CHENNAI: Anime is cool because most of the good ones don’t underestimate the intelligence of the viewers. A JRPG (Japanese RPG), is no different. It has an external layer of cute, but several layers of complexity camouflaged within the ‘cute’. ‘Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom’ that came out a few months back, is one such JRPG that might just equal the story complexity of a Legend of Zelda. I like the game for very specific reasons.
The random elements
There are certain aspects of the game which prevent it from being boxed into a sub-genre. You could be walking through a dark forest and suddenly stumble onto monsters who want a close combat fight, or you could happen into a ‘Higgledy’ (or as I see them — cute monster bunnies) which you would have to convince into fighting for you (some Higgledies can even conjure canons).
Battles
Sometimes you just don’t want close combat packed with too many combos — the fluid graphics subconsciously encourage you to be laid back. A single click takes five seconds to play out, and the satisfaction of it doesn’t incentivise you to do those extra clicks and movements. Ni No Kuni allows for that with it’s easy melee fights. The sequences also allow for you to switch between characters in the party — which means that you can’t complain about repetitiveness (on a scale of repetitive Assassin’s Creed combat to the fights in Mortal Kombat, it lies right in the middle).
Endless possibilities
The game has a bit of everything packed into it — starts out with a cinematic in the normal world and then transports you to a fantastical alternate universe. There’s more bars than just the health and mana — there’s the tactic tweaker with multiple coloured bars to add to the confusion. It has puzzles, and stealth sequences in third person. At the same time, it allows you to build a kingdom — battle larger armies, and work strategically towards finishing all the main events in the game. It’s fascinating how a JRPG manages all these aspects without seeming to heavy or trying too hard.
Go for it
There are enemies to escape and lootboxes waiting to be opened!
Anusha Ganapathi
Twitter@quaffle_waffle
(This economics graduate spends her leisure time preparing for the zombie apocalypse)