The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 from Nippon Ichi Software is an action RPG developed for the PS4. It is the sequel to the 2013 game The Witch and the Hundred Knight.
Simple, anime-like story
In The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2, you follow the story of Amalie, a girl who’s younger sister Milm has been afflicted by the Witch’s Disease, causing her to sprout a third eye on her forehead. After a witch known as Chelka awakens and takes over Milm’s body while giving life to Milm’s Hundred Knight doll, Amalie must team up with the small, little Knight to save her sister and defeat any threat that stands in their way. The story is entertaining anime fun, packing the journey to rescue Milm with colorful and eccentric characters (plenty of which are creatively designed), tons of wacky monsters, and silly events. While the plot develops slowly and there’s quite a bit of text to wade through between missions, it’s a simple but enjoyable time. However, some of the dialogue can be annoying because it overexplains everything and is delivered with so much overacting that you’ll sometimes feel like you’re watching a generic slice-of-life anime.
Surprisingly deep, but repetitive gameplay
The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 plays similarly to the first, with the player navigating a large, labyrinth-like map taking on tons of smaller foes while racing to finish, and taking on some tougher bosses in each stage. One of the unique gameplay mechanics is that you have to move quickly because the Hundred Knight runs on Gigacalories (or Gcals), his fuel of sorts, so you have to dash between parties of enemies and reach the end of the stage before it runs out, or risk dying and a game over.
This may sound challenging, but it’s easier than you think. The combat is simple to execute but satisfying, relying on a 5-hit combo to bash enemies away, a rolling dodge, and a slew of skills that unlock as players progress. There’s some depth to the simplicity though, as each hit in the combo is performed by a different weapon that’s equipped, and enemies are weak and resistant to different types, so players can customize the weapon order and type in order to exploit the weaknesses of foes, the distance between them, and more. There’s also a special attack called the Depletura, which allows players to dash in for the kill once their five hit combo finishes and this one, in particular, is useful, as it grants additional action points for skill use as well as Gcals, keeping the Hundred Knight energized as it zips through stages.
It’s a whole lot of grinding and collecting loot here, and anything that the Hundred Knight acquires from fallen enemies or treasure chests can’t be equipped at first, at least until you complete the stage or return to the home base. All the items are stored in its stomach, which also figures into the gameplay as the Hundred Knight has limited space inside, so you need to digest what you deem is unnecessary or less appealing in order to make room for more valuable items.
Then there’s the matter of dying. Getting your HP brought down to zero causes players to lose some of their collected items and a portion of Gigacalories in exchange for respawning at the nearest checkpoint, and that can mean inadvertently losing some of the best gear you had collected up until that point. Thankfully, there are also quite a few health items available for use, as well as the ability to exchange Gcals for healing, so you can avoid death if they are careful.
While the gameplay is surprisingly deep, it does get repetitive after a couple of hours. You’re basically doing the same thing over and over again, with the occasional boss fight and cutscenes every now and then. It’s basically a game made for gamers who like to grind and hunt for loot, although the loot system is not as extensive as games like Diablo or Path of Exile.
Beautiful art-style
The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 is filled with the colorful, anime-like visuals. The colors are popping and the game performs at a steady framerate. Some of the character models look a little bit outdated, but that’s only noticeable when you zoom in on them, so it’s not a major problem. One issue I have to mention though is how the console itself performs when playing the game. I played the game on a PS4 Pro and while the game looks great, it doesn’t look like it needs a lot of graphical processing power. Yet whenever I’m playing it, my PS4 Pro’s fans are blowing like crazy, like I’m playing an AAA game in 4K resolution. Hopefully, this issue will get patched soon.
Conclusion
The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 offer a fun experience with its anime-like story, surprisingly deep gameplay and beautiful art-style. However, the story is sometimes delivered the wrong way and the gameplay eventually becomes repetitive after several hours. The issue with how much graphical processing power this game needs is also something that shouldn’t be overlooked. I must also mention that its retail price of €45 is a little too high, in my opinion. Still, the game offers enough to be an enjoyable experience for most gamers.
