Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch

[pppp]

...after all the fiasco about people's orders being cancelled, I'd basically resigned myself to the fact that because I ordered so late I wouldn't get one... yet, lo and behold, here it is!

 

So, in summary? Phew.

 

I pre-ordered it from my usual retailer day one and i still had a problem. they're only getting their copies of the Wizard's edition next week, so yeah i still have to wait a few more days. It's unbearable

[Thrippa]

I'm really enjoying the game.  I finally got to where I could enter my familiar ticket to get the DLC familiars in the game (Griffy from amazon.com(US) and the Gold Hurley from the guide) and I'm loving my little griffin!  The gold hurley is, well, um . . . very gold.  Not an attractive beast to start with in my opinion, and making him solid gold doesn't help, again IMO.  BTW, for those with tickets, talk to the not-so-Big Man after he explains the familiar retreat - he'll change them out for you.  I found it very unclear what to do with them, and a lot of internet advice says you can't trade tickets in until much later in the game.

 

Only objection is the sheer number of fights and the speed with which they regenerate.  In certain areas you may be 17-18 battles away from the last place you could save - and you'll have to refight all (except the one you just finished) in order to save again.  Most areas of the game are save-at-will, but I lost almost 40 minutes of play and improvement yesterday because I couldn't find a new place to save the game, and I died.  Okay, a second objection:  the AI is appallingly casual about wasting MP, and the 10pt restore MP item costs (at this point in the game) about 10 fights' worth of money.  I find health restoring items all over the place, and I can cast heal spells - but I can't find stuff to restore my magic, and the AI just ran itself to 0 - which is, in fact, why I died.  No magic to heal myself since the AI used it all up.

[Danj86]

So others have been having pre-order problems too??

 

I pre-ordered a copy from Zavvi and they said their was a problem with my paypal information and requested updating my account info for payment. I did that, as requested, and they later get back to me, saying they had to cancel the order.

 

So now it seems I've lost my Wizard's Edition as it's sold out at every place I look. @_@

[Alick]

Mine rolled up from Zavvi on the 31st, they posted it on the 30th. Plus they were offering 10% pre-orders at the time. But the game is amazing, I'm only about 6 hours in due to work, but so far I just can't get enough of it.

[Doctor MK]

Ni no Kuni is #1 in the UK games charts this week, beating both FIFA 13 and Call of Duty: Black Ops II to the top spot! Proof that there is some justice in the world, if ever I saw it!

[Carbo]

It's good news but as DmC proved, being the Top #1 in the UK charts these days means incredibly little in the grand scheme of things.

That said it's selling surprisingly well from what I'm seeing here. Numerous retailers are sold out. Guess it was undershipped.

[Detective Shadzter]

Pretty surprised to see it make the top spot in the UK all-formats chart. Great news, though. I hear it's an awesome game. 

It's Ni no Kuni release day here in Europe! Hooray!

 

At 9am, the doorbell rang and, voila, the postman hands over a copy of the Wizard's Edition! And it truly is a thing of beauty. The box was a little bit bent and battered but nothing that detracts from the sheer quality of the package itself - the Drippy plush is really well made and adorable, and as for that Wizard's Companion book... holy moly, a lot of love went into that. It looks, feels and even smells like you'd expect a proper book to. Attention to detail in it is stunning. My only gripe with the Wizard's Edition is that us EU lot basically got screwed over by not getting the soundtrack/coin/art cards included like in the US version, but oh well.

 

 

 

 

Now, I consider myself very, very lucky to have got my hands on one of these. I've apparently been living under a rock for the past few months because I only found out about Ni no Kuni a few weeks ago, let alone find out about the Wizard's Edition. I'd heard the game mentioned here and there, but it had never clicked that it might be something worth my time. Cue a friend telling me about how excited he was for it and how amazing this Wizard's Edition would be, I too got caught up in the hype for it and went to stick my pre-order in... but, as this was only a couple of weeks ago, most sites had already sold out of their stock long ago. I searched high and low to find somewhere that was selling it at a reasonable price and not the extortionate £150+ on eBay, and just as I was about to give up, I stumbled upon some website that I'd never heard of before that was still advertising the Wizard's Edition. I placed my pre-order, got a confirmation e-mail... and then checked the site again a few hours later and the Wizard's Edition had been removed from their pre-order section. If I'd had been that little bit later in trying to find one, I'd have missed out completely, because (aside from Play.com getting some new stock in for a very short window a day or so ago) I have not seen this on any other site since. And then after all the fiasco about people's orders being cancelled, I'd basically resigned myself to the fact that because I ordered so late I wouldn't get one... yet, lo and behold, here it is!

 

So, in summary? Phew.

I didn't know you have a PS3. ADD ME D-:< 

[pppp]

Has anyone heard the english version of "Pieces of a Broken Heart"? It's sung by this kid called Archie Buchanan. I have absolutely no idea who he is but man can he sing:

 

[Badnik Mechanic]

So despite getting the game a few weeks ago, after finishing off Borderlands 2's DLC and a few other games on my backlog, I've finally started to play it.

 

Oh boy did they deliver with this one.

 

I'm only about 6 hours into the game and have defeated the giant rat and gotten myself a new wand. But so far I can't praise this game enough. This is by far one of the best JRPGs I have played for years (well unless you include Demons/Dark Souls), I find myself thinking back to FF7 and FFX when I last played an RPG that I understood and got into right away.

 

I've seen people complain about the battle system, that it's either too complicated or it's too slow. No it ain't mate. The combat system is brilliant once you add equipment to your familiars and learn how to swap your characters. It's only basic and slow at the start because the game ties the tutorial to the experience of the character. Oliver, the boy in the game knows nothing about being a wizard or of Drippy's world, when he learns something, you learn it.

 

Is this a bad thing? Nope. FF 13, FF13-2, Record of Agarest War 2 and to certain points even Dark Souls and some of the older Final Fantasy games tend to throw a huge and complicated tutorial at the player which isn't explained well or assumes the player will understand what to do right away, now in the case of Dark Souls, this isn't too bad as the game expects you to experiment as it's part of the game. In the case of FF 13 and certainly Agarest War, the game outrightly overloads you with information, never explains how to use it and demands you perform these huge complex actions from the moment it's finished. With Ni No Kuni, you learn as the character learns, the lessons are simple but everything is broken down so you never feel overloaded with information that you can't use.

 

Example. In FF13-2 there is a monster system in the fights, you capture and train a monster so it fights with you. This is utterly required very early on and in some fights it's essential that you have specific monsters who have learnt something and this is demanded from the player right at the moment the monsters are introduced. The problem is that the game NEVER explains how to level up, it certainly never explains it in a way thats easy to understand given the complexity of the levelling system and restricts how a player can level up a monster greatly.

 

Ni No Kuni however is nothing like this, the monsters/familiars are introduced early, but slowly, you are locked to one at the start, you cannot yet upgrade it, nor can you give it items/weapons. it's only after you beat the first boss and get halfway through the next quest do you get a second. You can then start equiping weapons. Whilst you can upgrade the monster the moment you get the first one, the game doesn't demand you do this. In fact no part of the game in these first 6 hours has demanded it... compare this to FF13-2 where after you get your first monster, the game more or less demands it knows status causing attacks for the very next boss fight.

 

Theres a world map which you can explore and see enemies, enemies who will even run from you if you're powerful... why is this great? Because you won't ever end up in stupidly low levelled fights that waste your time. You know how in Final Fantasy you'll get an enemy away spell or ability? And how you always equip it when returning to beginner areas? No need for that here... oh yes you can chase after and capture these low enemies if you want, but they won't rush to you and you won't end up fighting 20 monsters just so you can travel to a town and complete a quest.

 

The towns and cities are amazing, they all have characters who you see living their lives which actually makes it feel like theres a world you live in, unlike say FF13 where you never encounter another human until the very end of the game, yet are constantly being told to save Coccoon... wait... who am I saving the world from? Theres nobody here and the characters freely admit they're doomed anyway so whats the point? In Ni No Kuni, you don't know what the big evil plan is other than 'a witch is doing terrible things' going into these towns and cities you see people living, working and playing, you want to save these people. Whereas in FF13, it's hard to become emotionally attached to a TV screen that happens to be the item shop... in Ni No Kuni, you feel this "yeah... YEAH! YEAH I WILL SAVE THE CAT LADY WHO RUNS THE ITEM SHOP! I don't want her to die!"

 

Quests and bounties, the game has these, you can start them imediately none are required to beat the main story (that I can see right now) and it's not like say... oh I dunno... FF13 again where they all come in a giant block in a dull uninspired landscape which pads out a barren section of the game. They're all over the world and can be acomplished and started at any time of the game. You want to take them on as you level, go ahead, or outlandishly destroy them when you reach end game, thats ok too, but you won't really see the rewards benefit you. Unlike FF 13 where it's "You have no chance... this is your post game max level quest in which we reward you with EXP and Gill which will give you no use at all because you're at max level."

 

The voice acting... my god the voice acting... The voice acting is some of the best I've heard, today I had my turtle beaches on and this guy called 'Dark Djinn' is introduced... his first line had me quiverring it was so well delivered. So far I've not found a single character that gives a bad performance, it's the same as the voice acting in Demons Souls, every VA is really putting effort in and theres no reliance on these gasps or odd noises that... Oh yeah... that FF 13 has in every line... That Square Enix puts into every single fucking game they make. The characters in Ni No Kuni actually... you know... SPEAK! They don't go 'So *gasp* how are *ugh* you feeling *ahhh* today' Instead they say 'So how are you feeling today'.

 

In this post I've compared this game to FF 13 and Square Enix titles a lot havn't I? Yes well... it's very easy to do because at one point, SE used to make RPGs that had a world that captured you and you cared about. Today, SE is at the bottom of the barrel and can't possibly get any lower. Yet for some reason people keep giving them chances and keep supporting them

 

Guy 1: OH GUYS! FF13-3 WILL BE DFFERENT!

Me: Why's that then?

Guy 1: IT HAS A DOOMSDAY CLOCK!

 

Ni No Kuni is how I felt when I started to get into FF7 - FF X if not better. It deserves to be called the King of RPG's, it should be getting all the praise and all the hype and all the support. Not SE just because they once dominated the genre over 10 years ago and because they 'might' one day eventually pull a hit.

 

Ni No Kuni is the best JRPG I have played in years. Buy it... Buy it! BUY IT!

[Conando]

I beat it on Thursday. It's a great game but, the extra bit they added to the PS3 version seems kind of tacked on. Even so, the tacked on bit is still enjoyable.

[pppp]

Great to see you're loving it Hogfather. I'm 30 hours in and i just got the dragon which is this game's equivalent of the airship. Dear lord i love this game so much. Why can't Square just realize this is what we want? This is pure JRPG greatness. Yet another brilliant game from my favorite developer Level-5. Dark Cloud 1 and 2, the Prof. Layton series, Dragon Quest 8 and 9, Rogue Galaxy,and now this game. these guys are just so amazing

 

The story/characters are equally touching and hilarious, the world is incredibly charming, the combat system is clever, the music is wonderful and of course it's the most beautiful looking game I've ever seen.

 

Guys, you know how sometimes you read people's opinions on games on SSMB and start thinking about getting them at some point, and after trying them you say something like "You guys were right, i should have listened to you"?  Well listen to us this time dammit! Get the game now! It's worth every cent

Edited February 25, 2013 by pppp

[Badnik Mechanic]

I will admit, the start of the game did have me thinking 'erm... did I do the right choice supporting this?'

 

If you've got the game, then you'll know what I mean when I say Go-Karts (if you don't have the game, no there is no a kart racing section it's a story thing). But once I had drippy and could get into fights it really improved.

 

Now that I'm around level 8, I can use oliver to cast spells a lot more without worrying about MP costs (well so long as I don't be stupid with them), once you hit level 5-8 the battles really become fun.

 

It's really strange, unlike other RPGs where the character 'knows' what to do when fighting, yet is limited by the level. Oliver is like the player, he knows nothing and can't do much yet anyway, when he levels it's from what the player does, so long as you the player are learning, Oliver in combat seems to... well... for the lack of a better expression. It makes sense. As oliver learns what to do, the player has upgraded him to a point which makes sense for what he's able to do.

[Conando]

It's really satisfying at the end when Oliver has nuke all spells.

[pppp]

I will admit, the start of the game did have me thinking 'erm... did I do the right choice supporting this?'

 

If you've got the game, then you'll know what I mean when I say Go-Karts (if you don't have the game, no there is no a kart racing section it's a story thing). But once I had drippy and could get into fights it really improved.

 

Now that I'm around level 8, I can use oliver to cast spells a lot more without worrying about MP costs (well so long as I don't be stupid with them), once you hit level 5-8 the battles really become fun.

 

It's really strange, unlike other RPGs where the character 'knows' what to do when fighting, yet is limited by the level. Oliver is like the player, he knows nothing and can't do much yet anyway, when he levels it's from what the player does, so long as you the player are learning, Oliver in combat seems to... well... for the lack of a better expression. It makes sense. As oliver learns what to do, the player has upgraded him to a point which makes sense for what he's able to do.

 

Why did the beginning do that you didn't like Hogfather?

 

Was it because of how dark the mother's death circumstances are?

[Badnik Mechanic]

Why did the beginning do that you didn't like Hogfather?

 

Was it because of how dark the mother's death circumstances are?

 

Nope. It's because it didn't seem like I was going to be doing much, I was literally just walking around, yes whilst this helps establish Olivers life and his hobbies it did feel a bit like it was going to become one of 'those games' "Walk over to this part of the map to do something' then walk over here and do something else. Even when you collect the book and the wand it feels like waypoints. But once you hit the other world, it changes unless you're strictly following the main story.

[FourCartridge]

Might as well give my impressions too while inFamous downloads, since I've been asked by some friends over PSN about it:

 

It has a tendency to drag. I clocked in at 32 minutes before I even got the Wizard's Companion(and the pause menu for that matter) but I was still hooked anyway, though that didn't stop the snail's pace feel. I have a niggling feeling what I've played though so far can be condensed to 45 mins. or around that mark(I'm at the point where the volcano was going to erupt and they set off trying to be heroes). The whole hybrid battle system amounted to backpeddling attacks while you get your spells ready, but the familiars have sparked my inner OCD so I guess it does it's job competently.

 

But(and it's a big butt) I've been charmed enough by the "Ghibliness" off it all as Oliver treks though fantasy-land to reserect his dead mom(pretty sure she's dead). It's almost diabaetic(you've decoded the first wand, right?). I have only 2 problems with the plot so far: Ghost Girl(Pea) is obiously hiding something really important from Oliver and isn't spitting it out for what I'm pretty sure is going to be a stupid reason, and for someone who's name is on the title, the White Which doesn't really do anything(other than kill Oliver's mom). I've actually worked out a guess:

 

The White Which is Great Sage Alicia possed by a Nightmare, maybe Shadar himself, but the two exist without the other so maybe it's a giant flea in JRPG trandition(XD)

 

It's the best JRPG the PS3 will have, I'm certain of that, but something tells me something intended to go down in culture history shouldn't be a mere throwback.

 

Then again Star Wars started out as one to Flash Gordon and the like...

[Conando]

Just going to tell you about your assumption, FourCartridge. Nope.

[The Kid]

Drippy is probably one of my favorite sidekicks in a game.

 

I still have my Mite, which is great because he's the most rounded character until a good length into the game.

[FourCartridge]

Just going to tell you about your assumption, FourCartridge. Nope.

 

Wha... Am I missing something this early in, or was my guess off the mark and it one of those plots with a strong opening and end but not much inbetween I suspect it is?

 

The council of animal masks seem pretty useless so far to the story and could have easily been replaced by that talking parrot...

Edited February 25, 2013 by FourCartridge

[Conando]

Wha... Am I missing something this early in, or was my guess off the mark and it one of those plots with a strong opening and end but not much inbetween I suspect it is?

 

The council of animal masks seem pretty useless so far to the story and could have easily been replaced by that talking parrot...

 

Your guess is just off the mark. Though you're on the right path by thinking about

 

Alicia and Shadar not being as straight forward.

Drippy is probably one of my favorite sidekicks in a game.

 

I still have my Mite, which is great because he's the most rounded character until a good length into the game.

Dude. You should have gotten a Purrloiner. You can metamorphose it into a Pirate Cat. Doesn't hurt that Puss in Boats is actually quite good and hits 5 to 6 times per attack command for 80-100 damage per attack. (HP of enemies and bosses never gets insanely high. The highest boss HP is 12,000)

Edited February 25, 2013 by Wreck-It Ralph

[The Kid]

But Mite can use "War Cry" and has pretty decent defense. Purrloiner sounds like it'd probably have crap defense to substitute for higher attack.

 

All my other Familiars use magic, and Mite barely uses any mp whatsoever.

[Conando]

My Puss in Boats had over 300 Defense, which is pretty high for this game. You'll need to throw a few flans his way but, he can take attacks like a champ and even learns an aggro drawing move that raises his defense at the same time. Oliver's final team for me was Puss in Boats, Sugar Plum Sprite, and Catastroceros (at the end of the game, Oliver doesn't really need more than one caster familiar, he grows into having ridiculously strong magic that most enemies don't resist or are weak to). Esther had Flourongo, Wildwood, and Lotus Bubbud. Swaine had Bone Baron, Paleolith, and Mama Sasquash. I completely destroyed everything in the late part of the game.

Edited February 25, 2013 by Wreck-It Ralph

[pppp]

Alright I pretty much did everything in the main campaign and all side-quests that i found. Simply put, this is a masterpiece. One of the best games i ever played.

 

The story ends up being far more complex and deep than what i expected and its execution is fantastic thanks to great writing and very capable voice acting. I was originally worried if I was gonna have to play with the Japanese voices on, but the english cast did a great job, so nothing was lost in localization.

 

The combat system is great. It rewards patient and methodical play, while punishing you for just trying to bruteforce your way through battles.

 

All the familiars(monsters) you find are all very charming, this isn't just a Pokémon wannabe like FFXIII-2, a lot of work went into making these creatures lovable.

 

The music is absolutely wonderful. The only nitpick i have is that it could have used a bigger selection of tracks, but the tracks it does have are so well composed,catchy and powerful that it didn't really matter.

 

And of course it is the most beautiful looking game i ever played. You can't go wrong with Studio Ghibli

 

It is a JRPG made by incredibly talented people that clearly have a big passion for golden age JRPGs. It's on par with games like FFVI or IX.

 

Thank you Level-5 for this wonderful game

[KrazyBean]

Are any of you guys buying the soundtrack? I sure am.

[pppp]

Are any of you guys buying the soundtrack? I sure am.

 

 

I would if it was actually complete. No Boss Theme? The Soundtrack isn't even that big so there was no excuse

 

Hey Hogfather if you're reading this be sure to give us an update on your playthrough, I'm curious.