutely thrilled by Ni No Kuni II. I just can't quite tell you why for the life of me.

Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom will release on November 10th, 2017 for PS4 and PC.

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