Little Witch Nobeta Review: Yeah, “Cute Souls” Should Be A Genre Now
When you think of the Souls-like formula, what do you usually think of? Stamina? Dodge Rolls? Breakable crates and barrels? Well, here’s a new one for you, how about cute little witches? Wait, no, not quite like Rani from Elden Ring, a little more “kawaii” as the hip, young kids put it. Cue Little Witch Nobeta. This breakout Souls-like, published by Idea Factory International and developed by Taiwanese developer Pupuya Games, fills its cauldron to the brim with copious charm and unique, impactful gameplay to concoct a bewitching take on the genre.
Witch’s Trial
It’s almost like a mix of Marisa Kirisame and Alice Margatroid!
Little Witch Nobeta puts players in the pointy hat of the titular witch, with nothing in her noggin in terms of memories. See, the cold opening has her show up at a sinister-looking castle in search of those lost memories. She spots a black cat that’s heading on in, so she follows suit. It turns out that the little critter’s more of a fighter than it seemed, having some kind of magic powers undisclosed to little Nobeta. But safety first when heading into a bleak grey castle, so she opts to follow the mystical feline for protection and guidance.
The adventure’s pretty straightforward from there, as you’ll guide Nobeta through the dungeon’s many domains to search for the throne room. There’s a small number of characters that you’ll meet in the castle, all of them uninterested in letting you live. I loved the designs of the other ladies lurking in the castle, as they have very distinct looks that really make them stand out. From Tania and her giant ribbon to Monica’s big ol’ dog ears and cute bear plushy, it all is very unique and standout in the abundance of dark colors. It can seem a bit offputting to see so much color from the characters when so much of the environment and even enemies are just dark colors and nothing else, but I’d say it still works out well enough since later levels break the color monotony a bit. Speaking of lighter sides, I honestly can say that, for what’s a somewhat piecemeal (and slightly confusing) plot, there’s quite a cute and quaint little story tucked away in here! Without hitting on the spoilers, the ending yielded probably the biggest “D’awww!” I’ve ever voiced while playing a Souls-like.
On the topic of the setting, I think the biggest issue though comes from the people you never see. Despite the game’s adorable protagonist, the world of Little Witch Nobeta is quite grim. The worldbuilding is done mainly through the usual Souls-ian style of picking stuff up off the ground and checking out the description. Themes like slavery, racism, genocide, and a little prostitution are tucked into the collectibles scattered in the corners of this unapologetic hellhole, which shocked the hell out of me seeing that Nobeta herself is a package of absolute adorableness. I’m no stranger to these kinds of juxtapositions, but it was quite a wide gap between the two here. I myself don’t mind this too much, as, over the years of Souls-likes and many other games, I’ve become quite desensitized to wafts of harrowing despair, but I’m not going to sit here and say it’s for everyone. I’m sure many people would pick this up on a whim, seeing the cute witch Nobeta and thinking it sure is adorable, and expect the tone to be kinda like a lighthearted JRPG, something like maybe Atelier. That is very much not the case here, you hop in here, and you’ll be seeing some pretty screwed-up stuff lingering around, so brace yourself. Or, at least, don’t read the descriptions for anything, spare yourself the brain bleach.
Spellcasting With Soul
When a cute anime Souls-like has a cooler targeting reticule than most sci-fi games
So I have a bit of a confession to make here: This really isn’t quite Souls-like in the way you might imagine. To be fair, the term “Souls-like” gets tossed around pretty casually these days, and if someone wanted to argue that this isn’t really a true Souls-like title, I can’t say I’d 100% disagree with them, seeing that Little Witch Nobeta straddles the line a bit at times. Yes, you have a health, mana, and stamina bar, there’s dodge rolling, and you level up with “souls” at designated checkpoints (angel statues in this case), but the actual gameplay itself wanders more into a 3D action shooter type of gameplay. I know, it’s kinda wild to try and wrap your head around, but I will honestly say that it is still plenty of fun in its current form, even if it’s clearly not going the way most Souls-likes tend to. Little Witch Nobeta has a much more vested interest in casting spells. You’re a witch, after all, so why wouldn’t you? Your primary method of putting down foes will be to hold the aim button and fire away with your staff, which will chew into your SP. There’s a variety of spells you can get, stuff like light magic, fire magic, ice magic, and more. You have staff strikes that can restore SP and, if hit in the right window, can parry enemies’ attacks, rapidly restoring your SP.
What really adds intrigue, though, is charging up your spells. In a way, basic spells and charged-up spells act like a sort of stance system. Let’s take Ice magic as an example. As a normal spell, it acts something like an SMG, spitting out rapid icicles with a low cost of mana. Charge it up, though, and it now becomes a lock-on spell that rains a hailstorm over any targets you’ve painted. Not only that, but say you charge it up but don’t fire. Well, turns out that actually changes things quite a bit! You’ll now get a buff to defense while charged, plus you can walk through fire unharmed. To help with comparison, we’ll look at the fire spell too. Basic shots are a shotgun-like spread, but charging it up imbues your staff with fire, making it hurt like hell now when you whack something with it, not to mention the lock-on fireball you’ll shoot like a homing missile when you let the shot loose. I’ll be the first to admit that this ain’t what I thought of with a Souls-like, but I love it! It’s semi-simple but creatively used not just for damage, but for environmental use too. It adds an extra layer of risk and reward, and while the stance change will end either once you run out of charge or you fire your spell off, it’s good for adding some strategy to encounters.
Something worth mentioning is there are semi-minor “puzzles”. See, when you get introduced to a new ability, there’s often a little room not far away with a big ol’ mana crystal to keep feeding you mana while you find new and different ways to destroy these totems that are making barriers keeping you from going further. You’ll have to learn how to use your abilities before you can proceed, and while these are rather intuitive for the most part, I’ll say that there can be some dexterity required. I think this worked out well in its favor, though, as once you’re done learning, it’s time for rehearsal, and not in the typical combat sense of “use what’s going to deal the most damage”. It’s more along the lines of remembering how to use your tools effectively to ensure you can do any damage at all. Enemies no-selling your shots? Power up your fire spell for that hard-hitting melee damage. Too fast to land a shot, or regenerating too fast to kill? Don’t forget that the lightning spell lets you slow everything around you down. I really can appreciate how Little Witch Nobeta sets up the magic combat, none too easy nor too difficult, and lends itself to flexibility that the gameplay will have you rehearsing all the while. It honestly still baffles me how this is definitely still Souls-like at its core, but it takes such a unique spin on how to handle the finer details.
Hexing Ain’t Easy
Sadly, donning a maid outfit doesn’t allow you to sneak past maid enemies. But hey, cute outfit!
I’m sure with all this said, you’re wondering just how much of a challenge you’ll be walking into here. I’ll admit, even on the default difficulty, it’s not hard at all, and I rarely had a boss I struggled against. Hell, dying to the second or third stage of a boss ensures that when you come back, you’ll be fighting the second phase instead of doing the whole sequence again, something I was wholeheartedly expecting to have to do. That said, there are higher difficulties, plus you can always incorporate your own challenges should you want. Since level-ups are done in the same fashion as traditional Souls-likes, you could easily do a level-one run or a no-hit run. This is definitely not where you’d go just for tried ‘n true Souls gameplay by any standards, but what it’s working with, I can see offering plenty of challenge, but only to those actively seeking it out. Otherwise, it’s fairly lenient for something borrowing the Souls-like tag, wanting players to feel like pushing on instead of giving up.
The whole spell-crafting combat, in general, is very well done, creating impactfulness from attacks and a feeling like you’re actually doing damage to enemies. The only part of combat that I feel didn’t quite live up to the rest was the melee. You can do a four-swing combo with your staff to deal damage, restore mana, and parry. Admittedly, there were quite a few times when it didn’t feel worth it to use the staff unless I had to, as close-range combat is much better handled with even just the basic fire spell. This is kind of funny, though, since the charged-up fire spell buffs melee damage. If the melee wasn’t so clunky, I’d probably be more inclined to use it over just blasting things with magic. It’s not unusable, but it is mildly frustrating at times when you watch your staff whiff right by something when you’re kinda in a panic (one of only a few scenarios where you’ll probably wind up using it).
Lastly, and this might be a sour point for some, there ain’t much here. Well, there is, and there isn’t. I personally felt the length was just right, giving enough content to play through, stuff for other playthroughs, and the like, all adding up to a good maybe 20 to 25 hours depending on how well someone’s combing the environment or if someone were to get stuck on a boss. Souls veterans might think this a little more absurd as most of the Souls-like RPGs are very much in for a penny, in for a pound, campaigns going upward of even hundreds of hours. I do think the replayability value here would keep some more ambitious Souls players around for another playthrough or two, but I imagine most will pop in, decide if it’s for them or not, and rinse through it relatively fast, assuming the former.
The Cuter Side of Souls
Little Witch Nobeta isn’t a Souls-like in the traditional sense, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Like a cunning crone, developer Pupuya Games have skillfully combined seemingly disparate ingredients to create something magical. Still, genre veterans may find themselves put off by the lack of challenge to be found in the title’s beginning hours, and the stark contrast between its whimsical protagonist and the grim world she inhabits can admittedly, at times, be a bit jarring. If these things don’t bother you and you’re a fan of Souls-likes who’s looking for something more forgiving, or perhaps a bit cuter than what you’d usually expect from the genre, Little Witch Nobeta is sure to leave you under its spell.
Final Verdict: 4/5
Available on: Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 (Reviewed); Publisher: Idea Factory; Developer: Simon Creative, Pupuya Games; Number of players: 1; Released: March 7th, 2023; MSRP: $49.99
Full Disclosure: A copy of Little Witch Nobeta was obtained by the reviewer
