The Pure-Hearted One

You’re a wizard, Ollie-boy.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered is a magnificently exquisite JRPG that tells the enchanting story of Oliver’s quest to save the person dearest to him. Featuring (quite literally) hundreds of familiars to tame, a sprawling world map, numerous locations to visit, and more treasures than you can shake a twig at this experience is truly one-of-a-kind. There are scarce few JRPGs that are as enjoyable and as engaging as this, and fewer still that have such a diverse range of content to immerse yourself in that they don’t begin to feel stale after a while. It also has some of the best art direction I’ve ever seen.

Not to mention a truly outstanding soundtrack.

I’m also quite fond of the various puzzles and riddles found throughout the main campaign. The riddles are particularly fiendish as you have to type in a response, which means you can’t simply select every available option until you find the correct one. These riddles often encourage the use of the Wizard’s Companion, too.

I’ve written before of the wonderful idea that is the Wizard’s Companion. I’m also enthusiastic about the errands and bounty hunts which comprise the majority of additional content. Errands are (as the name suggests) tasks that NPCs will assign you which often involve collecting materials, travelling to new locations, or (rarely) slaying certain creatures. Bounty hunts reward you for hunting down especially powerful creatures. Completing either (or both) will award you with rare materials, powerful equipment, and more Guilders than you know what to do with. There is an abundance of diverse and interesting content to complete alongside the main campaign, and you’re highly encouraged to take the time to revisit each major city regularly for new things to do.

There are some interesting mechanics present in combat, too. While Oliver may have prodigious magical prowess he’s also a bit squishy, which is why he (and his friends) fight with familiars. Familiars are able to learn various Tricks which allow them to perform differently in combat. Some familiars are exceptionally powerful, some incredibly durable, and some have more spells than any one creature reasonably should. Each character has their own affinity with certain familiars as well. Finding the right combinations along with a balance of offensive and defensive Tricks is not easy but satisfying when it does happen.

At a certain level familiars will be able to Metamorphose.

Once they Metamorphose into a new creature they’ll regress to Lvl 1 but they’ll retain all previously learned Tricks. That said, in the process of levelling up their second or third forms they may lose certain Tricks as they can only know eight at any given time. So sometimes levelling from base to final form can be a wasted effort.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered has drastically exceeded all expectations. Not only is there a wealth of engaging and enjoyable content throughout the main campaign but the additional content is refreshing as well. Alongside this you have various alchemical recipes to cook up, familiars to develop, a casino to gamble at, a gauntlet of combat to engage in, and a surprisingly vast sea of equipment to swim through. There are various puzzles to solve, too. Hidden spells to unlock. Forests to visit. Treasures to find on the world map. There’s a staggering number of things to see and do in either world, and it’s definitely one of the best JRPG experiences I’ve had in many years. For that reason I highly recommend this to those who enjoy RPGs, JRPGs, or heart-warming wholesome stories.

Have a nice week, all!

Moggie

A Gateway Between Worlds

One who travels from their world to save another.

There are few things that I enjoy more than thoroughly satisfying JRPGs. They’re somewhat rare nowadays. Hence why I was quite excited when I saw that Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch was being remastered and was due for a PC release. I’ve not experienced the Ni no Kuni series before, but I was entirely aware of the PC release of Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom and it looked rather neat. However, in a display of restraint that would make Oliver Take Heart quicker than I clicked the pre-order button, I decided that I would abstain from the nostalgic JRPG hoping that the entire series would be released on PC.

Which it was. So, who’s laughing now? No-one. It wasn’t in any way humorous.

I’ve regretted more than a few pre-orders in my time but I definitely don’t regret this one. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered is entirely reminiscent of the JRPGs of the SNES or the PS1, and you can tell that the developers truly cared about delivering a one-of-a-kind experience when telling the story of Oliver’s adventure.

The presentation is immaculate. The visuals are beautiful, the animations are fluid, the music is exceptional, and the art direction is incredible. Unlike modern RPGs (of any description) you don’t eventually hit a wall where the only way to progress is to engage in a frustratingly repetitive task, which serves only to artificially extend the main campaign as the actual playable content is sorely lacking. I’ve regularly returned to earlier locations like Ding Dong Dell or Al Mamoon only to find new errands or bounties to undertake. While there are islands between Castaway Cove and Hamelin which I’ve yet to explore. Mostly because the enemies on those islands were actually quite challenging when I first arrived there. I could probably quite easily return and explore those islands having progressed further into the main campaign now.

Welcome to the majesty of Teeheeti Island.

That said, depending on which familiars you have, and which familiars you’d like to have, you’ve already got ample reason to explore every location on the world map. Though you can’t always guarantee that you’re going to get the familiar you want, there are the usual rewards of combat that incentive you to at least try to collect more familiars. Especially when many of the rewards from combat are ingredients used to fashion powerful equipment. Or really tasty cakes and chocolate. I, too, would be okay with being locked in a cage if you promised me delicious food as a reward for engaging in bloodthirsty visceral combat.

The Wizard’s Companion can be used to discover new familiars as well.

I’ve never understood (or agreed with) the idea that less information equates to higher difficulty. The Wizard’s Companion not only tells you more about your familiars, but also where certain equipment comes from, and even illustrates various alchemical formulae. More than just being useful it’s thematically appropriate, too.

There are innumerable things that I’ve enjoyed about Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered and it just keeps on giving. Every time I believe that I’ve reached a major point in the main campaign it finds some way to introduce new dungeons, modes of transportation, or increasingly more interesting spells. I’m looking forward to the sequel as well. It seems to suggest new mechanics (and a lack of familiars) of which some of those mechanics feel reminiscent of my dearly loved Suikoden. It’s been a while since I’ve led a rebel fortress. As is usual I’ll be writing more about Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered in an In Retrospect post, but I can already tell that this series is going to be one of the highlights of my entire year. It’s been such a refreshing, engaging, and entirely enjoyable experience so far.

Have a nice weekend, all!

Moggie