Are you ready to start Evan's journey?

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom brings together the beautiful, anime-inspired visuals from the first game along with a fresh new battle system and all-new storyline.

In the world of Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, players enter the kingdom of Ding Dong Dell, where cats, mice, and humans once lived in harmony. A treacherous coup has dethroned Evan Pettywhisker Tildrum, the young ruler of Ding Dong Dell. Evan - along with the help of his friends; Roland, Tani, Batu, Lofty, and many others they’ll meet along their journey – will build a new kingdom free of strife while uniting the whole world of Ni no Kuni. Across Evan’s grand adventure, players can explore a beautifully crafted world filled with exotic locations, a wide cast of characters to encounter, dangerous foes, and plenty of allies eager to help.

Throughout his journey in Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, Evan will encounter spirits called Higgledies. These forces of nature will aid Evan and friends in battle by automatically attacking enemies, providing elemental or physical buffs to party members while in battle, and opening shortcuts and new pathways in dungeons and throughout the world. Players can collect 100 unique Higgledies including Higgledy heroes, each with their own unique attacks and special powers. Strategically take the best into battle to gain the upper hand.

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom provides two additional game modes for players to engage in as they progress through the game’s main story. As Evan reclaims his crown in the newly formed kingdom of Evermore, he must manage all aspects of daily life within its borders. Players will erect shops, farms, barracks, and a host of other facilities to increase the economy of Evermore and provide new equipment for Evan and his allies as they venture further into the world. Hire residents to staff these shops and research new items and abilities to increase Evermore’s influence across the land. Evan will also lead an army into skirmish battles. These large-scale battles against other armies will test the resolve of Evan’s military might.  Recruit new generals with special abilities to take down the opposing forces and claim victory!

The new Kingdom Builder mode lets you have direct control over the growth of your new flourishing Kingdom. But ruling in Ni No Kuni II isn’t just sitting on your throne and issuing orders: even royalty has to go hands-on.

Here’s how the mode works.

A prosperous Kingdom isn’t a cheap affair! First of all, to grow you Kingdom you will need to collect Kingsguilders. You can earn these by accomplishing side quests for your citizens, helping them with their day-to-day problems. As your Kingdom starts to take shape, your stock of Kingsguilders will also grow on its own as your citizens run their businesses. You can see how many Kingsguilders you have in your coffers from the main menu, next to a shiny golden coin icon.

Now your newly acquired Kingsguilders can finally be put to good use for your Kingdom. The first time you’ll sit on your throne all you’ll have is the main Castle – but you can get started right away and begin by building ministries around it. Outfitters, Spellworks, Weapon Workshops… a whole variety of facilities will be available for you to build across Evermore, each with different effects on your Kingdom and your party’s adventures. Pick the ones you want to build from “Manage Your Kingdom” in the main menu.

Some of the facilities you can build will allow you to gather materials for your adventures. Farms, ranches and mines, for example, will regularly provide you with your kingly share of the realm’s produce! Be wary of your stores’ capacity, however. Space is limited and you’ll need to collect the goods regularly so nothing goes to waste!

Once built, facilities can also be upgraded in exchange for a few of your hard-earned Kingsguilders. Doing so will improve the unique effects of each of the facilities and will help you even further in your adventures.

As the core of your Kingdom, your castle can also be upgraded. Upgrading it early on will benefit you and expand the space available to build more facilities for your citizens.

Once your facilities are built, they’ll need personnel to take care of them. As the king, you get to assign your citizens to the different facilities but you’ll need to take into account their own personality!

Each of your citizens is suited to different things, and will be given a rating in each of the four categories – War, Ingenuity, Spritecraft and Conjury. This rating is called IQ. The higher the IQ in a specific category, the more suited your citizen is to run that kind of business. For the Weapons Workshop for example, you’ll want someone with a high IQ in War, and so on…

The IQ indicator will surely help you pick the right personnel for each kind of facility, but there is a little more out there to influence your choice! Each citizen has a unique talent and sometimes even their own aspirations.

During my time with the demo, one of my citizens asked me specifically to work in Evermore’s Cookshop, promising me delicious foods and expert cooking in exchange. He thanked me when I assigned him to the restaurant, and offered to cook for my party any ingredients I would bring him. Each of your subjects also have their own talent. You can check this unique skill in their profile – they will trigger different effects if assigned to the right place!

On top of running their daily business, each facility can work on researching new technologies for specific fields. This will allow your kingdom to discover new items or help Evan with new beneficial effects.

To research a particular topic, you will need to pay attention to the facility’s total IQ (the sum of the individual IQ rating of each character assigned to the facility). The higher the IQ the quicker the research.

Of course, you’ll also need to spend a few kingsguilder to pay for the work. Research takes real life time, and the longer it takes, the bigger the benefit Maxing out IQ or spending a few extra kingsguilders can also speed up the process if you’re in a hurry to reap the rewards!

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom will launch on PS4 and PC (Steam) starting March 23, 2018 for $59.99.