Good lord, do I NOT envy the people in charge of making this game. Had I been tasked with making a bigger, better sequel to the original Ni No Kuni, I'd have bailed out knowing the impossible had been asked of me. While Ni No Kuni 1 isn't my favorite game ever made, and I'll be the first to point out any number of its flaws, I absolutely cannot deny the sheer Ghibli-esque charm that oozes from every inch of it...charm that Ni No Kuni 2 Revenant Kingdom unfortunately lacks.
And it's a real shame; I know full well that it's simply a matter of having to follow an incredibly tough act. Had Revenant Kingdom come out first, I'd have praised it up and down as a standard-but-solid JRPG, with a wonderful Star Ocean-esque battle system, a hellishly addictive kingdom building side activity, and a decent story with charming characters, all in Ghibli's gorgeous art style.
Unfortunately, it comes after the original Ni No Kuni, a game that I can only describe as a playable Ghibli movie, and dammit do I love Studio Ghibli. The story, the atmosphere, the characters, the script of the first one stand head-and-shoulders above the second, packing ten times more emotion and whimsy than the sequel could ever hope to.
There's plenty for JRPG junkies to enjoy, but fans of the original game hungry for more will more likely than not come away disappointed.
VideoGame Huge Shoes to Fill
Good lord, do I NOT envy the people in charge of making this game. Had I been tasked with making a bigger, better sequel to the original Ni No Kuni, I'd have bailed out knowing the impossible had been asked of me. While Ni No Kuni 1 isn't my favorite game ever made, and I'll be the first to point out any number of its flaws, I absolutely cannot deny the sheer Ghibli-esque charm that oozes from every inch of it...charm that Ni No Kuni 2 Revenant Kingdom unfortunately lacks.
And it's a real shame; I know full well that it's simply a matter of having to follow an incredibly tough act. Had Revenant Kingdom come out first, I'd have praised it up and down as a standard-but-solid JRPG, with a wonderful Star Ocean-esque battle system, a hellishly addictive kingdom building side activity, and a decent story with charming characters, all in Ghibli's gorgeous art style.
Unfortunately, it comes after the original Ni No Kuni, a game that I can only describe as a playable Ghibli movie, and dammit do I love Studio Ghibli. The story, the atmosphere, the characters, the script of the first one stand head-and-shoulders above the second, packing ten times more emotion and whimsy than the sequel could ever hope to.
There's plenty for JRPG junkies to enjoy, but fans of the original game hungry for more will more likely than not come away disappointed.