NIS America’s role-playing games have always provided gameplay and subject matter unique to the genre. The Witch and the Hundred is no exception, as it follows the tale of an evil swamp witch named, Metallia, and her obsession to expand the swamp that surrounds her homestead. To accomplish this task, she creates a Familiar named Hundred Knight – a cute little creature that is suppose to be the destroyer of prophecy. Despite her skepticism, Metallia begins training Hundred Knight so he can expand the swamp and help her reign terror over Medea. As Hundred Knight, you must do the evil swamp witch’s bidding or be punished for defying her.
The game begins with a comprehensive tutorial that explains the controls, combat and interaction with NPCS. The evil witch oversees your development during the tutorial, guiding you through the early stages of your development. After completing the Swamp Witch’s tasks during the tutorial, you must battle a giant, lizard-like boss creature before entering the physical world.
Once the boss battle is completed, you are sent to Metallia’s house in the swamp where you are introduced to both her and the swamp’s lookout, Arlecchino. Since you are suppose to be the legendary demon of prophecy, you are instructed to activate pillars that will expand the swamp throughout the world of Medea. The adventure that lies ahead is a difficult one, and seasoned RPG gamers will most definitely find it challenging.
As you battle the inhabitants of Medea in search of Pillars to expand the swamp, any items you collect along the way can be lost if you happen to die before saving the game. More importantly, dying will also strip the Hundred Knight of any levels or special abilities he gained during his adventure. The only way to save the game, and to preserve the Hundred Knight’s items and progress, is to return to the Swamp Witch’s house. This scenario can be frustrating when you’re low on health and healing herbs. Luckily, the Pillars you liberate can be used as place markers inside a level; they can also be used to teleport to different Pillars or back to the Witch’s house.
It’s also possible to raid local towns for items. These towns and their inhabitants are generally friendly, and they typically offer advice pertaining to your adventure. But if you’re low on healing herbs or weapons, you can steal from homes and use the items you find to your benefit. Approaching a house will activate a ‘Raid’ indicator that will show the item you will receive if your raid attempt is successful. You can raid a home by pressing Triangle button.
When this is done, The Hundred Knight will swing open the door to the home, step inside, and a hilarious animation of the house shaking will ensue. During this segment, the player has no control over the event; success is based on the Hundred Knight’s current level. If the raid attempt is successful, you can return to the house later to heal depleted HP (Health Points) and/or stats. Losing a raid results in the Hundred Knight being kicked out by the residence. This doesn’t affect your standing with the rest of the villagers, though.
The Witch and The Hundred Knight uses a system called Self-Assertion. This system allows Hundred Knight to make decisions that will impact the mood of a conversation. At the beginning of the game, the Hundred Knight’s intellect is limited to accepting orders. But as he ‘evolves’ through leveling, the Self-Assertion system allows him to think for himself by Affirming, Denying, Questioning or Ignoring a question, while talking to an NPC. Your responses can have various outcomes, so it’s important to choose wisely (especially when you’re having a conversation with an NPC that can harm you).
Like most action-based RPGs, the gameplay relies on chaining combos together to kill your adversaries. What sets the combat mechanics in The Witch and the Hundred Knight apart from other games in the genre is its ‘Weapon Slot’ system. By equipping up to five weapons, the Hundred Knight can cycle through these weapons quickly as you rapidly press Square button. Despite being unique, this feature can have its drawbacks. For example: Rock Guardians can resist just about every weapon except hammers. So if you don’t happen to have more than one hammer in your inventory, you’re in for a difficult time.
The controls feel solid as you hack, slash and smash your enemies into oblivion. While most encounters involve three monsters or less, there are times when additional enemies will join the fight. When this happens, you can dash around the attacking group of creatures by pressing X button. Moreover, you can block incoming attacks by pressing L1. And since the game uses a free-roaming camera system, you can rotate the environment with the right analog stick when objects block your view. Additionally, you can access your equipment, stomach, level map and Bonus List (i.e. which contains bonus items, for example) by using the directional pad.
Cursed by the Swamp Witch to ensure his loyalty, the Hundred Knight must rely on a torch that slowly burns atop his head. A timer located in the top left-hand corner of the screen counts down as the torch slowly extinguishes. This torch works on Giga Calories, and it must be replenished to prevent it from burning out. This can be achieved by consuming food items or swallowing enemies during a short quick time event. The only penalty to eating enemies are the stones they leave in your stomach (which is used as an item bag), and they take up valuable space. However, you can use the ‘Bowel Dump’ feature to clear your stomach of these stones. Yes, you read that right. The ‘Common Upchuck’ function works in a similar fashion, but it only dispels any common items that you may have swallowed along the way.
Graphically, The Witch and the Hundred Knight looks gorgeous on the Playstation 3. Aside from the Manga-style illustrations that NIS America is known for in their role-playing games, the in-game 3D characters and environments look absolutely stunning, as they are brightly colored and stand out from the environments. In fact, the first thing you will notice about the game are the eye-popping colors and how they are very easy on the eyes. NIS America deserves a pat on the back for a job well done. Even the sound track is worth mentioning, as it contains upbeat, light hearted tunes that are nothing short of memorable. Together with the graphics, the sound track creates an unforgettable experience that will have gamers returning for more.
The Witch and the Hundred Knight by NIS America is one of the best action role-playing games currently available for Playstation 3. The awkward humor can be tongue in cheek at times, but the solid controls and challenging gameplay make it a contender as far as action role-playing games are concerned.
Mike Pittaro
Platform: Playstation 3
Developer: NIS America
Publisher: NIS America
ESRB: T (Teen)
Price: $49.99
The Witch and the Hundred Knight’s Official Website
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |  |
| Colorful 3D graphics and Manga-style cutscenes. | |
| Sound | |
| Great music and professional voice acting. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Challenging combat and solid controls. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| The Witch and the Hundred Knight is one game that all Playstation 3 gamers should own. | |
