Little Witch Nobeta Review – Anime Soulslike

I understand that people are tired of constantly seeing games being called Soulslike, but as you will see in our review of Little Witch Nobeta, sometimes the comparisons are hard to ignore. Because over the years, the term has become synonymous with a certain type of challenging game, and, as such, many studios have tried to replicate the experiences offered by FromSoft titles with varying results. 

Most studios try to deliver on this format by raising the difficulty, constructing a dark world, splashing a new coat of paint on an overused fantasy template, or writing up lore nobody understands and calling it a day. But I don’t think anyone would have expected a game with a little anime witch to go this route, and yet it did.

Story And Setting

Little Witch Nobeta starts by giving you very little information about the world you inhabit, and you are given a single objective, which is getting to the throne room of the mysterious castle you find yourself in front of. And at the beginning of your journey into this mysterious structure, you meet a black cat who serves as your guide throughout the castle.

The story is really mysterious at the start, but it does start to unravel as you progress. There are collectibles scattered throughout the castle which can help fill some gaps in the story, like in many other SoulsBorne titles. And as is the way with most of these experiences, the narrative is not upfront and primarily serves as a vessel to carry you from one plot point to another.

The real depth comes from going out of your way to dig into the item descriptions, and learning more about the world. The problem however is that Little Witch Nobeta’s lore is just not all that interesting, and borrowing the formula from one of the best-realized worlds of all time, Dark Souls in this instance, does not automatically make the writing good.

Although the black cat who you spend most of the game with, is introduced as an important character, the interactions with it never build up your bond. The dialogues and the cutscenes also suffer considerably from a lack of interesting writing, and they never caught my eye, and I was just agitated by them for breaking up the gameplay. 

But as far as the setting alone is concerned, the castle has a really good atmosphere. It is riddled with traps and enemies at every nook and corner keeping you on your edge at all times. It has a mysterious vibe to it which urges the player to explore it while simultaneously being alert to not be caught by surprise. Puzzles are also present at a number of key locations which are required to be completed to progress through the story. 

Gameplay

Where the story disappoints, the gameplay shines. The enemy variety in the game is really good and each follows a specific pattern that you’ll need to learn to defeat them. As such, fights can be challenging a few times. But fret not, as our witch has a number of spells at her disposal for taking down her foes from afar and also melee enemies up close with her staff. These spells are divided into four categories which can be upgraded.

These categories usually determine the range and damage of the spell, since some are suitable for long-range, like the lighting spell, while others are more suitable for close-range, such as the fire spell. You’ve also got your standard all-purpose spell known as the arcane spell and the rapid-shot ice spell. Each spell also has unique special attacks which can help turn the tide of the battle in a sticky situation. Using magic tailored for combat can deplete your MP meter, which keeps track of your mana, and the complete depletion of this meter will render you unable to cast at all. The MP meter refills automatically but you can refill it faster by using melee attacks or evading attacks timely.

While evading attacks you also have to keep an eye out for your stamina meter as actions such as evading and sprinting can eat it up. If this meter is completely depleted, you’ll be a sitting duck and more susceptible to attacks. But all is not lost if this happens and you run out of HP, as you can respawn at the last Goddess Statue you encountered. These statues are scattered throughout the map and basically serve as your bonfires.

These spells aren’t the only powers Nobeta holds though, as she can also use incantations that provide different temporary buffs. For example, lightning incantations can slow down time, while ice incantations can provide you with more durability, reducing the damage input. Fire incantations on the other hand greatly increase the damage you can deal to your opponents. These incantations are lifesavers when you are surrounded by a large number of enemies. However, the downside is that you are vulnerable while casting them and do usually take some time to cast.

Defeating your foes rewards you with Crafted Souls, which can be used to buy some single-use buffs or level up your stats. You can grind through enemies to level up your stats so that you stand a better chance at taking on more powerful enemies. And if you do die, you only lose a portion of your Crafted Souls, which actually encourages you to take more risks while exploring, without the fear of losing all your progress due to a single misstep.

The different combinations of offensive spells, mixed with incantations and a few melee attacks in between make for a fun gameplay experience and I did not find myself getting bored of it, even though the spells are limited. The key here lies in the good enemy design, especially the boss battles, which are surprisingly really well done. You’ll die multiple times during these, but that will be because of your own lack of understanding of the boss’s attack patterns. And the satisfaction you get after learning the ropes and being able to predict their moves, is one of the most rewarding things about the game.

Visuals And Performance

The visuals of this title are not up to modern standards but they are passable. They possess a retro feel of mid-2000s dungeon crawlers, and I’m all up for it. Some areas of the castle can look pleasing due to exceptionally good lighting, but others look downright ugly in comparison.

The character designs and animations are really good though, especially Nobeta’s own. Her movements are really well done for the most part, though I do have a bone to pick with the standard casting animation, but that’s more of a preference thing than anything else. The same can be said about enemy designs. The attention to detail given to each character is commendable, but there are some low-quality animation and textures here and there.

This title is not that demanding either, and is suitable to run on mid to low-end hardware. I also did not encounter any game-breaking bugs or crashes during my playthrough on a GTX 1060 6GB with a Core i7-6700, so that’s a plus.

Verdict

I can state with confidence that Little Witch Nobeta is a gem of a game in a genre that is littered with mediocre titles with little creativity. It has a good atmosphere with some mystery to it, even if the actual narrative is not that interesting. The engaging combat kept me coming back for more, and the puzzles and boss fights are also interesting and provided enough of a challenge to keep me pushing forward.

I urge you to not be fooled by the harmless looks of the main character of this game and to take it easy, because if you do, this title will take you by surprise due to its surprisingly steep difficulty curve.

This has been our Little Witch Nobeta Review. While you’re here, consider checking out some of our other articles. 

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