One of the RPG’s I look back most fondly on from the last few generations of gaming is Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch and its sequel Ni no Kuni: Revenant Kingdom. A co-creation between developer Level-5, the animation team at Studio Ghibli, and composer Joe Hisaishi – these were two games that stood out in the visuals, music and gameplay departments, and can both still be played on modern-day consoles through remastered ports. Even today, there are few games that come close to feeling like you are “playing an anime”.
While it is not what I would have gone for when thinking of the next instalment in the franchise, mobile game developer and publisher Netmarble has in recent days officially launched their MMORPG mobile game Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, now available worldwide on mobile devices and on the PC. Separate from the previous games, this time you are immersed in a virtual world – taking control of one of five playable classes – the dashing Swordsman, the elegant Witch, the playful Rogue, the intelligent Engineer, and the unstoppable Destroyer. From there, the story unfolds – as players also begin unlocking mounts, summoning familiars to support them in battle and more.
During the launch window, Netmarble has a number of events planned, including:
Welcome! Evermore Event – Clearing various missions within the game will earn players rewards, such as the 4-star Ebon Taurex, which can be acquired by clearing the 7-day mission.
7-Day Attendance Event – Daily logins grant players rewards just for showing up, like the 4-star Weapon and an array of other rewards.
Dice Event – Upon completion of various missions, Dice will be awarded, which players can roll to obtain a slew of other rewards, including Evolution Fruit or an Imagen Summon Coupon, among many more.
Discord Event – Joining Discord grants fans various rewards depending on the number of players joining the community
While I am still unconvinced that Ni no Kuni needed to enter the mobile game market, especially given the very high standards set by other open-world mobile games such as Genshin Impact. But I am definitely jumping in to see if it is worth the time (and perhaps monetary) investment.
Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds can be freely downloaded on iOS, Android and PC platforms, with cross-play support between them all. While the game is free-to-play, it is supported through gacha mechanics.
