Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds is a cross-platform MMORPG with the typical ills of the genre. If you ask, “Is it a clone of Genshin Impact?” my answer is, “Definitely not. It’s a completely different game with gameplay more reminiscent of Black Desert Mobile and other Asian MMOs with their emphasis on inventory micromanagement and kaleidoscope of repetitive gameplay elements. But I’m getting ahead of myself, first let’s talk about the story.
The plot .
As conceived by the authors of Cross Worlds, the player gets into a fantasy world simulation in a medieval setting. Immediately you find yourself in the thick of it – the Nameless Kingdom was attacked by evil forces: huge monsters and a certain knight at the head. Since the player is not from around here, he gets the role of the Chosen One. Together with Kuu – a local prototype of Paimon from Genshin – the adventurers will visit huge cities and meet other wanderers in them.
I’d like to mention the lovely symphonic music that starts playing in the main menu and accompanies you on your adventures. This, coupled with Studio Ghibli’s inimitable graphics, makes you feel like you’re in a real alternative to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. If it weren’t for the gameplay, now let’s talk about it too.
First we are given a choice of one of 5 characters, each of them has their own role:
Rascal – an elusive and nimble support fighter with a powerful wave of attacks;
Destroyer – inflicts huge damage and puts the strongest defense, also great as a tank;
Witch – Uses magical attacks to deal a lot of damage, but is poorly suited for the role of a sopporte or tank;
Swordsman – suited for any team, protects and helps allies to survive even in the toughest battles;
Engineer – knows how to build gadgets and in addition to dealing damage with firearms can heal allies.
Next, the basics of control are shown, which quickly goes into auto-mode; this applies to both combat and completing quests. The developers have even added a special feature that allows the bot to control your character, but time is limited and it costs money to extend such a feature. Unfortunately, the dialogues in the quests can not be skipped completely, and because of the constant taps on the screen quickly begin to hurt your fingers.
Pumping up
As I said before, character development in Ni no Kuni is all about micromanagement. Your main objective is to raise your overall strength level. This is done by summoning and improving your familiars, you can have a maximum of 3 of them per team. Also, the equipment you find is added to the collection, which also increases a lot of indicators. Equally important are reputation quests, these are side-quests with a link to a particular region. They are boring – deliver an egg surname, fight with someone or run between NPCs. But if you pass them, new storylines open up in addition to rewards.
Tests and battlefields
When you’ve earned a reputation with the local regions and are sufficiently pumped up, challenges and battlefields will open up to you. These are PvE and PvP modes, the latter being much more important since Ni no Kuni is an Asian project. Battles between players can take place in 1 on 1 and 3 on 3. If you take the higher, then you’ll be able to take part in the “clan to clan” battles, in which it is necessary to capture and retain control of the relic, which gives a bonus to the stats for 6 days. Top guilds will be able to take part in a paid Battle of the Kingdoms, where you must collect 10 eggs faster than others; if you succeed, you’ll be offered one of the server bonuses of your choice. But don’t think that PvP modes end there – in certain areas you can stage attacks on other players. For this there are four moods of the hero – peaceful, neutral, vigilant and aggressive. For participation in PvP player receives materials and bonuses to the characteristics, so be sure to participate in these events.
If you want to take part in PvE-modes, Ni no Kuni offers battles with bosses for 5 people, the passage of the dungeons and even full raids on 50 or more players, which already smells like a full-fledged MMORPG on PC. I should note right away that to really help your team you’d better switch to manual control, as the bot can’t dodge directed attacks.