Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

[Treasu(red)]

Has anyone purchased this game and played a decent portion of it? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts about it. I'm a big fan of anything Studio Ghibli but somehow the gameplay footage I saw online made the game seem.. childish. Very lack-luster (the battle mode, in particular, struck me as poorly designed. The enemies are tee-tiny.)

Any thoughts though? I'd love it if someone changed my mind.

 

[Carole]

I bought my first PS3 to play this game. Both are "Out for delivery", so I am pretty excited about it. Hope the game lives up to my expectations.

 

[Trent the Paladin]

I'm waiting to get it on sale since I neglected to pre-order it multiple times, even with email notifications. Saw someone playing it my college though, looks like it could be pretty fun to play. Definitely gave me a Pokemon vibe.

 

[Furry Sparks]

It's supposed to look childish. That's the style.

But... I've heard that the gameplay is horrible, with most of the game feeling like one big tutorial and not giving you key features until way into the game.

 

[TheUnbornNobodyX]

I had the game for about 2 months and I played it nonstop. I clocked in around 130 hours on it. There is a beautifully scripted story and a great attention to detail. You are drawn in even more thanks to the orchestrated soundtrack (which I ended up buying xD) and it feels like you are watching a Studio Ghibli movie in real time. Also they did a exceptional job with the voice acting. Unlike some animes that are dubbed with horrible sounding dialogue, it worked really well. The battle system, though it seems lackluster, is very fluid and easy to get the hang of after about 30 minutes. Now I am not saying the game is overly easy, you WILL get your but handed to you by enemies if you don't pay attention. The monsters known as familiars are also cute and interesting creatures to catch. It is very similar to pokemon and you will get to the point where you want to catch them all (You will need to get close if you want the trophy). That being said there is TONS to do so you will be playing well into the post game seeing as there is post game content unlocked after you beat the main story. From monster collecting, alchemy, bounty hunts, hidden treasure so on and so forth. I clocked in 130+ hours just playing the main story, grinding and getting the platinum. There was still a lot I did not do. It's easily in the top 10 best games on the PS3 and one of the best RPGs out there.

 

[Tommytulip]

If you like old school styled JRPGs than you should like it. Combat is also like mixture between the Tales Of games and Pok?mon. It's not the best JRPG ever but if you want a good one it is a very good one. (Also play the game, because it's up there with Wind Waker and stuff as some the prettiest looking games.)

 

[Yurusumaji]

I've had this game since release-day and still haven't beat it (so slow!), but I have a healthy chunk of it done and I feel that it should be said that while the basic fights in the open world aren't super-spiffy, the Boss fights are what make this game (and the graphics/story/cut scenes that are actual movies). The challenge can get really obscene in Normal mode and I actually had to drop it to Easy to beat the Hamelin boss (and even then, I just barely survived). I am so over-leveled from trying to do it on Normal mode that all the enemies run away from me. Ha ha.

 

[Blair]

I love love love this game.
The final boss was a bit odd, but interesting gameplay, a great story, Joe Hisaishi music, and Ghibli animation?
It's hard to go wrong with that combination.

 

[Leanne]

I was playing it for a while but eventually stopped. It has many things I loved including, well, Ghibli ^^. Played it for a long time, did many things, but for some reason the story didn't seem to keep me sat. It had many nice things (soundtrack being one of my favorites), but the story left a lot to be desired. If I had to rate it in a 10-scale I'd probably give it a 6-7.

 

[demoness]

Disclaimer: The names and places I've mentioned aren't secrets or plot twists so I shouldn't be spoiling anything.

My only complaint was that the White Witch arc felt a little tacked on from a gameplay standpoint as it involved a lot of backtracking to areas you'd already fully explored and a generic fortress that paled in comparison to the other dungeons in the Dark Djinn arc. The story for the game itself is slow-go until after your initial visit to Hamelin, but then it really rolls and gets interesting. Not playing until the end is really doing yourself a disservice as this is a game like the Tales series where the story grows as seemingly irrelevant details come together. But I will say that if you played until/near the Miasma Marshes segment and you still weren't pulled in, you probably made the right call.

 

[Joshaluke]

I absolutely loved this game and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of old school JRPGs. There's a great story and a lot of sidequests and you definitely get your money's worth with the game. I bought it Day One and I couldn't put it down until I had beaten the main story. I'm still going through and trying to get all of the extra side stuff done because I've been a little more lax with it. I believe it's only $20 or $30 at gamestop at the moment.

 

[Silversea]

I have seen this being played and the graphic style is really nice (it is by no means badly done, I imagine its fairly difficult to achieve this effect actually) and as said before it does look like a Studio Ghibli-style animated film.

The gameplay does seem a bit meh, rather recalling Arc Rise Fantasia for the Wii in terms of the overworld (though it is free-roaming battle rather than turn-based) and there are some "dull points" but the graphics and music do make up for it.

 

[Box9Missingo]

Dang, I'd love to get this game... but I'm looking into getting a Vita now, since a PS3 is still too expensive imo. The super slims are just not worth paying around $300 for. Been reading a lot about them and they have too many issues to consider at this time. I'll be waiting until the price drops some more. Wanted to get a slim, but sadly they've sold out of them in my area. So the one I was interested in, the 320gb one, isn't available.

Wish that Sony and the publishers of this game would bring it out on the Vita as well. Since it seems like it would be a sweet game to play on it too.

 

[Trent the Paladin]

Dang, I'd love to get this game... but I'm looking into getting a Vita now, since a PS3 is still too expensive imo. The super slims are just not worth paying around $300 for. Been reading a lot about them and they have too many issues to consider at this time. I'll be waiting until the price drops some more. Wanted to get a slim, but sadly they've sold out of them in my area. So the one I was interested in, the 320gb one, isn't available.

Wish that Sony and the publishers of this game would bring it out on the Vita as well. Since it seems like it would be a sweet game to play on it too.

Vita is just as pricey though. I mean I love spreading the word of the Vita, but the memory cards are like an extra $50-$80 bucks on top of the Vita price. Sure there's the 4 and 8 GB ones, but they fill up fast especially if you get Playstation Plus.

On a side note, I finally picked the game up as a gift for my brother for Christmas.

 

[Box9Missingo]

Vita is just as pricey though. I mean I love spreading the word of the Vita, but the memory cards are like an extra $50-$80 bucks on top of the Vita price. Sure there's the 4 and 8 GB ones, but they fill up fast especially if you get Playstation Plus.

On a side note, I finally picked the game up as a gift for my brother for Christmas.

Yea I know, but I just checked Wal-Mart... and they have it, but it's way out of my way . So I'm screwed.

The 16gb one might be ok to go with for now, if it's available.

The only other place is Gamestop and they're all refurbs.

 

[Trent the Paladin]

Yea I know, but I just checked Wal-Mart... and they have it, but it's way out of my way . So I'm screwed.

The 16gb one might be ok to go with for now, if it's available.

The only other place is Gamestop and they're all refurbs.

And refurbs are fine. Haven't heard of anyone returning those, plus saving a few extra bucks does help. 16 should be fine though if you purchase physical too.

 

[Twisted Circuits]

I would only like to say at this time that I absolutely love this game. The art and story is just so amazing.

 

[Box9Missingo]

And refurbs are fine. Haven't heard of anyone returning those, plus saving a few extra bucks does help. 16 should be fine though if you purchase physical too.

Read a review on Gamestop's site where someone had to due to it breaking down. But if I can't find any more in stores, that might end up being the route I'll have to take . Might not even do that, since a lot of reviews on their site just aren't that good in regards to it.

 

[Kinseinohime]

If they ever released a handheld port of NNK (one of the best JRPGs this gen tbh so I can see why!) in the west, it would be for 3DS anyway given that the original game was for the DS.

 

[Trent the Paladin]

If they ever released a handheld port of NNK (one of the best JRPGs this gen tbh so I can see why!) in the west, it would be for 3DS anyway given that the original game was for the DS.

I think a Vita version would the game more justice than the 3DS/DS systems.