With Level 5's recent announcement of "Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom", I felt it fitting to go back and take a look at the first game in this series, "Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch". Released on November 17, 2011, in Japan, and January 22, 2013, in North America exclusively for the PS3, the game attracted the attention of many gamers when it was shown that it was a collaboration between Level 5 and Studio Ghibli, the world renowned animation studio behind films such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. And thankfully, those who were hyped for this title weren't disappointed.

STORY

Ni No Kuni follows Oliver, a young boy who lives in the fictional town of Motorville. Oliver lives a happy life, as any child should, until one night his mother suffers heart failure and tragically dies. In his grief, Oliver cries on a stuffed animal given to him by his mother and through some magic, the doll turns into a creature named Drippy, the self proclaimed “Lord High Lord of the Fairies”. He explains that he from a fantasy world that is under constant oppression by a dark lord named Shadar and that Oliver is the Pure-Hearted One who is destined to cross over to the other world and defeat Shadar. Drippy also explains there might be a way to save Oliver's mother in the other world, prompting Oliver to go.

Along the way, Oliver meets many new friends including a tamer named Esther, a thief named Swaine, and a Great Sage named Marcassin. The story definitely has a similar feel to Studio Ghibli's films. On the surface, it feels like a typical fantasy quest, but as the game goes on, I started to notice the game is not only about Oliver's quest to save the world, but also about him coming to terms with the death of his mother and moving on with life. The story balances more dark and dramatic moments with more light and comedic moments and I never feel the tone becomes uneven. The story is also helped with a cast of characters so likable, even the most minor leave some kind of impact. If I did have any issues with the story, it's that the ending felt a little rushed and could've done with a better sense of closure. But other than that, I was completely invested the entire time.

GAMEPLAY

The world of Ni No Kuni is massive and it allows for a ton of exploration and different means of getting from place-to-place. You'll start off on foot, but later in the game you'll have access to a ship and even later, a dragon. There are some areas in the game you can't get to with one method of moving that you can easily access through another. The game will have you explore the different continents of the fantasy world and completing dungeons within the multiple cities. But where there's dungeons, there's battle.

Ni No Kuni's battle system takes place completely in real time and you can choose between fighting as one of the main human characters or one of their familiars. The familiars cause the battle system to be similar to something like the Persona games where you're controlling another entity for the fight. Each familiar has their own special abilities and you get plenty of opportunities to find and tame more later on, which allows you to experiment with different types and see which ones suit your play style the best. However, if you decide to control a character on their own, each is pretty competent in a fight without the use of familiars. Oliver can cast different spells that you learn throughout your journey, Esther can use status buffs and tame familiars and Swaine can steal items from enemies. There are plenty of boss battles along the way and all of them are varied and keep you on your toes, as each have a different strategy to defeating them. The gameplay can get a little repetitive as enemy encounters are quite frequent, but it's still a well-done system that's fun to play.

The game also offers plenty of side quests, which are very much encouraged. Doing these side quests will earn you points that you can trade in for bonuses that can help you when exploring or when it battle. These bonuses range from better luck with foraging in the world map to health and magic orbs appearing more frequently in battle. And if you're not feeling like going about any mission, a casino becomes available later in the game that can be used to have fun and possibly earn more money for weapons and items.

PRESENTATION

This game is easily one of the most beautiful looking titles available on the PS3. The Studio Ghibli art style makes an amazing transition to the in-game graphics. The environments are all lush, colorful and very pretty to look at and the character models are all well made and detailed. The game will occasionally show beautiful cutscenes that are completely hand-drawn and animated by Ghibli. Apart from that, the little details in this game are impressive, such as Oliver panting when you've had him run around for awhile or shivering when in a cold area. The game's soundtrack is done by Joe Hisaishi, the very man who did the soundtrack for most of Studio Ghibli's films, and his work is once again amazing. He does a great job at making every area's theme sound different and conveys the tone of each moment perfectly.

The game's voice acting, on the other hand, is a bit of a mixed bag. They actually used child actors for characters like Oliver and Esther and while their performances are fine for the most part, there are times where they come across as rather stale. However, most of the other performances are quite good. I especially have to give props to Steffan Rhodri for his fun and snarky take on Drippy and Brian Protheroe for his enjoyably menacing voice as Shadar.

OVERALL

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch proved to be one of the best games in the JRPG genre I have ever played. From it's gripping and emotional story to its addicting gameplay and amazing visuals, this is a game I can easily recommend any PS3 owners to give look. If you have $20 and some time to spare, it's most certainly a mind-blowing experience.

SCORES

STORY: 9.5/10

GAMEPLAY: 9/10

PRESENTATION: 9.5/10

OVERALL SCORE: 9.5/10