The Witch and the Hundred Knight isn’t that old of a title to receive a remaster for the Sony PlayStation 4. Approaching two years since the video game first released on the PlayStation 3 later this month, Nippon Ichi Software brought out a new enhanced version of the video game now known as The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival Edition which launches tomorrow, March 4, 2016, for North American gamers.
Besides making the title a bit longer, there’s not too much content added to it that may sway previous owners of the game for PlayStation 3 to pick the game up once again on the PlayStation 4. With that said, we won’t go too in-depth with the overall game, but we will give a look at what developers brought to the newly added edition the game for Potential PlayStation 4 gamers.
As mentioned, The Witch and the Hundred Knight previously released on March 25, 2014, for the PlayStation 3 where it was met with a mediocre reception. Most of the gripes that gamers seemed to have with the PlayStation 3 title was gameplay related. We would expect most of these issues to be resolved with the Revival Edition for the PlayStation 4, but alas, these issues still popped up.
Before we go too far into the specifics, let’s go over a quick recap of the overall game. If you know developers Nippon Ichi then you can still expect the strong wacky JRPG story. The Witch and the Hundred Knight tells the tale of an evil witch named Metallia who is as foul as the swamp she resides within.
Summoning a strong warrior to do her bidding, Metallia instead receives a puny little mindless warrior, this is where gamers come into play. Players take the role of the summoned warrior, known as the Hundred Knight who becomes tasked with helping the witch expand her swamp and take over the entire world.
This action role-playing game represents a play style similar to the Diablo series where players control their character in a top-down view. However, casual action role-playing fans may find the menus and systems placed within the game to be overwhelming even after the countless tutorials. There are several aspects to keep in mind during gameplay such as the weapon slots. Combat was one of the neat features that I felt developers executed poorly to what they may have imagined.
There is a total of five slots where gamers can place various weapons in which players will automatically cycle through each weapon with the press of a button during combat. Depending on how they are lined up, gamers could impact more damage when facing against enemies. Unfortunately, what I found more useful is just smashing the square button instead of setting up the weapons in any particular way.
The weapons slot wasn’t the only aspect gamers were forced to pay attention to during their journey. There are Facets, a means of changing the different stats of the Hundred Knight along with Tochkas which gives players support during combat.
Regardless, the biggest gripe gamers may have will likely be the Gigacals which is a meter that will gradually drain over time. Once this meter drops down to zero the Hundred Knight will have both the attack and defense significantly drop until players refill it by absorbing enemies or returning to a pillar point.
There are some slight differences between the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 version of the game. Visually, the PlayStation 4 does show an improvement, but it’s so minuscule that it can easily be missed by gamers who previously played the game on the PlayStation 3. That’s not to say The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival Edition isn’t a beautiful video game, in fact, I found the visuals to be a stronger point within the game as it showcased colorful worlds that really popped.
Another aspect that developers included in the Revival Edition for PlayStation 4 gamers is the Tower of Illusion. Players can enter a massive tower where they will focus strictly on combat as they fight waves of enemies. Regardless of the challenge, the Tower of Illusion may offer, gamers will find this tower as an excellent source of loot compared to what the actual campaign may offer. Additionally, gamers can now use Metallia as a weapon to destroy enemies which may help out when you’re in a tight spot.
With all that said, The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival Edition is likely not a go to action role-playing video game for most gamers. At times, its complex and the story is not the most gripping tale that keeps us playing hours on end. Furthermore, the Revival Edition of The Witch and the Hundred Knight doesn’t come packed with enough new features or content that we would suggest gamers to purchase the title again if they already own the PlayStation 3 version of the game. Although, if you wanted to try The Witch and the Hundred Knight out and didn’t have the chance to pick it up for the PlayStation 3 then the Revival Edition on the PlayStation 4 is your best bet.
Final Verdict
5/10
The Witch and the Hundred Knight was developed by Nippon Ichi Software and published by NIS America. It was released on March 4, 2016, at the MSRP of $39.99. A copy was provided by the publisher for the purposes of review.
