As Metallia points out while feeding you three week old chewing gum from the ground, “Yep. Dumb as a bag of hammers”. Now while this system of choice sounds contradictory on the surface of, it actually feeds the personality of the two character’s relationship towards each other, and despite the Witch’s evil intentions the Knight’s loyalty and fondness towards her, helps in developing his sense of character.

"Far too much help for simple mechanics and an introductory playthrough section laced in overly-explained tutorials, that could have been summed up in one short and simple sentence."

The emphasis on character development fails to reach its potential however, but the character dialogue and cut-scenes attempt to mend this. As it turns out during the first few initial cut-scenes of the game, Metallia’s only reason for bringing the Hundred Knight out of the darkness is due to the fact he may be a legendary demon of huge potential, who in is filled with immense power and might.

This childish and cheesy plot twist which is by no means a spoiler in comparison to the other events that take place within the game, is actually quite funny and carries an anime movie-like aesthetic to it, that’s quite funny in how the story plays out,and aids in presenting the personality of the characters. More specifically, that of Metallia and her self-centered devilish ways. One thing that’s key to the Knight’s development as the game goes on, is his level of intelligence and how it increases as he levels up within his skills and abilities, and it would have been good to see this reflected more and have more of an actual impact within gameplay.

More on to the actual gameplay, one thing stood out to me during the first ten minutes into the game, and it’s been a reoccurring factor for most titles released over the last two to six years, that I imagine doesn’t resonate so well with the majority of gamers, Hand Holding. Far too much help for simple mechanics and an introductory playthrough section laced in overly-explained tutorials, that could have been summed up in one short and simple sentence.

"A tutorial for activating switches which obviously opens the doors adjacent, then being rewarded with a platform specific achievement in this case PSN trophies, is insulting."

While some may argue its to help younger players get on-board, I imagine most of the game’s audience is derived from younger players to begin with, despite its visual aesthetics, which I’ll touch more upon later. A tutorial for activating switches which obviously opens the doors adjacent, then being rewarded with a platform specific achievement in this case PSN trophies, is insulting.

For achievement hunters this may be exciting but all it really demonstrates is a serious cry for help that is taking place, on how remarkably sad and retarded on just how much, the majority of games in recent years have become significantly easy. With no difficulty level present at the start of the game but rather a straight head-first dive in to its world, my stereotypical view point on the game kicked in and I immediately thought “Kick-yourself-easy gameplay and over complex menus”. Funny enough, I wasn’t far from the truth.

Once the tutorial levels are played out and the game really begins, only through exploring the game and talking to its strange inhabitants living in the game’s home base, will you have the option to adjust the difficulty level. The former problem swings back around however as you can only decrease the difficulty instead of raising it, again insulting.

"One thing of interest that The Witch and the Hundred Knight attempts to mold together is the inclusion of hack and slash-esque gameplay mechanics, with that of an RPG."

Playing through the game in a semi-top down field of view, you will be exploring small mythical lands and villages, populated by both humans and mystical creatures. Inanimate objects that actually prove to be alive, such as the “Lamptree” are both interactive in terms of talking with and drawing your sword upon to slash away for skill points. Your own sense of right and wrong is welcomed to take a seat and play no part whatsoever in how you feel about your actions. The game allows you to feel childish, mischievous, and make stupid decisions without feeling no way about it. While this isn’t emphasized as much as it could have been, the personal feeling of not having responsibility for what you do, and just being a run-around errand boy for a Witch brings about a sense of evil within your own way of thinking.

One thing of interest that The Witch and the Hundred Knight attempts to mold together is the inclusion of hack and slash-esque gameplay mechanics, with that of an RPG. RPG games by their very nature situate themselves in a case of Love it or Hate it, and this is partly due to its complexity of skill sets, menu navigation, and the player’s own attitude and patience. The throw-away method of turn-based attacks that most RPGs use as the basis of their enemy interactions and battles scenes, lends itself well to players,who may have interest in the game’s actually storyline and aesthetics, but despise the typical combat systems and would prefer to get straight to the point.

This isn’t to say the game is a dumbed-down RPG or is trying too hard at appealing to another audience, it’s just different in how it goes about certain elements of its gameplay and accessibility. As one who’s grown out of patience as well as devotion for sticking 15+ hours into a game of this nature, but on the other hand is still appealed by its visual qualities and playful narrative, I found it to be quite welcoming and enjoyable.

"Where the Hundred Knight's attacks and abilities are just about satisfactory for their use-case, meaning player enjoyability and Metallia's mischief, it feels unfinished."

Although the Hundred Knight carries a variety of weapons that all succeed at differing from each other in terms of how they can be used and favored by the player, there’s a lacking sense of the actual hack ‘N’ slash combat system that the game is going for. At most times it just felt as if the Hundred Knight was just swinging what ever weapon he happened to have equipped, rather than actually using it as a weapon for which he could do harm. It lacks actual combat per say, and the finesse of hacking and slashing.

Seeing as the game makes use be it not much, of a character class system, the combat aspects always felt as if it was trailing behind. The upgrade and skill set systems in the game run at a similar level to that of its combat in that it’s not fully fleshed out. On the face of it things appear to be much like your typical RPG system consisting of HP, Attack points, Defense, and other various forms of upgrading. But taking these features into account as to how it actually has an effect on the gameplay feels minor at best, and doesn’t feel like it’s hitting its full potential.

Where the Hundred Knight’s attacks and abilities are just about satisfactory for their use-case, meaning player enjoyability and Metallia’s mischief, it feels unfinished. Where the enjoyability factor does kick in however, is within its enemy battles and the raiding of homes. As said previously the hack “N” slash mechanics are pretty bare bone but invading the home of NPCs, in towns and villages never gets old. While it doesn’t change or differ in the way the sequence plays out, the basic premise for this is that the Hundred Knight can either invite himself into someone’s home with the intentions of doing good, which directly ties in with the game’s karma system.

"The visual aspects of the Witch and the Hundred Knight are where the game holds a large portion of its appeal. Creative and colorful characters set across the mythical setting of swamps, villages and other supernatural environments, all filled with life and movement encourage you to explore and roam."

Or he can invade it and assault the residents living there, and depending on his level of health and skill, will either successfully walk out with cookies and points, or get thrown out looking like a moron. This is both crazy-stupid to watch as it is ridiculously evil and I couldn’t get enough of it. Where it fails however is the option to do more with the feature, such as how you interact with whom may be living there and what your’e able to take from them.

The visual aspects of the Witch and the Hundred Knight are where the game holds a large portion of its appeal. Creative and colorful characters set across the mythical setting of swamps, villages and other supernatural environments, all filled with life and movement encourage you to explore and roam. With that being said, the amount of actual exploration the game offers you is again at a bare minimum, and this is a real shame since it’s something I would have liked to seen.

The in-game graphics take on a more traditional look of 3D models that contrast against that of its cut-scenes and while this is purely down to preference as to what said player prefers. It would have lent itself favors by following the same visual style of its static-2D anime cut-scenes. Since there’s alot of cut-scenes to begin with, in which it could have had significantly less of, moving back into its 3D visuals was a strange one.

"The Witch and the Hundred Knight does carry a charming yet maleficent vibe to it, and this is reflected in its audio department."

The Witch and the Hundred Knight does carry a charming yet maleficent vibe to it, and this is reflected in its audio department. From the get-go of the start screen, the ambient background music has the word “Witches” written all over it, metaphorically. While this sounds somewhat of an illogical thing to try and explain it’s best heard in person, this amazing use of audio is continued throughout the entire game, and where the Hundred Knight lacks the full ability to communicate verbally, the games creepy yet friendly soundtrack makes up for this.

Infact, if the Hundred Knight was able to properly speak it could very well kill his odd personality and witty character qualities. With no real replay-value to add to the game and a few elements of gameplay that some may not appreciate, the Witch and the Hundred Knight has it fair share of bad moments. Charming characters and a quirky art style coupled by action-like RPG mechanics do lend it some strength to being enjoyable.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.

Since then the game has been scheduled to be released in Europe and North America on March 21st of 2014 and Marth 25th of 2014 respectively.

While a limited edition version (which contained a 44 page long hardback art book, alongside the games soundtrack which spanned two discs and a figurine of the games main character, Metallia Nendoroid Petit) was available upon launch in Japan, there has been no mention of a collectors edition being put together for the western release.

• 1. Development
• 2. Gameplay
• 3. Story
• 4. Characters

Development

The development period for The Witch and the Hundred Knight started at some time in April of 2010. The original intention for the game was to have it completed in one, to one and a half years, but due to unexpected development issues the game had to be delayed at various points, explaining the delay from the planned release date of June 28th of June 2012 to July 25th of 2013.

Nippon Ici Software have said that one of the reasons for the delays was that they didn’t want the game to be graphically inferior to other games on the market. At one point in time during the early development cycle of the game there was considerations of making the game an open world title, but they decided to focus more on the 3D graphics tech. This means that the development team primarily focused on refining the games action, and reducing load times. Because of this, the open world idea was scrapped.

Gameplay

At the beginning of the game, players will set out from the home of the main character, Metallia. After leaving her house, you will be able to explore the world of the game, but you cannot return to your home until you have reached and activated a save point. The Witch and the Hundred Knight is played from a top down view with combat  coming in the style of a Hack and Slash game. As the player progresses through the stage based game (with stages becoming available for revisiting once completed) they will encounter large bosses that they must defeat to advance further into the game.

When fighting these bosses the player will attack using a variety of abilities of the particular knight being used. Being able to summon the other 99 knights will enable the player to make use of their powers for a short time, these other Knights are a key feature of the combat so it’s essential that the player learns to utilize the power they can bring to the battle. The player can acquire a variety of side quests and missions by visiting the near by towns and villages to talk with the local residents. Great care must be taken when visiting these villages however, the player can turn down requests from villagers and can even attack them.

When this is coupled with their pre-set parameters they may well view and treat the player as hostile if the feel they’ve been poorly treated. Summoning and using combat powers will drain Metallias magic power, this can be regained by replenishing your “GIGAcal”. GIGAcal is the source of Metallias magic power and can be obtained by eating. The player must keep a constant watch on their GIGAcal intake so they don’t run out in combat, thus eliminating their ability to summon the Knights. Collecting various items throughout your journeying and adventures will allow you to craft and synthesize items to aid you.

Story

Somewhere deep in the confines of the forest, lives a duo of opposing witches. One, is the beautiful young Marsh Witch, the other is  the ugly Forest Witch. The two are currently engaged in a long and deadly war with each other for supremacy. By mere chance, the Marsh Witch one day encounters the Hundred Knights of legend that she ensnares with magic. Her plan is to use these knights to help her finally gain the upper hand and defeat her foe.

Characters

• Metallia: Metallia is a beautiful young Marsh Witch and anti hero that serves as the main character of The Witch and the Hundred Knight. It is her goal to get rid of her long time rival who just so happens to be the Forest Witch. If she can rid herself of the Forest Witch she will be able to fill the world with the Marshland that she loves. She hopes to accomplish this with her control of the Hundred Knights.
• Alrekino: Alrekino is the Marsh Witches butler. Though he is a faithful servant of his mistress his words are often muttered in polite insolence. His appearance is rather run down and he puts up with a lot of abuse from Metallia.
• Lana Nia Luccini: A high spirited and obedient Shepard that hails from the Tettara Desert which is where he and his family practice star reading. The one thing he enjoys more than star reading though, is witches.
• Nezaria: A young but highly capable witch who manipulates fog, she is also acting chairwoman of witches during their gatherings. She rarely speaks herself, letting her talking staff do that for her.
• Teresse: An apprentice witch in training. She’s quite the trouble maker and appears to have her own motives. She too follows Metllia around.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

A new gameplay trailer has been released for the upcoming action role playing game, The Witch and the Hundred Knight, in which the player takes on the role of The Hundred Knight as he enforces the rule and expands the territory of an apparently morally ambiguous witch.

The video is of what appears to be an in-game boss battle that shows off the action-oriented style of combat players will experience. It seems as though there is a heavy emphasis on the utilization of special abilities in conjunction with one another to pull off powerful combos for extra damage.

The video, however, give a look at what makes The Witch and the Hundred Knight such a stylistically unique game. The artwork is reminiscent of a combination between the old-school point and click feel of games such as Dazzeloids mixed with the quirky open RPG environment of the Deathspank series,

By all accounts, The Witch and the Hundred Knight looks to be a fun game brimming with personality.

Nippon Ichi Software has confirmed that a recent image on its New Year’s card, which showcases The Witch and The Hundred Knight along with Disgaea 4 along with portions of three new characters, is actually for a new, as of yet unannounced title.

NIS has already had quite a busy year. Along with development the aforementioned confirmed titles, 2013 saw the release of Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness, The Guided Fate Paradox and Battle Princess of Arcadias. The former two titles are already available in the West with Battle Princess only available in Japan. The Witch and The Hundred Knight has been confirmed for a Western release in March while Disgaea 4 remains a Japan-only release for now.

What are your thoughts on what the new game could be? Will you be picking up The Witch and The Hundred Knight when it releases for the PlayStation 3 on March 21st 2014 in Europe and March 25th 2014 in North America? Let us know your thoughts below.

Earlier we had reported that The Witch And The Hundred Knight will be coming to North America And Europe in early 2014. NIS America has now revealed the actual dates. The game will release March 21st in North America and March 25th in Europe. The game was developed by Nippon Ichi Software and will be available both for download on the PSN and in retail locations.

The With And The Hundred Knights is an action RPG in which the player will take on the role of the Hundred Knight, a legendary knight who is under the command of the witch Metallia. Metallia sends the Hundred Knight to expand the borders of her swamp throughout the land of Medea. Over the course of the plot you will learn the history of Metallia and why she cannot leave her swamp, and why she is shunned by the other witches of Medea.

The key features of the game include:

• Fantasy style melee in which the player can equip up to five weapons at a tie
• The ability to dodge enemy attacks in real time
• The ability to consume enemies
• Class changing between “facets” to better suite your surroundings
• Both English and Japanese audio

Are you looking forward to this game? Let us know in the comments section below.

You’ll be taking on the role of the Hundred Knight, joining forces with the witch Metallia in order to spread her swamp far and wide through the reaches of the world. You’ll be able to equip to five weapons for combos, dodge enemy attacks and activate a slow-motion mode to bash foes, consume enemies, and even switch between English and Japanese audio tracks.

Considering the lack of RPGs – and for that matter, big budget games – releasing for the PlayStation 3 next year (and no, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is not being considered), it remains to be seen how The Witch and the Hundred Knight will fill that void. Stay tuned for more details.