
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
A Ghibli-style JRPG developed by Level-5, though the story is clichéd, visual and music performance is excellent. Joe Hisaishi's soundtrack and delicate hand-drawn scenes create a dreamlike fairy tale world.
Art Appreciation
Rating Breakdown
Deductions
The gameplay systems are varied but not handled especially well; kingdom management and real-time tactics don't matter all that much.
The main story blocks you twice, forcing you to upgrade the kingdom, and the upgrade requirements lean heavily on side quests — it smacks of padding playtime.
A clichéd, old-fashioned JRPG full of déjà vu; from start to finish you can guess what the next scene will be.
Highlights
The gameplay systems are quite varied — kingdom management, real-time tactics — blending many elements together.
Deductions
There's too little voice acting overall, which hurts the actual presentation even if you treat it as a Ghibli animated film.
Highlights
Delicate Ghibli-style hand-drawn visuals constantly remind you this is a fairy-tale world, and art director Yoshiyuki Momose's involvement leaves traces of Ghibli everywhere.
Joe Hisaishi's soaring music paired with the visuals is a truly dreamlike treat.
Deductions
The story is very childish; you can guess the next scene from start to finish, with no suspense.
It can't build a truly villainous antagonist, and the characterization is rather flat.
A purely linear main story, hemmed in on all sides by the system design and repetitive side quests.
Same as above: since building the kingdom requires lots of talent, the side quests become necessary, which easily makes play feel tedious.
Same as above: between sparse voice acting and a draggy pace, even with Ghibli's art style and music, the final presentation is only passable.
Highlights
It's a fairy tale through and through; with Ghibli's touch, just treat it as watching a new Ghibli film.
Deductions
Upgrade requirements lean heavily on side quests, which feels forced by design.
Without the forced roadblocks, the main story would probably take under 20 hours; such simple content really can't be called rich.
Highlights
Although the main story is short, the mix of kingdom management, real-time tactics and other elements still enriches the game's content.