For that price I would say it's definitely worth it. I agree the MP system is frustrating and the AI can be pretty dumb, but it's pretty easy to put the team on your back and carry with Oliver (especially once you get some really strong spells. And if it gets too hard you and drop the game down to easy at anytime.
I recently got Tales of Xilia and i am really not feeling the story which is causing me to lose interested...Downloaded the Ni No Kuni demo and enjoy the little I played...its 20 on PSN should I wait for another sale or does the value at $20 worth it?
I recently got Tales of Xilia and i am really not feeling the story which is causing me to lose interested...Downloaded the Ni No Kuni demo and enjoy the little I played...its 20 on PSN should I wait for another sale or does the value at $20 worth it?
I think it was like $7-$9 on PSN sale a few weeks to one month ago. If you're eager to play it now, you can get it, you'll definitely get enough value out of it.
I think it was like $7-$9 on PSN sale a few weeks to one month ago. If you're eager to play it now, you can get it, you'll definitely get enough value out of it.
I was loving this game up until I got my first party member. They use just too much MP. Is there some way to make this less annoying? I thought setting the allies to Use No Abilities but the switching isn't exactly optimal.
207/250 Familiars for Familiarologist... it is a shame that my last memories of this game are going to be grinding out a handful of annoying trophies :/
Story and virtual world:
[+] The name designations in German and the unique behaviour of the characters are hilarious, I've laughed many times.
[+] The Wizard's Companion is a great idea, more games should implement an encyclopedia!
[+] Story progress, Errands and Bounty Hunts are listed in the journal. Should be standard in every RPG.
[0] Simple plot, nothing special so far. However, I've not finished the game yet.
I have a feeling Shadar could be Oliver's Dad, but that's only based on one scene in the game.
Gameplay:
[+] Great overworld, free to roam.
[+] Many fast travel options.
Travel, Vacate and Tengri are very useful
[+] Recruiting and evolving your Familiars is a lot of fun. Pokémon says hello!
[0] Many sidequests (Errands and Bounty Hunts) to do in this game.
[0] Item crafting (Alchemy) is a nice to have, but nothing special about it.
[-] Like others have said already: There are some nice imaginative sidequests, but too many heart related ones. Really a missed opportunity.
[-] Recruitment odds are too low, which sometimes causes annoying farming sessions.
[-] The game has an active dimension battle system similar to FFXII, which is a nice system. However, there are far too few tactics to auto-command your companions, and the available ones are mostly useless.
Healing tactic for Swaine?
[-] The battles will get repetitive over time, and are too easy on the Normal difficulty.
Visual appearance:
[+] Wow, the artstyle and atmosphere of the game are stunning. This game is a singularity within JRPGs. I'm admittedly a fan of Studio Ghibli's work!
Game Music:
[-] There are some outstanding tracks like Ding Dong Dell, but there are too few of them and too many repeats. In Perdida plays no music at all...
Conclusion:
I've really enjoyed this game so far. Despite its flaws in gameplay and game music, I think this is still an excellent game. Maybe we will get an improved Ni No Kuni successor.
I'm at Perdida (or just leaving it for the Miasma something or other), how far am I in? - I assume about 70-80%.
I had huge problems with this game and nearly dropped it quite early on as every big battle seemed to end with just Oliver alive and no MP and then I'd die (this was before Swaine joined), but I plowed through and did some grinding and now I'm loving it. The battle system is still a mess, I'm so over-levelled it doesn't matter I can just press X to win or choose earsplitter. I spent two evenings grinding Tokos for their 2,000~ XP and getting some bigger tankier familiars after reading FAQs and watching videos about what the 'best' ones were - I still managed to die on a later boss, one of the nightmare characters I think it was the queen of Perdida's, then I fought Phil's soon afterwards and completely anihilated it. Maybe I wasn't concentrating on Perdida's.
I find it difficult to keep track of other party members in battle, and for me maybe there's too much to do, I still forget to use the all out defense/attack command, I was so used to just defending myself (when I could find it in time on the wheel) and wondering why everyone else just stood there and took the big damage, thanks AI! You have a party of 12 possible active characters to use in battle and they all have items and special attacks and morph into multiple forms and can be upgraded with all the cake and stuff -, there's a lot going on - it definately overwhelms me into just sticking with what I know. It could use some tweaking and narrowing of field for me personally. I've never used Esther in battle and only used Swaine's poison and steal shots because they related to specific battles/quests, I had no idea they even existed until then.
It's also very wordy, apart from big cutscenes, I just mash through the dialogue, especially on the errands - Oh look a kid who has ambition to spare, walk over to some other dude, he's lacking in ambition, fancy that! Mash, mash, mash thank you I'll take my 4 reward stamps! Pointless really, I'm sure this type of thing could be implimented in a more fun, puzzley way rather than just needless streams of dialogue and walking from one corner of the town to another.
Dragon Quest x Pokemon x Tales - I think they were a bit over-ambitious in the scope of this game but it's beautiful and content-packed. If there was ever a sequel I just hope they would really put much more work into making a more enjoyable battle system.
It's also very wordy, apart from big cutscenes, I just mash through the dialogue, especially on the errands - Oh look a kid who has ambition to spare, walk over to some other dude, he's lacking in ambition, fancy that! Mash, mash, mash thank you I'll take my 4 reward stamps! Pointless really, I'm sure this type of thing could be implimented in a more fun, puzzley way rather than just needless streams of dialogue and walking from one corner of the town to another.
Yeah, I really think this was a missed opportunity, made worse by Drippy beating you over the head with "I THINK HE NEEDS _____, OLLIE-BOY!" practically every time. Gee, thanks, I never would have figured it out!! I don't think they need to be super brainteasers, but at the very least I don't think it would have been so bad to make the player think for a minute about which heart piece an NPC might need.
There is no "easy" way, no. I can offer you some tips to make it as speedy as possible though:
Make sure to get the Draggle Ticket from PSN
Always tame when you get the opportunity
Focus on familiar lines where you are missing more than one form (i.e. one of the final forms). You want to go for as few final form evolutions as possible
Don't worry about maxing out before Metamorphising. Just churn through as quickly as possible
Do NOT waste time farming for Jumbo Drops. They can be bought from the Casino, and you can get unlimited Chips by cheesing Platoon
The Tin-Man familiar for sale at the Casino is actually a Gold Tin-Man - this is three free entries because Gold familiars count separately from their normal-colored counterparts
Wish I knew this before I spend a few hours last week farming Star Crystals to make jumbo star drops - for some reason I seem to have a lot of star type familiars in my team.
There is no "easy" way, no. I can offer you some tips to make it as speedy as possible though:
Make sure to get the Draggle Ticket from PSN
Always tame when you get the opportunity
Focus on familiar lines where you are missing more than one form (i.e. one of the final forms). You want to go for as few final form evolutions as possible
Don't worry about maxing out before Metamorphising. Just churn through as quickly as possible
Do NOT waste time farming for Jumbo Drops. They can be bought from the Casino, and you can get unlimited Chips by cheesing Platoon
The Tin-Man familiar for sale at the Casino is actually a Gold Tin-Man - this is three free entries because Gold familiars count separately from their normal-colored counterparts
Great, thank you. Right now Im just farming The White Tower with my low level familiars, casting Astra with Oliver and gaining levels, and farming Duckling Island for Tokos. Is that the way to do it?
Oh yeah, I forgot the most important part - the grinding. You can either grind Billy Goat's Bluff for Tokotokos or The Ivory Tower for Tokotocolds. They each have pros and cons - namely that Tokotokos appear more often (sometimes two at a time) but are worth significantly less XP. Tokotocolds on the other hand appear less often (and if you are post-game they might be Gold, which is no good) - but grant a whopping 27k XP.
Oh yeah, I forgot the most important part - the grinding. You can either grind Billy Goat's Bluff for Tokotokos or The Ivory Tower for Tokotocolds. They each have pros and cons - namely that Tokotokos appear more often (sometimes two at a time) but are worth significantly less XP. Tokotocolds on the other hand appear less often (and if you are post-game they might be Gold, which is no good) - but grant a whopping 27k XP.
Oh yeah, it's called the Ivory Tower. So, better Tokos in that place, seems virtually impossible to fight one then, lol. I've been in there for a over two hours and haven't seen one. Good god this is gonna take AGES.
Tokotokos are your best bet imo - They appear about 75% of the time on a run I'd say, sometimes two (and if you get 2 in the battle even better!) - My first time there, I got two in the same battle and got hearts to capture both of them, very lucky as I haven't captured another since!
Warp to Perdida, cast Veil and make your way to the bottom of the trail. Then warp back to the top again, repeat.
Tokotokos are your best bet imo - They appear about 75% of the time on a run I'd say, sometimes two (and if you get 2 in the battle even better!) - My first time there, I got two in the same battle and got hearts to capture both of them, very lucky as I haven't captured another since!
Warp to Perdida, cast Veil and make your way to the bottom of the trail. Then warp back to the top again, repeat.
OK, I'm done now. Completed the game and most of the post-game quests and bounty hunts. I may go back and finish all the bounty hunts for the rabbit dude, I did the first batch. I think I only have the Alchemists errand left to do besides that, but I realised grinding those things to make the second ax is way beyond my comfort level of grinding. I doubt I would've collected all the familiars any way, that is also a Herculean task that would test anyone's sanity.
I probably could've made life easier with the Tactics command, I think every time I went in to tactics, I didn't confirm my choices because I only just realised you have to do that and not just back out of the window with circle, d'oh! I did wonder early on why it reset for every battle, so I just ignored it!
Beautiful looking, occasionally frustrating (and very fun by mid-game) RPG, with a flawed battle menu system. If they could've just got that battle system right I would've really loved this game rather than just liked a lot.
Even if you have given up on getting all the familiars and quests, you should definitely see The Conductor's questline through to the end for the "true" ending of the game.
Random old question here, but what is the best Familiar to use through the story? I'm still using the original one (the little guy witth the sword) that I have only morphed once, should I mor[h him multiple times?
Random old question here, but what is the best Familiar to use through the story? I'm still using the original one (the little guy witth the sword) that I have only morphed once, should I mor[h him multiple times?
Familiars that you intend to use throughout the story should be morphed when they hit their max level. If you want something that hits heavy, you can't go wrong with a Dinoceros (or even multiple). Lumberwood is also a good one to pick up for Esther.
Mitey is good because he has decent speed, attack and defense. But when you get to the late-game you mind find yourself switching him out.
Familiars that you intend to use throughout the story should be morphed when they hit their max level. If you want something that hits heavy, you can't go wrong with a Dinoceros (or even multiple). Lumberwood is also a good one to pick up for Esther.
Mitey is good because he has decent speed, attack and defense. But when you get to the late-game you mind find yourself switching him out.
, you can pretty much get anything. Dinoceros are available on The Giant's Steps (the plateaus north of the Temple of Trials) and Lumberwood is a unique spawn on No Longer Mine, I believe.
, you can pretty much get anything. Dinoceros are available on The Giant's Steps (the plateaus north of the Temple of Trials) and Lumberwood is a unique spawn on No Longer Mine, I believe.
Dinoceros can get so OP by the end, I had one of each final form and most regular enemy encounters even end game got one-shot by earsplitter. I did max them out though and fed a ton of chocolate to one of them.
The banana bunch enemies you find around Al Mamoon also hit heavy when morphed up. The pirate cats found around the Al Mamoon->Cove area were also a favourite of mine and replaced Mitey as a regular by mid-game. They hit faster than Dinoceros and such slower familiars and look cute
Got to the second town area place finally, took me like 3 months. I'm not really into the game so much... does it pick up? My gf is insanely obsessed with Studio Ghibili and its art-styles and I'm just playing to get to the cutscenes, but they are so short and infrequent that it doesn't seem worth it.
Got to the second town area place finally, took me like 3 months. I'm not really into the game so much... does it pick up? My gf is insanely obsessed with Studio Ghibili and its art-styles and I'm just playing to get to the cutscenes, but they are so short and infrequent that it doesn't seem worth it.
Got to the second town area place finally, took me like 3 months. I'm not really into the game so much... does it pick up? My gf is insanely obsessed with Studio Ghibili and its art-styles and I'm just playing to get to the cutscenes, but they are so short and infrequent that it doesn't seem worth it.
If you're really just playing to get to the Ghibli-cutscenes, you'll be disappointed. There's not many of them throughout the whole game. There's a lot of them in the beginning and, if I remember correctly, at the end, but in the middle of the game, there's almost none of them. I was really hoping for more, but whatever...
Other than that, it's a really great game of course
It does pick up, I really struggled with it early on but it clicks later on as it opens up.
Ilúvatar;100387526 said:
Even if you have given up on getting all the familiars and quests, you should definitely see The Conductor's questline through to the end for the "true" ending of the game.
I did go back and finish the Conductor's errand (he is creepy as hell btw!). Am I right in saying that he gave Oliver, as a prize for completing his quest (and ergo almost the entire game)
the keys to the car that was responsible for his mother's death?!
lol, that's pretty twisted.
I actually thought when
Oliver stepped out of Leila's store that it was going to be an alternate universe where his mother was still alive that he could visit any time he wanted
If you're really just playing to get to the Ghibli-cutscenes, you'll be disappointed. There's not many of them throughout the whole game. There's a lot of them in the beginning and, if I remember correctly, at the end, but in the middle of the game, there's almost none of them. I was really hoping for more, but whatever...
Other than that, it's a really great game of course
Tokotokos are your best bet imo - They appear about 75% of the time on a run I'd say, sometimes two (and if you get 2 in the battle even better!) - My first time there, I got two in the same battle and got hearts to capture both of them, very lucky as I haven't captured another since!
Warp to Perdida, cast Veil and make your way to the bottom of the trail. Then warp back to the top again, repeat.
The farming is going pretty good, I'm at 125 or so familiars right now. However my Jumbodrops have run out so I guess I'll have to learn to play Platoon
The farming is going pretty good, I'm at 125 or so familiars right now. However my Jumbodrops have run out so I guess I'll have to learn to play Platoon
I've kind of decided to go for the platinum, how do I know how many familiars I've had, is there a total somewhere in game? I know there's a number of how many you have in storage, but as I understand the number for the trophy is 250 and this includes morphing the same familiar so you can get 3 towards the total 250 from just one familiar, yes?
I also can't believe how many treasures I'd missed. I used Seek Fortune spell for the first time and seeing literally dozens of hidden treasures all over the map, it's going to take hours
Finding all the treasures is actually pretty easy/quick, there are only 100. You can check how many Familiar species you've tamed by using the Telling Stone.
Finding all the treasures is actually pretty easy/quick, there are only 100. You can check how many Familiar species you've tamed by using the Telling Stone.
Familiars: 169. I have 99 of the treasures, and no idea where the 1 I am missing is. I've just done a lap of the whole map and as far as I can tell I've been everywhere. I guess a second lap is in order!
Familiars: 169. I have 99 of the treasures, and no idea where the 1 I am missing is. I've just done a lap of the whole map and as far as I can tell I've been everywhere. I guess a second lap is in order!
Nice job, I have about fifty familiars to go too. NNK is an awesome game, even the grinding isnt too bad. I still have that alchemy trophy left too and I'll reckon it'll be a royal pain in the ass.
The Alchemy one is giving me nightmares. I have 83% (think the target is 90%?) and the only formulae with ?'s I still have are all the ones with things like Scrolls of Truth and Troll Tears etc, all the mega rare drops from mega rare gold familiar etc. -_-
40 hours and nearing the end I think.
It's a shame about the braindead AI. Had to stop to grind a bit sometimes to avoid getting frustrated. And what's up with familiars going back to level 1 after morphing? Lame.
Other than that it's an awesome rpg.
That was a lot of work, a lot of grinding but I really enjoyed the game despite initial frustrations. At some point I'd like to play it again and explore more familiars rather than just relying on a couple, and I never used any of the human characters in battle except Oliver and a stealing with Swaine. I would also start farming stuff earlier whilst just playing, I let a lot of familiars go early because I didn't want to use them, and didn't forage a lot either - there could've been a fair bit less grinding at the end had I started early with a lot of this stuff.
Great game though, not perfect, (the battle system ranged from frustratingly limited to 'just press x' dull) but hugely enjoyable and recommended. Loved it
That was a lot of work, a lot of grinding but I really enjoyed the game despite initial frustrations. At some point I'd like to play it again and explore more familiars rather than just relying on a couple, and I never used any of the human characters in battle except Oliver and a stealing with Swaine. I would also start farming stuff earlier whilst just playing, I let a lot of familiars go early because I didn't want to use them, and didn't forage a lot either - there could've been a fair bit less grinding at the end had I started early with a lot of this stuff.
Great game though, not perfect, (the battle system ranged from frustratingly limited to 'just press x' dull) but hugely enjoyable and recommended. Loved it
). Seems like the best choice. Thanks again.
