Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (2011)

50 Completed Games

Wow. Ni no Kuni is my 50th completed game since joining Grouvee. I joined in 2021 and my first game completion tracked was Night of 100 Frights for the Gamecube, completed on July 25, 2021, meaning I'm just a bit short of 1000 days of games here at 982. That really doesn't seem like a lot, but I've only ever tracked 'full' runs or 'sizeable' games, so something like a mobile game, multiplayer game with no continuity, or an old arcade game just wasn't interesting for me to track. I wanted to challenge myself as I got older since I'd had a really bad track record of not completing games. I also wanted something of a 'history' that I could look back on in years, maybe even with my future children, and even now I can look through my 'Date Finished: Descending' and remember things much more vividly.

My parents caught Covid while I was on Attack of the Twonkies, I played Final Fantasy II on the plane to Vegas, I beat Beach Bandits right before I moved into my first house, there are people I haven't seen or heard from since I beat Raft, I played through Tail Concerto with Covid myself, and was rushing from a Wedding across the country to finish up Bug Fables. These games feel a bit like the bread crumbs of my life.

I wanted to take a minute to commemorate 50 games and this delightful little community of wise ass avatars and mascot platformer enthusiasts. 50 is the page limit, so this will be the last time I can look at just one screen and see this whole bite of my life summarized. After this it'll be even harder to rate games! As for rating, I try to give my Star ratings on 'build quality', basically whether something would be made well in general, attention to art design, responsive controls, good gameplay loop, and sensible characterization. With rankings, I've always stuck with 'How much does it mean to me, in what order am I coming back to these games, which ones get stuck on the island with me?' This lead me to my one grand observation, so, if anyone's listening, here's my well seasoned, oven toasted take...

A game is only as good as it's ending.

An outsider would think that was lukewarm, but if you're someone who likes to crushingly analyze this blubbery hobby, you realize that's actually against the grain. And I'm talking about the real ending, not just when the credits roll first, but when you've finished everything on your plate the Dev's thought reasonable to feed you.

I just can't stand a game with no follow through or that can't tell you when to stop, betraying meddling producers and a lack of a central vision. If a game could be judged by it's one golden moment, nearly every game would be great and arguably equally great. A real certified G, though, doesn't need you to think for it, doesn't have several different shoving off points for different audiences or procedural dodginess. The best games are, just like every other great artform, specifically hand crafted with a sense of 'why' they are that cuts through the consumer haze that soaks you to the bone. That's why a little whizzy racer like Horizon Chase is better than SoTN and it's why Bug Fables is one of the best games ever and Ni No Kuni, despite having every advantage and tool it needs, can't bring itself to be.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Here's to the next full Played page and thank you specifically to Peter for getting it just right.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch had been on my to play list for some time before I finally pulled the trigger and clicked play. I had originally picked it up due to being a very big fan of Studio Ghibli, though overall I was a bit hesitant going into the game because - Studio Ghibli being what it is- my expectations were naturally pretty high in terms of the story that I expected. With a bit over 2.5k steam reviews putting the game at “Very Positive”, I knew that there was a high chance I’d enjoy the game but wasn’t very sure if the story would leave the same overall impact that most of the Studio Ghibli movies I love had left on me throughout my childhood and adult life.

Diving into the game I ended up clocking around 65 total hours in the game between streaming the story and doing errands or bounties privately in my free time. Which is a pretty high timeframe compared to the average on How Long To Beat, which says that the story is about 44 hours with another 13 or so added on for side quests. Coming from a background of MMOs this doesn’t seem like much however, playing it bits at a time Live on stream did stretch my playthrough longer than I had expected.

Since this review is meant to be spoiler free, I can’t go into my full thoughts on the story here. However, I will say that the story was adorable with a few twists I didn’t quite see coming and characters that all have their own personalities and motivations. I can’t say that the overall story had the same impact as some of my favorite Ghibli movies, but it was enough to see the Ghibli influence in terms of a story that has some darker themes with a bittersweet ending that leaves you feeling fulfilled. Not to mention some of the absolutely beautiful cutscenes done in the Ghibli style art - I’m talking about you Hamelin. Following Oliver and Crew on their journey to save Ouer World was a very wonderful experience for me overall.

Those who enjoy a hero-overcomes-all story that doesn’t mind themes of depression, heartbreak, and loss would like this game. Though I will warn folks getting into it that the combat style does have a slow ramp up. It feels very awkward at the start until you get a boss or two in and the combat takes off with the ability to tame or capture different familiars. Kind of like pokemon, where specific familiar types boost well with certain handlers. From there the boss fights become more and more creative as the difficulty increases. Don’t worry though, the game features two modes. A normal mode and one meant for those simply looking to experience the story. As a side note, several of my friends and viewers commented that the overall style of the combat wasn’t quite something they were interested in when looking at games, though they enjoyed watching me play through it. So keep that in mind if you’re looking to pick it up.

Overall, would I recommend this game though?

Yes, I would for the story alone because of the journey it takes you through. With the beautiful world, gorgeous music, and dazzling boss fights added in its a truly loveable game. If you do decide to pick it up, please leave your thoughts and comments below.

VIDEO FORMAT OF THIS REVIEW:

For most of the game, it's fine. The story is pretty charming for the most part. But then you hit 50 hours in, fight the big bad, and realize you're only halfway through the game. Granted, I am a completionist, and this game is NOT meant to be completed. But there's a lot to gripe about regardless.

It introduces a pokemon mechanic about 20 hours into the game, but catching familiars is just a random chance. The best familiars completely break the combat of the game. Collecting every familiar is LITERALLY impossible. End-game items are super low rate drops from super low spawn rate monsters. If you actually wanted to "100%" the game, it would take I would estimate at least 20-40 hours of grinding materials, depending on your luck.

I wish I didn't spend 100+ hours on this game, but I did. :/

20hrs in and it still feels like a lot of hand holding.

A beautiful fairytale blended with monster catching mechanics. But.

Story wise, not much is left for interpretation. The writers are really scared the audience won't understand them so they point things out with dialogue that would've been better left unsaid. I'm not sure if kids even need this much amount of explaining?

Play on easy mode if you want the freedom of using familiars(monster/pokemon) that you like! I went for the visually pleasing ones. No guides needed.

Wow. I am honestly struggling to find the words to explain how much fun I had with Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered.

This game has everything I want in a JRPG: a large magical world to explore, larger than life characters to journey with and an interesting story to discover.In Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, you follow Oliver, a young boy, who embarks on a journey to save his mother and a magical world. I'll be honest, the beginning of the game gives Disney a run for its money for an emotional beginning. Over the course of the game, you will watch Oliver as he grows into the role of the hero that the worlds need him to be.

But Oliver won't be saving the worlds alone. He is joined by Esther, a young girl who is also the daughter of a powerful Sage and Swaine, a rogue who has a heart underneath his rough exterior. And I can't forget my favourite character, Mr. Drippy, who acts as Oliver's mentor, guide and sidekick! The one thing I like about the characters is that none of them get on my nerves. Each character has their moment to shine but don't take away imprtant moments from other characters.

Its not just Ni No Kuni's characters that are colourful, but also the world as well. In fact, the game's visual style is bright and colourful, which helps to give the game a storybook feel.

Finally, the gameplay, whilst doesn't revolutionise the genre, it does the job perfectly. The battle system is very easy to learn but allows players to be more tactical, should they wish to.

Overall, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is one of the best JRPGs I've played and I can see why many people consider it a classic. If you are a fan of the JRPG genre, I stronbly suggest you give Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch a go.

This game is so magical, I really did felt like I was watching Studio Ghibili show. I say show because this game is really long, but it’s all good because the gameplay is great, the story is engaging, and it’s pretty to look at.

The rpg elements in this game is so deep, it was quite unexpected on how deep it was. There’s a tournament in a game that got me to realize “damn I really don’t know how to play this game” so I got the grinding and learning. By the end I turn out to be a beast and really couldn’t stop.

Overall, this game is so magically fun and puts a legitimate smile on my face when I play.

Gameplay: 3/5 The gameplay was fun and yet frustrating at the same time. I like that it wasn't exactly a turn based JRPG as they often are but at times I wished it was. Most of the game it wasn't irritating, but the timing for spell casting and enemy spells was terrible. Sometimes you could cast a spell and 2 other enemies would cast and interrupt you spell.

Presentation:3.5/5

Story: 4/5