The Witch and the Hundred Knight asks you to serve a swamp witch who cannot leave her swamp. Nippon Ichi Software developed the action RPG for PlayStation 3 in 2013; NIS America published it. It stars Metallia, a self-proclaimed swamp witch, and the Hundred Knight, the legendary warrior she summons to turn the tide of a hundred-year war with the Forest Witch Malia. The premise is strange and specific. The execution is thin, repetitive and, in at least one documented case, broken.
Trailer, via ContraNetwork.
Metallia Cannot Leave Niblhenne
Metallia lives in Niblhenne, a highly poisonous swamp bounded by a large forest in the dark fantasy world of Medea. She is not an officially recognized witch, but she is powerful and immortal. Her one weakness is that she cannot leave the swamp at all. She has fought Malia for 100 years, and summoning the Hundred Knight is her attempt to turn that war.
The Hundred Knight arrives far smaller and weaker than she pictured. What it can do is release the Pillars sealed in the swamp. Metallia sends it out to free every Pillar and spread the swamp across the world, extending her power and reach.
That is the whole engine of the story, and it is a good one. Metallia is petty, ambitious and trapped.
Five Weapons and a Gauge
Combat runs from a top-down isometric view. The Hundred Knight can equip up to five weapons and cycle through them to build combos. Players equip different “facets” that change appearance and alter stats and weapon proficiencies. Special abilities raise a bonus gauge, which pays out better rewards when a stage is cleared.
The world is linear. New stages unlock one after another, though players can revisit earlier stages for new areas and items. The base of operations is Metallia’s house in Niblhenne Swamp, where you save and use a basic merchant. Activating a Pillar in the field lets you warp home and restart at that Pillar on re-entry.
The systems stack, and they mostly work. Five weapons give combat a rhythm. Facets give it a reason to experiment.
Giga Calories Drain With Every Step
Every action drains Giga Calories, or Gcals. Fighting, exploring and using abilities all consume them. When Gcals run out, HP depletes quickly and continuously until the Hundred Knight is KO’ed. Players restore Gcals by eating food or devouring weakened enemies in a short quick time event. Devouring creates “garbage.”
This is the game’s most interesting idea and its most annoying one. A hunger clock is a fine way to keep players moving. Tying it to a quick time event and a waste byproduct makes every meal a small chore.
Death is costly. If the Hundred Knight is KO’ed while exploring, it returns to Metallia’s house and forfeits any items acquired during that run. That rule turns a bad fight into a lost hour.
Villages, Karma and the Bucket List
Players can raid NPC villages for items. Doing so raises “karma,” and high karma can make NPCs attack on sight. Picking up Anima from defeated enemies feeds Metallia’s Bucket List, which lowers karma and unlocks new abilities.
The karma system gives the Hundred Knight a moral dial without a moral story. You rob villages because the loot is there, then spend Anima to make the villagers forget. It is a transaction, not a choice.
Malia Becomes a Mouse
The plot moves past Malia. The Hundred Knight defeats her, and Metallia curses her into a mouse after learning Malia was her “mother.” Metallia then meets Visco, a princess cursed to look like a dog who wants Malia’s help. Metallia tricks Visco into joining her and cannot cure the curse.
She also meets Lucchini, a beastman astrologer who wants to be her apprentice, and Mani, a smart-mouthed “punk” swamp fairy who serves as the Hundred Knight’s backup guide. Arlecchino, her robotic servant, stays at the house.
Metallia keeps spreading the swamp until she is invited to the witches’ “Nighttime Soiree,” which would make her a real witch. She does every required preparation and learns the invitation was a prank to make her look like a fool. She shuts herself in. Visco and the Hundred Knight infiltrate Brockenturm, the witches’ gathering place, to unlock the Pillars there and let Metallia come. She arrives and takes her revenge.
That sequence is the best argument for the game. A witch who cannot leave her swamp is finally invited out, and the invitation is a joke at her expense. The story earns its dark fantasy label by being cruel to its lead rather than to the player.
Takehito Harada Builds Medea
The Witch and the Hundred Knight adopts high-res, fully 3D environments and characters, with a dark fantasy world brought to life by Takehito Harada. Nippon Ichi Software pitched it as a brand-new action RPG experience.
The swamp is ugly on purpose. Metallia’s house handles saving and a basic merchant, nothing more.
The technical side does not hold up. The game drew mixed reception from critics, who praised the unconventional story but faulted gameplay and technical issues, including a game-breaking bug.
| Element | What it does | How it lands |
|---|---|---|
| Metallia | Immortal swamp witch, cannot leave Niblhenne | The reason to play |
| The Hundred Knight | Summoned warrior, smaller than expected | A vessel, not a character |
| Gcal system | Drains on action, KO at zero | Interesting, then tedious |
| Karma system | Villages raise it, Anima lowers it | A dial without a dilemma |
| Story | Prank, revenge, Brockenturm | Unconventional and memorable |
| Technical state | Mixed reception, game-breaking bug | The reason to hesitate |
The table is the review in miniature. Everything the game does well sits on the left with Metallia and the story. Everything that drags sits on the right with the systems and the bugs.
The Numbers
- Title: The Witch and the Hundred Knight
- Developer: Nippon Ichi Software
- Publisher: NIS America
- Platform: PlayStation 3
- Release year: 2013
- Genre: Action role-playing game, hack and slash
- Perspective: Top-down isometric
- Modes: Single player
- Enhanced port: The Witch and the Hundred Knight: Revival Edition, PlayStation 4, 2015
- Sequel: 2017
- Published critical score: 6.2/10 (IGDB critic aggregate, 8 outlets)
A Great Lead and a Bad Appetite
The Witch and the Hundred Knight is a game with a great lead and a bad appetite. Metallia’s century-long war, her inability to leave Niblhenne, and the prank that humiliates her at the Nighttime Soiree give the game a spine most action RPGs never grow. The Pillar hunt, the Bucket List and the Brockenturm infiltration all serve that spine.
The systems do not. Five weapons and facets make combat flexible, but Gcals make it anxious, karma makes it hollow, and the item forfeiture on death makes it punishing in the wrong direction. The game-breaking bug is the final word on a project that needed more time.
The score is 6.2 of 10. That number is fair, and it is fair in a specific way. It is not the score of a boring game. It is the score of a game with a strong lead and systems that never stopped working against her. Play it for Metallia.
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