Ni no Kuni II has three modes interweaved with one another

Bandai Namco recently hosted a preview event for Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom at Hever Castle in the UK, and while we were at the event we got to speak with product manager Pierre Tartaix about the different styles of gameplay we'll see in the RPG, including the Kingdom mode which we mentioned in our newest preview.

"We are trying to showcase three different parts of Ni no Kuni which are distinct in gameplay but completely intertwined in what you do and how this affects the rest of the game," he explained to us. "So first we've got what I would call the classical RPG experience, so that's your very, very traditional Ni no Kuni gameplay where you roam into the cities, you talk to the NPCs, you get quests - side quests, main quests - you do stuff for people, you fight the enemies, we've got a brand new combat system. Eventually you just level up and get some more weapons, craft some weapons, craft some items, so it's a very complete overall RPG."

"Then [this is] linked to what we call the Kingdom mode, which is not really a 'mode' as much as a part of the gameplay in which you build your kingdom from the ground up and you actually decide which buildings and facilities you want to build, how you want to have them evolved, and who you assign in your facilities, and there's where it's linked to the rest of the RPG, because all your side quests are going to actually unlock people and convince them to come, to live and work in your kingdom. Then you assign them to special facilities and then unlock some research, they unlock some bonuses, they unlock some new places, so it's really, really full of stuff to unlock and new stuff to develop for you."

"And the third part is the Skirmishes. So Skirmishes happen when you are fighting in the kingdom with your army. As a ruler you have your own army, and again that's an army that you have to convince to come in your castle, that's an army that you have to assign through the Kingdom part, and then they journey on the mini map, on the travelling system, and then you get four troops surrounding Evan, the king, and actually you have to position them properly and have them rotate and give them orders, so it's all indirect - you give them the orders, they do the fighting for you - and it's a real-time strategy kind of gameplay."

Which of these three aspects sounds the most interesting to you?