Tales of Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a fantasy RPG released on January 22, 2013 for the Playstation 3. Ni No Kuni was actually first released on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan on December 9, 2010. After two years, the game was finally released for us all to enjoy. Ni No Kuni strongly comes off as a game specifically for children from the strange creature following you, like a new generation Pikachu, and the fact that the protagonists are children. I was hesitant to try the game at first, but once I started I couldn't stop.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is an epic adventure of a boy named Oliver. After a tragic accident, the boy falls into a depressed state only to find that his stuffed toy, Mr Drippy, is actually real! The self proclaimed Lord High Lord of the Fairies tells Oliver he is a wizard, and helps the boy in his quest. Mr Drippy is the main source of humor, having a bizarre dialect and being a complete goof, as well as being the player's permanent source of help.

The first spell Oliver learns, from the help of his Wizard's companion, takes him into a whole different world filled with magic, creatures, and an interesting assortment of characters. Soon after arriving in the new world, Oliver learns about Familiars, creatures that roam the world, and obtains his own Familiar. Both Oliver and the Familiar level up, becoming stronger, by fighting the other creatures all over the world.

As the story progresses, the player obtains the ability to “Charm” the creatures of the world and turn them into Familiars. Almost every creature the player encounters can be a Familiar. To some players, this can be a reminiscent of another game, Pokemon. So much, in fact, that the Familiars can evolve through use of special stones. The bare mechanics are similar in the way that creatures level, learn new skills and can also learn new skills through items. However, there are deeper mechanics separating this game from the Pokemon games.

When a Familiar evolves it goes back to level one, through a process called Metamorphosis.For those wondering why you would want to evolve, since the Familiar becomes level one after having already been level twenty or thirty, the creature is able to strengthen their abilities and learn stronger skills. When the Familiar reaches it's second Metamorphosis, the player also has to pick a path for the Familiar. For example, my favorite Familiar, Purrloiner changes into Cutpurrse and then has to be changed into either Puss in Boats or Puss in Bouts.

Each Familiar also belongs to a specific genus, or group, of Familiars. Each character in the party has a favored genus which, when used, increases the strength of the Familiar itself. Each genus also has a favored type of food which, when fed to the Familiar, increases their base statistic. Purrloiner likes chocolate, which increases the feline Familiar's strength.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a cute game for the ages 10+. I thoroughly enjoyed the game, finding it to be one of the best RPGs on the PS3. The overall story is sad, a boy traversing through two worlds to save someone important to him, while he tracks down the Dark Djinn Shadar. While tracking the evil man through the fantasy world, Oliver meets people who have been “heartbroken”, meaning that a piece of their heart was taken by Shadar for defying him. Using his magic, Oliver now not only has to save the important person, but people around the world too! Shadar's evil magic does not only lie in the fantasy world, but also affects the people from Motorville, Oliver's hometown.

The game is beautifully animated, the characters are interesting though can seem lacking at times and the battle system is unique. The only very annoying part about Ni No Kuni is catching the Familiars themselves. RNG,which means Random Number Generator, is a cruel mistress for any RPG. Every time you defeat a creature, there is a percentage chance that you may catch the creature, changing it into a Familiar, after reaching a certain point in the game. RNG is the number that is randomly generated after the creature is defeated. Some players are extremely lucky in catching Familiars while others hunt Familiars for hours with no success.

There is one thing that really bothered me when I finished the game however. While being used to New Game + options, that wasn't the problem in this case. While the player can't return to the game with all the spells learned or Familiars caught, there is content locked to the player until after finishing the main storyline. This to me, seems to be a waste of time because the story, once over, is well... over. What more could attract the player when the main story is over, unless you are a perfectionist who needs to complete every single tiny aspect of the game, then this is for you.

Overall the game is a complete success in drawing in gamers once the game has started. The outside may make the game look childish, but it can touch the hearts of many. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch thoroughly earns a score of 9/10. The game is absolutely wonderful and I enjoyed the journey enough to want to spread the word. Everyone should own Ni No Kuni. There is a beautiful world waiting out there, waiting for gamers to explore.