For those obsessed with lore, the game contains an entire book titled the Wizard's Companion that includes anything and everything a player would ever want to know about the background of the world, its inhabitants, magic, the creatures and even short stories. The game sometimes even calls upon the use of the book to read a passage or figure out a recipe for a quest. There is even an entire alphabet in a language called Nazcaan, which you will need to use in order to decipher some of the game's hidden messages. Hint: The alphabet is also on the back of the game's manual.
Ni No Kuni borrows heavily from the core Pokemon games. You start off with a set creature, however down the line you learn to tame creatures encountered in the wild and then use them in battle. Aside from everything else that Ni No Kuni does right, combat is absolutely spectacular, as it mixes both real time movement with turn based attacks. Either you or your summoned familiar is given the freedom of movement. Commands are then given out and acted on during a set amount of time. The key to getting the most out of each battle is triggering commands at the right time, as well as cancelling them to defend yourself or use a skill. It's a simple formula at first that gets far more strategic the more party members and familiars you have.
If you've been privy to the game's existence before, you're certainly aware that the game looks absolutely gorgeous. The cel-shaded in-game visuals bring every character to life, while Studio Ghibli took care of all the cinematic animations to create a wondrous and magical world. Honestly, they couldn't have picked a better animation studio to oversee this project. Ni No Kuni isn't just pleasing to the eyes, it's also a treat for the ears. The entire soundtrack, which is performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, is filled with memorable tunes that are sure to linger on in your head hours after you've turned the game off. With such beauty, both aesthetic and musical, it's easy to sometimes just stop and take in the glorious sights of the environment while the background melody complements the scenery.
Certainly the voice acting isn't too shabby. While I tend to be a purist when it comes to playing Japanese games in their native language, I have to give Kudos to the American voice actors behind every character. Mr. Drippy especially is quite a fun character to listen to.
So what could possibly be wrong with such a stellar title. The one thing that ultimately bothered me at times was the fact that the game never really focused on the real world problems that Oliver and surrounding characters are going through. Death, abuse and even child neglect get brought up in the game, yet instead of tackling these problems through a real world solution, the solution always seems to be "use magic." I get that the developers wanted the game to stay more lighthearted than serious, however I feel like it's a missed opportunity for the game to feel more "real" in that sense.
Minor gripes aside, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch proves that some developers still know how to make a stellar JRPG, fusing old school and new school into something absolutely breathtaking, memorable and most of all, fun.
It's the way of the modern JRPG it seems like. Popular tropes like overworld maps, airships and some good old turn-based combat seem to have disappeared, or should I say, evolved into what JRPG games are now. However, thanks to Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, we get a game that finally gets it right again. It knows how to honor the JRPG tropes of old while still reinventing the genre and blending it with various gameplay elements of other popular franchises. Not to mention, Level 5 already developed some of my all-time favorite RPGs like Dark Cloud 2, Dragon Quest VIII and Rogue Galaxy.
Ni No Kuni is about a boy named Oliver and his quest through a magical world. A world where various wildlife can be tamed and used for battle; where magic is commonplace, but ultimately, a place in dire need of help. Oliver is an average boy, and yet he is pure-hearted. The game's initial events lead to a tragedy that leaves poor Oliver without his mother. Not long after, a doll that was given to him by his mother comes to life thanks to Oliver's pure-hearted tears.
The doll, revealed to be a fairy named Mr. Drippy, explains to Oliver that there are parallel worlds, where each person has a soul mate (essentially a doppelganger). His mother's soul mate is a powerful Sage who, in Drippy's world, is in dire need of help. Aside from needing a pure-hearted human to defeat a dark being known as Shadar, he also tells him that saving the trapped Sage can possibly re-awaken his mother in the human world.
Aside from Oliver's grand, main quest, the world is filled with side missions to partake in and elite monsters to hunt down. Many citizens will often ask you for help whether it's to collect certain items for them from the overworld map, hunt down a certain number of monsters, or simply restore their humanity with a bit of enthusiasm or courage that Shadar has taken from them. Oliver has the ability to borrow these emotions from people who are brimming with them, and in turn help out others who are lacking them.
One minor gripe I had was that Mr. Drippy always spells out everything for Oliver, and in turn, to us the gamers. Instead of letting us figure out which character needs what type of heart, be it courage, kindness, etc., Mr. Drippy always yells out the solution, never really giving us the chance to use our brains a bit.
Since everyone is connected by their soul mate, Oliver will have to travel back and forth between his town of Motorville and the magical realm to solve various issues to help him progress with his quest. It's a riot to see that a simple house cat in Motorville is a King of a city elsewhere.
Completing side quests is far more rewarding outside of extra Gold and EXP to be gained. Each side quest has a certain number of stamps associated with it based on their difficulty. Once completed, you'll gain these stamps for your merit card. Completing a certain amount of merit cards will then allow you to purchase bonuses for Oliver, such as faster running speed when on the overworld map or an increased amount health and mana globes during fights.
The game does tend to hold your hand when it comes to advancing the story, but you still have that freedom to do whatever you want, and delve outside the main quest. A Star icon will always guide Oliver to the next story based mission, but exploration is encouraged, and does yield some great rewards. JRPG purists can opt to turn the Star feature off completely.
