• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch |OT|

Sanctuary

Member
Get both. They are both special and definitely the two best RPGs this gen. That being said, Xenoblade is better. So if you absolutely have to choose, choose Xenoblade (especially since it is getting harder and harder to find).

But really, get both.

Xenoblade is without a doubt much better than this game in almost all regards. The only place it drastically lags behind is the visuals (it has nice aesthetics, but the graphics are terrible), but it's not too shabby at all if you end up running it through Dolphin.

Anyone know the stats /metamorphosis info for Griffy. I can upgrade him to his ultimate form but I don't k ow hitch one to go with or if he will learn more spells and shouldn't upgrade him yet

It doesn't matter much. You can also tell if he's going to learn more abilities or not by simply looking at his skills. If there are any left with ??? or whatever, then he has more to learn. If there's no new skills showing up, then he won't learn anything more. I also don't think it matters too much whether you go fire or ice form (one will be more defensive earlier towards a kind of hard area if you weren't overleveled, while the other will be much more offensive towards it). Whatever you do, make sure you pick up Phantom Fangs. It's Griffy's most damaging attack. His stats in general are stupidly high, and I don't believe any non DLC/preorder familiar can reach his stats. Don't waste time giving him ice cream either until you've maxed out his attack, just for the heart bonus.

The only one that comes close is the Dino type creature. Early on those are kind of terrible, but after many levels, and once you get Earsplitter, they are pretty rapey for ALL trash mobs. You would also want to give them hammers over axes and focus on boosting their accuracy first, and dump the rest on attack. If you find the Dragonstooth ring, give that to it as well.

The Dinos are so good in fact, that if you're having trouble finding a decent familiar for your other characters, just give them one of those (especially Esther if you don't have Griffy). Even though they won't get the +10% bonus to stats, they will still be far more powerful for anyone who is not Oliver for most situations. They are just that good (remember:focus on raising their accuracy first). They will also be useful decoys to keep the characters alive who typically (non Oliver and non Griffy) end up with garbage familiars for most of the game who have piss defense. The Dinos can wear armor and are better than the robots that Swaine can use.
 

madhtr

Member
Xenoblade is without a doubt much better than this game in almost all regards. The only place it drastically lags behind is the visuals (it has nice aesthetics, but the graphics are terrible), but it's not too shabby at all if you end up running it through Dolphin.

I must be weird, and that's okay... I find this game much more enjoyable than Xenoblade... I was just always bored playing it.
 

Ricker

Member
No, you just look at the manual and right down the translated letter.

Ok,I am not quite sure what you mean here...Horace wants me to tell him what is written on the big picture on top?...you are telling me I need to write down what ''A'' 's sign is and so on for all the letters so I cant decipher the phrase...? like at the bottom of the explanation I know it says good luck...this feels like a lot of work lol...
 

ThatStupidLion

Gold Member
Just bought it retail, in the Netherlands. Going to hop in in an hour or two.

Any tips for someone who was on a complete media blackout?

turn off the star locator, always do errands/bountys, fully explore dungeons to 100% the fog of war on the dungeon maps...the tutorial lasts longer than it should in my opinion - first few hours can seem slow but you won't even notice due to the game's beauty.

number 1 tip: sit back and enjoy the ride.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Just bought it retail, in the Netherlands. Going to hop in in an hour or two.

Any tips for someone who was on a complete media blackout?

Street date breaking bastards! It's the 1st in all of Europe, isn't it?

sit back and enjoy, dont skip any of the cutscenes etc. That's what I've been doing. This is comin from someone who went on a media blackout as well ;)

Skip cutscenes?! I know there are people on GAF who are all like "f*ck story and cutscenes, I just want to play the damn game!" (something I will personally never really understand no matter what game it is - I like knowing what the F is going on and why I'm killing dudes and shit), but please tell me nobody is doing that with this game. That would be like throwing away half the game for me. I even read all NPC dialogue in ARPGs (recently Path of Exile) to get a feel for the world and what's going on in it, which I'm sure many others skip as fast as possible in order to get on with the looting.
 

Sanctuary

Member
I must be weird, and that's okay... I find this game much more enjoyable than Xenoblade... I was just always bored playing it.

The reason this game is well behind has everything to do with the actual combat and customization, as well as the ability to actually explore a bit without training wheels on all of the time. Even though you still only control one party member in Xenoblade, the combat in this game is all kinds of horrible and none of the party members matter besides Oliver on boss fights. They simply are never worth the effort to keep alive or revive. The AI is just awful.

You basically can't really enjoy this game for it's "combat" until you've already beaten it and know which tricks what familar has. You then have to make sure two of your party members have a familiar with the good version of the area of effect healing, and the creature that's using it needs their magic attack pumped way up. Otherwise, it will always be Oliver soloing bosses at the higher levels.

Another really crappy thing about the combat is when you are queuing up a trick, and then another familiar casts something first, which then not only removes your target, but it forces you to have to cycle through your tricks again before you can attempt to finally cast it.
 

AwRy108

Member
How is the strategy guide for the game? Looked nice in pictures. I grabbed a copy of the game and the guide off gamestop this morning, should arrive by the weekend.

The guide is incredible, and totally befitting to the game its written for. Also, it does a great job at explaining some of the game's system that the game proper does little to clarify for you.
 

madhtr

Member
The reason this game is well behind has everything to do with the actual combat and customization, as well as the ability to actually explore a bit without training wheels on all of the time. Even though you still only control one party member in Xenoblade, the combat in this game is all kinds of horrible and none of the party members matter besides Oliver on boss fights. They simply are never worth the effort to keep alive or revive. The AI is just awful.

You basically can't really enjoy this game for it's "combat" until you've already beaten it and know which tricks what familar has. You then have to make sure two of your party members have a familiar with the good version of the area of effect healing, and the creature that's using it needs their magic attack pumped way up. Otherwise, it will always be Oliver soloing bosses at the higher levels.

Another really crappy thing about the combat is when you are queuing up a trick, and then another familiar casts something first, which then not only removes your target, but it forces you to have to cycle through your tricks again before you can attempt to finally cast it.

There are a lot of weak points in the game, but I can't help that I just enjoy this game more than Xenoblade. I couldn't explain why.
 

Doombear

Member
The guide is incredible, and totally befitting to the game its written for. Also, it does a great job at explaining some of the game's system that the game proper does little to clarify for you.

Agreed 100%. I am not using it for much in my first play through besides looking up some of the recruiting percentages, and the system mechanics explanations. It feels and looks great though. Very nice quality paper, binding, cover, etc.
 

Beckx

Member
it will always be Oliver soloing bosses at the higher levels.

Glad to hear someone else say this. After watching both my kids play and now finally getting into it myself, this is how all the boss battles seem to play out. Everyone dies, Oliver exhausts MP, runs around hoping for blue and gold glims. I was starting to wonder whether there was something we were missing.
 

Aeana

Member
The reason this game is well behind has everything to do with the actual combat and customization, as well as the ability to actually explore a bit without training wheels on all of the time. Even though you still only control one party member in Xenoblade, the combat in this game is all kinds of horrible and none of the party members matter besides Oliver on boss fights. They simply are never worth the effort to keep alive or revive. The AI is just awful.

You basically can't really enjoy this game for it's "combat" until you've already beaten it and know which tricks what familar has. You then have to make sure two of your party members have a familiar with the good version of the area of effect healing, and the creature that's using it needs their magic attack pumped way up. Otherwise, it will always be Oliver soloing bosses at the higher levels.

Another really crappy thing about the combat is when you are queuing up a trick, and then another familiar casts something first, which then not only removes your target, but it forces you to have to cycle through your tricks again before you can attempt to finally cast it.

Glad to hear someone else say this. After watching both my kids play and now finally getting into it myself, this is how all the boss battles seem to play out. Everyone dies, Oliver exhausts MP, runs around hoping for blue and gold glims. I was starting to wonder whether there was something we were missing.


I don't think it has to be that way at all, and I don't think it's as specific as Sanctuary says. I will say that you do need to experiment a little bit. A lot of people who are having major issues are just trying to stick with the same couple of familiars, and they're running into problems because their abilities don't really cover a very wide gamut.
 

Sanctuary

Member
Glad to hear someone else say this. After watching both my kids play and now finally getting into it myself, this is how all the boss battles seem to play out. Everyone dies, Oliver exhausts MP, runs around hoping for blue and gold glims. I was starting to wonder whether there was something we were missing.

Nope, it's just that bad. Maybe if they had given you three times as many "tactics" options (i.e. submenus) it may have made up for the bad AI, but what's currently in the game simply isn't enough. Every time you cast a big spell, there's a cooldown where your character can't even move--not just cast, but move. It also locks you out from switching to another character until you can move again.

The non controlled party members are just completely inefficient no matter what you have them set to and will waste mana using abilities that they should not be (instead of buffing the group first...). Often it comes down to a brute force method of spray and pray. Dump your largest physical heavy hitters and pray that they can down the boss before one of them dies and it's back to Oliver running around by himself.

I don't think it has to be that way at all, and I don't think it's as specific as Sanctuary says. I will say that you do need to experiment a little bit. A lot of people who are having major issues are just trying to stick with the same couple of familiars, and they're running into problems because their abilities don't really cover a very wide gamut.

Have you finished the game? Oliver doesn't need to experiment with familiars. There's literally only three that he "needs" and that would be Mite, Puss and a Dino. The only reason he needs them is because he needs physical damage dealers since he's already a caster; and it gives you one of each sign. Esther is best suited sticking with her starting familar as well as Griffy if you have him. If you don't, then put a Dino on her. The last two companions don't really matters as far as familiars go if you're trying to match genus types. You're better off not bothering and simply giving them Dinos too. Dark magic debuffs/insta kills are too random and Light magic is only ever better than any other generic element for damage rarely. The AI simply wastes mana too much and does not use abilities correctly that much. There are only two stats that (that you can directly control through treats) really matter in this game; attack and magic attack. You're also better off sticking with what's been working in terms of trash mobs instead of dumping your already leveled up creatures just to grind out weaker familiars up to a similar level. That's why I said you can't enjoy the combat until you already have a knowledge of what tricks a familar gets, and bosses don't seem to have signs (maybe they are just planet), so the whole sign > sign thing is irrelevant too once you get some beefy creatures. They can simply take it and destroy the sign that they are supposed to be weak against.

Trash mobs are not the problem. Bosses are. Swaine is also one of the worst party members--except for farming items, because he doesn't have enough mana to actually use any decent abilities other than the revive trick, or Yoo-Hoo (but the robot types are generally terrible). The Bonehead might be okay for survival, but it's slow, doesn't do that much damage and only has one or two semi useful tricks. Swain really has a poor selection to choose from, so the abilities have to be made up through other party members/familiars.
 

Beckx

Member
I don't think it has to be that way at all, and I don't think it's as specific as Sanctuary says. I will say that you do need to experiment a little bit. A lot of people who are having major issues are just trying to stick with the same couple of familiars, and they're running into problems because their abilities don't really cover a very wide gamut.

Can you expand a bit on that? As I said, I feel there's something we're not grokking yet and I really want to, as the solo method is long & therefore a bit more frustrating if you lose after so much time. Take the fight against
the jellyfish in the nursery
or
the Porco Grosso tank
. How would you approach those to best keep everyone alive and clicking?

Game is wonderful, btw. One of our favorites so far. My 9 year old has
adopted "LEG IT!!!" as his cry to run away after the stealth sequence in Hamelin
.
 

Ryuukan

Member
Glad to hear someone else say this. After watching both my kids play and now finally getting into it myself, this is how all the boss battles seem to play out. Everyone dies, Oliver exhausts MP, runs around hoping for blue and gold glims. I was starting to wonder whether there was something we were missing.

I don't think it has to be that way at all, and I don't think it's as specific as Sanctuary says. I will say that you do need to experiment a little bit. A lot of people who are having major issues are just trying to stick with the same couple of familiars, and they're running into problems because their abilities don't really cover a very wide gamut.

Early on, it was easier to just have Oliver take out bosses, but soon after, my familiars were much stronger than him. My original Seed Sprite which I still use has insane magic attack.

Though I do have Griffles the Griffy (now a Griffurance) who is total beast mode.
 
In a nutshell:

-People are worrying out about their order in the other Ni No Kuni thread. No one is quite sure what's going on and if their order is actually legit.
-Rumbalumba feels fine about his orders, tells everyone to "chillax". Also mentions he has an order for scalping on ebay placed.
-I'm almost sure he used some sort of negative/hostile term towards all the people who were worried about their orders. Not 100% positive though.
-During the cancellations, Rumbalumba gets one of his orders cancelled. Soon after, his other orders get cancelled as well.
-At that point he asks everyone to petition/email Namco or something like that
-People tell him to chillax

Edit:

So to answer your question. There was a discussion about the recent Ben Kuchera twitter debacle, specifically a mini-discussion about why he's so upset/angry. Someone suggested that Kuchera is upset because he didn't get his Ni No Kuni Wizards edition, and that Rumbalumba should tell Kuchera to chillax. Upset that this was still being brought up, he posted a major spoiler about the game....and now he's banned.

The chillax dude could have become an endearment, but instead he turned into something ugly and now he's gone. Can't say I'm surprised
 

Aeana

Member
Have you finished the game? Oliver doesn't need to experiment with familiars. There's literally only three that he "needs" and that would be Mite, Puss and a Dino. The only reason he needs them is because he needs physical damage dealers since he's already a caster; and it gives you one of each sign. Esther is best suited sticking with her starting familar as well as Griffy if you have him. If you don't, then put a Dino on her. The last two companions don't really matters as far as familiars go if you're trying to match genus types. You're better off not bothering and simply giving them Dinos too. Dark magic debuffs/insta kills are too random and Light magic is only ever better than any other generic element for damage rarely. The AI simply wastes mana too much and does not use abilities correctly that much. There are only two stats that (that you can directly control through treats) really matter in this game; attack and magic attack. You're also better off sticking with what's been working in terms of trash mobs instead of dumping your already leveled up creatures just to grind out weaker familiars up to a similar level. That's why I said you can't enjoy the combat until you already have a knowledge of what tricks a familar gets, and bosses don't seem to have signs (maybe they are just planet), so the whole sign > sign thing is irrelevant too once you get some beefy creatures. They can simply take it and destroy the sign that they are supposed to be weak against.

Trash mobs are not the problem. Bosses are.

I didn't take issue with what you said about Oliver, I took issue with you saying that he will always solo the bosses. He doesn't have to. If you've chosen your setup well, your allies won't be dead all the time and he won't have to solo them. I didn't say he can't, just that it's not as dire as you make it sound. The AI is a huge issue, though, no doubt about it, but in my experience, by choosing which abilities their familiars actually have equipped wisely, I can get through boss fights with everyone alive, everyone contributing, and usually only having to use one or two MP restoratives, with a couple of exceptions.
 

Sanctuary

Member
I didn't take issue with what you said about Oliver, I took issue with you saying that he will always solo the bosses. He doesn't have to. If you've chosen your setup well, your allies won't be dead all the time and he won't have to solo them. I didn't say he can't, just that it's not as dire as you make it sound. The AI is a huge issue, though, no doubt about it, but in my experience, by choosing which abilities their familiars actually have equipped wisely, I can get through boss fights with everyone alive, everyone contributing, and usually only having to use one or two MP restoratives, with a couple of exceptions.

Do you happen to grind a lot? Because it sounds like you're overleveled for most boss fights, or you're simply not that far into the game. I've almost finished the game twice, and your options are still very limited until you
can fly
. Oliver doesn't always solo bosses either, that was an overgeneralization. He will early on, and mid-late game you'll always lose at least one party member--or maybe even two--multiple times. That's when it becomes not worth the effort to revive them anymore.

I also hope no one thought that "Oliver" meant just the character, not including his familiars...
 

madhtr

Member
My characters stopped dying once I learned how to take care of them, and I only allow MP use when things get tough. I tend to use provisions if needed. I don't know, maybe I'm being too defensive, but I have had little trouble with the battle system outside of characters not knowing what to do with their familiars.
 

Tadale

Member
I saw in reviews that a couple of people were complaining about difficulty spikes and tough dungeons in some parts of the game. I'm curious as to what exactly they were talking about.

I'm (late mid-game spoilers)
In the stone hunt, just beat the skeleton pirate captain.
. Is there something tough coming up? What should I prepare for? I've had no problems so far.
 

Andrew.

Banned
Contrary to the issues some have been having with the AI sucking ass, I haven't had anyone die at any bosses and I'm finding that MP isn't really being wasted either. Granted, I don't have Swaine, but when I obtain him tonight his tactics will be "Provide Backup" like Esthers. It really does come down to managing your Familiar growth and their abilities.
 
Does the game have any sort of new game + mode or could anyone give any indication of what the post game entails without spoiling too much.

I basically want to know if there will still be a reason to level your familars and grind
 

Aeana

Member
Do you happen to grind a lot? Because it sounds like you're overleveled for most boss fights, or you're simply not that far into the game. I've almost finished the game twice, and your options are still very limited until you
can fly
.

I don't grind at all outside of familiar capturing, and I'm right at the end of the game. I wouldn't be trying to take an authoritative stance on this issue if I didn't feel like I had enough experience with the game to do so. I don't appreciate the condescending attitude, either. The AI stinks, but you can work with it, and the ability/familiar options aren't too incredibly vast, but there is certainly more nuance to the combat system and familiars than a handful of all-stars overpowering with brute strength and dead party members. People are trying way too hard to avoid doing any work and are just using whatever flavor-of-the-day familiar and strategy that the internet tells them to, and when they run into a wall, they complain about it. It's not exclusive to this game, it happens with every RPG.

You don't have to look any further than this thread to find people who actually haven't been having very many issues and they're fairly far into the game, and saying "oh, well you obviously grinded; there's no other way" is insulting.
 

Goli

Member
I didn't take issue with what you said about Oliver, I took issue with you saying that he will always solo the bosses. He doesn't have to. If you've chosen your setup well, your allies won't be dead all the time and he won't have to solo them. I didn't say he can't, just that it's not as dire as you make it sound. The AI is a huge issue, though, no doubt about it, but in my experience, by choosing which abilities their familiars actually have equipped wisely, I can get through boss fights with everyone alive, everyone contributing, and usually only having to use one or two MP restoratives, with a couple of exceptions.
I basically played the game like this, however, while by end game none of my party members died they didn't contribute much either due to the AI and that is why I always resorted to Mornstar spamming on bosses and using Esther's and some other familliars' magic with Oliver as their master in normal battles.
 

Beckx

Member
Contrary to the issues some have been having with the AI sucking ass, I haven't had anyone die at any bosses and I'm finding that MP isn't really being wasted either. Granted, I don't have Swaine, but when I obtain him tonight his tactics will be "Provide Backup" like Esthers. It really does come down to managing your Familiar growth and their abilities.

What was the last boss you fought & your level at the time? I think that might drive a lot of the different experiences here. Like, if you do all available content & spend a lot time trying to get every familiar, you'll be so high leveled that bosses play out like that. On the other hand, if you're just going through the main quest, you get the 10 minute Ollie v. boss situation. (For reference, we fought
Bashura
at roughly level 14ish.)

If that's the main driver I'm cool with that.

Edit: really hope my tone is coming through here: seeking information, not criticizing anyone's playstyle or the like.
 

one_kill

Member
Finally getting this game today. I'm super stoked to get my copy of the game, as well as the guide. I probably won't play it right away since I've got to finish some work, but I'll definitely give the guide a read.
 

Andrew.

Banned
What was the last boss you fought & your level at the time? I think that might drive a lot of the different experiences here. Like, if you do all available content & spend a lot time trying to get every familiar, you'll be so high leveled that bosses play out like that. On the other hand, if you're just going through the main quest, you get the 10 minute Ollie v. boss situation. (For reference, we fought
Bashura
at roughly level 14ish.)

If that's the main driver I'm cool with that.

Edit: really hope my tone is coming through here: seeking information, not criticizing anyone's playstyle or the like.

Well yeah I am overleveled so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. Just learned how to use the alchemy pot and the last boss I fought was the genie and I was lvl 28. I totally see your point, but even just simply grinding baddies as soon as I got Esther I wasnt having issues with the AI.
 

Aeana

Member
I've been doing all the tasks and hunts as soon as I can, no "grinding" other than that. I'm even playing on normal too.
I think it's a reasonable expectation that people are doing sidequests. In most RPGs, if you're avoiding side content altogether, it's not uncommon to end up a little bit behind. Whether that's good game design or not remains to be seen, but as someone who generally does as many sidequests as she can in RPGs, I don't like how powerful I end up compared to what the game expects in most cases, either. I think NNK is balanced in such a way that you're expected to at least do some of the quests and bounty hunts.
 
Teeheeti was amazing.
Being "born again" was...weird.

Really want a Plessie. I hate that you can't tell what a sea monster is until you fight it.
 

Ryuukan

Member
I think it's a reasonable expectation that people are doing sidequests. In most RPGs, if you're avoiding side content altogether, it's not uncommon to end up a little bit behind. Whether that's good game design or not remains to be seen, but as someone who generally does as many sidequests as she can in RPGs, I don't like how powerful I end up compared to what the game expects in most cases, either. I think NNK is balanced in such a way that you're expected to at least do some of the quests and bounty hunts.

It would be hard to afford equipment upgrades too if you're skipping them.
 

JohngPR

Member
In a nutshell:

-People are worrying out about their order in the other Ni No Kuni thread. No one is quite sure what's going on and if their order is actually legit.
-Rumbalumba feels fine about his orders, tells everyone to "chillax". Also mentions he has an order for scalping on ebay placed.
-I'm almost sure he used some sort of negative/hostile term towards all the people who were worried about their orders. Not 100% positive though.
-During the cancellations, Rumbalumba gets one of his orders cancelled. Soon after, his other orders get cancelled as well.
-At that point he asks everyone to petition/email Namco or something like that
-People tell him to chillax

Edit:

So to answer your question. There was a discussion about the recent Ben Kuchera twitter debacle, specifically a mini-discussion about why he's so upset/angry. Someone suggested that Kuchera is upset because he didn't get his Ni No Kuni Wizards edition, and that Rumbalumba should tell Kuchera to chillax. Upset that this was still being brought up, he posted a major spoiler about the game....and now he's banned.

Wow, that's not very tidy of him.
 

RPGCrazied

Member
Multi form bosses are so annoying, specially if you are low on items.

So I go through the White Witch, and then her dog/monster form, I thought I beat it! But no, you have to fight another boss.

Ugh.
 
I've been doing all the tasks and hunts as soon as I can, no "grinding" other than that. I'm even playing on normal too.

That's exactly how I played and I was able to get through everything in the game, optional stuff included, only skipping errand #78 because I didn't want to farm ultra rare materials. I didn't even spend any time fighting extra battles trying to tame familiars, since I felt bad about dumping the ones I was given and had decent luck getting the ones I wanted incidentally. The only fights that were that were a little challenging, and still not "leave and grind a bit and come back" challenging, were the last form of the final boss, and the last battle of Rank S.

I also never had a problem with party members dying. I constantly had problems with them auto attacking with their magic familiars for 1 damage and just sitting there not attacking with their attack familiars, but no problems with them dying.

While I'm not really a fan of balancing toward optional content completion, particularly in JRPGs, which tend to have terrible side quest design, Ni no Kuni makes it easy and rewarding, by not forcing you to go very far out of your way to complete them, and with the simple addition of the silly little stamp card
 

Andrew.

Banned
Are there any good Ni No Kuni gifs? There's just so much awesome and adorable this stuff has to be gifed somewhere.

original.gif
 

madhtr

Member
That's the only gif needed, imo.

Edit: Not that anyone cares, but Platoon is definitely the best game to earn coins. It's not that hard, but just frustrating when luck goes against you.
 
Top Bottom