Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Review
- Thread starter Susan Arendt
- Start date
I have to wait til February to get this game, can't wait, it looks brilliant. Guess, I'll occupy myself with more Xillia 2 in the meantime.
That was my favourite quote from the whole review xDElamdri said:
OT: this is pretty much what I expected: beautiful landscapes/artstyle, but tedious gameplay. I'm glad Susan's review draws a different picture from Kotaku's hyped up articles.
Wow, really not expecting this review. Every other one I've read has been nothing but how perfect the game is (including talking about how great the main character is). I'm not saying this review is wrong (a. haven't played it yet, b. knowing Susan, this is probably the most dead on and honest one out there), just surprising.
Still, I've had my eye on this game a long time, and the positives, particularly that art, are enough to warrant a purchase.
Still, I've had my eye on this game a long time, and the positives, particularly that art, are enough to warrant a purchase.
I've played so many jrpgs that grinding just comes naturally anyway.
Judging by the demo, I might have to grind 20 or so battles right off the bat, just to get a handle on the battle system.
For those looking to compare/contrast I suggest reading Jim's review here. [http://www.destructoid.com/review-ni-no-kuni-wrath-of-the-white-witch-242794.phtml]
Also 3.5 out of 5 is not a bad score... it's above average.
Judging by the demo, I might have to grind 20 or so battles right off the bat, just to get a handle on the battle system.
For those looking to compare/contrast I suggest reading Jim's review here. [http://www.destructoid.com/review-ni-no-kuni-wrath-of-the-white-witch-242794.phtml]
Also 3.5 out of 5 is not a bad score... it's above average.
We'll be following up with a video!Elamdri said:
So here's the problem with that. You don't get multiple familiars for yonks, and adding companions takes even longer. So you won't really begin getting the hang of the combat's potential until, oh...I'd say a good 15 or so hours in.Eclipse Dragon said:
I wasn't really talking about using the battle system to it's full potential immediately, I was just thinking about knowing it enough to not get my arse handed to me tooooo often... Did you at any point want to break your controller?Susan Arendt said:
Oh god. So many times. All the time. You will, in all seriousness, handle yourself well in a boss fight and then get one-shotted by the first random monster you run into in the next area. The little fantasy squirrel is more lethal than the enormous boss you just killed? I'm sorry, WHAT?Eclipse Dragon said:
Mechanically, the battle system is easy to understand and use - but once you start getting more options, and, say, want to switch between familiars so one can cast a buff before another does his attack, or you want to switch to your companion so you can heal the party or recruit a new familiar...that's when it gets clunky.
That difficulty cliff.. I mean curve sounds a lot like 7th Saga on the SNES. I really wanted to like that game, the characters and mechanics were really cool, but the extremely forced grind elements literally had you stuck for hours fighting random mobs just so you were strong enough to cross a bridge or pass a cave into the next area. Fight a boss? Great! Now get killed by the next random mosquito you run into! It killed any enjoyment the game offered and even after repeated play attempts I never made it more than maybe 20 hours into the game.
I'm far more partial to Jim's review on this, having played a Japanese copy of the game myself for a bit (not beaten it though). I simply don't agree with Susan here. I think she's just mentally approaching the game with a different mindset than what it was trying to deliver. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Though I also personally don't think the battle system is as clunky as she makes it out to be.
That's disappointing to hear. Certainly even Studio Ghibli has made its mis-steps, but I'd much rather see them attached to a game that one would willingly play if it wasn't accompanied by their artistic touch- and it sounds like that isn't the case with White Witch.
Sounds absolutely terrible.
And it reminds me of my experience with Dark Cloud 2
'Oh hey, Gamespot says this is the playstation's Zelda, and the game looks absolutely gorgeous'
*Plays it*
'Oh god the gameplay is shit D:...And the characters are fucking idiotic....and the mechanics are poorly implemented...HOW DID THIS GET A 9.0?!'
And after that i never trusted Gamespot on anything, ever.
(That and them giving Silent Hill 2 a 7.2 , jackasses)
And it reminds me of my experience with Dark Cloud 2
'Oh hey, Gamespot says this is the playstation's Zelda, and the game looks absolutely gorgeous'
*Plays it*
'Oh god the gameplay is shit D:...And the characters are fucking idiotic....and the mechanics are poorly implemented...HOW DID THIS GET A 9.0?!'
And after that i never trusted Gamespot on anything, ever.
(That and them giving Silent Hill 2 a 7.2 , jackasses)
to be fair, I was extremely excited for Dark Cloud 2 when it came out.l3o2828 said:
I beat it, and was left wondering what all the fuss was about for its underdeveloped world and only occasional moments of interest.
I enjoyed ni-no-kuni quite a bit more. If anything I found it more genuinely charming.
That was a very interesting review. I don't know, maybe I was reading it wrong but most of the review seemed to be loathe and hatred for the game, then it's summed up as "All things considered, not a bad game."
I've also heard from another reviewer I trust that the difficulty can be brutal. Given my experience with the second part of the demo I can see that as believable. I also think the problem with Oliver isn't a problem with him so much as the writers putting in needless hand-holding for the player. Well, hand-holding as far as "where to go next."
I've also heard from another reviewer I trust that the difficulty can be brutal. Given my experience with the second part of the demo I can see that as believable. I also think the problem with Oliver isn't a problem with him so much as the writers putting in needless hand-holding for the player. Well, hand-holding as far as "where to go next."
I've read a couple other reviews of this game, and I think this one is bit more honest about the grinding. I like grinding and I like to think of of it as going into a zen like state and whatnot. From what I can tell this game won't let me do that, unless I'm reading into that, but I don't think it will be that big of a problem for me.
Still, I was excited when I heard that this was a thing, and I will still get it despite some of the BS difficulty that it seems to pull. Never played a Level 5 game, so why not start here.
Still, I was excited when I heard that this was a thing, and I will still get it despite some of the BS difficulty that it seems to pull. Never played a Level 5 game, so why not start here.