The classic massive role-playing games are being replaced by a new generation of projects. Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds is one of them. The continuation of the popular series was supposed to be a beautiful fairy tale about adventures in the magical world, but it turned into a horror from which you need to run away and protect others from it.
When you get to know Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds, the first thing that catches your eye is the art style, sustained in the spirit of the famous films of Hayao Miyazaki. The picture looks good even on a PC, and by the standards of smartphones, it is great.
The main efforts of the artists and designers went to the main characters, bosses and NPCs (at least those who meet the heroes at the beginning of the journey). The surrounding world and monsters are worked out in less detail, but the artists managed to maintain the style.
The visual component is seasoned with good music and sound design. The sound range does not indulge in variety, but it’s nice to dive into the world of Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds. Players dive into the atmosphere of a heroic adventure, in which feats in the name of justice coexist with journeys through beautiful meadows and beaches, dense forests and ancient mysterious castles.
It’s interesting to follow the story as it unfolds. The writers beautifully broke the “fourth wall”, mixing our reality and the fantasy world of Ni No Kuni. The plot of the plot, its development competently support the desire of the player to find out what will happen in the end. Well-written dialogues also work for this. There are funny scenes, there are moments of confrontation with evil, full of drama.
The characters, of course, are stereotyped, but even here the developers have found something to surprise. In fairy tales, you rarely see, for example, a genie in a box. The nature of genies living in bottles or lamps is familiar to us from fairy tales. It turns out that life in a wooden box leaves its mark. Jin is not the only curious character. In the course of the story there will be new interesting meetings.
The story, the environment, the picture, the music are wonderful. Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds has an extraordinary appeal when viewed from the side. It can be seen that a lot of work has been done by the Korean studio Netmarble. The developers have made serious efforts to make it interesting for players to “adventure” in this world.
Half of the players are delighted, the other half drowns the rating of the project in the negative. It’s not about the technical condition, which is typical for many recent releases.
All the negative that users pour out in the reviews is related to the gameplay. Almost all character actions are fully automated: running from point to point, using vehicles, hitting and using abilities, equipping the best equipment. The player is only required to level up, choose quests and side quests, periodically choose a weapon suitable for a particular battle (however, not necessary) and, of course, collect rewards.
Although the developers paid attention to character classes and the combat system when designing, but in Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds this makes no sense. Moreover, manual control of the character does not give any pleasure, how uninteresting and ineptly this element is made. The only element implemented poorly!
Several classes of heroes are available to the player. Classes typical for MMORPGs are DD (Damage Dealer, a character that deals maximum damage), tank (takes damage from the enemy on himself), support (support), etc. And if in classic massive role-playing games such a division matters and affects on the gameplay, then Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds is a sham. It doesn’t matter what class a character has if it’s all about tapping through the list of tasks and buttons to collect rewards.
The combat system is good only in the description of the idea. The five elements of weapons are divided into two groups, within which some elements resist something better, something worse, and the rest are neutral. The character uses only three types of weapons and, accordingly, the elements. So for a specific battle, you need to choose either a weapon that deals bonus damage, or at least a neutral one.
In practice, most often there is no time to do this, and it is not particularly necessary. By completing daily tasks (daily tasks) and side missions, it is not difficult to pump over the surrounding mobs. If problems still arise, then one or two days of grinding in “side effects” or donut will correct the situation. While the character is fighting monsters on his own, the player, plunging into the depths of the menu, pumps equipment, and also collects rewards and trophies, which fall out in tons for completing tasks and achievements from each “sneeze”.
During the hours spent in Ni No Kuni: Cross Words, the player is constantly showered with awards and trophies. There is not much sense from them, because everything goes to the endless pumping of everything and everything (weapons, armor, character skills, vehicles, local “Pokemon”, their skills, etc., etc.), but resist before the incessant praising of a loved one, many cannot. And the lack of gameplay fades into the background. Everything is overshadowed by the growth of the overall “power” indicator of the character.
In addition to the main and side storylines, there are other activities in Ni No Kuni: a forest where local Pokémon familiars live (every day they give the player gifts); a clearing where the player equips his home and farm; separate “strategic” mode. In addition, dungeons with monsters and rich trophies are available as part of teams or alone. A separate PvP mode is also available.
The variety of activities is only apparent. Behind everything is an autoboy, a collection of rewards that turn Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds into a beautiful, atmospheric … clicker. The power of the character should grow.
Therefore, for many players, this project turns out to be extremely addictive (see Skinner box). The player taps on the screen and receives a reward. Just like an animal placed in a spacious box gets a “yummy” when the lever is pressed. The developed reflex does not allow the animals to stop pressing the lever even when they begin to give the “yummy” every once in a while, and even less often over time. It also works with people.
