Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch™ Remastered

The opening to this game is almost text book in inability to deliver an engaging experience and frankly, flat out incompetence. Five five feet. Cut-scene. Walk five feet. Cut-scene. It never ends. 2 hours into the game, It is still forcing me to walk five feet. . . cut-scene.

The story within those cut scenes is extremely boiler plate. It would be serviceable if was in service to game play, but it's the focus in a languid and beleaguered way. Just in terms of competent writing, you need to cut down what's here significantly or write better. Yes, they did get Studio Ghibli to make cut scenes and those are charming, but even those are clearly from the same story board. If this was repacked in some way and you told someone this was a Ghibli movie, they would call you a liar. Everything is obviouis, slow, and boring.

But what about that game play when it does happen? The combat system is very older RPG which a little bit of freedom of movement and extra systems tacked on. It feels like unnecessary clutter-- busy work in the fight to make it feel more complicated or keep the player busy. I would have preferred pure turn based just to shave down the nonsense I need to keep track of. Even systems like being able to move and dodge attacks while you select your own isn't meaningful, because the game is not that hard.

Are there positives? Sure. The game features a pokemon-like system of obtaining and training new critters. These are fun and are functionally the same as new playable character in combat, they aren't implemented in any meaningful way, in fact, I'd say it's pretty clunky with a stamina system that forces you to continually change them out with each other and the human characters.

There's a tiny amount of exploration. Tasks to do. The larger exploration and goals are not what I'd call robust.

The graphics can look nice at time. I was impressed by the towns especially. There was some weirdness to the cutscenes. The game functionally has 3 art styles. The main game, the 3d cut scenes, and the ghibli animations. The 3d cutscenes stand out as wonky and unusually poorly done. There would be weird lighting changes that clash with where you just were in the 3D game world.

So that's a lot, but I really don't have a lot of positives to say. It's what looks like a ridiculously high budget game with zero aspirations, attention to detail, or inspiration.

4/10 at best.

This charming, timeless action-RPG exudes the Studio Ghibli vibe and incorporates a coming-of-age story in an isekai setting. The mix of turn-based & real-time combat with creature collection also adds to its unique flavor. Two thumbs up 👍👍

:)

This game's difficulty is very balance if you don't grind too much. The aspect of raising familiars is pure fun. My characters' level at the final boss are 45 45 and early 50ish on that last character. Definitely recommended for everyone even if you're not an rpg fan.

I'm gonna be honest: The concept of a Studio Ghibli RPG does not make up for the fact the not-action-but-also-not-turn-based combat is more of a pain than it is fun. The world also didn't really grab me.

10/10

A weird combination of insane-level hand holding, and difficult combat. Sure to make any adult throw their controller during dialogues/"puzzles", and any child to throw theirs during the battles. The Ghibli style sets a high bar, but it turns out that game developers don't write amazing characters or stories, and this crashes straight into the bar.

That said some of the art is very nice, and I enjoyed the end game a lot, when there was less hand-holding and more exploring, resource collecting, and levelling up of different creatures (I never felt that switching up the party was viable or encouraged during the storyline, which is a pretty crazy gameplay choice, considering how many creatures there are).

This is a harsh review... but this game drove me to it! I'll have to read some reviews of the sequel - if it doesn't have the weird balance/hand-holding aspect, and a nice story, I may check it out, because with the edges filed off (with a very firm hand!) this would have been excellent.

I originally played Ni No Kuni on the PS3 back in like 2012, and after a second playthrough all these years later. I have thoroughly enjoyed this game start to finish, maybe with a better appreciation for it now.

Compared to other JRPGs sure it is underwhelming in terms of combat, skill trees and anything that maybe say a FF or Persona game would provide. But I think that if you are cut from the kind of cloth that you don't really explore JRPGs aside from games like Pokemon but were looking for something a bit more substantial in terms of story while maintaining a casual RPG experience and if you are of course a big fan of Ghibli animations. I believe this is an experience worth having.

I enjoy this game, but I do think it is overrated for what it is. The middle section of this game is pretty bloated, and I thought the RPG mechanics were a bit underbaked.

This isn't a bad game, hence the recommendation, but I do feel that much of the acclaim for this title is taken at face value.

>open the game

FLASHBANG
FLASHBANG
FLASHBANG WITH THE POWER OF THE SUN

♥

great game! Ive played through this game several times. It has a good story line, cute characters.

One of the most boring games I played in a while.

Pros:
- Gibli graphics;

Cons:
- keyboard/mouse controls are inconsistent and not comfortable - mostly is related to battles, in whole game you can press right mouse click to go back, but in fights you can't, you need to press some random buttons until you find they one that will work in that exact case (tab worked for me in case I selected some spell and I want to cancel);
- quests (both main and side), most of time you need to get something from one person that is standing right nearby to another one, or find some needed spell in your list of spells to use in exact situation (elf's mom quest, really no brain required to solve that), or this investigation in real world to find some similar person.
- battle controls - you select an enemy and expect your pokemon to attack him, but first he will stuck trying to go through some other enemy;
- non rewarding exploration, found another chest via backtracking? here, take this cheezeburger, congrats;
- and whole battle system, want to hit hard? use some spells but your mana will end soon. Most of time just use melee to click on enemies until they are dead.

In all honesty, you are much better off watching a full playthrough which allows you to skip the grinding this game has, instead of playing it yourself. This game offers maybe max. 10 hours of unique content, and the rest is filled with grinding or fetch quest. The gameplay has no real strategic depths as you will have a very limited selection of monster since leveling up those is already so much grind that you wont dare take any other monsters with you.
The world, music, story, characters are all nice and have their charme. But the gameplay just does not support the game enough for its length.

very good very cool!

This game is just a slog. You fight monsters every few seconds and they reappear after the next battle to fight again

i like gameplay mechanic here better than Ni no kuni 2. Need ni no kuni 3 a.s.a.p

If you like JRPG creature capture games and Studio Ghibli you will love this.

one of my favorite games of all time, loved getting to play through it again on pc
everything a studio ghibli game entails. absolutely gorgeous visuals, a soundtrack i listen to almost daily atp, some of the most lovable characters in any media, and drippy
10000/10

has a fat lazy cat king≽^•⩊•^≼, recommended( ദ്ദി ˙ᗜ˙ )

Such a cute game with a great story and characters

Please play this game, I love you <3

A game about the broken-hearted, moving on, exp grinding in perdida, and making sure that the traveling merchant couple goes around the world during an apocalyptic event. I think the present day gaming industry is suffering the same issues that Shadar has plagued throughout this world.

I'm a huge Studio Ghibli fan so I'm a bit biased, but the animation is lovely and that alone has me enjoying the early stages of the game. I haven't gotten too far in, but the first hour or so of the game has mostly been animated cut scenes with very little in the way of game play other than walking to the next area where the story (and animated cut scenes) pick back up. I've just gotten to the part where you begin the Pokemon style battling and it's been button mashing the "attack" button so far. I'm assuming the game will become a bit more challenging soon. But so far I'm enjoying myself.

I would only want say this: great story.
(at some point I cried.)

8.5/10

I want a third. Reminds me of final fantasy 13's active time battle kinda. you switch control between three characters with their active familiar out on the field while the other two sets auto fight. If you're the type to enjoy competitive pokemon crank the difficulty up, otherwise the game is fairly balanced at normal skill checking you at boss fights but not unreasonably so.

one of the best JRPG's of all time! If you're a fan of the genre and have never played level 5's and studio Ghibli's masterclass of a an adventure definitely consider, you wont be disappointed.

BEST GAME OF ALL TIME

Excellent game ⭐ 10 / 10 ⭐

I've played this game multiple time on the ps3. When my ps3 went out I bought it on steam. I was expecting to be disappointed in the pc version based on the difference in keyboard and controller. But I was pleasantly surprised. The keyboard mechanics are well done and don't hinder game play at all. I am glad that I am able to play a game that I love again.

I remember my time playing this game in my PS3. Playing this again in steam is really nostalgic and it's really an awesome game with a great story and challenging gameplay. Also, as a recent achievement hunter, I've realized that most features to complete, including completing the wizard's companion, is really difficult and challenging which makes it great to play if you enjoy RPG a lot.

POG game. Dragons, boats and a lot of walking back and forth. Still amazing game. Story is funny sometimes, most of the time. Drippy is mean but Welsh he also gets funnier along the way. Would recommend using Hippogriff he's great. Played about 30h now and I'm about half way through doing most content along the way.

its peak

I love Studio Ghibli and all things related. This is kinda a slow paced game. It makes me sleepy. I love the story though, the cut scenes and the action. Reminds me of a remix on Final Fantasy. But thats just me. Ive played it twice so far.

Very Nice JRPG, Good writing , Good graphics, Great game 8.5/10 IMO

great story

Amazing game, truly nostalgic and an amazing experience. I want more games that are a lot like this :)

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is, without a doubt, my favorite game of all time, and nothing will ever top it for me. I first played it as a child on the PS3, and ever since then, I’ve continued to revisit it, whether on the Switch or PC. No matter how many times I play it will never get old. I’ve even gone as far as learning to read and write the Naäzcan script from memory, and I constantly wish there was more to explore. Just hearing the World Map theme gets me nostalgic and emotional to this day. Can’t put a high enough rating, would recommend.

FUN, love the studio ghibli style of the character great story :)

I'm only giving this a down thumb because of the 2 word cutscenes. The story was meh, the combat was great apart from 1 particular side quest which can go suck an egg... Honestly the game is fine but it either needs to be fully voiced or not at all, the randomness of the voiced CS's took me out of the story when really i should of been invested into it. It felt like they forgot they paid voice actors then went WOOPS and stuck random voiced parts in where they could after everything had been completed. If you enjoy catching pokémon and endless grinding with monsters that have about 1% chance to be caught then this is the game for you.

I've tried playing this game 3 times since it came out on the Ps3 with several years in between to clear my head and try to tackle it with a clean slate, and I still have 0 patience for the abysmal party ai when it comes to boss battles.

Level 5 had better party ai back on the Ps2 with Rogue Galaxy.

I love everything about this game from the characters, story, familiar designs, the ost by the legend Jo Hisaishi, to the actual 400 page glossary with fun and creative art/writing. The world-building is immaculate.

Yet, every boss after getting the first party member is the same loop of watching my healer do melee attacks without her familiar (despite being set to "prioritize healing") until she dies, and strafing to pickup orbs to replenish my mana while I take potshots from across the room for an obscene amount of time.

I fight every familiar I come across, I go back to town after each story section to do all the side quests and bounties, I evolve my familiars and get their levels back up to snuff, and it's still not even close to enough to compensate for how utterly useless your party members are in this game.

Each time I've come back to this thinking that I have to be wrong about this game due to how outstanding every other aspect of this game is, and each time I'm firmly reminded that I was making the right call in bowing out. Level 5 has some of my favorite games period, but this one just isn't up to snuff with everything they put out a console generation earlier.

Flippin heck, mun. Great RPG with creature collecting elements. Neato!

This game is absolutely NEEADDDOOOOOOOOOOO!

fun

Gameplay 10/10
Story 8/10
catch monsters fight them and lvl up great games for kids or adults

TOO GOOD OF A GAME

9/10

I finished the game last night and I found it a really mixed bag. I hesitate to recommend it unless you already like jrpgs, especially ones targeted at children, since it had so much more hand-holding than what I am used to in jrpgs/crpgs/etc. It must be said that the music is absolutely top notch and does a LOT of heavy lifting, but the English voice acting is really inconsistent with accents, way too quippy for my taste, and overall detracted so much from my experience. The combat had some fun ideas added into it, including adding familiars so you can collect monsters to add to your team, but the ally ai was also abysmal despite using tactics to change them up.

If I played this game 20 years ago when I was a kid I would have loved it, but I found how much the game leads you along frustrating. It doesn't seem to trust the player to be able to figure things out. Overall, I wish I could say I loved it due to the involvement of Studio Ghibli and Joe Hisaishi but it was a miss for me. There are absolutely people who will love this game, and it might be more likely to be your younger relatives instead of whoever is reading this.

Creature catching game with Studio Ghibli art design? What more could you want?! Play this GAME!!!