Welcome to our review of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, a classic Role Playing Epos that finally lands on Nintendo Switch and plays like it was intended for the console all along.
Take the Other World with You!
Journey back to the other world in Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. LEVEL-5’s classic tale comes to Nintendo Switch for the first time. Join Oliver as he embarks on an adventure through a world inhabited by new friends and ferocious foes alike in the hopes of bringing back his mother after a tragic incident. With a copy of the Wizard’s Companion in his hand and his trusty friend Drippy by his side, he will travel across this rich fantasy world to tame familiars, take on enemies, and overcome the countless challenges that stand between him and his mother’s salvation.
This charming tale unfolds through the use of animation storyboarded and created by the legendary Studio Ghibli and music composed by the renowned Joe Hisaishi. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch combines beautiful animated visuals, masterful storytelling, and a sweeping score to create an epic role-playing adventure like no other.
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is the first of two games and the first to be released on Nintendo Switch. I already owned the game on my PlayStation 3 and I owned the second one on PlayStation 4. I sadly never got around to really playing the first so in full disclosure, this review actually marks my very first experience with the game.
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is quite possibly one of the best looking games I have played in the past few years and having an original release date of 9 years ago, it is even more stunning. Most of the time, I felt like I was watching an old school anime with some gaming elements blended in.
We shared some handheld gameplay on our YouTube channel and I included the link below. Feel free to subscribe to our channel if you would like to do so!
Now, as I was new to this game, I got to experience this story and battle system for the very first time! And what a battle system it is, it took me a little while to get used to this real-time action fighting with a “menu” option but once I got a few fights under my belt, I was able to swiftly move between myself and my familiar (a helping hand-fighter) and even take out larger enemies.
I loved how the enemies drop both HP and MP droplets that will refill your respective energy levels so you can continue to use your spells to attack. Like in any other RPG, Ni no Kuni delivers defense and offense, item use and so on. It delivers your everyday RPG experience and yet, this live-action system gets your blood pumping and your senses get honed to have the best possible response times to avoid certain death!
Ni no Kuni also does a lot of hand holding during its storytelling. On my map, there is a star showing me where to head to. I saw the setting to disable this, but I must say I want to keep it turned on for now. Not because I am lazy, but because I think it is actually beneficial to getting around towns.
In the first big city, I was able to swiftly go from one side of town to the next in the storyline by simply following the guiding star in the menu. I was asked to fetch new clothes because my earth clothes stood out? Sure, I am at the shop in a few instances only. Same for when I had to go get my merit cards or when I wanted to find a place to sleep.
It may be a little too much for some, but heck, I loved the hand holding more than anything I have done in a while.
Having never played it before and owning the game, I must say I am disappointed in myself for not giving this game a try earlier on. I mean seriously, I am an Otaku aside from being a gamer and I love Studio Ghibli. Being incredibly grateful that I am able to play it now, I can only say this game is awesome and so darn cute.
In conclusion, Ni no Kuni is a technical showcase of how to perfectly blend animation and gaming. It is so impressive and so much fun to play, I had little to no effort in forgetting the time when I started playing it and hours later having my alarm clock go off when I was due to visit a friend in real life. Ni no Kuni is 9 years old but remains a great game. Having never played it before, I could not say if it aged well from that perspective, but from where I stand, I’d say this game is a strong contender for your money in this RPG heavy period on Nintendo Switch!
