gaming Ni No Kuni

[SBaby 660]

So yeah.  Ni No Kuni.  The PS3 exclusive RPG made by Level 5 and Studio Ghibli, with music composed by Joe Hisaishi.

 

Since the game just came out, I figured it's time to have a topic about this amazing game.  And why not?  This is the first JRPG in awhile that I was legitimately excited to get, and it's an amazing game.  How amazing?  So amazing that there are actually people out there calling this 'the next Mother'.  I'm not kidding.

 

But let's cut the speech short, and get right to some videos, so you have an idea of what I mean.

 

First, a trailer (minor spoilers):

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MznAY8Es5c

 

and of course, some footage of the game itself (warning: spoilers):

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpWTXjMSTxc

 

 

 

You can get more of that stuff from youtube.  But I didn't want to spoil too much.

 

 

So yeah, I'll leave this open for discussion.

Edited January 27, 2013 by SBaby

[Discordian 6,018]

I'm definitely enjoying Ni No Kuni. I just got to the desert city before I stopped last night and I'm about to go play more. I absolutely love the story and errand board & bounty hunts. Gives me lots to do and lots of extra money. I already have some suspicions regarding certain characters like Shadar.

[SBaby 660]

I'm definitely enjoying Ni No Kuni. I just got to the desert city before I stopped last night and I'm about to go play more. I absolutely love the story and errand board & bounty hunts. Gives me lots to do and lots of extra money. I already have some suspicions regarding certain characters like Shadar.

 

Yeah, you're maybe an hour or two before where I am, and I'm already making guesses as to who Shadar could be.

 

In case I'm right, don't open this if you don't want to be spoiled.

 

 

 

I think Shadar is one of two people.  Either he's the soulmate of Oliver's father, or he's Oliver's soulmate.  That's my prediction.

 

 

 

Keep in mind, I could be wrong.  I'm playing this pretty much blind.  So I don't know anything about what happens beyond the volcano area in the story.  So this is just a guess right now.

Edited January 27, 2013 by SBaby

[Discordian 6,018]

I won't be opening it but I think it's

Oliver's dad or his soulmate

 

 

 

Still in the desert town and just saved Esther and heading to the Temple of Trials.

 

I'm in need of some enthusiasm right now for an errand so I'm heading back to Ding Dong Dell since there's no one with Enthusiasm in Al Mamoon.

Edited January 28, 2013 by Discordian

[SBaby 660]

Yeah, you're supposed to pick up one dose of Enthusiasm from Ding Dong Dell and take it to Al Mamoon.  You can actually get the Enthusiasm before going to the desert for the first time if you look around town before leaving (there's an extra NPC with Enthusiasm).

Edited June 1, 2013 by SBaby

[Mephala 2,635]

I want to play it! I remember seeing the trailer and thinking Ghibli was making another film but then GAME.

So now I'm dying to get my hands on it.

I'm glad everyone's saying it's good.

[Discordian 6,018]

It's absolutely fantastic. The only thing I've noticed is that they've kinda rushed some of the dialog whether through recording or the voice actors but it's only a tiny bit.

 

Plus if it's your preference you can switch between English and Japanese for the language anyway. I always go with English though.

Edited January 28, 2013 by Discordian

[SkyeRibbonPwny 406]

I am so excited for this! A close friend of mine actually skipped class one day to sit in the art department with some junk food just to watch the gameplay for it. It looked absolutely beautiful and perfectly Miyazaki <3 Im very excited to get it.

[HallowsEve 52]

I found out about this game quite a while ago and have been wanting to play it since. It also didn't help I was working at GameStop at the time as seasonal and they tend to play the same commercials over and over again. The artwork looks beautiful and the story seems very interesting. 

[The Milkman 186]

Looks pretty good, but way too boring, like Persona battles.
What interested me a lot about this game is that the animations are made by Studio Ghibli, and holy shit i love Ghibli, although, i need more reasons to buy this game and i'm not getting anything.
Also i don't have a PS3, so fuck my life.

[Gigachip 148]

I saw the game back when it was only available in Japan. Now that it is available in other regions other than Japan I'm interested in checking it out.

[Discordian 6,018]

Looks pretty good, but way too boring, like Persona battles.

What interested me a lot about this game is that the animations are made by Studio Ghibli, and holy shit i love Ghibli, although, i need more reasons to buy this game and i'm not getting anything.

Also i don't have a PS3, so fuck my life.

 

The battles can be a bit repetitive and boring until you get a few hours in and learn some decent abilities and have the need for the defend option but after you get to the second town things really start heating up. Especially after you get the ability to tame monsters. If you are a monster-collecting type of guy that alone could interest you. They also metamorphosize (evolve) after a given amount of levels so there's lots of growth to do and you can turn your familiars into fighting machines by your own hand. And it's not tedious like Pokemon either because any familiars in your battle party level up even if they aren't used so it makes leveling much, much easier overall.

 

Plus I just did some clever puzzles that required you to think as well as have some dexterity. One puzzle had you controlling two characters at once (one for each stick on the controller) and trying to get them across some bridges that were quickly collapsing. I hope there's more puzzles like that because it really bolstered my opinion of the game.

[#1 Flutterfan 174]

Just got it--haven't played it. Got the Wizard Edition so I have the spellbook, all I have to say so far is that they put a lot of work into the Spellbook--and I've seen at least 4 hours of gameplay--but I know it'll be good since it has the work of Ghibli and Level 5 (Dark Cloud, Rogue Galaxy and a few other--Level 5 is great). As for what everyone should expect from the gameplay:

Tales of (series) + Pokemon = Ni No Kuni

 

Why do I express it this way? You catch familiars--and your battles are in "real time."  (And for some d-waving)

 

(Below contains the full package of the Wizard Edition; if you want to know what's in the spellbook--go to my blog)

 

 

 

 

As for how deep the game will be--from what I've read, at LEAST 40 hours of gameplay (that's STRAIGHT runthrough without sidequests). With Level 5 they typically add more to do afterwards--so you can expect up to at LEAST 60 hours of gameplay--maybe 80 with their sidequests. 

 

Prospects; 10/10

Actual? (will respond more when I play).

[Discordian 6,018]

Is the actual spellbook the same as the one in-game? I really love the sheer detail they've put into the Wizard's Companion. There's full pages, hundreds of pages, on everything from spells, what they do, their attack power; enemies, their weaknesses and strengths; stories to tell (so far only read the first one because I had to to get a spell from someone but I'm definitely looking forward to the others if they are even half as good as The Cowardly Prince and the Lion)

 

The interface for the book is nice and smooth too since you can not only choose where to go with a cursor and the X button but you can also use the sticks to zoom in manually on each section and page and it's just sooooooooooooooo smooth. They REALLY went all out in this game. It's got a lot of hidden depth that you won't see until at least three or four hours in (depending on if you do sidequests or not, which I do) when you start getting the ability to catch familiars as well as all the neat puzzles you get to do.

 

I really hope there's more puzzles like in the Temple of Trials. Plus they do what I love in good RPGs is they have stuff for you to do outside of battle that spices things up. There's the aforementioned puzzles like in the Temple of Trials and there's also areas you can use your spells to get past like making a bridge across a crevice or stream or you can freeze a rock in the middle of a river of lava to make a way to cross it!

 

That's not even to mention how you have to be careful about how much food you give your familiar to raise it's stat growth. It can only have 10 growth points max, ever. If you put it into the wrong things, you won't get good stat growth. My Mitey, first familiar you get in the game, has some pretty terrible stat growth cuz I didn't notice that the Growth stat never went down, even after a level and a metamorphosis!

 

<3 I love Ni No Kuni.

[SBaby 660]

Is the actual spellbook the same as the one in-game? I really love the sheer detail they've put into the Wizard's Companion. There's full pages, hundreds of pages, on everything from spells, what they do, their attack power; enemies, their weaknesses and strengths; stories to tell (so far only read the first one because I had to to get a spell from someone but I'm definitely looking forward to the others if they are even half as good as The Cowardly Prince and the Lion)

 

The interface for the book is nice and smooth too since you can not only choose where to go with a cursor and the X button but you can also use the sticks to zoom in manually on each section and page and it's just sooooooooooooooo smooth. They REALLY went all out in this game. It's got a lot of hidden depth that you won't see until at least three or four hours in (depending on if you do sidequests or not, which I do) when you start getting the ability to catch familiars as well as all the neat puzzles you get to do.

 

I really hope there's more puzzles like in the Temple of Trials. Plus they do what I love in good RPGs is they have stuff for you to do outside of battle that spices things up. There's the aforementioned puzzles like in the Temple of Trials and there's also areas you can use your spells to get past like making a bridge across a crevice or stream or you can freeze a rock in the middle of a river of lava to make a way to cross it!

 

That's not even to mention how you have to be careful about how much food you give your familiar to raise it's stat growth. It can only have 10 growth points max, ever. If you put it into the wrong things, you won't get good stat growth. My Mitey, first familiar you get in the game, has some pretty terrible stat growth cuz I didn't notice that the Growth stat never went down, even after a level and a metamorphosis!

 

<3 I love Ni No Kuni.

 

It's the same as the in-game one in terms of content.  But it's basically the fully completed version, so be careful using it, as it does contain spoilers.

 

And familiars can have more than 10 growth points (though there is an ultimate cap).  If it maxes out at 10, try building up your Familiarity to the next heart.  That should increase the cap.

Edited January 30, 2013 by SBaby

[Discordian 6,018]

Ah, the familiarity increases it, eh? That helps.

 

Also, I don't have the actual spellbook. I only got the tin case version from Gamestop.

 

Good to know that I don't have to stick to just the first ten I used stupidly. xD

 

I didn't get any in tonight cuz I got Ace Combat 5 in the  mail yesterday and was playing that.

[Mutemutt 773]

I got the game a couple of days ago and I must say that I love it so far. The combat is pretty good and there is of side quests to do as well. The puzzles are pretty nice too. I had so much trouble with that last part of the controlling 2 characters trial ( some of that probably had to do with my loose left stick) and certain other puzzle made me feel like a complete idiot after wasting so much time on it. 

 

I've heard some people call the bosses in this game rather easy. I want to know what some of you guys who have played the game feel about that. I've been having trouble with most of the bosses myself but I tend to be rather under leveled when I go through most games so...

[SBaby 660]

I got the game a couple of days ago and I must say that I love it so far. The combat is pretty good and there is of side quests to do as well. The puzzles are pretty nice too. I had so much trouble with that last part of the controlling 2 characters trial ( some of that probably had to do with my loose left stick) and certain other puzzle made me feel like a complete idiot after wasting so much time on it. 

 

I've heard some people call the bosses in this game rather easy. I want to know what some of you guys who have played the game feel about that. I've been having trouble with most of the bosses myself but I tend to be rather under leveled when I go through most games so...

 

I've died a couple times in the game (though not to bosses yet).  Most of the deaths involved going places I wasn't supposed to go yet, due to my tendancy to want to explore every nook and cranny. 

 

Hint:  Ugly Duckling Island (a tiny island that has no real plot significance) has alot of enemies that are way beyond your level of experience when you first get the ability to go there (I was overleveled and things were still killing me there).  However, if you manage to handle a fight there, it becomes one of the best places to level up in the game, due to periodically running into a creature called a Toko.  They're in line with the Metal Slimes from Dragon Quest, in that they give you an enormous amount of XP if you kill them (2000 a pop), but they run away quickly.  There are upgraded versions of them later on that are worth even more.  If you find yourself underleveled, or just want to power level quickly, they're your best bet.

[weegeez 150]

One of the best games of this console generation by a mile. It does so many things right in making the ultimate JRPG experience I've been missing, also it's kind of like Pokemon, so I totally approve

Edited January 31, 2013 by weegeez

[pinkiefan1287 610]

I have not played the game much, but it's a great game. The whole world feels so beautiful and I love going to new towns. I'm still trying to get use to the fighting system, but in time it may get easier.

[Zekromic 1,054]

holy fucking shit, guest I'm pretty late for the party...... Anyways, it caught my attention, so, I bought it this February from amazon and picked it up since I went to the US, I expected an average game, I've never been so wrong............. THIS GAME IS THE SHIT, I'VE NEVER THOUGHT I'LL LOVE IT SO MUCH, LAST IT'S ONE OF MY FAV GAMES EVAH, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH  . Hell, I really miss games like this, beautiful visual, amicable gameplay, characters that you grow fond off, lot's of shit to do..... :sighs: , I rarely feel like a game is worth every penny, this is my most recent one    

 

PD: I've just recently reached the White Witch's arc, unfortunately, my brother just picked the game, now he won't let me finish it soon 

 

PD2: I'm not ashamed for being a gamebreaker in any RPG, this is no exception, with those Tokos roaming around   

This is my favorite music

Edited May 14, 2014 by Zekromic