[PS3] Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

[Azhag]

I like it so far, but annoyed by some parts of the hand-holding. 10 hours in and it still has to tell me exactly what heart is missing/need to find, etc. Plot's not real deep yet either. But as I said, still enjoying it.

[msduncan]

It does do some hand holding in some areas.    I wonder if that's not just JRPG style?

[USMC Kato]

Hand holding is there, but at least the mechanics are moving along faster than final fantasy 13. And Kuni doesn't throw you in the deep end like Resonance of Fate.

[Autistic Angel]

Ever since the review scores started appearing, the outlier has been Game Informer's notably low 7/10.  It was written by Kimberley Wallace who, as the newest hire on staff, is something of an unknown quantity, but her full article is now available online:

Ni No Kuni features many battles, but most trying is the player’s struggle against old-school mechanics. First off, every area contains an absurd amount of random encounters, and while enemies are visible on the field, they charge instantly once spotting you. Avoiding them is next to impossible, even after upgrading Oliver’s speed.

This problem is exacerbated by limited save points in dungeons (although the world map allows saving at any time). If you die before reaching a save point, you’re transported back to the dungeon’s entrance, grinding through the same enemies again. When you perish, Ni No Kuni also fines you 10 percent of your money to keep earned XP. Death is a possibility in every battle, keeping you constantly alert and forcing you to learn the battle system. Initially, that’s what I liked the most, but the aforementioned issues made this process almost unbearable.

They've also posted a Test Chamber on the game -- imagine a Giant Bomb Quick Look but with way less contempt for the audience -- but I have not yet watched it.

-Autistic Angel

Her review seems off compared to all of the other review out there. I wouldn't put much stock in it.

Eh, we should be careful about discarding reviews just because they stray from the mean.  The initial spate of Black & White reviews were glowing with praise, too.

That said, Game Informer's executive editor Andrew Reiner has recently made several pointed comments about how review scores reflect an individual's opinion, not that of the entire site.  Now, in the new Devil May Cry Test Chamber, he's gone out of his way to remark on how much he adores Ni No Kuni.  I think he's with you on this.

Yeah, for what it's worth, there's no longer any doubt on this.  I still haven't watched the Ni No Kuni Test Chamber because I'm trying to avoid spoilers until I can gratch it for myself, but the Fire Emblem: Awakening episode opens with Reiner saying outright that he would have reviewed Ni No Kuni very differently. 

It also turns out that Kim Wallace is pretty casual about slinging around Fire Emblem plot spoilers, so watch at our own risk.

I'm starting to feel like Game Informer has replaced Phil Kollar with their very own Brad Shoemaker.  Of all the concepts they might have lifted from Giant Bomb, that isn't one I'd have picked.

-Autistic Angel

[Autistic Angel]

They're also reporting that a free bit of DLC will be available to download through PSN on February 12:

Publisher Namco Bandai has revealed that players can download the Draggle familiar, which was previously unavailable in North America, free of charge. Considering how most publishers try to milk every cent out of post-release content, this is a welcome bit of generosity.

-Autistic Angel

[Harpua3]

This is Game of the Year.    Seriously, if I take the last few games of the year, minus Minecraft, this would win against all of them.   

Game. Of. The. Year.

Agreed. This game isn't my usual style at all. That being said, it's been all I've been playing and thinking of playing mostly. Perfect? Probably not. Entertaining as all hell, most def!

[Gratch]

A couple questions on familiars:

1.  Is the "charm" option only available when you start the battle directly controlling Esther?  Granted, I have a small sample size, but the only time I've seen it come up so far is when I start a battle as Esther.  Not sure if that's the case all the time.

2.  Should I be power-leveling a small core group of familiars (i.e. 5-6) and leaving the rest, or should I be leveling them all equally.  I've got a whole bunch of level 1 familiars, and I'm not sure how much grinding should be done to keep them all up to speed.  Just don't want to end up having a particular familiar that's needed for a tough battle drastically underlevelled.

3.  How much are you equipping your familiars?  Is the best bet to simply swap equipment in and out when you activate new ones?

I tend to get a bit "paralysis by analysis" when faced with collect-em-all systems...just trying to wrap my head around this one from the get-go.

[Harpua3]

A couple questions on familiars:

1.  Is the "charm" option only available when you start the battle directly controlling Esther?  Granted, I have a small sample size, but the only time I've seen it come up so far is when I start a battle as Esther.  Not sure if that's the case all the time.

2.  Should I be power-leveling a small core group of familiars (i.e. 5-6) and leaving the rest, or should I be leveling them all equally.  I've got a whole bunch of level 1 familiars, and I'm not sure how much grinding should be done to keep them all up to speed.  Just don't want to end up having a particular familiar that's needed for a tough battle drastically underlevelled.

3.  How much are you equipping your familiars?  Is the best bet to simply swap equipment in and out when you activate new ones?

I tend to get a bit "paralysis by analysis" when faced with collect-em-all systems...just trying to wrap my head around this one from the get-go.

I had some questions too. Those are them;).

[MonkeyFinger]

Perhaps something here would help. Prima guide information including a familiar's beginner's guide and one on metamorphosis.

[Bullwinkle]

A couple questions on familiars:

1.  Is the "charm" option only available when you start the battle directly controlling Esther?  Granted, I have a small sample size, but the only time I've seen it come up so far is when I start a battle as Esther.  Not sure if that's the case all the time.

2.  Should I be power-leveling a small core group of familiars (i.e. 5-6) and leaving the rest, or should I be leveling them all equally.  I've got a whole bunch of level 1 familiars, and I'm not sure how much grinding should be done to keep them all up to speed.  Just don't want to end up having a particular familiar that's needed for a tough battle drastically underlevelled.

3.  How much are you equipping your familiars?  Is the best bet to simply swap equipment in and out when you activate new ones?

I tend to get a bit "paralysis by analysis" when faced with collect-em-all systems...just trying to wrap my head around this one from the get-go.

I had some questions too. Those are them;).

I can answer #1 at least, as I never start a battle with Esther, and I've charmed quite a few monsters.  In fact, the only time I switch to her is if I need to charm something (or if the battle is going really badly, and she's the only one left).

As for the other 2 questions, I've been focusing on just a few familiars and equipping them as they go into active rotation.

[Qantaga]

I can answer #1 at least, as I never start a battle with Esther, and I've charmed quite a few monsters.  In fact, the only time I switch to her is if I need to charm something (or if the battle is going really badly, and she's the only one left).

As for the other 2 questions, I've been focusing on just a few familiars and equipping them as they go into active rotation.

 
That's the way I'm doing it, too.
  
I have a handful of familiars that I've morphed to their "super" class. The rest I rotate in and out to get them levels, but I rarely use them in combat.

[Qantaga]

 
Game. Of. The. Year.

   
Agreed wholeheartedly.
   
I've got 30+ hours in and the game just keeps getting better and better.

[Gratch]

Thoughts at the 12-hour mark.  I like Ni No Kuni, but don't love it yet.  A couple issues that are holding it back, imo:

-  I'm not entirely sold on the combat yet, but I think it's mainly because I'm still in the early stages.  My familiars have a lot of abilities, but I never need 90% of them unless I'm in a boss fight.  Why waste the MP on boosting attack rating or putting an enemy to sleep when most battles are over relatively quickly anyways?  I'm sure this will likely change when I get up against tougher enemies.
-  The "gotta catch 'em all" aspect of familiars is lost on me at this point.  I have about 20 of them, but am basically just using the same familiars over and over again, and occasionally bringing in a third one to level up.  Since each new familiar starts at level 1 with crappy stats, I don't really have any way to compare them to my current squad.  Is this one better?  Worse?  Same?  Who knows...guess I'll just throw it in the mix and hope for the best.
-  Starting familiars back at level 1 after they morph drives me nuts.  They're basically useless for the next hour+ while you level them back up.  Annoying.
-  I wish there was a tactics setting between "Do what you want" and "Don't use any abilities".  Something that would allow them to occasionally use magic, but not so much that Esther's MP gauge is depleted every 3 minutes.

Thankfully, the story, artwork, and overall production is so stellar that I can look over a few of these gripes and still have fun.  I keep hoping for it to really click, but it hasn't yet.

[Harpua3]

I'm only 10 or so hrs in, thats about to change tonight...but still really positive things to say.

[skystride]

It's weird that they don't give you the two tactical commands as soon as you get your first party member.  These commands are only unlocked a bit after the third party member joins.

I'm still using the mite in almost every fight, he's just so OP because of his levels and the amount of food I've given him.  Hard to get another familiar to catchup.

[wonderpug]

What new commands do you get when your 3rd party member joins?

[Scraper]

What new commands do you get when your 3rd party member joins?

Yeah I'm pretty sure I got my tactics options when the chick joined.

[skystride]

What new commands do you get when your 3rd party member joins?

Yeah I'm pretty sure I got my tactics options when the chick joined.

All out defence and offence were not mentioned until later.  At least now I can block boss attacks with other members.

[wonderpug]

Do you ever get an option for "go ahead and use abilities, but come on now, don't go overboard" ?

[The Grue]

What new commands do you get when your 3rd party member joins?

Yeah I'm pretty sure I got my tactics options when the chick joined.

You do.  However, it seems like you can only choose Tactics if you've taken control of a human character and not the familiars.  I would really like it if you could choose it from familiars, because I rarely (at least so far) bring the focus on a human.

[wonderpug]

You can only modify your choice of tactics with a human selected, but whatever choices you make carry on to the next battle.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

I got this yesterday and played until getting into the city. So far, so good but I'm not sure I understand completely how combat works (and the manual didn't help).

1) When I select "attack", for instance, do I need to keep pushing the button or does pushing it once cause my guy to continually attack?

2) What is the clock like thing on the left side of the screen? I assume it's a timer but I can't quite figure out what it's trying to tell me.

3) I'm also not clear on how to get the "Nice" bonus; do you just need to attack at certain times depending on the monster? Or is it positional (i.e. getting behind the monster helps)?

4) Speaking of getting behind monsters, I've surprised a few but they still seem to turn around before I can attack them. Is that supposed to happen?

5) Finally, what's the benefit of using the familiar if my main guy has a higher attack power, since the HPs and MPs are shared?

Ok, I think that's about all the questions I had.


For now....

Thanks.

[Bullwinkle]

I got this yesterday and played until getting into the city. So far, so good but I'm not sure I understand completely how combat works (and the manual didn't help).

1) When I select "attack", for instance, do I need to keep pushing the button or does pushing it once cause my guy to continually attack?

2) What is the clock like thing on the left side of the screen? I assume it's a timer but I can't quite figure out what it's trying to tell me.

3) I'm also not clear on how to get the "Nice" bonus; do you just need to attack at certain times depending on the monster? Or is it positional (i.e. getting behind the monster helps)?

4) Speaking of getting behind monsters, I've surprised a few but they still seem to turn around before I can attack them. Is that supposed to happen?

5) Finally, what's the benefit of using the familiar if my main guy has a higher attack power, since the HPs and MPs are shared?

Ok, I think that's about all the questions I had.


For now....

Thanks.

1.  Just once until the timer ends, then again, unless you want to choose another action.

2.  I haven't noticed this, unless it's the combat timer I mentioned above.

3.  It's about timing your hit. They'll explain it later, but basically if you choose Attack when the selection bubble is blue, you get a Nice (and will likely get a bonus in the form of orbs: green, blue or even gold).  It is not easy to do, however, and can feel random.

4.  Yes.  This annoyed me at first, but it has to do with your team's relative power compared to the monster's.  As you gain power, it'll be easier to sneak up on them.  Eventually, you will be too powerful, and they'll start running from you.  It's a useful system, IMO.

5.  None, unless you need to use their powers, but soon enough they will be better at attacking than you, and it would be smart to practice with them.  That said, I usually only use my Mite to attack, unless it's a boss or an overpowered enemy, and I'm forced to swap out.

[skystride]

Regarding point 5, you also have to consider alignment (which will be explained later).  The main character doesn't have an alignment (sun, moon etc).  Sun does more damage to Moon.  Moon > Star and Star > Sun.  There's also element type (fire, water etc.) resistances but that's harder to judge in combat.  You can check it in the beastiary outside combat. 

I highly recommend leveling up some caster type familiars that have magic type that Oliver doesn't have access to immediately like water attack or thunder attack.  I didn't do this and nearly paid for it at a boss fight who was resistant to most of my attacks.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Do familiars gain experience after battle whether you've used them or not? Or do you have to actively fight with them from them to level up? It seems that the first familiar gets experience even when I don't deploy him.

[th'FOOL]

Do familiars gain experience after battle whether you've used them or not? Or do you have to actively fight with them from them to level up? It seems that the first familiar gets experience even when I don't deploy him.

As long as they are one of the three active ones used by one of the main party members, yes, they level up. When I take on a new familiar or metamorphose an existing one (taking it back down to level one), I don't use them in actual battle until they get around level 10 at the very least.

Anybody have any good familiar combos? My Mite familiar ain't going nowhere, but I'm trying to find a little more balance between the remaining slots with Oliver and Esther (and eventually my next party member who seems imminent)

[EddieA]

4) Speaking of getting behind monsters, I've surprised a few but they still seem to turn around before I can attack them. Is that supposed to happen?

There's a merit card reward that makes it easier to sneak up on enemies, and I think it costs 2 cards.  I haven't tried it myself, so I don't know how effective it is.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

I've sneaked up on monsters (or at least it gives me the "surprise" exclamation mark) and when I first get to the battle screen, their backs are turned. But it seems that as soon as I click "attack", no matter how fast I am, the monsters turn around and the battle begins like normal. I don't seem to be getting in any extra hits or doing any additional damage.

[wonderpug]

It should say "You have the advantage!" at the top when your battle starts, and their combat timers need to wind down a cycle before they can do anything except run around.

[Bullwinkle]

I've sneaked up on monsters (or at least it gives me the "surprise" exclamation mark) and when I first get to the battle screen, their backs are turned. But it seems that as soon as I click "attack", no matter how fast I am, the monsters turn around and the battle begins like normal. I don't seem to be getting in any extra hits or doing any additional damage.

It's the same as when they surprise you, you face them, but your menu doesn't come up for a period of time.  They can't attack initially when you surprise them.

[Sparhawk]

Concerning combat:

I didn't really enjoy combat in Ni No Kuni and I am not a "gotta catch'em all" kind of person so monster hunting doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.

Alignment is not important and can be ignored completely. The combat isn't so challenging that you will ever need any specific monster for a particular boss fight. The mite that you get at the beginning of the game is more than sufficient but you can replace him with whatever your heart desires since it really won't make a difference. Basically, use what monsters that you like and don't fret about "combat efficiency."

With that said, if you want to make farming for experience a breeze you should tame a "Monolith" monster and use his "Yoo-Hoo!" ability to force all of the enemies to attack him; and then have your AI buddies go all out to tear down the enemies. You will usually take only 1 hp of damage per swing/ability from most enemies that way. 

Concerning the story:

I liked it to a point but I must say that the ending seemed to be rushed. I was shocked that there wasn't in any way an ending cinematic, literally you just kill the boss and it's roll credits (which features an amazing song). Everything up until about midway through the story was fantastic and then it fell apart.

I also did not like Oliver. I was hoping that he was in a coma and it was all a dream. He's a 13 year old kid running around a neighborhood and his mother just died.... Not a single thing is out of place with him living in a big ol' house by himself. Seriously? It bothers me that not even a single NPC said "I guess he'll have to live with his uncle/aunt/grandparents." That of course just added to my overall disappointment with the story.

Art:

LOVED IT

Sound:

LOVED IT

Game play:

Meh. (I'm at work so I have to stop here for now.)

[skystride]

Alignment is not important and can be ignored completely. The combat isn't so challenging that you will ever need any specific monster for a particular boss fight. The mite that you get at the beginning of the game is more than sufficient but you can replace him with whatever your heart desires since it really won't make a difference. Basically, use what monsters that you like and don't fret about "combat efficiency."

This has not been my experience.  I wiped 5 times on a boss fight with a robot type mob.  Mite does no damage to it.  I had a lowbie familiar that cast thunder attacks and that was doing decent damage to it but would die in 1 or 2 hits.  Olivers spells did less damage but it's so easy to go OOM.  I barely got by and used up all my provisions in the process (prior to this fight I barely use provisions in fights).  Party members kept dying easily if I missed timing my "All Defend".  I'm playing on normal.

[Harpua3]

Alignment is not important and can be ignored completely. The combat isn't so challenging that you will ever need any specific monster for a particular boss fight. The mite that you get at the beginning of the game is more than sufficient but you can replace him with whatever your heart desires since it really won't make a difference. Basically, use what monsters that you like and don't fret about "combat efficiency."

This has not been my experience.  I wiped 5 times on a boss fight with a robot type mob.  Mite does no damage to it.  I had a lowbie familiar that cast thunder attacks and that was doing decent damage to it but would die in 1 or 2 hits.  Olivers spells did less damage but it's so easy to go OOM.  I barely got by and used up all my provisions in the process (prior to this fight I barely use provisions in fights).  Party members kept dying easily if I missed timing my "All Defend".  I'm playing on normal.

I like that the disagreements with this game are really subtle if you think about comparisons. Simply put, phenomenal game!

[msduncan]

Beat the game.   I was going to go for the Platinum trophy, but two things stopped me cold:

1.  The Alchemy Quest where you have to collect 5 things off two types of gold mobs.     I did a 1 hour grind and only got 2 of the 5 of one of the items.    Screw that.

2.  The trophy you have to tame 250 creatures for.    SCREW THAT.    It's one thing if it's like Pokemon and you can just toss a ball at 250 types of creatures.    Even with the perk that lets you tame more often, the hearts come up agonizingly rarely on mobs.    Enough that it would take me ages to get 250 types of creatures.

So I love the game, but it's now going to eBay without having earned the platinum trophy.

[Harpua3]

Still loving this gem of a game! About 20 hrs in and it just keeps getting better.

[EddieA]

It looks like the game is selling well.  According to the NPD charts, it was #11 for the month of January, despite being released late in the month.

[The Grue]

It looks like the game is selling well.  According to the NPD charts, it was #11 for the month of January, despite being released late in the month.

Yeah, but you could also argue it should have been higher given that nothing really came out in January.  Still, I guess it is never going to compete with the big titles on that list.

[MonkeyFinger]

Still early on. Last time I played I headed off for that desert oassis... made it thru the bouncy mushroom Fancy Forest and beat the second Guardian first try no issues but the moment I pop out into the desert I get killed by a freaking walking bunch of bananas. 

 

[Roguetad]

It looks like the game is selling well.  According to the NPD charts, it was #11 for the month of January, despite being released late in the month.

It seems like it's doing well considering it's a single SKU jrpg competing against multiplatforms (of course Halo 4 is the single SKU big daddy that blows the bell curve).   

[Harpua3]

Still early on. Last time I played I headed off for that desert oassis... made it thru the bouncy mushroom Fancy Forest and beat the second Guardian first try no issues but the moment I pop out into the desert I get killed by a freaking walking bunch of bananas. 

 

The game definatly has difficulty spikes! Still a gem though.