We all love a good role playing game and recently I just started playing Skyrim again on the Switch, though I decided to have a noise at what was around in terms of Anime style role playing games because I’m a sucker for the cell-shaded art and Japanese voice acting. This search brought me to The Witch and the Hundred Knights 2, after looking into it I found out that I could play the second game without having played the first which was a bonus. I remember hearing about the first game from a friend a while back and thought that I’d start my journey with the series here, you’ll be Glad to hear that I wasn’t disappoint!
For those not in the loop, you play as a little character called the Hundred Knight. You progress through various levels fighting magical creatures and various bosses, as you kill enemies you level up and with this comes the reward of unlocking new skills and powering your character. There are five weapons of choice in the game which consists of; Swords, Hammers, staffs, lances and spears. They can be equipped freely giving you limitless combinations and tones of awesome hack and slash mayhem, the weapons come with their own attack ranges, speed, motions and status effects. A few examples are Slash damage, Magic damage and Blunt damage. The game takes the top-down isometric view just like the previous game which I personally enjoyed, it did get awakened at times when traversing through certain levels but you can rotate the camera around with the analog stick which helps solve this minor issue.
This time round the story follows the characters Amalie, Milm, Chelka and the Hundred Knight. It’s set in the world or Kevala where there is a deadly illness that develops in children under the age of 10. This is known as the witch’s disease, the cause for the illness is unknown but a third eye develops on the forehead of the people infected and when it opens they awaken as a witch. Milm who is Amelie’s younger sister contracts the witch’s disease and when awakens become the witch we know as Chelka, though for some reasons Chelka and Milm share the same body and often fight between the control of the body, which helps the story flow as Amalie is determined to find a curse to save Milm. Ultimately the story is pretty basic in terms of overall plot though with the help of good character interaction it kept me gripped and truly enjoying myself. There was even times when I burst out laughing and got confused looks off my girlfriend, but how can you not laugh at a huge crow who speaks and is a butler. I personally loved the dialog between the character and really loved their Japanese voice actors which for me made the experience of playing this game 10 times better as I wasn’t too fond of the English actors, but that’s just me.
Seeing as we’re dealing with an RPG, you can expect the typical mechanics, levelling up your character, killing enemies, getting loot and random chests for items, you know all the good stuff. The main mechanic points in the game are Adrenaline Points (AP), GigaCalories and Facets. Facets are special forms that hundred knight gets that give certain stat boost and different skills sets when being used, you can have a max of three facets set at a time and can change between them with ease, allowing for some mad combo action. AP is used for activating the different skills Hundred Knight has to offer, it can be acquired by attacking and destroying enemies as well as also performing a successfully Depletura. A depletura is a special combo moves that when pulled off correctly allows Hundred Knight to gain AP and GigaCalories, that’s if you defeat the enemy with the final blow. You also have a magic gauge that when filled allows you to use the Third Eye power that amplifies your abilities, I personally saved these for big boss fights, makes them so much easier. Last but not least we have GigaCalories, these are hundred knights energy source and will deplete over time, it depletes differently depending on what you’re doing which if not monitored can lead to some difficulties mid quest. Once it full, it depletes hundred knight as they weakens and if you die with no GigaCalories its game over. Sometimes when you kill enemies they drop items for you, there are four types of rarities in the game, commonly being the worst and legendary being the best. There are two types of Krafting at your disposal; Forge and Catalyst. These can be performed at the Atelier and can really help as you progress through the story because it allows you to strengthen weapons and armour. Hundred knight can also request Witch petition from Durga castle in exchange for mana or shells (currency in the game) as your progress through the game you’ll be able to unlock more petitions giving your more goodies. This all took some getting used to as trying to keep my GigaCalories up while also trying to make sure I don’t over fill hundred knights stomach (which acts as his storage) with pointless items and then with the whole using the correct weapons on different enemies to get bonus damage. It was like information overload, I’m just used to getting a sword and swinging, probably explains why I suck a Dark Souls but after a few hours I got the hang of it and by using all the mechanics correctly made for a unique and gaming experience that I personally haven’t come by.
Graphically the game looks good, the art style they went for really suits the game just like its predecessor. Though it would have been nice to see it looking a bit smoother and maybe some more detail on the character models and environments. There are really nice detailed drawings of the characters and environment when there is still cut scenes and dialog between them but when you are travelling around the world it feels more like a PS3 game then a PS4. It would have been nice to see the same level of detail go into the models as they put into the drawn characters but cell shaded art style for the win. The game has a few catchy tunes which if you wanted to you could continually listen to as you can select the playlist from the main hub. However after playing the game for a few hours hundred knights voice does get annoying every time you swing your hammer or hack at an enemy with your sword. There were many times I’d love to have muted the little guy but in the end I just powered through with the help of a few over world tunes, the audio in the game really helps create the right atmosphere at the right time. For example; when I was fighting hordes of enemies in the forest it didn’t have bubbly cheery music playing though when I was back at the castle with everyone it played cheery music when they all were interacting together.
As always for the trophy hoarders there is a lot of replay value as you will be grinding away at the game to get that juicy platinum trophy. For the average player, you get the same amount of fun, this game really encourages you to go out and grind with the countless creatures roaming the lands. Whether it be to level up hundred knight or to get loot so that you can get the best weapons and armour, there is something for everyone. With the game having bosses that pop up in the world and offering higher rewards you’ll find yourself exploring every little nook and cranny trying to get the best gear for your little guy. I made sure that I killed almost everything while going to a quest location just so that my character wasn’t under levelled and that I could unlock new skills to use.
The Witch and the Hundred Knights 2 was very enjoyable from the beginning. Be worried that with this type of game you’ll have to do a considerable amount of reading but that personally didn’t put me off, I loved hundred knight and I loved the hack and slash feel the game had. The amazing combination I could pull off with just five weapons was incredible and it was fun having to use the right weapons on the right enemies to deal more damage. I loved the character and the way the whole game played out, there are better role playing games out there but I would honestly say that this game is worth looking into, that is if you are a lover of anime and cell shaded games. It’s a good time killer to as you get lost in the hordes of enemies that you’re killing, after playing the second game I will look at picking up the first just to see what story that had to offer. It’s a very enjoyable game and well worth playing.
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