Ni No Kuni 2 - Hands On Review

Digital Trends has checked out the J-RPG Ni no Kuni: Revenant Kingdom:

‘Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom’ hands-on review

'Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom' aims to bring more Studio Ghibli magic to PS4 and PC

Offering a whole new world filled with familiar flourishes, Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is getting ready to solidify the next JRPG multiverse.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch remains one of the most distinct RPGs of the last console generation. Combining a dream team of RPG developer Level-5 (Professor Layton, Dragon Quest VIII) and world renowned anime house Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro), the promise of a playable Hayao Miyazaki film set many gamers’ imaginations on fire. The game received a warm, if somewhat mixed reception, earning praise for its beautiful aesthetic, but criticized for its slow and grindy pace, in the vein as ’90s JRPGs. More than five years later, however, the announcement of its sequel has been stoking the flames of excitement for fans of both JRPGs and anime. We recently had a chance to play a brief demo on the E3 show floor.

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The Ghibli touch

The creative dream team from the first game has returned for the second, bringing all of the charm we would come to expect from a Ghibli-infused project. Yoshiyuki Momose, a former Ghibli animator and character designer who worked on films such as Spirited Away and Grave of the Fireflies, returns as the animation lead, character designer, and storyboard artist. Fans of Ghibli films will feel right at home in Ni No Kuni 2, as its characters would fit right in. The studio’s signature warmth and charm pervades every little detail of the world and its inhabitants.

Also crucial to the emotional impact of Ghibli films are their musical scores. Longtime Miyazaki collaborator (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Nausicaa and the Valley of the Winds…basically every one of his films you can think of) and composer from the first game Joe Hisaishi returns to score the sequel. Hisaishi masterfully weaves western and eastern motifs together into music that is as memorable as it is heartwarming, and we fully expect his compositions for Ni No Kuni 2 to hit that same bittersweet nostalgia we know and love from his work.

Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom comes to PS4 and PC on November 10, 2017.