The Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch demo is out now on the PlayStation 3. Set to be released in North America and Europe in January 2013, you play as a boy named Oliver who must set off to travel to a distant world in order to save his mother. Originally released in Japan in 2011, there was every reason to bring Ni No Kuni to the rest of the world and it has all to do with pedigree.
First, it was developed by (Professor Layton, White Knight Chronicles), so you know there will be strong RPG elements under the hood. And after putting hands on it today, I can definitely say I’m looking forward to playing more once it is released. Second, the art style is amazing, which was done by none other than Studio Ghibli. You may have seen their work in full feature-length films Spirited Away or Ponyo.
LEVEL-5 did a really nice job on this demo. You have two choices in the menu. You can either play an early quest where they explain movement and battle mechanics in a forest area or you can get into a boss fight from slightly later on in a lava area. Yes, the locales may seem a bit cliché, but the environments are so rich and beautiful, you really do not mind.
I played through both scenarios and at first glance, you don’t see the small subtleties in the strategy and tactics necessary to win battles, especially the boss battles. As Oliver, you have the choice of either attacking as yourself using your staff or magic, or you can use a familiar you have caught along the way. The familiars have a Pokemon sensibility to them (i.e. water familiars, fire familiars, etc.). So, there is a rock-paper-scissors aspect of the battle, plus familiars can only be on the battlefield for a certain amount of time before they get tired. I found myself not only analyzing the type of familiar to use on the battlefield, but also how long each familiar was out there and what combinations would yield me the greatest result. It was very intriguing.
I look forward to getting my hands on Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch next month. If you’d like to see more, be sure to check out my gameplay video and be sure to stay tuned to COIN-OP TV for more on Ni No Kuni as we get closer to the release date.
Related Videos:
Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Gameplay Commentary [Demo]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYu75aiDxjA
Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Official Dev Diary
http://youtu.be/W-9cEVDNvwg
Ni no Kuni Official E3 Trailer
http://youtu.be/NiHptvNftgQ
Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Official Trailer
http://youtu.be/lKdojvmd5CQ
Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Official Gameplay Ding Dong Well
http://youtu.be/6icSsGtf2HU
Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Official Gameplay Ding Dong Dell
http://youtu.be/L6e9mDdqOFw
Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Official Gameplay Golden Grove 1
http://youtu.be/oioj2e2AdHM
Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Official Gameplay Golden Grove 2
http://youtu.be/wyVAGkf6aSc
BRIAN BENTLEY is COIN-OP TV’s features writer/contributor. Brian hails from Chicago but now resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. He’s a huge fan of RPGs and especially loves Japanese RPGs. Brian has been writing about video games since 2009 and is proud that his wife enjoys the industry as well! When Brian needs a break from the console he enjoys playing board games and the classic ‘Adventure’ on the Atari 2600 is still one of his favorite games of all time!
