In a note explaining the delay, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino pointed to a pair of features new to Revenant Kingdom — kingdom building and skirmish. Kingdom building, central to the game’s plot, lets players recruit citizens and build their kingdom from the ground up. The real-time strategy skirmish mode features large-scale cross-kingdom battles. Both of those important modes apparently weren’t ready for primetime just yet.
“However, with innovation and new ideas come the need to ensure everything works together in a fun and cohesive package; this means we’ll need a bit more time to make sure the entire Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom experience meets Level-5 and Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.’s high quality standards,” Hino wrote.
Although only a two month delay, this is the second time Revenant Kingdom has been pushed back. A month after announcing a November 10 launch at E3, Level-5 moved Revenant Kingdom to January. If you combine the separate delays, it’s just four months, but one has to worry about a pattern forming.
The game takes place a century after Wrath of the White Witch and features a whole new cast of characters. You play as Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, the boy king of Ding Dong Dell’s cat tribe who is removed from power by the rival mouse tribe at the start of the game. Evan then sets out to prove he is fit to rule by building his own kingdom.
The game retains the Studio Ghibli style visuals from Wrath of the White Witch and Joe Hisaishi, who scored numerous Ghibli movies, composed the soundtrack. While aesthetically similar, Level-5 has claimed that Revenant Kingdom has more western RPG influence than its predecessor. The capturing and training of familiars (basically Pokémon) was replaced by the kingdom-building features.
Level-5 promised to share more Revenant Kingdom information as we get closer to the new launch date. Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom launches March 23 on PlayStation 4 and PC.
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