Gameplay
Graphics
Plot
Characters
Audio
Here is my Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch review! NNK was great! The cell shaded graphic style was so seamless and superb that you literally felt you were in a Studio Ghibl film. One of the most common impressions of Ni No Kuni are the similarities to the Pokemon franchise, which are definitely there but its monster capture system is far different. In NNK, the creatures are known as familiars, which you capture with the song played from a harp by your party member, Esther. To do this however, a familiar must fall in love with you after you have defeated it, which is strictly by chance. This can be very frustrating when trying to complete some of the merit missions in the game that require you to catch certain familiars. Sometimes I was able to catch what I wanted immediately and other times it took several hours and I never ended up getting the familiar I needed! This was a major reason for my 3.5 rating on the game play.
Aside from that, the game play is very solid. The only other thing noting as a frustration in game play is when you’re in a battle with multiple enemies at once. When one is defeated, you are asked to select who to attack next, and the generally it will always select an enemy that is on complete opposite end of the screen, rather than the one that is a few feet away from you. It can be very frustrating when you’re in some intense situations, but is in no way a game breaker.
The characters in NNK are very likable. The writing and pacing of the game is done very well overall, aside from a few nuisances. Oliver is written very well as a boy we all could relate to as a child. During the story I had felt the possibility that the entire story was being portrayed through his imagination after a terrible event that happened to him in the opening sequences of the game. It is hard to dislike Oliver in any way, and I am sure many people will agree. His assisting characters play off of Oliver well and act as a fine supporting cast. My one and only gripe is the 4th character that joins the party. This character is portrayed to be extremely strong and you are led to believe he will never join the party. Eventually he does, and it is so far into the game that you hardly care to use him.
This brings me now to the soundtrack and audio. The music score in the game was phenomenal! Each and every song fit perfectly for the area you were in and really got you into the environment. It gives you that “giddy” feeling that older RPGs used to give you, which was very refreshing. The voice cast in Ni No Kuni was phenomenal as well. Each character delivered their lines seamlessly and all the dialogue felt very natural. This can be very difficult to accomplish when you have characters such as giant cats or other types of fantasy creatures. Good voice acting can make or break an entire game sometimes, and Ni No Kuni is a fine example of how to do it correctly.
That’s my review on Ni No Kuni! I hope you all will tune in with me when I got back to Platinum the game at a later date.
