Ni No Kuni 2 has alot to offer, but having alot doesn't mean it is all done well or needs to be included.
The game looks amazing (even for a switch port), I love the cell shaded graphics my favourite area was the forest. The issue (which is well known) is performance. There are two areas, the open world and the close encounters. The open world, with a more chibi design, is sluggish with a low framerate and minor stutters. The close encounters that's cell shaded does run better.
The game has three main gameplay loops, the quests, the skirmishes and the town building. Doing the main story quest is perfectly fine while the story I find very average.
The game starts strong with the voice acting but seems to wane off throughout the game. This leads to me the audio. The music is suited to the game. I would prefer some more voice acting as well. When there was voice acting it was poorly balanced. The voice acting is hard to hear as it is too soft and droned out by the background music, even when audio for voice is set to max.
My biggest problem with the game is the grinding and side quests. The game does not provide enough xp to move the story more smoothly. As you move to the next zone you will realise you are at 3 or 4 levels too low and you may have to do a 20 side quests to move forward. These side quests are very repetitive being 'collect this item' or 'defeat this monster'.
If they made the game more focused, half of the side quests and had the city building with fewer buildings to balance the residents joining ,this could be a more pleasurable experience. Sure the game would be about 15 hours shorter but it would feel less grindy.
The skirmishes are a fun mini game. There is a minor learning curve and depth. I got into it but it is not necessary. Overall this game is fine but in no means a must own. I put a little over 60 hours into it and would be happier if it was 40-45 hours.
The game looks amazing (even for a switch port), I love the cell shaded graphics my favourite area was the forest. The issue (which is well known) is performance. There are two areas, the open world and the close encounters. The open world, with a more chibi design, is sluggish with a low framerate and minor stutters. The close encounters that's cell shaded does run better.
The game has three main gameplay loops, the quests, the skirmishes and the town building. Doing the main story quest is perfectly fine while the story I find very average.
The game starts strong with the voice acting but seems to wane off throughout the game. This leads to me the audio. The music is suited to the game. I would prefer some more voice acting as well. When there was voice acting it was poorly balanced. The voice acting is hard to hear as it is too soft and droned out by the background music, even when audio for voice is set to max.
My biggest problem with the game is the grinding and side quests. The game does not provide enough xp to move the story more smoothly. As you move to the next zone you will realise you are at 3 or 4 levels too low and you may have to do a 20 side quests to move forward. These side quests are very repetitive being 'collect this item' or 'defeat this monster'.
If they made the game more focused, half of the side quests and had the city building with fewer buildings to balance the residents joining ,this could be a more pleasurable experience. Sure the game would be about 15 hours shorter but it would feel less grindy.
The skirmishes are a fun mini game. There is a minor learning curve and depth. I got into it but it is not necessary. Overall this game is fine but in no means a must own. I put a little over 60 hours into it and would be happier if it was 40-45 hours.