Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom Preview - See more of the world around these fights

nehashetty (58)in #gaming • 7 years ago (edited)

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom has been in development for some time, was recently pushed forward a bit, but we could still get started with the game recently and got to see more of the rpg. We played two levels that we had tried before as well as two completely new ones.

The first level we dive into allowed us to participate in the "Battle for the Heartlands" - as the level was called - and this was a slightly more tactical affair than we previously played in Level-5's rpg . In a hugely guided 'tutorial' section, we explained how to use the cute mini army of soldiers, who constantly move around main character Evan, and we took back the land of our enemies. On the one hand we had our 'melee' powers and on the other side our archers, which is a pretty good combo to enter the battlefield if you ask us. With mini-army we mean only a few small soldiers in a group, which you all control in 'real time'.

We were surprised how simple it was to command these troops, since you do not really give them orders but rather alternate. Different buttons have different attack commands, such as 'all-out attack', but positioning played a much more important role. By using the shoulder buttons we could rotate our armed forces, depending on where they were needed and, although we are not exactly strategic geniuses, we had made the right decision to keep our archers behind us, while the melee units moved towards the enemies. gave up. If you attack, it really starts. There is a chance that all of your units are squashed together in a big mess, but often these two clusters of soldiers are on opposite sides and they only move when they have to.

There is a stone-paper-scissors system in operation, as certain units are effective against a species and more vulnerable to another (you know this goes). The game also helps to highlight things by clearly encoding each unit with a color on the screen. It also indicates which party has the upper hand: a blue arrow means that you have preponderance over an opponent; a red vice versa. This may sound confusing, but since there were always a handful of groups of enemies on the screen, it felt pretty helpful to keep us safe.

There are also special tactics to use, which helps to get more life in the brewery and keep it entertaining. Chingi's, for example, has an air strike as a special attack and is more supportive of Khunbish, who heals teammates. Shock tactics can also be applied by pressing circle (we played on PlayStation 4) and these make you briefly invulnerable with a mutable attack power.

A final lesson we learned while playing is that the landscape is often important. Either in an arrow from above, or enemies narrowing in a valley. Although we did not have enough time to play with this element, we dare to bet that this is something that will appeal to strategy fans. Using all the skills and elements together is essential, as we found out even in this fairly simple part. We can imagine that this becomes more difficult in later parts of the game. With such simple and accessible strategic options.

The second level we played was called "One Good Turn Deserves Another" and gave us the task of saving a friend from the Wyvern's den. The first thing we noticed was how good the environment looked like. The dry, rocky world lived on with colors and, like the earlier sections we played - like the final boss battle with Long Fang and "The Trial of Courage", the whole was very lively, shiny and detailed.

It is not really an open world, but the parts we play were open enough to explore and to find secrets if you want. For example, the initial area and the den itself were relatively focused on fighting, in which we play with Evan himself. However, when we enter the open area between both the perspective changes to a small version of Evan to explore (similar to the armies in the Heartlands); there we can also scour the surface to the in-game currency and other 'loot' that is displayed on the ground with shimmering.

The reason this explored element is quite important to mention is that the last two levels we played both consisted of 'set-pieces' against larger enemies. It is good to see that this is not the only thing you do in Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom. In fact, it seems correct that there is much to explore for players who want this, but for players who just want to fight there is also a fairly direct route available - clearly indicated on the 'mini-map'. If you want to skip superfluous fights and run straight to the cave, this is possible, but there are also enough branching toads to investigate.

Once in Wyvern's den, we had to defeat not only the Wyvern Warlord, but also all of his accomplices (as far as the necessary fights were concerned). We do not go into this too deeply, but in short: Evan has different skills that he can use, both offensive and defensive and supportive. He can also use the colorful little higgledies to help him in the fighting. For example, these creatures can help him cure or attack to make a fight easier.

All in all, this last level consisted of things that we've previously seen, including the fighting and special skills. However, it was nice to see more of the world around these fights. The first look at the tactical battles in the Battle of the Hearthlands was particularly nice to see and also seems to add the necessary variety. Especially since the control is very accessible and the stone-paper-scissors system seems to add the necessary depth. We look forward to diving deeper into Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom and are curious to see if these promising levels can form a satisfying whole together.

Thanks for reading.