Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

 PlayStation 3
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1174 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,000 out of 1174
  2. Mixed: 99 out of 1174
  3. Negative: 75 out of 1174
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  1. Maffa2099
    Mar 2, 2013
    8
    First of all I'm a JPRG sucker and Ghibli fanboy. This game had me salivating for months before release. So I was willing it to be great. But after playing about 20 hours I'm able to be fairly honest and open about my experiences with the game and have found it is far from perfect. It is utterly charming and looks awesome can't deny either of those things, but it does feel like it takesFirst of all I'm a JPRG sucker and Ghibli fanboy. This game had me salivating for months before release. So I was willing it to be great. But after playing about 20 hours I'm able to be fairly honest and open about my experiences with the game and have found it is far from perfect. It is utterly charming and looks awesome can't deny either of those things, but it does feel like it takes an age for the world to open up and allow you to explore more freely. The battles over the first few hours pose little to no challenge which makes a cool battle system get a bit old before it finally starts to open up several hours in. The story isn't amazing, although it is fun enough. Drippy is the star of the show here really cool, funny character.
    I've gone with an 8 out of 10 as I'm having fun with the game and it's game porn to look at, but I can't help but feel it's not quite as amazing as we were all hoping it would be.    … Expand
  2. Magisan
    Mar 10, 2013
    8
    A magnificent game without a doubt, but with flaws. You can take my 50 hours into the game as some credibility. The game starts off very nicely and the combat is fun. Lots of items, equipments and familars essential for a great RPG are present here. The music is great, animation is amazing, and a huge and vast world is out there for exploration goodness to give that great old-school RPGA magnificent game without a doubt, but with flaws. You can take my 50 hours into the game as some credibility. The game starts off very nicely and the combat is fun. Lots of items, equipments and familars essential for a great RPG are present here. The music is great, animation is amazing, and a huge and vast world is out there for exploration goodness to give that great old-school RPG feeling. So then what are the flaws? The first noticeable and consistent flaw is perhaps the linearity of the dungeons and areas. It is masked well by chests and other rewards that are placed in all kinds of spots but *essentially* it is a one-way road to get through most areas. The only exception to the linearity is the world map. The second noticeable flaw becomes more apparent later on in the game and also becomes possibly the worst flaw in the game. The AI in this game for controlling your party is simply put, dreadful. The AI will, at times, not listen to what it is ordered to do, and it will also make some odd decisions that can easily put the whole party to death. It is very hard to control them since you are only allowed to control one character at a time and it is intended for the player to rely on the AI for the actions of the other party members. The AI is extremely picky in a sense that it works better with particular familiar combinations than others. You could say that the AI alone drags this game from a 10 to a 8.5, it really is that terrible.… Expand
  3. oneandonlywm3
    Apr 21, 2013
    8
    At first I was so hesitate as to whether I should buy this or not. I saw the reviews and most of the reviews gave it an 8 or above, so that's not something you see often. I decided to buy it and I honestly don't regret buying it. It has a feeling of Final Fantasy and Pokemon combined, two of my favourite JRPG games. The story and game play may seem slow at first, but as you progress,At first I was so hesitate as to whether I should buy this or not. I saw the reviews and most of the reviews gave it an 8 or above, so that's not something you see often. I decided to buy it and I honestly don't regret buying it. It has a feeling of Final Fantasy and Pokemon combined, two of my favourite JRPG games. The story and game play may seem slow at first, but as you progress, you'll soon realise that the game's worth it, and the story would indulge you to play nonstop.… Expand
  4. M9ki
    Jun 29, 2013
    8
    Good game but I prefer mature games but over all it was quite good.Its one of those repetitive games so if your ok with that then your surely will love this game.
  5. zanella_marco
    Oct 10, 2014
    8
    Se da un lato ci sono innumerevoli ragioni per considerare Ni no Kuni un’eccellente JRPG, dall’altro voglio segnalare piccoli ma incisivi “difetti” che non ho gradito. A partire dall’IA degli alleati che più volte si è mostrata inaffidabile e mi ha messo in difficoltà, costringendomi ad intervenire andando a comandare i compagni di Oliver che usavano improbabili e discutibili strategieSe da un lato ci sono innumerevoli ragioni per considerare Ni no Kuni un’eccellente JRPG, dall’altro voglio segnalare piccoli ma incisivi “difetti” che non ho gradito. A partire dall’IA degli alleati che più volte si è mostrata inaffidabile e mi ha messo in difficoltà, costringendomi ad intervenire andando a comandare i compagni di Oliver che usavano improbabili e discutibili strategie offensive. Le missioni legate ai cuorinfranti sono ripetitive e noiose a lungo andare. Forse però la cosa che più mi ha dato fastidio è la mancata originalità che gli sviluppatori hanno dimostrato nel copiare il mondo Pokémon. Circa 8 anni fa giocavo con i classici Rosso e Blu su Game Boy. Forte di quei lontani ricordi, ho “odiato” vedere in Ni no Kuni le stesse idee che hanno portato al successo mondiale Satoshi Tajiri, creatore della serie di videogiochi Pokémon. Per questa serie di ragioni non valuto Ni no Kuni come meriterebbe per il lavoro svolto dallo Studio Ghibli, che mi ha sorpreso ed emozionato sino alla fine, con l’appassionante storia di Oliver.… Expand
  6. Krizuwe
    Nov 20, 2013
    8
    Un grandísimo juego, el mejor de rol, duradero, divertido y entusiasmante. Engancha de principio a fin y es el único juego de rol wue recomendaría. Como todos los juegos también tiene fallos y errores, entre ellos: se vuelve repetitivo estar siempre luchando. La trama esta muy bien ambientada, pero como dije, a lo largo del juego te aburre estar siempre luchando.
  7. archonome
    Jun 4, 2014
    8
    I can't give it a fair review because honestly I stopped playing very early(within 3 hours). However, there is nothing horrible about this game but EVERYTHING IS EXCELLENT!!!

    1)Remember the RPGs of the 1990s? Chrono trigger, Secret of Mana, Shining Force? etc etc THIS GAME BRINGS LOVE AND PASSION BACK INTO THESE GAMES!! 2)Combining epic Movie studio + love for old school rpgs =    I can't give it a fair review because honestly I stopped playing very early(within 3 hours). However, there is nothing horrible about this game but EVERYTHING IS EXCELLENT!!!

    1)Remember the RPGs of the 1990s? Chrono trigger, Secret of Mana, Shining Force? etc etc THIS GAME BRINGS LOVE AND PASSION BACK INTO THESE GAMES!!

    2)Combining epic Movie studio + love for old school rpgs = 10/10 for me.

    3)The bad Part that made me quit? The Theme was too childish.

    I give it a 8/10 because the positive overshadows the negative.    … Expand
  8. Andjelico
    Nov 6, 2014
    8
    This is the best modern JRPG game i have ever played. It's like a mix of Pokemon, Zelda and Final Fantasy!
    The story is touching, fantastic animation, matching music, and really fun combat system.
    It's a big plus that this game have many different side quests, but some of them can be boring. These alchemy and Derwin quests took so much time, i don't understand why the team needed to do    This is the best modern JRPG game i have ever played. It's like a mix of Pokemon, Zelda and Final Fantasy!
    The story is touching, fantastic animation, matching music, and really fun combat system.

    It's a big plus that this game have many different side quests, but some of them can be boring. These alchemy and Derwin quests took so much time, i don't understand why the team needed to do these quests so complicated...

    But overall this game is fantastic and challenging on a great way!    … Expand
  9. SpenserReynolds
    Jun 2, 2015
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This was a very surprisingly pleasant little RPG. I went in not expecting this from it.

    "Pokemon". OK people. We act like pokemon is the only thing ever to take the concept of having creatures be your friends and help you fight. Chill out. Yes, I can see that this is reminiscent of pokemon, certainly. But many games use this; it is not a ripe-off. Calm down. I really enjoyed the familiars-based combat (but holy your AI party members will be really stupid with theirs sometimes, like dang, hope you're ready to baby sit during combat). Leveling familiars can be a little annoying sometimes, but later in the game there is an easy creature that dishes out a lot of EXP so the grind becomes not so bad.

    POSITIVE:
    The sort of dual plot is where I was surprised- the ambiguity of this make believe world, for me, was stunning. There is the surface level little-boy-saves-fantasy-world part to it, which was honestly quite cute (against my usual opinions). Then on another level, there was the implication that the world didn't really exist at all and was really just a coping method for the little boy's loss of his mother.

    The graphics are very cute, and the occasional Ghibli animated parts were truly a treat.

    The universe was pleasant. And the throwback to a world map based game (I am referring to FF7 style) was refreshing, but also very nice that the battles were not random encounter- you see the enemies and it takes you into another screen. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED that lower level enemies run from me. Like, how realistic, right? Wouldn't they though? But anyway. I was also excited by each new location (and also how not terribly painful they were. dungeons are brief and to-the-point).

    The sidequests were pleasant (some repetitive, but hey, they're 100% optional). They often send you back to previous locations, but you obtain a fast travel and THE LOWER LEVEL ENEMIES DON'T INSIST ON WASTING YOUR TIME. WHICH IS GREAT. So you can come and go to low level areas without wanting to shoot yourself as you please.

    After-game content is not pure grinding! Which is cool! (the after game, unfortunately, is not chronologically after you save the world. this is still a rare thing in games. it takes you back to before you won. but that is fine).

    MEH:
    Nothing is perfect, of course.

    The music was ok. Just your standard adventure game music, about what you would expect.

    The characters and their relationships. The duality of the plot was great, but the surface level plot was about what you would expect tbqh. The characters didn't really do much to surprise you with their behavior (the grumpy one was grumpy, the two who always bickered still always bickered, the jokes were silly at best, etc.) This is easily excused, for me, by it being the creation of a little boy struggling with grief.    … Expand
  10. Sammy680
    Jul 16, 2015
    8
    Nowhere near as great as it's made out to be- and far from perfect. It's a good game but has severe flaws and the story can be quite dull at times and nonsensical at others.

    It personally took me a loooong time to get into the story; the intro was rather bland and aside from the legendary Mr. Drippy, the characters in the beginning aren't especially exciting. Oliver is your typical    Nowhere near as great as it's made out to be- and far from perfect. It's a good game but has severe flaws and the story can be quite dull at times and nonsensical at others.

    It personally took me a loooong time to get into the story; the intro was rather bland and aside from the legendary Mr. Drippy, the characters in the beginning aren't especially exciting. Oliver is your typical do-gooder-no-personality-whatsoever hero, and remains uninspiring throughout the game.

    Graphics-wise, the game is gorgeous, and I often found myself taking time out to simply look around. The cut scenes by Studio Ghibli are the typical fare you'd expect from them.

    The soundtrack is brilliant, not much else to say on that point!

    Apart from the story, the biggest flaw is the AI of your comrades. This makes later battles incredibly annoying at times- for example, I've set them to heal before and they do anything but that- and the game could've benefited greatly from a FF12 style gambit system or something similar, giving greater control over the party members.

    The familiars are a fun aspect of the game and will appeal to most Pokemon fans.

    The Wizard's Companion is actually one of my favourite aspects of the game, but for anyone who hates large amounts of reading it may seem choresome trawling through it for certain side quests- thankfully there is always Google!

    I think they also missed a trick by not utilising all of the spells you acquire over the game; some spells you don't have the opportunity to use at all. Many spells are just fillers and I found that disappointing.

    Overall this a game worth playing, but it's far from the best JRPG ever.    … Expand
  11. Empyrea
    Jan 24, 2019
    8
    I've just beaten the game so here goes my impressions: my first 6 hours were really great because everything was new. Graphics are really great, it's like an anime. It reminds me a bit Dragon Quest VIII. Soundtrack is really good as well, although the music in the battles can be repetitive as it can be these battles. About gameplay, is a mix of both turn based and real time based andI've just beaten the game so here goes my impressions: my first 6 hours were really great because everything was new. Graphics are really great, it's like an anime. It reminds me a bit Dragon Quest VIII. Soundtrack is really good as well, although the music in the battles can be repetitive as it can be these battles. About gameplay, is a mix of both turn based and real time based and reminds the Pokemon games. About plot is interesting at first. I think this game would have been better if it was shorter and with a more entertaining battle system. I think this is a really good game for children and young people but even if you're an adult and you are not only focused in bloody games with insults you're gonna enjoy this game. About difficulty, I didn't have much problems in easy mode until the end. Just make sure to save this game from time to time an especially when you are close to the "star" in the map (which is the main mission) because sometimes you can find a boss without having saved your game and save when you are a little far from the star cause sometimes you don't even reach the star and a scene triggers and sometimes is a boss. About bosses, if you have problems don't bother in leveling up your team. You only need to change your strategy, use the right attacks and have some potions in your bag. Doing this will be enough until you are finishing the game were enemies will be hard. My advice: do all the Horace riddles when you are close to the end. He will give you very good spells such Veil (with this you can avoid battles) and other strong spells. That's all. So yes, this is a good game. There should be more anime games like this in ps3 and ps4. It took me 39 hours to beat the game and a total of 44 hours and half to reach the real final. I beat the real final bosses at level 50 but with many PM potions (more than 20 and I used them all but 1). The worst of the final enemies is that your strongest spells are very slow to shoot and you can't cancel them to protect yourself when they send you a strong spell. This is the main gap I think.… Expand
  12. greg555
    Nov 9, 2017
    8
    Excellent story, music, art. Only setback the unending battles with a tiresome real-time battle system. Abandoned it at 60%, not bearing more and more required battles... Worth trying it anyway.
  13. brendo214
    Aug 13, 2019
    8
    I absolutely loved the way that Ni No Kuni combines the collection of Pokemon from Pokemon and the semi-realtime combat system from a few JPRGs. It led to really fun and unique gameplay.
  14. rachillustrate
    May 14, 2018
    8
    Ni No Kuni is a fun and charming game filled with endearing characters and an enchanting world. Although the story may not be incredibly deep or complex, it’s well-executed and keeps things interesting. However, the battle system can be frustrating as you are constantly questioning your AI party members' intelligence and decision-making skills. The "familiars" bring a unique angle to theNi No Kuni is a fun and charming game filled with endearing characters and an enchanting world. Although the story may not be incredibly deep or complex, it’s well-executed and keeps things interesting. However, the battle system can be frustrating as you are constantly questioning your AI party members' intelligence and decision-making skills. The "familiars" bring a unique angle to the battles though and I find myself looking forward to exploring new areas specifically to find new creatures to add to my team. The animations created by Studio Ghibli also make the game a wonder to look at. Overall, a great game that is definitely worth jumping into.… Expand
  15. AbhinavDasiga
    Mar 31, 2020
    8
    A JRPG straight out of a fairy tale book, Ni No Kuni impresses with its scope and characters. There are dull moments in between but they don't detract too much from this charming and whimsical adventure.
  16. BigDragon
    Feb 19, 2013
    7
    The Good This game attempts to combine the monsters of Pokemon, epic world and scope of Final Fantasy, gameplay of Secret of Mana, and story of a movie like Spirited Away. It does a great job of wrapping these things up and creating a beautiful and eye-catching package. Sometimes making a good game isn't about pushing polygons or competitiveness. I really enjoyed the characters,The Good This game attempts to combine the monsters of Pokemon, epic world and scope of Final Fantasy, gameplay of Secret of Mana, and story of a movie like Spirited Away. It does a great job of wrapping these things up and creating a beautiful and eye-catching package. Sometimes making a good game isn't about pushing polygons or competitiveness. I really enjoyed the characters, environments, and story development in this game. It's nice to play a modern JRPG. The inclusion of anime scenes and voice talent also added to the experience. Overall, a great game worthy of investing time into. There are so many characters and creatures to discover and environments to roam around in. We need more games like this one! I had to borrow a PS3 to play this title and do not regret it.

    The Bad Jack of all trades, master of none applies here. I found the familiar/monster designs to be rather lacking. It seems they took the good designs and played a DLC shell game with them across regions and retailers. The DLC creatures are much stronger than the ones in the normal game resulting in a major difficulty spike when you try to leave the first continent. This game could have really benefited from more appealing creatures to catch. Furthermore, the actual mechanics where you impress and tame creatures are unbelievably tedious. Metamorphosis resetting creature levels back to 1 is also very annoying. The combat seems to revolve around running away, restoring MP because it drains so quickly, and bumbling through switching to and from characters to keep the AI from failing to defend against attacks. Really tedious much of the time. The game also could have benefited from more voice acting rather than switching between anime, in-game animation, and wall of text mode. PS3-exclusivity also hurts this title by limiting its audience. They really should put together a Kickstarter campaign to get this game released on Steam for the PC.

    Final Word If you're a fan of Pokemon, Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, Breath of Fire, Chrono Trigger, or other JRPGs then you should definitely pick up Ni No Kuni. The wall of text dialogue, tedious battles, and frustrating AI may (but not necessarily!) deter everyone else.    … Expand
  17. mrnice
    Dec 25, 2013
    7
    I'm a mid-twenties man who just emerged from forty hours in Ni No Kuni. If I was ten years younger and it was my first JRPG, it might well have been the best game ever. But there is so much grinding, so many elements I've seen exactly like this before. The first two hours introduced the story magically, touchingly, worthwhile-y, but were also way too easy. The battles became hard duringI'm a mid-twenties man who just emerged from forty hours in Ni No Kuni. If I was ten years younger and it was my first JRPG, it might well have been the best game ever. But there is so much grinding, so many elements I've seen exactly like this before. The first two hours introduced the story magically, touchingly, worthwhile-y, but were also way too easy. The battles became hard during the game, and even on the easiest difficulty, I had plenty of challenge. The 'Pokemon' aspect seems like a gimmick for much of the game, but when you play quests that ask you to find specific monsters, it makes a whole lotta sense. The environments are not very lively, since apparently they were designed to fit on a Nintendo 3DS cartridge or something. So it's definitely not a system-stretcher. But I loved the story, I loved how it taught morales every few hours and contained a lot of (common) wisdom in the greater theme. I loved the translation work, where especially "flipping" has become my new favorite alternative to 'freaking', or 'f***ing'... The meow-ifications of the cats' vocabulary, and the extreme amount of puns (the skeletons that say "having the time of my death" etc) were absolutely wonderful. Scenery and places and characters are all Ghibli magic. The only thing that weighs the title down is the triviality of the grinding/travelling, and how many elements are lifted from earlier titles of the genre. Still, what a wonderful game, at places! It's a true adventure of rich imagination. Too bad the game mechanics aren't as imaginative.… Expand
  18. sias
    Jun 12, 2013
    7
    Good: Wonderful art style, animation and cute voice acting, with tons to see and do. Ni No Kuni is a wonderfully epic old-school JRPG that revives the overworld and elements of exploration that franchises like Final Fantasy have cast away. The story is simple, but heartfelt and the characters equally simple yet colourful. A wonderful game for children or anyone who's looking for a cutesyGood: Wonderful art style, animation and cute voice acting, with tons to see and do. Ni No Kuni is a wonderfully epic old-school JRPG that revives the overworld and elements of exploration that franchises like Final Fantasy have cast away. The story is simple, but heartfelt and the characters equally simple yet colourful. A wonderful game for children or anyone who's looking for a cutesy adventure devoid of cynicism and violence.

    Bad: However, Ni No Kuni is let down by a poorly designed combat system where party and enemy combat animations cancel each other out creating some very unfair battles; and a frustrating pokemon-like taming mechanic which cannot be actively influenced and so requires nothing but mindless grinding. In addition to these flaws, side quest design is underwhelming and requires an awful lot of tedious NPC hunting and party AI during battle is at times atrocious, artificially increasing the difficulty of the game.    … Expand
  19. wesker2012
    Jan 26, 2013
    7
    I'm a bit disappointed with this game. I was expecting for sure it would blow me away and would be a solid 10 game or def. at least a 9. The first problem with the game is although its supposed to be an emotional journey, you never really any emotional weight in the game. You are merely just going through the motions of what the game tells you to do. The game moves at a glacial paceI'm a bit disappointed with this game. I was expecting for sure it would blow me away and would be a solid 10 game or def. at least a 9. The first problem with the game is although its supposed to be an emotional journey, you never really any emotional weight in the game. You are merely just going through the motions of what the game tells you to do. The game moves at a glacial pace and I was expecting the pace, emotional weight, and gameplay to pick up and come together as a fun and emotional journey. But it never becomes that game. Instead most of the dialogue is needless and skippable. And you feel like you are going from one place to another just for the sake of it. You never really feel any urgency to your quest. The gameplay mechanics at first are creative and refreshing but get old after the umpteenth time in battle. The story and pacing becomes predictable and a bore while the only thing that keeps you playing is to see the next gorgeous locales and to see if there are any cool twists in the story. The sidequests aren't that fun either and are chores. The upsides of the game is its unique mix of warm, humorous, and dark themes and locales in the game. The voice acting is great but I wish there was more of it. Overall, if you a fan of tradional RPGs, you'll love this game otherwise if you are growing a bit tired of the formula, you might be a bit disappointed. All in all, it's a solid RPG.… Expand
  20. Babaganoush
    Mar 2, 2013
    7
    I love Studio Ghibli art. The environment is great the story is for kids... but then again that fits the Ghibli frame so I don't really mind it. What KILLS this game is the terrible battle AI. When you play games with AI controlled party members from Xenoblade or Tales of Grace, they're competent. Ni no Kuni is UNACCEPTABLY TERRIBLE. Be prepared to have them drain all your MP on uselessI love Studio Ghibli art. The environment is great the story is for kids... but then again that fits the Ghibli frame so I don't really mind it. What KILLS this game is the terrible battle AI. When you play games with AI controlled party members from Xenoblade or Tales of Grace, they're competent. Ni no Kuni is UNACCEPTABLY TERRIBLE. Be prepared to have them drain all your MP on useless things, continue fighting when you tell them to defend, etc. Most of the difficulty in battle comes from the terrible TERRIBLE AI. It's also is a VERY handholding game. For example, around the Ni no Kuni world, there are NPCs that are heartbroken. Instead of letting you figure out what part of their heart needs mending, you are told which one you need to give. It gets a bit repetitive when you have to talk to the NPC then go to the spell list to cast, instead of just going up and using the spell shortcut to do it yourself.

    But then again, this is a E for Everyone game. It's a good RPG for the younger generation to start out with, but many experienced RPG players may find it a bit simplistic... and frustrating thanks to the AI. Especially from your second party member...    … Expand
  21. wildemu
    May 18, 2013
    7
    The game really sinks you into its world in the first 4-5 hours, but then there are certain aspects of the game that start to get exposed.

    PROS: Art/World: It's beautiful. Ghibli did a great job of designing the parallel worlds and getting you immersed into each unique environment. Soundtrack: The scores in this game are top notch, really catchy. Story: Touching, at times    The game really sinks you into its world in the first 4-5 hours, but then there are certain aspects of the game that start to get exposed.

    PROS:

    Art/World: It's beautiful. Ghibli did a great job of designing the parallel worlds and getting you immersed into each unique environment.

    Soundtrack: The scores in this game are top notch, really catchy.

    Story: Touching, at times mature, but trying to keep it on the kiddie level. You are motivated go on this journey to save Oliver's mom.

    CONS:

    1. Familiar leveling/zeroing. You are given familiars(pokemon) to be part of your party system, and I like the fact they have their unique abilities, but I don't understand why every familiar you catch has to start at level 1. It would save a lot of time and grinding for it to just to be scaled up to your level. Also, when you want to do metamorphosis on one of your fav. familiar, it also goes back to level 1 and work its way up again. I just find this mechanic unnecessary and wasting the gamer's time. You could be at level 50, and then you have to sideline your familiar for 40 something levels until it finally reaches your range again.

    2. Too linear. The game is beautiful, but it is suffering from the same aspect that Final Fantasy XIII suffered from, and that's the linearity of the levels. You just walk down one path in the dungeon, apart from chests on short sidepaths, and just run into monster after monster until you face the final boss of the dungeon. You want to explore this lush, huge world but most of the levels are railed.

    3. MP/HP conservation. Basically, this isn't xenoblade or FF where you can have health/magic regenerate after every fight. You need to conserve your health/magic points because there are quite a number of enemies to defeat before you reach a checkpoint that restores all your health/magic. Some may find this mechanic more fun, but I found it crippling in making me enjoy the combat. Too often I would just attack/defend/healing touch throughout the dungeon and not use the cool abilities of my familiars because they cost too much magic. The combat would have a lot more flow if you didn't have to worry about conserving your magic between enemies.

    4. Clunky ai. My partners stunk. You can arrange the familiars to their strengths, and you can change the tactics, but too often my partners would run out of magic too fast or use the wrong familiar for the situation. More often than not, they would drop mid-fight and it would just be up to Oliver. You can control the partner, but then Oliver would start stinking it up.

    I can see why this game received a lot of love, and I did give it a really fair shot, but the game designing choices just didn't agree with me.    … Expand
  22. LumpyPotato23
    Feb 9, 2013
    7
    Bottom Line: If you are a JRPG or just an RPG fan, this game is worth owning and I can confidently say you will enjoy it, however there are some pacing issues which makes the game difficult to play through at times. The Good: Ni No Kuni is probably one of the most visually appealing games that I have played in a long time and I salute the developers for how they blended the story, musicBottom Line: If you are a JRPG or just an RPG fan, this game is worth owning and I can confidently say you will enjoy it, however there are some pacing issues which makes the game difficult to play through at times. The Good: Ni No Kuni is probably one of the most visually appealing games that I have played in a long time and I salute the developers for how they blended the story, music and visuals together to create beautiful synergy that is appealing to players. In addition, the story, while lacking some character development, is solid and constant with elements that compels you to continue playing. It is easy to lose hours of daylight playing Ni No Kuni so I recommend you keep a schedule just so you remember to eat. Ni No Kuni plays out a lot like a movie and I am glad they were able to incorporate some movie like aspects to this game because like most RPGs the story is what drives the game. On an individual level, battle is engaging because of the variety of options you have to command. You can use your main character who will specialize in particular skills or use your familiars for more specialized stats that better serve the battle field. There are a lot of side quests, exploration and a variety of different things that can consume your time in Ni No Kuni, which gives this all ready long game even more content for the player to enjoy. The Bad: Ni No Kuni defines for players what it truly means to grind. Normally grinding is not a thing that would bother me, but in Ni No Kuni compared to other RPGs makes grinding mandatory. This is because the battle difficultly grows exponentially whenever you travel to a new section and if your characters are under leveled then be prepared to get beat more than a punching bag. Thanks to this grinding it slows down the pace of the game and I safety compare the pacing of this game to being on a glacier moving aimlessly through the ocean. This means that it is possible to invest hours of game play and get only one suspenseful and/or engaging moment in the storyline. What makes matters worse is the AI lacks basic survival skills due to their nasty habit of charging the enemies only to get stomped to death. This is particularly troublesome during boss fights, which at times comes down to Oliver and the over-powered, over-sized baddie. While the game will give you basic commands like All-Out Attack and All-Out Defense the tactics involved in battle don't go deeper than that, but it will help you keep your AI allies alive longer. Perhaps the lack of tactics was a game mechanic choice to show the inexperience of Oliver's leadership capabilities, but I certainly wouldn't complain if they made the AI commands more specific. You could try micro-managing, but that will get frustrating quickly.… Expand
  23. tsakiym
    May 18, 2015
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I do not have to say anything. But i need to write one hundred and fifty characters. i think my score can describe it.................................… Expand
  24. MadOrange64
    Jul 8, 2015
    7
    I'll keep this review short and straight to the point. The combat and is awesome but the team AI are brain dead, so it will be a pain in the ass later on the game. The story is the weakest feature in the game, i hated Oliver (the main protagonist) he was a whining **** ( he's basically like Shinji from Evangelion with more whining) there is nothing interesting about him and the main plotI'll keep this review short and straight to the point. The combat and is awesome but the team AI are brain dead, so it will be a pain in the ass later on the game. The story is the weakest feature in the game, i hated Oliver (the main protagonist) he was a whining **** ( he's basically like Shinji from Evangelion with more whining) there is nothing interesting about him and the main plot is decent but it's hard to care about the main characters because they are so predictable. The familiars are awesome and unique but it's always a pain in the ass when you want to add a new one to the team because it requires a lot and i mean A LOT of grinding that i ended up editing my save file to the max level so i can actually progress in the plot. The lore is interesting and the world is so gorgeous there are a lot of fun side quests that are actually rewarding, completing side quest will add a new mechanic every time like jumping for example. The soundtrack is simply flawless. Overall this is one of the best JRPGs to date but it has a lot of issues that held it back from being in my top 10. This game is on sale most of the time in the PSN, for the price of $9 it's a steal.… Expand
  25. XxSkye07xX
    Apr 28, 2018
    7
    An amazing light hearted game with a great storyline and lovable characters. The battle system was OK, got a bit repetitive after a while mind (and not for the best). Loved the side quest system and bounty hunts, all in all it was a very solid game. Could have had some more traditional Studio Ghibli cut scenes however... and all in all, the thing that REALLY, REALLY let it down was it'sAn amazing light hearted game with a great storyline and lovable characters. The battle system was OK, got a bit repetitive after a while mind (and not for the best). Loved the side quest system and bounty hunts, all in all it was a very solid game. Could have had some more traditional Studio Ghibli cut scenes however... and all in all, the thing that REALLY, REALLY let it down was it's abysmal ending. Extremely anti-climatic and very disappointing. After putting 100+ hours into this game, I was hoping for a heartfelt, wonderful ending to this fantastic story but it seemed to end without finishing fully. I would have gladly given this game a solid 9/10 but the ending really was pathetic.… Expand
  26. Cyber_Angel
    May 16, 2020
    6
    Beautiful, great music and art, interesting story, but dull, repetitive and challenging combat mar it for me. Such a shame.
  27. skeith
    Jan 25, 2015
    6
    I have finished the game and I somehow do not get the hype of this game, I think this game is really mediocre.

    The story is boring for me, cliche. The battle system is boring, you just keep leveling up and then keep smashing the attack button. Uninteresting characters, except for Mr. Drippy, that is the only one I liked in the game. The game has its upside though, beautiful and peaceful    I have finished the game and I somehow do not get the hype of this game, I think this game is really mediocre.

    The story is boring for me, cliche. The battle system is boring, you just keep leveling up and then keep smashing the attack button. Uninteresting characters, except for Mr. Drippy, that is the only one I liked in the game. The game has its upside though, beautiful and peaceful world, great soundtrack, alot of exploration and that is a must for JRPG. In conlcusion, I think this is a game for JRPG fans, if you are it is a must buy.    … Expand
  28. Carlitoxic
    Jun 13, 2014
    6
    Ni no kuni es un buen RPG con unos valores altos de producción. Como en algunas películas del estudio Ghibli, peca de tener tramas sosas que son sólo un conducto para mostrar la belleza de la pincelada y el arte visual de este equipo. La trama se me antoja muy infantil, hasta el punto de perder el interés. Y lo mismo ocurre con los combates y los mini pokemons que usamos para pelear.Ni no kuni es un buen RPG con unos valores altos de producción. Como en algunas películas del estudio Ghibli, peca de tener tramas sosas que son sólo un conducto para mostrar la belleza de la pincelada y el arte visual de este equipo. La trama se me antoja muy infantil, hasta el punto de perder el interés. Y lo mismo ocurre con los combates y los mini pokemons que usamos para pelear. Termina siendo todo un poco ñoño. Es una pena que el estudio no haya elegido un estilo más parecido al de la Princesa Mononoke por ejemplo, porque estaríamos hablando seguramente de un RPG épico.… Expand
  29. LilD
    Mar 1, 2014
    6
    By all appearances, I should love this game. It has an endearing personality, has elements of classic RPGs, and the combat is reminiscent of Pokemon. I really wanted to like this game. I rarely quit games, but after about 17 hours into the game, I cannot go further.

    I’ll begin with the obvious strength of Ni No Kuni. The overall presentation of the game is phenomenal. The menus are    By all appearances, I should love this game. It has an endearing personality, has elements of classic RPGs, and the combat is reminiscent of Pokemon. I really wanted to like this game. I rarely quit games, but after about 17 hours into the game, I cannot go further.

    I’ll begin with the obvious strength of Ni No Kuni. The overall presentation of the game is phenomenal. The menus are slick, the music is top-notch, and the writing is witty. The game does come off as childish, but I thought it added much to its own personality.

    However, once the smoke clears and the reality sets in, I started to realize many of the games shortcomings. First, the beginning of the game is excruciatingly boring. The beginning is riddled with cutscenes, hand-holding gameplay, basic combat, etc. It isn’t until about 6 hours in until the game begins to pick up.

    The game has two glaring flaws, the story and the combat. The story begins as a heartwarming tale of a son trying to save his mother. Aside from that, there isn’t much meat to the story. The characters aside from your trusty sidekick Drippy are extremely bland and one-dimensional. The combat borrows much from that of Pokemon, but lacks any of the fun strategy elements of the Pokemon games. There is a lot of just mashing the attack button during the wild battles. Many of the combat’s problems are more noticeable during boss battles. While it’s nice that not two boss battles are alike, about half of the boss battles are very difficult because the game randomly spikes the difficulty forcing you to level up your characters, which ruins much of the game’s continuity. The combat has too many menus, so you’ll find yourself getting pummeled while trying to find that one attack. Additionally, your party AI is unbelievably bad. They don’t defend. They always waste their MP immediately even after changing Tactics. This can make the battles incredibly frustrating.

    The game’s fun comes from sidequests. It is fun to explore and their Merit System is one of the best sidequest systems I’ve played. You can use your sidequest successes to purchase helpful aids that will help in the main storyline. While the sidequests are fun, the main story is incredibly shallow. There is a ton of handholding and a lot of unnecessary dialogue.

    Overall, I found its flaws too much to continue and Ni No Kuni is one of the most disappointing games I’ve played in awhile.    … Expand
  30. yesterdayatnoon
    Feb 9, 2013
    6
    This game is great fun and looks exceptional, but falls short on polish.

    The animated sequences are beautiful and the animation handled affectionately. Unfortunately, the frame rate is much too low to a point where it is noticeable even to those who don't normally care. The game play is interesting for a jrpg, they put in tons of puzzles and unique ways of interacting with the    This game is great fun and looks exceptional, but falls short on polish.

    The animated sequences are beautiful and the animation handled affectionately. Unfortunately, the frame rate is much too low to a point where it is noticeable even to those who don't normally care.

    The game play is interesting for a jrpg, they put in tons of puzzles and unique ways of interacting with the world. A host of spells give you seemingly limitless options for adventure. Unfortunately, you are prompted with the the problem, and the solution immediately each time. You aren't given the option to explore different solutions to a problem, when presented with a simple substitution code you are given the answer. The only exception to this so far seems to be a ghost boy who asks you to do what the rest of the game doesn't, think.

    The tutorial seems to go on for ever, but that is actually regular game play; twenty hours in and drippy is still double prompting for everything.

    There are also certain things that are just handled in an inefficient manner. You receive a prompt to chose what monster to summon at the beginning of each battle. Feeding your pets is time consuming and constant. Your wizard journal has information in it that is useful on another screen requiring a pen and paper rather than letting you save your spot in the book and flip back to it quickly. These are all generic usability concerns that weren't addressed. Having said all this mean stuff, the game is very similar in game play and visual style to Level 5's dragon warrior 8 and plays about as well. They adapt studio Ghibli's style as well as they did Akira Toriyama's. The dialogue and characters in the world are awkwardly funny and just the right amount of goofy and the hero being a nice kid rather than some sort of vile aberration is also a nice change.

    It would be nice if Level 5 could go through and iron out some kinks, but I doubt that will happen. Still a very nice game I'd recommend to anyone.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

14
#14 Best PS3 Game of 2013
8
#8 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2013
4
#4 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 89 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 81 out of 89
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 89
  3. Negative: 0 out of 89
  1. Post Arcade (National Post)
    May 6, 2013
    80
    Ni No Kuni offers players an experience unlike almost any other RPG. At once, you are transported back to the innocence of a childhood filled with monsters, magic, and mysticism; but at the same time you find yourself immersed in an emotional story about a protagonist dealing with his innermost emotions.
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  2. RPG Fan
    Apr 11, 2013
    92
    The entertaining battles and the resolutions of plot threads as the game progressed toward the final credits were worth paying the cost of a slow start to the gameplay. This is a game that we'll be talking about for years to come, and I'm happy to have played it.
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  3. Armchair Empire
    Apr 1, 2013
    85
    Despite the delayed journey to the West, Ni No Kuni is definitely a title you should at least give a chance. There is a demo up on PSN that you can go ahead and download, and once you get used to the combat system and mechanics of the game, you’ll be treated to an adventure like no other.
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