Ni no Kuni 2 Revenant Kingdom

either Shadar or Esther…

Yeah, I figured it was Esther… just messing with you. ;)

Embargo for reviews must have broken this morning (and I see it drops later this week)! I haven’t been following this much, largely because the combat being full on real time turned me off a bit. However, watching some of the recent videos it’s piqued my interest a bit more so I’m pleased to see it get damned good reviews (scores, any way, I havne’t read any of the actual reviews yet).

It’s coming on PC as well this time, so I may grab it on that platform now that Pillars 2 got delayed and I’m in the mood for an RPG. But I kind of also want FarCry 5 which comes out … next Tuesday, I think? So I’m a little conflicted.

I bought it (PC, obviously) and I intend to play it as soon as I can (probably this weekend), and I’ll try to post my impressions here when I do.

Please do! Initial impressions seem positive and it sounds like there are a lot of changes from the first one.

Yeah, I was willing to buy it, but somewhat uncertain about how good it would be with so many important changes. Reading the PC Gamer review was all I needed to finally buy it, and I’m looking forward to playing it!

I remember really liking the style of the first game, but found the pacing/grinding waaay to dull for me. I hope this new one doesn’t require the grinding to play through and just gets on with it.

I’m definitely intrigued, I never got through all of the ps2 version back in the day, just too much grind. Loved the art style, the story, and the real time combat, but there was just a bit TOO MUCH micromanaging of stuff. crafting, skills, friends(henchmen? It’s been a while)

I had to get an add-in item in my cart anyway so I went ahead and pre-ordered this for the PS4. I was going to get the PC version but honestly I want to play this on my big new TV where I think it will look amazing. Pretty excited about this, though this weekend is a Gloomhaven weekend so I won’t get to really dig in until Sunday afternoon, I suspect.

I didn’t get very far in the first game myself, though I enjoyed what I saw of it. It sounds from the reviews like this game went further in the other direction where not only do you not need to ever grind, the game is pretty easy from the start to finish as is.

Does anyone know where the cheapest place to get this for PC is?

Part of why I got it for the PS4 was also because I couldn’t find any deals in the usual places for a PC code. Not sure why that happens sometimes.

Fanatical has it for 12% off but the SPRING10 code doesn’t work on that like it does Shadow of War. Looks like Humble Bundle Monthly subscribers can get it for 10% off so it looks like Fanatical is the max discount. $70~ CAD.

So they put in…kingdom building. And like Total War stuff…and smacked away the grind?

Hnnnngh.

Fanatical emailed me a 15% off code today – looks to be a unique code so check your emails.

Got one too, but I bought the game elsewhere…

Cant wait to play this game this weekend. Already unlocked. Donald Trump and his furry friend happy adventures

Yikes. Plan ahead - 4.37GB download on PS4 Pro version when I first slipped the disc in.

Ok why is no one talking about this game?

I started playing it today, and spent way more time on it than I thought I would. Turns out it’s a pretty decent game. Plays perfectly on my PC, with no crashes, glitches or slowdowns so far. Sometimes it looks a little washed out, but generally decent. The voice acting that’s there is good. I wish there were more. It’s a bit childish, and acts like the player is dumb sometimes, but the combat is good, and there’s a bunch of fiddly stuff that makes for a decent JRPG. The childish parts are in the overall presentation. Not just the cartoony graphics, but the way everything is named and how it over-explains some of the simplest story parts.
I am just getting to the kingdom building parts now, and have only done 1 “rts” battle, which was passable, but not great.
My only real gripe at this point is why the main character is so… girl-like. They made him look like a girl, and everyone call him sunshine. At times I have to remind myself that this is in fact a boy. A King no doubt! I think the devs really went out of their way to blur the gender lines here, perhaps to make a point. It’s just unnecessary. imo.

Does this have the same Pokemon-esque monster collection thing as the first game? I know the combat changed to real-time, but I’m not sure I can handle another collection-based combat system.

I’ve been too busy playing the last couple nights to post.

Nope. The whole minion system is gone. There are little sprite things that run around your feet during battle and give opportunities to activate a special move like a series of attacks or a heal, but they are a very minor part of the game. There is no real Pokemon-esque monster collecting and raising.

Combat is totally action based. You swap between three equipped weapons to max out the charge on each so when you perform one of your 4 magic attacks you get maximum effectiveness. And if you can dodge and block and time your attacks well you can take on stuff that might otherwise seem too far above your level. That’s a major change from needing to grind out your minion stats in order to even progress through certain fights in the first game.

I’m really loving the game. Like @Spect I’m not a big fan of the boy King’s design, though I think they’ve toned down his Little Lord Fauntleroy qualities since the original reveal. The other characters I’ve met so far have been cool, though.