official Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

JP - November 17, 2011
US - January 22, 2013
EU - February 1, 2013

Wizards Edition



Reviews

Eurogamer 9/10 - http://www.eurogamer...te-witch-review
GameTrailers 9.3/10 - Here (neowin kept trying to embed as video, so manual link)
IGN 9.4/10 - http://uk.ign.com/ga...ni/ps3-14284017
Edge 8/10 - http://www.edge-onli...no-kuni-review/
Digitalspy 4/5 - http://www.digitalsp...-adventure.html
Videogamer 9/10 - http://www.videogame...uni_review.html
Stuff.tv 5/5 - http://www.stuff.tv/...the-white-witch
Strategy Informer 9/10 - http://www.strategyi...090/review.html
OPM 9/10 - http://www.officialp...-into-your-ps3/

Sad to see this fly under the radar on here, so here is a skimpy OT I'll bulk up towards release. Have the Wizards edition on pre-order myself, <3 Studio Ghibli.

[compl3x]

Will also be getting a copy. Probably not on release, but in about a month or something.

[Lingwo]

Same here. Got the Wizards Sleeve edition pre-ordered too.

Loved the demo and can't wait for the full version. Feels like a proper JRPG.

Plus when you see games like this, it does make you wonder if we actually need the next generation of consoles yet. I still think there is plenty of life in them. Especially the PS3.

[Fish]

Totally forgot about this until I saw a vid on youtube earlier. I'll be getting into this I think.

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

have this pre-ordered and am very excited that it is almost here.

[shakey]

I was all ready to get this tomorrow until a few days ago... when I finally got the hang of Dragons Dogma. Now that I can actually play and enjoy DD, I think I'll hold out on this for a little bit. That being said, this game looks fantastic.

[shakey]

And I got it :p

Loving it so far, though I've only had 1 hour of play during lunch.

This game is so nostagic. It reeks of oldschool gaming and anime. From the first animated screen to the tooltips, this game makes me feel like I'm 10 agian.

The animated scenes are great. Really makes you feel like you're watching a movie. And the game itself is so well done, that when it goes from animated to live, there is hardly any difference.

I won't post any spoilers, but if you're thinking this is a kiddy game, you will be in for a surprise, as the story gets pretty heavy quickly.

I should have more to say about this tomorrow, as I plan on playing this after work all night if possible :)

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Awesome shakey! Can't wait for mine. Apparently it's a slow starter so be sure to hang on in there for the first while.

[shakey]

Awesome shakey! Can't wait for mine. Apparently it's a slow starter so be sure to hang on in there for the first while.

It is slow, but only because it has a lot to "teach". There is a ton to this game, and they actually go light on some of the tutorials. But even with the slow start, the story and characters are well done enough to grab and pull you through it.

My main gripe so far is some of the translations not making sense, and misspelled words like "our" is "ouer" and "your" is "youer".... but, I can pass that off as some funky way the things talk :p If it annoys me too much, I'll just switch to English voices. But I so do love hearing the original voice actors, as they have just more emotion than what English dubs seem to give.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

It is slow, but only because it has a lot to "teach". There is a ton to this game, and they actually go light on some of the tutorials. But even with the slow start, the story and characters are well done enough to grab and pull you through it.

My main gripe so far is some of the translations not making sense, and misspelled words like "our" is "ouer" and "your" is "youer".... but, I can pass that off as some funky way the things talk :p If it annoys me too much, I'll just switch to English voices. But I so do love hearing the original voice actors, as they have just more emotion than what English dubs seem to give.

If that is drippy speaking, that's intentional :p It's because of his Welsh, and with the other characters quite possibly because it's British English they're speaking.

edit: I woud play Ni No Kuni in English if you aren't, it's widely thought to be the best out of the two dubs.

[shakey]

If that is drippy speaking, that's intentional :p It's because of his Welsh, and with the other characters quite possibly because it's British English they're speaking.

edit: I woud play Ni No Kuni in English if you aren't, it's widely thought to be the best out of the two dubs.

I'll give it a shot, and I'm surprised to hear that. And yes, it is Drippy :p

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

I'll give it a shot, and I'm surprised to hear that. And yes, it is Drippy :p

Don't get me wrong the words are misspelled but it's to highlight Drippy's thick accent :laugh:

[shakey]

Don't get me wrong the words are misspelled but it's to highlight Drippy's thick accent :laugh:

Since I've been with the Japanese Audio and reading his words, his accent in my head has been Jamaican.

[shakey]

So Audio is right. The English voices are fantastic! And Drippy does sound Jamaican in English :p

I just finished the 1st area. Completed all the side quest and bounties. I found it easy to just go through the story quest at first. Then once I completed the story for that area, I started on the side quest. This made them so much easier I think. Mostly due to once you hit a certain level, most of the world creatures in this 1st area just run away from you, and the bounty quest are all fights that last less than a minute. Probably much harder if you do the sidequest/bounties before you do the actual story quest.

That being said.... Still loving this game. I normally can't stand turn based RPG's, but this is very lively. While you wait for your turn (if you even want to call it waiting), you can run around to dodge enemy attacks and pick up health/mana orbs. Also, you have to be on your toes and ready to cancel an action and defend at any given moment. This though will bring me to a new gripe... Maybe it is just this way in Normal mode and Easy mode is different.... But for Normal mode, while in fights, it is a chore to move with the left analog stick, but still have to choose my attacks and defenses with the direction pad. This makes me grip the controller in an odd fashion to be able to do everything needed. It's a small annoyance if one at all, but still something that seems like it could have been done in a different way.

I've just reached Golden Grove, which is a forrest you enter on your way to the 2nd area. The place looks fantastic, as does all the scenery. Really looking forward to grinding this game out.

[shakey]

I've been reading up more on the game during my slow hours at business. A lot of people kept saying that it gets harder, but I hadn't seen any evidence of that, until... Your first boss fight in the real world. I'm not going to spoil anything, but this is when the game lets go of your hand. While it wasn't a tough fight, it was the toughest fight so far, and the longest. I can really see this game wanting you to start grinding about this time.

Also, while this game looks kiddy, they say some things that are meant for adults. In the forest, Drippy has a line when you look at some mushrooms, " These aren't the magic mushrooms you eat." There is also a plot of family abuse for one quest. It's great though, and I'm enjoying every moment.

I also wish there where more save points in certain areas. Normally, you can save whenever you want. But when you are in certain areas, you can only save at certain locations. Last night, It took me about an hour to reach one of these save points. Granted, it was a maze forest, but I was ready to go to sleep, and had to stay up much later than I planned. So before you go into what I'm calling, "3D over your shoulder unexplored dangerous areas", it might be wise to make sure you have plenty of time to get through it, or you might just end up losing a lot of progression or being late for something :p You can tell when you are in one of these places though from the start, as there is a save at the beginning entrance always. The next save is usually at the end of it.

[D. S. Veteran]

Ni no Kuni Wizard's Edition oversold, some orders being canceled

Now that's a nasty surprise...

[shakey]

^^ I read about that. Pretty ****ty of whoever is responsible. Apparently they sold a **** load of copies to some canadian company who is now selling them for $400+ (4x the original amount ).

[Lingwo]

I just found out that shopto want to charge me ?22.99 postage for my wizards edition. Originally it was free.

The wizards edition is sold out everywhere now too. So now i have to send it to someone where the postage is free and then they send it down to me.

Still works out cheaper that paying ?22.99.

[shakey]

I just found out that shopto want to charge me ?22.99 postage for my wizards edition. Originally it was free.

The wizards edition is sold out everywhere now too. So now i have to send it to someone where the postage is free and then they send it down to me.

Still works out cheaper that paying ?22.99.

Apparently the griffin pet you get with the wizard edition makes the game e-z mode :p I want it!

[D. S. Veteran]

Is the game hard at all? Dragon Quest was more "grindy" than hard. I still haven't picked up my copy (and when I do, I'll probably take a while since I'm playing Disgaea 4).

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

God, I would love the Studio Ghibli game !!! Spirited Away is so amazing!

however, the idea of familiars... i really not sure if it is gonna work for me.

i dont even have playstation anymore, and i dont want to obtain one just for this game if i am not sure i willl like the jprg gameplay... :(

[shakey]

Is the game hard at all? Dragon Quest was more "grindy" than hard. I still haven't picked up my copy (and when I do, I'll probably take a while since I'm playing Disgaea 4).

Some what. The fighting is a little tedious due to the controls, and if you haven't taken good care of your pets, it can be. But its very minor and the game as a whole is fantastic.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

This isn't half a throwback to the old RPGs. Dragon Quest 8 feel for sure.

Starts really really slow, but it's starting to open up for me now. Really enjoying it, the graphics are simply superb.

[shakey]

A little tip to make fighting less tedious... Use L2 and R2 to move left and right on the command wheel, instead of the dpad.

This isn't half a throwback to the old RPGs. Dragon Quest 8 feel for sure.

Starts really really slow, but it's starting to open up for me now. Really enjoying it, the graphics are simply superb.

Ya, you don't really start the game until about 40 hours in :p

[LaP]

That's the reason i'll probably get a PS4 instead of the XBox Next.