smeglord

(DISCLAIMER: I did not finish the game. I got roughly ten hours in before I decided to call it quits.) An endearing premise and Ghibli visuals do a lot to carry this JRPG, but not enough to save it from clunky combat mechanics that ultimately drag this game into the murky waters of mediocrity. Like many modern JRPGs, NNK has walked away from the clean precision of turn based combat, opting instead for clumsy action-rpg system where your party and a handful of monsters run around a little combat area in real time. Despite this, commands such as "attack" and "defend" still require you to flip through a menu, which can become an issue when enemy attacks are time sensitive, leading to a lot of frustration when big attacks you saw coming hit you anyway as you fumble with the controls. You can only control one party member at any given time, so there isn't much in the way of teamwork. Your other party members can have certain behaviors set if you don't want them burning through mana, but you can only change behaviors if you're in control of a human character. You see, you aren't just having to shuffle through a single party of characters, but each character has a sub-party in the form of monster familiars who all share health and mana with their user. The designs of the familiars are mostly forgettable, which is an issue because the game emphasizes you use them in combat over the more endearing human characters. I quit once the game introduced monster capturing and evolving (think pokemon), finally burying my already waning interest under a even more pet management mechanics.

The Last Of Us Part 2 really earns that "Part 2" in the title, being less of a sequel and more of a continuation of the original, building on both the story and mechanics of the previous game for an incredibly engaging experience. To rattle off some bits; -This game is dense with content, with a length probably twice that of the previous game. Despite this, I never felt that things were dragging on for too long or inundated with filler. -The controls have been pleasantly polished, feeling less stiff than the original. They even added a dodge which comes in handy when dealing with infected. Like the original, the shooting feels great, and all the guns have a satisfying punch to them. -Environments are a lot less linear now, with a smattering of optional side paths, encounters, and puzzles. -The puzzles have been expanded on in terms of variety from the first game, with more platforming, rope swinging, and window breaking. The shiv doors from the original have been replaced with the previously mentioned optional puzzles as well as safes with codes hidden in the environment, so don't worry about using shivs this time around. -Upgrading your weapons and abilities have gone through a sort of switch. Gone are tool boxes, so all weapon upgrades are available from the start (so long as you have enough scrap), but now you need magazines to get more ability upgrades. I'd say this is an improvement because you need a bench to upgrade a weapon (and there aren't that many benches), while you can upgrade abilities anywhere. -Stealth has also been expanded, with tall grass being an option when trying to hide from human enemies. If you do get spotted, you can always run, as human enemies will lose track of you if you break line of sight (clickers not so much). You can also go prone, which I dismissed at first but found surprisingly useful when trying to get around ranged foes. -I'll avoid spoilers, but the narrative is really engaging overall and does a good job of getting you in the head-space of who you're playing as and see where they're coming from. Be warned, this game goes to some dark, heart wrenching places, but leaves you with a lot to think about. -This would be a 10/10, but I docked a point because the first zone of the game after the tutorial is this free roaming section that feels a bit too slow compared to the rest of the game, which I think could make a bad first impression (looking at you Pat). There are also a few too many walking sections that could have been cut down, but that's a minor gripe against an overall fantastic game. - I also miss the multiplayer ( ; A ; ) If you really enjoyed the first game, I'd highly suggest you pick this one up.