Ni No Kuni Delay and Hands-On Impressions

Ni No Kuni’s release has been pushed back to 1st February in Europe and Australasia, reportedly due to logistical problems. As a result, purchasers of the game will receive a free downloadable gift – a Draggle familiar to join your battle squad.

As you may know, the original RPG from Level-5 and film animation house Studio Ghibli was released in Japan for PS3 back in 2011 and it’s now been localised for Western audiences with a cast of British voices. Nick previewed the E3 build for us back in June and I recently spent a few hours with early sections of the game.

Most of the game’s opening is set in Motorville, the hometown of our 13-year-old protagonist Oliver. You’ll find yourself exploring the sleepy suburbs, chatting with neighbours, fetching groceries and generally doing what young boys do – playing the dutiful son and then sneaking out at night with their friends.

It’s a slow start compared to most games these days but sets up the contrast with the fantasy world that Oliver is soon lost in. It also gives you time to learn your way around the game’s systems. You can toggle various elements of the HUD, for example, and hide the objective marker on the minimap if you simply want to explore at your leisure. The map design may be a series of corridors but, certainly in those first few hours, you’re free to explore whichever twists and turns you desire and there are plenty of fun things to stumble upon.

As you might expect from a studio famed for feature films, the art design and the animations really shine. Oliver’s fantastical companion Mr Drippy is simply outstanding. His tiny character’s reactions play a huge part in the game’s tone and it’s impossible not to smile when he dances about.

Oliver is special, of course. He’s watched over by a mysterious woman in a skin-tight glowing outfit who calls him “the Pure-Hearted one” and not in a good way. He’s aided without his knowledge by a mysterious green-haired girl. He finds a mysterious magic book called the Wizard’s Companion which unlocks magical powers like the ability to keep “familiars”, to which you can feed treats and snacks to boost their powers. Those opening hours bring question after question. Hopefully these will all be answered as you continue through the game.

You’re playing “the boy who will save the world” and so, inevitably, you’ll have to learn how to fight. Soon after Mr Drippy persuades Oliver to save his land by the promise of maybe saving his own mother, the team are dropped into battle.

As Laura alluded to in last week’s post on how the Wii U could JRPGs, Ni No Kuni’s battle system is very menu-heavy. You’ll be managing Oliver, up to 3 familiars and perhaps 2 more companions, also with familiars and each with a series of commands, stamina gauges and health meters to track.

As if you didn’t already have enough to think about, familiars each have a sign: sun, moon, star and planet symbols. These signify which familiars get along well, so creating the perfect team can become tremendously complex.

The battlefield is quite large, at least when I was only playing Oliver. I had plenty of space to run around dodging attacks, buying myself valuable time to think and change tactics.

You can restore a little health and stamina during the battle by collecting glowy balls that drop from your attackers and if you’re lucky, Mr Drippy will toss one out now and then as he cheers you on from the sidelines. Dying will either send you back to the last checkpoint or you can chose to reload where you are but sacrifice all your money.

The Wizard’s Companion is a lovely touch that adds incredible depth to the world. Presented as series of chapters, this is a brilliantly-written reference tome that serves as part tutorial reminder, part world expansion. Skimming through various pages I found stories of people who’d visited the far away “Spring Realm” that sounded an awful lot like our world. It spoke of strange artefacts and behaviours.

“One person even brought back a pair of spectacles that were pitch black! No one has yes ascertained what purpose they are supposed to serve”

Based on the few hours I played, Ni No Kuni juxtaposes an emotional, meaningful story with a complex battle system. I want to spend more time with all the characters I’ve met so far and the lush environments are simply astounding. I’m sure it will be worth the wait.

Ni No Kuni will be released for PS3 on 1st February.