As with the Final Fantasy series, Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom will offer a world and characters completely divorced from the previous game, and the project’s director, Akihiro Hino, has explained this choice.

Speaking to Glixel, Hino explained that this ‘scorched earth’ to the game’s conception ensures that the game offers a “new experience,” which he believes is “the purpose of creating an RPG.” Introducing a new cast of characters and what amounts to a new world ensures that the sequel will retain “the best part about RPGs—that discovery.”

The same desire to offer something different is also behind the alterations to the battle mechanics, which sees the Pokemon-like creature collection system replaced with a new system whereby players collect and use elemental being named Higgledies to aid in both combat and exploration. “We wanted to add something significant, not just repeat what worked in the first game,” said Hino about the inclusion of the Higgledies.

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom returns players to the world of 2013’s Wrath of the White Witch, though set hundreds of years after Oliver’s adventure, and this time following the boy-king Evan, who is deposed from his seat at Ding Dong Dell and whose journey will involve the building of a new kingdom. This latter story element sees the inclusion of kingdom-building mechanics, though the form these will take has not yet been explained.

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is currently scheduled for release on November 10, 2017 for PC and PlayStation 4. Unlike the earlier game, this sequel has not featured the direct involvement of Studio Ghibli, though the anime house’s regular composer Joe Hisaishi will return to score Revenant Kingdom.

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