The PS3 version of The Witch and The Hundred Knight absolutely blew me away with its dark fantasy setting, the beautiful fictional world of Medea, and its vibrant color palette. The art style was certainly different from what I was used to seeing. The most important aspect of the game was its story, which was absolutely phenomenal – over the top, very funny, solid. The game was very thrilling from start to finish, so I was very happy to learn I’d be reviewing the Revival Edition on PS4, which has reworked graphics and new content!
The Witch and The Hundred Knight: Revival Edition revolves around a Swamp Witch called Metallia, who summons a legendary demon called The Hundred Knight. She wants him to destroy her rival and her sister…or does she? Metallia lives in a swamp along with her servant a, robot called Arlecchino. Metallia is supposedly the most powerful witch there, is and she is also said to be immortal. Her only weakness is she cannot leave the swamp. So this is where The Hundred Knight comes in. She binds him to a contract and he has to do her will by destroying Malia, and blooming the swamp pillars for 100 days – Metallia claims she will die at the end of those 100 days.
The game kicks off with a pretty decent tutorial that teaches you how to move, control the camera, perform attacks, etc., and you have to complete the tasks it presents to you to advance through each tutorial section. Everything in the game was very well explained, except for GigaCals. As Metallia is confined to the swamp until the Pillars of Temperance have bloomed, but to do that he needs GigaCals to make use of her magic. His GigaCals is set at 100 and drains constantly, but there are various ways to replenish GigaCals. In the simplest terms they work in a similar fashion as hunger meters in games like Don’t Starve. When the meter runs out you must get out or die!
The dungeons are pretty large and clearing just one can take quite a bit of time. If you are a completionist, you can automap the entire dungeon, killing everything in sight to gain levels and collect everything from treasure chests. When doing so, be sure to keep an eye on your GigaCals, since the more you lose, the faster it drains, so when you are at approximately 50% you will notice a slight increase in the depletion of the GigaCals meter.
One of the most important aspects of the game is the Pillars of Temperance. Hitting these and making them bloom will turn them into warp points, and you can also upgrade your stats using the grade points you accumulate from defeating enemies – each map has several of them, But head this warning: any time you return to Metallia’s swamp those stats are reset automatically. So each time you start a new area you will have to upgrade your stats again!
The battle system is real time and you can create a weapon set of up to 5 weapons of your choice. You can also create an extra pair of weapon sets of 5 weapons of your choice in each. so that you can have a total of 15 weapons at your disposal on the battlefield. You use the L1 and R2 buttons to swap weapon sets at any time.
Tockas are magical skills which you can acquire throughout the game and are linked to weapons, so you will see some interesting effects when using different weapons in different sets. Experiment with everything, and maximize your potential attack damage!
After defeating enemies some will drop Anima – they are pink and black objects. Collecting as many as you can and placing them in a bucket list in Metallia’s house will grant you wishes. You will lose 1 anima if you die, or a half an anima if you quit. so be careful not to lose any! Also, when you have any enemy’s HP down to around 20% you can consume them with R1 and the triangle button – you will get a quick time mini-game where you have to mash the triangle button as fast as you can for a bonus plus items. You have to be pretty fast or you will end up with worthless items!
The best part of the game is Witch Domination. You can raid homes you find, and if you win the raids, you steal their treasures. A word of warning though: you can’t just raid any home you want since you must be of a sufficient level to be successful. You can even raid Metallia’s house, but you have to wait until you are at least level 65 to attempt it. Metallia puts up quite a fight, so be ready!
Now for the part you have all been waiting for… New content and changes! First of all the framerate has been upgraded from 30 to 60fps and it is silky smooth. On top of this, the graphics are more colourful and much more vibrant – it is really beautiful and easy on the eye. You will love it.
There is also a new dungeon to sink your teeth into since it has 100 floors of pure fun! It is called the Tower of Illusion, and it is exclusive to the Revival Edition, You have to sacrifice a weapon in order to get in this massive tower, and the better the weapon you offer up the bigger the rewards and the more challenges you’ll face. The there are many rooms on a floor, so it will take you a long time to complete this mammoth dungeon. I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but I can say you should expect a boss at the end of approximately 10 levels. so make use of the pillars and put points into your stats to take on these ugly beasts!
Alchemy is also a new feature in this Revival Edition You can upgrade and strengthen your weapons using the Catalysts you find in the Tower of Illusion, and you are only allowed to use a set number of catalysts per weapon. Why not try sacrificing a legendary or epic weapon with a few catalyst upgrades and see how you fare against such strong enemies?
You can also have an opportunity to play as Metallia exclusively in the Tower of Illusion – you will be able to summon Metallia once the Lia Meter fills up, unleashing her magical fury at enemies. Not quite was I was expecting, since I had hoped she would be a fully playable character at some point and not just a for a few seconds, but it was definitely a fun extra!
The Witch and The Hundred Knight has been greatly improved thanks to this Revival Edition, making it the definitive version of what was already a very awesome game. The polished graphics and framerate, as well as the extra content, will certainly lure you in for one more go even if you already Platinumed the game on PS3.
Disclaimer
This review is based on an European PS4 copy of The Witch and The Hundred Knight Revival Edition provided by NIS America.
