Little Witch Nobeta | PS4 Review

The merger between soulsborne and anime has finally been realized! Thanks to Idea Factory, and their onboard developers, "Little Witch Nobeta" gives anime fans a reason to celebrate! This cute cat guided story about an amnesiac witch on her way to a castle's throne has the player fighting along with her to discover her identity. Along the way the little witch encounters various castle residents who are out to stop her progress. Be it deadly soul infused denizens or wicked witches. Utilizing elemental magic for attack spells, and enchantments for traversal abilities she is able to bypass these roadblocks though. Collecting the fallens' souls when the job is done, and spending said souls to grow in power. Additionally finding clues of the past through hidden items that contain lore inclusive information. Bringing the wayward witch one step closer to sorting out her identity crisis.

Staying true the formula, but deviating ever so slightly as to use Metroidvania options and spellcasting 'Little Witch Nobeta" does what soulsborne games do and then some. At the heart of this magical adventure lies a system of stamina, mana, and health gauges. The three governing forces behind the protagonist's journey forward. Leaving the added abilities and spellcasting as the means by which progress is made. 

As the little witch Nobeta you'll find your attacks come in a dual variety. One such method being melee wand attacks, and the other elemental spell casting. Each providing the damage required to defeat enemies, and help with the puzzle solving elements. As you progress you'll unlock and earn three new elementals spell types outside of your base spell. This and enchantments that act as Metroidvnia style traversal options. Casting attack spells can be done in one of two ways. You can cast targeted projectile spells that exhaust mana, or more powerful spell alternatives that require an uninterrupted chant before use. Using these attack spells, and melee attacks can help clear lesser, and greater enemies supposing you manage your mana, health, and stamina carefully. Things like dodging, and running uses up stamina, and if fully used can lead to a temporary vulnerable state for Nobeta. 

Additionally health, and mana can only be recovered in a couple of different ways throughout your playthrough. You can recover mana by successfully dodging enemy attacks, or by defeating/attacking enemies. You can also recover mana at crystal shrines by standing near them. In the way of health there are single use health/mana items that can be found, and there are goddess save shrines where praying will replenish health fully. The goddess shrines, themselves, double as the traditional soulsborne campfire allowing for several different stat upgrades at the cost of collected souls as well as a means to change cosmetic costumes, and buy single use items. Costumes, as they were, are cosmetics that are earned through feats rendered whereas the single use items cost the same souls as the stat upgrades.

The Playthrough ...

Progress in a playthrough is determined solely by how well you maintain your trio of gauges, and how well you do in the areas of combat, and evasion. As with any soulsborne game there are multi-layered sections for exploration, puzzle solving, and dealing with lesser enemies, and enemy mobs. There's also the gated boss battles in closed arena style areas. From location to location Nobeta will earn the souls needed to grow statistically stronger as well as the enchantments, and spells that will server her in the battle situations, specifically. The end goal of it all being to defeat all bosses, and make it to the throne room for memory recollection sake. 

In the way of plot "Little Witch Nobeta" takes to heart the traditional soulsborne method of storytelling through collected items as well as cinematic sequences containing character driven conversations such as those between Nobeta, and her black cat guide. Opening up the options menu will gain you access to the items listing where you can read the available text or listen to voiced dialogue pertaining to the item's lore. Items include such things as weapons, coins, and other relics relevant to the undisclosed history of Nobeta's world. 

For those of you looking for soulsborne settings the game has two difficulties including an easy standard mode, and an advanced normal mode. Standard difficulty gives Nobeta enhanced spells while Advanced is the normal way to play the game. Fine tuning the camera features, sound, and graphics is also an option. Allowing the player to lower aiming speed (which is a must) as well as tweak other camera focused parameters. 

The Verdict ...

Little Witch Nobeta is a soulsborne and Metroidvania hybrid with a spellcasting/shooter focus. With it you'll find a soulsborne worthy challenge, and familiar features that most genre fans will pick up on. What it does, gameplay-wise, is both innovative and unique despite having obvious inspirations. As a reviewer and player of soulsborne titles I found this particular take to be somewhat easier in comparison to others given the chanting ability, and spellcasting attacks. Landing chant powered spells does big damage that can destroy bosses with ease. That being said you must also mind the choreographed attacks or those efforts will fail you very quickly. There is definitely skill mastery required for a full playthrough regardless of chant advantage. 

Visually, the game is not exactly up to modern standards, but the anime and architecture designs are done well enough. The soundtrack on the other hand is symphonic and haunting at times. Including choral chants, and melodic voices heightened by instrumentals. The voice overs are all in the original Japanese, but there are English subtitles. Something that works well according to presentation. Things like the items having voice-overs adds to the otherwise voiceless portions of a playthrough. 

All things weighed I think "Little Witch Nobeta" does good enough to appeal to both genre, and anime fans alike. It is the perfect blend in that respect. Of course combat, puzzle solving, and traversal is the main focus. Meaning that anyone hoping for a lot of cutscenes throw into the mix might be a bit disappointed. The lore is mostly gained through item collecting, and the occasional in-game cinematic. Even so it gets my seal of approval. A game not to be missed, especially if you are a soulsborne fan.