Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Remastered

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.

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 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. The story itself is amazing and I often find myself rewatching some cutscenes. 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 World Map theme 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.

I bought this game to try it before its second part and i don't regret it. I love everything that surrounds the game so far: the story is good, cute graphics and the combat system reminds me of the ''tales of'' saga.
The plot is quite cute & childish and will not appeal to those looking for a darker or adult story. I would say it's a game that is not tiring to play and has more depth than it seems at first.
I recommended it for rpg lovers looking for a chill & casual game ♡

I slept on this game for many years since I’m normally not a fan of JRPGs, but I grew up loving the Pokémon franchise and have always wanted to play something similar, but more substantial.
This game delivers on that from because it is a nice middle ground between a traditional JRPG, like Final Fantasy or Persona, and Pokémon. That mixed with the Studio Ghibli art-style pushed me to finally try this game and I enjoyed it a lot. I love all the different familiars and “metamorphosizing”(evolving) them. They don’t have the same distinct personal identities and charm that a lot of Pokémon have, but they are different and complex enough in design to keep me interested.
The combat is a mix between turn-based and real-time. I liked it alright, but I could see where it’s a little hard to get used to. The familiar star signs didn’t seem to make a big enough difference to really worry about, which was a bit disappointing, but the elemental types of tricks do, so it offered at least some complexity in that area.
Overall, I enjoyed this game as a beautiful piece of art with Pokémon-like mechanics, but I probably won’t play the sequel.
100% Achievement Completion Perspective:
Don’t do it. Errand 078 almost killed me with boredom. It’s grindy and tiresome going for all achievements and they could’ve been even more cruel by making you get absolutely all items and familiars to get all achievements, but fortunately that isn’t the case. Still rough getting all achievements.