The Witch and the Hundred Knight Review

A Knight to Remember?

The Witch and the Hundred Knight seems like an odd choice for a next-gen remake. It’s hardly Nippon Ichi’s most popular title, indeed it didn’t fare well with critics when it was first released two years ago, but here we have a better looking, more content rich release that tightens and iterates in a few key areas. But does it do enough to make it worth picking up?

Story:

Witch and the Hundred Knight follows, as you might expect from the title, a Witch and a being called the Hundred Knight (that’s you.) A sadistic sorceress named Metallia (who follows faithfully in the footsteps of NIS’ iconic, mean mistresses) summons you in the hopes of cultivating an empire – one made entirely of her swamp – and it’s your job as her loyal minion to make this dream come true.

By hacking and slashing your way through colourful, vibrant worlds and destroying pillars you’re able to spread this swampiness everywhere you go, and it’s this simple goal that is the driving force of W&100K. As you progress you’re treated to heapings of witty dialogue from the Witch and the rest of the supporting cast (and before too long you’re able to converse yourself, giving the Hundred Knight as much or as little attitude as you see fit)

Anyone familiar with the sorts of character and banter of NIS’ other titles such as Disgaea will be comfortable with what’s on offer here, and it’s pretty fun to sass the various inhabitants of this wacky world.

Gameplay:

In terms of gameplay, there’s a simple core here wrapped in somewhat needless complexity. As a pioneer of the outside world the Hundred Knight must venture from one pillar to the next, destroying them to spread Metallia’s domain (as well as serve as helpful checkpoints) You can’t keep chugging indefinitely thanks to an stamina bar that ticks down as you perform actions, and the longer you go without returning to base camp the more vulnerable your plucky little demon becomes.

It’s a straightforward and engaging gameplay loop that rewards you for braver (read: irresponsible) endeavours, and I found myself pushing for just one more checkpoint before I’d turn in and reap the rewards of my adventure. This risk/reward system set up some pretty tense moments, and the simple combat works well enough to keep you hooked. There’s a build-a-combo mechanic that allows you to equip a variety of weapons in multiple slots, and by tinkering with these loadouts you craft your own combos of varying damage and speed. Regardless of how you set it up you’ll be mashing a single button to dole out damage, but it’s this intricate little system that plays in strengths and weaknesses that made hunting down better gear an addictive distraction.

There are enough other quirks to lend W&100K a unique flavour, but the title still suffers from awkward and overly long tutorials. Despite neutering any enjoyment to be had from the first hour or two with invasive and overly chatty tooltips, the game still doesn’t properly explain itself in an understandable way. I was still figuring out mechanics and systems by mistake hours into the experience.

I wish this problem had been rectified in this release as its one of the biggest detractors from what is otherwise a fairly enjoyable game. The core gameplay is akin to a simplified Diablo, but the formula does get repetitive and doesn’t iterate on its own ideas in any meaningful way over the course of the lengthy campaign. That said, if you’re looking to zone out, mash monsters mindlessly and collect loot then you can do worse than W&100K. It’s prone to some really satisfying moments once you get away from the onslaught of cutscenes, and it’s these zen-like phases that are worth the investment.