Ni no Kuni II was the second game from Bandai Namco I saw at E3. Like in my preview for Project Cars 2, I sat down with a group of other journalists and watched a video Ni no Kuni II with a representative on-hand.
I'd never heard of this game before, so I had no idea what to expect when I saw the reel for it. Towards the end, I've got to say that Ni no Kuni II certainly looks interesting. It's got two project leads that are of Studio Ghibli fame, the first being Yoshiyuke Momose, who is the character designer, and the other being Joe Hisaishi, the composer. it's clear from the animation that the game takes clear inspiration from Studio Ghibli. But what's intriguing about it is that that's not the only style it goes for.
The game goes for a mix of western and JRPG styles of combat. I saw straight action, like what's in The Witcher 3, but also a Dynasty Warriors approach.
The story seems cutesy, at least from what I saw, but since some of the leads on the game come from Studio Ghibli, that's not surprising.
Speaking of the story, it focuses on a kid named Evan Pettiwhisker, who has big cat ears and is an heir to a kingdom that's been usurped by a close friend of his father's named Mausinger. The goal is to take back Evan's kingdom. Friends and party members will be made along the way, and there will be bosses and grinding aplenty.
Ni no Kuni II releases November 10th, 2017.
