Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered review

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by Mia Blais-Côté

The + * A game with amazing art and exquisite music. It's like being in a world of Studio Ghibli! * A simple, yet bewitching story, like a good children's tale. * Attaching characters. The villains have style! * The concept of traveling between two worlds through magic. * All the spells that Oliver can learn. * The side quests, "mending" broken hearts, etc. The - * The fighting system, which is a big part of the game. The AI is screwed up, even with human allies. It's hard to dodge attacks. The "defense" option has a "cooldown", like other menus in combat, so you may find yourself unable to defend against a special attack. The MP gets drained too quickly. Oliver shares his HP with his familiars, so even when you have two of them, if the one whom you control dies, you've lost! * It is possible to continue after losing a fight, but this costs you 10% of your money, and since money is earned very slowly… * A need to grind a lot, as the fights quickly become tougher, and the EXP gain is low. * You will have to do a lot of back and forth. For example: In a dungeon, if you're too low in MP, you'll have to go back outside, buy an item to restore it - if you have the money to do so -, return to the dungeon, and hope you don't get killed in a fight. * The familiars. Everything around them is complex. Like Oliver, they level up with EXP. We can "evolve" them with treats, but when they evolve, their levels go back to 1, so more grinding. It is possible, later in the game, to capture several of them, but this system seems too much based on luck. * The tutorials are endless! Even after Oliver goes to the other world and saves the cat king in a dungeon, we are still bombarded with information. How to use new spells, the different "types" of familiars, how to change the "leader / captain" in battle, etc. I want to play the game, I don't need to receive an explanation for everything. In short, as much as this game amazes me with its artistic presentation, its scenario, its music and its characters, its "gameplay" makes me feel discouraged and frustrated, and I won't be able to finish it. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend it. Yet I love the story and its universe!