Ni No Kuni follows Oliver, a young boy living with his mother in the small town of Motorville. After a tragic accident results in the death of his mother, Oliver falls into a deep sadness which is broken only when a few of his tears fall onto the stuffed animal his mother gave him. The tears break a magic spell and the animal comes to life! Oliver never could have guessed that the old stuffed animal he had been lugging around for years was actually a fairy named Drippy who was cursed by an evil sorcerer.
Through talking with his new friend, Oliver learns of another world; one that exists separately from his own, yet runs parallel to Motorville in many ways. In this other world, an evil djinn has spread despair across the land, breaking the will of all its inhabitants. Drippy explains to Oliver that each person in his world is linked to a person in the other world. If something bad happens to a "soul mate" in one world, the linked person in the other will feel its effects. The fairy attempts to convince Oliver to come with him to the other world in order to become a wizard and gain the power needed to defeat the dark djinn, Shadar. In addition, Drippy explains to Oliver that his mother's soul mate is trapped by the dark djinn, and that if Oliver were to rescue her, his own mother might recover. With this new knowledge fueling him, Oliver agrees to join Drippy on the quest, and the two take off to the other world.
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| Kids and their nose piercings these days... |
Once the two arrive in the other world, Oliver learns that the dark djinn's magic has affected much of the land. Oliver sets out to right the many wrongs caused by this dark magic. Along the way, Oliver will meet new friends and enemies and will learn a lot about himself and others as he journeys toward the ultimate confrontation with the dark djinn.
Ni No Kuni plays very similarly to other JRPGs in that Oliver travels the world via a world map. Oliver can encounter enemies, treasure, and other locations while roaming across the world map. Numerous modes of travel will become available throughout the journey to make traveling across the world go more quickly. Not that you'd really want to rush though, the world is a beautiful and interesting place, filled with different creatures, amazing locales, and many hidden secrets to uncover.
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| It seems that Mother Goose named these cities... |
As Oliver travels throughout this new world he will run into a variety of monsters which will attempt to end his mission early. Luckily, in working to develop his talents as a wizard, Oliver learns the ability to summon and control a familiar. Familiars are monsters which Oliver can use to fight in his place. At a certain point in the game, Oliver meets another character who can tame wild monsters and add them to Oliver and friends' fighting squad.
In battle, Oliver can either choose to fight with his spell casting abilities, or to switch to one of his familiars to do the battling in his stead. Each familiar has its own strengths and weaknesses, as well as skills and spells. Each familiar has a stamina gauge, and can only remain in battle until that gauge runs out.
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| I wish I could respond to teeny boppers like this... |
Battles play out in real-time using an action wheel to choose what attacks or abilities are used. This control scheme is interesting in real-time as scrolling through the options can waste valuable seconds in the heat of battle. A familiarity with your team and their abilities greatly helps in fights. Defensive options on the action wheel add a strategic aspect to battles where timing can make the difference between taking massive damage and pulling through with minimal problems.
After battle, both characters and familiars gain experience and can eventually level up, gain new skills, and generally become stronger. Once familiars reach a certain level they can be metamorphed into a stronger creature with a new appearance. Each familiar can evolve twice, with the first evolution being set and the player choosing the second evolution from two options. Players can also feed their familiars snacks to improve their statistics and to teach them special abilities.
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| Gob Bless... |
As I've previously mentioned, this game is extremely beautiful. Ghibli's art style can be seen everywhere throughout the game, and it never gets old. A few cutscenes are actually animated in the style of Ghibli films and are a major treat when they occur. I found myself wishing that more of these scenes were in the game though, as there are only a few. The game world is vibrant and colorful - a welcome change to the all too familiar drab yellows and browns of other games from this generation.
Just as the art is beautiful, Ni No Kuni features a breathtaking musical score. While Studio Ghibli did the art, Joe Hisaishi, composer for Ghibli wrote a majority of the game's music. All music for the game was performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. The game's sweeping soundtrack gives lends a film-like quality that heightens the gaming experience.
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| With mushrooms like that, no wonder he's seeing fairies... |
In addition to his prowess in magical battle, Oliver also has the ability to borrow emotion from those living in the magical world and to transfer that emotion to others who may be in need. In spreading despair throughout the world, the dark Djinn broke the hearts of many inhabitants by sapping them of a certain emotion. Some lost the will to continue, others lost the ability to love, while still others lost all kindness in their hearts. Oliver can use a special vial on his necklace to absorb bits of these characteristics from inhabitants of the world who have an abundance of that specific piece of heart. He can then impart these stored feelings to those in need. Many side quests in the game involve Oliver recognizing the need of a piece of heart in a citizen and filling that request.
The game includes many other sidequests such as bounty hunts for troublesome monsters, item requests, and more. In the game world, a special guild has been formed to collect the requests of those in need, and Oliver can visit these guilds to read job postings and accept quests. Upon completing these quests, Oliver can return to these guild locations and receive stamps on a card as a reward in addition to any reward offered by the person posting the quest. As Oliver fills these quests cards, they can be turned in for character bonuses such as movement speed, health boosts, experience boosts, and more.
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| This is why you pull weeds before they become a problem. |
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch has an incredibly charming story. There is nothing really new here, but Studio Ghibli knows how to bring out the inner child in all of us. I found the story to be enjoyable, and was often surprised at the turns it took. Charm is really the biggest factor in this game. Everything from the world, its inhabitants, and even the music bring players in to the world an surround them with magic.
If you're only interested in completing the game's story, you're looking at around 35-40 hours of gameplay. If you're looking to get your money's worth, or just enjoy your time spent in the game's world and want to complete everything you can expect to get more like 60 hours of game time out of Ni No Kuni.
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| I think we all long for this feeling |
I would recommend Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch to JRPG fans, Studio Ghibli fans, RPG fans in general, and anyone looking to escape into a magical and charming world. Playing this game was incredibly refreshing to me and brought back feelings I haven't had since playing some of the games I now regard as my favorites ever. If you still have a Playsation 3, by all means, pick up this game!
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