Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Remastered

A standard setting creature collector rpg
Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch is a creature collection rpg set in a lore filled fantasy world. The game doesn't bring anything new and mindblowing on the table. Instead it focuses on refining the already familiar concepts. For example, the combat system overall is in my opinion the single most polished aspect of the game. It's mostly in real time, which in my opinion surpasses the usual turn based combat system in the genre. Once you get the hang of it, it's very intuitive and fair. One of the coolest things in the game is that they made a whole book with over 300 pages, which explains to the player how the world works without breaking the fourth wall. It really feels that the book is from the world.
The foundation of the story reminds me a little of The Never Ending Story by Michael Ende. You play as a young boy named Oliver, who tragically loses his mother. This drives Oliver to isolate himself from the world. He is lost and afraid in life and can't get a hold, as you'd expect from anyone going through such an event. While grieving his plush toy becomes alive and gives him hope and guidance. His name is Drippy. A fairy from a different reality with a very strong personality. Drippy is a well respected figure in his world, at least in his own words. He leads Oliver to the world of Ni no Kuni, a typical fantasy world with all kinds of creatures and a classic fight between good and evil.
I have a slight issue with the story. Many others have praised it. I don't find it to be the best quality of the game by a long stretch. It's not terrible, don't get me wrong, but it's nothing special either. Some characters have actually great backstories and there are many great lore drops. The world and lore itself isn't the problem. Its even great! What's not great in my opinion is how convenient everything is for our protagonist. Oliver befriends many different characters on his journey. Most of the time it seems that the relationship between Oliver and other characters just instantly become deep and trusting. One time you heal a broken family literally with a wave of the wand and suddenly they all love and care for each other and are your best friends. I get that the game was designed for kids (and has magic), but it still doesn't have to be dumb with the logic. Take for example any older Pixar movie. Lets say Toy Story. It's definitely meant for kids, but even adults enjoy the film because the interactions of the characters are humane. Many characters don't seem to have but only one layer Shrek!? . Some do, but most of the time their character is made clear with the first interaction and that's how they are going to be. It doesn't make me invested in the plot if most of the characters are this one sided and shallow. But don't take this the wrong way, there are moments of greatness in there. In the post game content you meet a mysterious character who shares a short yet profound statement about our existence as humans, which left me frozen for a solid minute.
Before I wrap this up I want to make a notion, how Japanese entertainment media often has this unique ability to shove itself full of goofiness. If you have played the Yakuza games, you will be pleased to see how Ni no Kuni is full of similar bizarreness, though not to the same extent.
Here's a small list of all the things I liked in the game:
- Studio Ghibli cutscenes (sadly there aren't too many of those)
- Combat
- Goofy errands and interactions
- The fairies and how they talked x)
Thanks for taking the time, means much <3

ni no kuni means a lot to me. i first played the game a couple years ago when i was in a pretty dark place, things seemed pretty hopeless. just when i was about ready to give up i bought this game and it changed my life. it's message, it's writing, it's world and it's themes all really stuck and resonated with me. enough to call it my favorite game :)
after beating the main campaign now (i'm not doing the white witch stuff, feels more like post game content and it didn't really wow me when i first played the game) as an adult my opinion is certainly more nuanced. while the game certainly isn't perfect and it 100% pissed me off at certain points, i can't deny that it is insanely charming. the world and the characters are genuine masterpieces, very fun personalities in a very fun world. The sort of characters and world that stick with you after you play (drippy is definitely a highlight, his mannerisms are glued into my brain and probably will be forever).
i do think that the game can be slow, has combat not everyone will like and has a couple low points, specifically the hamelin arc and the white witch content, but i can't help but love the game. if you're looking for a wholesome feel-good JRPG and can look past it's flaws, this game will deliver an unforgettable experience, definitely one of my favorite games.
also, the ghibli animated cutscenes are delightful :)

One of my favourite games ever, if you aren't against spoilers and want to see what the game is like, watch Stampy's playthrough.

As a story, this game is truly wonderful, it has been my favorite game for nearly 10 years at this point. A JRPG with a perfect whimsical, complex story that just works. With a combat system unlike any game I have seen, and it just works. If you're thinking about getting this game, the answer is yes, 100 times yes (although I wouldn't blame you for waiting for a sale, it tends to go for hefty sales).
However I would be lying if i said this game was perfect, the mechanics and ai that controls the NPCs in combat tend to just weigh you down, with some of the dumbest ai I've seen in gaming, often turning a 3v3 into a 1v3. Some of the mechanics are effectively useless with how they are implemented, like the familiar alignment signs determining if it has a slight advantage or disadvantage against another familiar. It is borderline impossible to get a familiar you want to have the alignment sign you want, AND you be able to have the familiar on your team. And the taming part is the worst, with you having a rare chance to tame a familiar upon its defeat, emphasis on the rare chance.
And do not get me started on the requirements to 100% the game, all achievements is easy enough, you get most of them by just playing the game, and the ones you have to work for are not massive tasks. However, all achievements is not 100%. 100% will take you upwards of 100+ hours extra on a normally 70 hour game. You need to tame all the rarest familiars. you need to make every alchemy recipe, requiring 150 of the rarest items in the entire game, only obtainable from rare chances from the rarest familiars in the game. 100% will become a job, but instead of a paycheck you get more work, until you eventually get a progress report that says 100%. 100% will break you, and drain you until you're empty.
But despite it all, I still very much recommend this game with everything in my heart, just beware the temptation to reach 100%.

I had an amazing time with this game.
I actually played it when I wasn't doing too well in my life, and it actually did me a lot of good.
This game is just, beautiful. The ghibli style scenes are very good, the voice acting is great and the story is simple to follow.
For the combat, it's kind of a pocket monster style. You capture familiars and make them fight by your side. You can then upgrade, level up and evolve the said familiars, each of them have 2 final evolutions, making teams very varied between players.
I really enjoyed playing this game, as for the achievements, it was actually.. hell, it was a lot of grind. I'm a completionist, so I really wanted to get all of them and thank god I actually got lucky with some of the familiar catches otherwise I think my time on this game would have been much higher.
To end on a very good note, I would like to give a massive thanks to Joe Hisaishi, who made the soundtracks for this game. I completed it on April 2023, and I still to this day sometimes listen to the musics of this game. They're just that good. This game isn't a must play, but if you can afford it or if you can catch it on a sale, please play it, once again, it helped me go through a bad time, and sometimes, a simple game is just what you need.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is, without a doubt, my favorite game of all time and one of if not my favorite piece of fiction, 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, Playstation, or PC. No matter how many times I play it will never get old. The story itself is amazing and I often find myself rewatching some cutscenes. This game has helped me build core parts of myself in my life and has for the better made up a lot of the good parts. I’ve even gone as far as learning to read and write the Nazcaän script from memory, and I constantly wish there was more to explore. Just hearing the incredible soundtrack of this game gets me nostalgic and emotional to this day. Can’t put a high enough rating, would recommend.

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.