Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (tips and tricks thread)

[Torrasque]

Wow really? There is no Ni No Kuni "hey guys I'm stuck", "what did you do at this part?", or "tips and tricks of Ni No Kuni" thread yet?
Well ok, I'll start one I guess.

Hi, I'm Torr. I don't really use these threads that much these days because I'm busy doing other stuff, I mostly lurk and occasionally post in a thread that seems interesting. I picked up Ni No Kuni because the trailer left me speechless with how beautiful it was, and because Studio Ghibli is behind the art. As far as I'm concerned, anything that Studio Ghibli does is pure gold. Kind of like Will Smith movies; I just enjoy the shit out of anything he does.

Anyways, I have been playing this since the day it came out and have only stopped to watch GSL (Starcraft 2 tournament), sleep, and occasionally eat. So I think I'm pretty far.

Oliver is lvl 17 and I have 3 familiars. I am also in the second area, about to do a pretty important quest event.
I'd tell you more about my status, but I don't want to spoil anything. This game has an absolutely incredible story and I want you to enjoy every bit. Thats why if you are asking for advice on a certain part and I am up to it (so I can actually help) please spoiler-ify it. I'll also spoiler-ify my advice.

Anyways, I'll be happy to share any and all information I have on this game, just ask
GameFAQs and youtube have been very lacking in their tips and tricks (cuz the game is still brand spanking new) and its hard to find advice. Everything that I've done up to this point, I've figured out for myself. I'd suggest you do the same, but its better to ask for help than smash your head against a wall for several hours when you don't have to.

Oh, and for those of you who haven't gotten this game:
Why haven't you gotten this game? Lack of PS3? Not your kind of game? Didn't interest you?

Edit: I've done all the errands, all the bounties, and found everything that can possibly be found up to the point I am at. Even that annoying errand 044 >.>
I'm taking my time playing this, this is not a speed run in any way, lol.

 

[Benpasko]

Oh, and for those of you who haven't gotten this game:
Why haven't you gotten this game? Lack of PS3? Not your kind of game? Didn't interest you?

I haven't bought a jrpg since everyone told me Blue Dragon was good. I put it in my XBox, played for half an hour, and then gouged out my eyes and ears out of sheer hatred for the characters.

 

[Torrasque]

Oh, and for those of you who haven't gotten this game:
Why haven't you gotten this game? Lack of PS3? Not your kind of game? Didn't interest you?

I haven't bought a jrpg since everyone told me Blue Dragon was good. I put it in my XBox, played for half an hour, and then gouged out my eyes and ears out of sheer hatred for the characters.

This isn't really a JRPG in the typical sense. You don't have angsty teens or crazy melodrama.
The characters are just about the same as any Studio Ghibli movie imo, and I think most Studio Ghibli characters are much more... whats the word... reasonable? sensible? real? They're just more wholesome than typical anime characters.

This game is literally a Studio Ghibli movie in video game format.

 

[Keoul]

It just came out duuuuuuuude and only in a few locations, it's not even globally available yet!
Not only that but it kinda flew under the radar as it were, there wasn't that many ads and unless you were a fan of studio ghibli I doubt you'd know anything about it, since that is a major selling point.

Personally the price was a bit much for me (60 bucks) and I'm patient enough to wait for a price drop or getting a pre-owned copy.

 

[farbrorbla]

Oh, and for those of you who haven't gotten this game:
Why haven't you gotten this game? Lack of PS3? Not your kind of game? Didn't interest you?

I haven't bought a jrpg since everyone told me Blue Dragon was good. I put it in my XBox, played for half an hour, and then gouged out my eyes and ears out of sheer hatred for the characters.

Well any sane person who likes J-RPG's will probably tell you that Blue Dragon wasnt really that good. If Ni no kuni is a Ghibli film then Blue DRagon would probably be a "My little pony" episode

 

[Tohuvabohu]

Everything that I've done up to this point, I've figured out for myself. I'd suggest you do the same, but its better to ask for help than smash your head against a wall for several hours when you don't have to.

Just got to AL-Mamoon (i think that's what it was called) last night before I stopped.

I gotta ask. Where the hell is that Ruffian thief bounty? I found Grumpeafowl, but this Ruffian bastard eludes me even after wandering around the entire area surrounding Ding Dong Dell.

I eventually gave up and move along to the next area. So far, I am in love with the game and it's a real delight to play.

But man oh man I haven't played a jRPG of this sort in ages. Perhaps that's why I'm having a surprisingly difficult time with it. I mean, I'm making progress. But I have gotten more than enough Game Overs than I thought I would have this early in the game. It's humbling.

 

[Frozengale]

Oh, and for those of you who haven't gotten this game:
Why haven't you gotten this game? Lack of PS3? Not your kind of game? Didn't interest you?

I haven't bought a jrpg since everyone told me Blue Dragon was good. I put it in my XBox, played for half an hour, and then gouged out my eyes and ears out of sheer hatred for the characters.

Smart man. Blue Dragon was not good and staying away from JRPG's these days is a good move.

Ni No Kuni so far is fairly meh. The graphics are amazing as to be expected. The story is blah. The moment they mentioned prophecies I just shook my head in shame and settled in for a horrible story telling experience. And now that my expectations for the story are low I have not been disappointed. The characters are incredibly bland and uninteresting, and the world so far doesn't spark much interest for me. Is this seriously the studio that brought me such amazing stories as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away? Maybe it will get interesting latter on. But so far the only thing that I've liked character wise is the design for the White Witch and that's about it.

The combat is interesting but it is also plagued with most problems that come with JRPG's. Lots of mashing on the basic attack button. Having to deal with enemies at WAY to high a frequency, and feeling like there is no real tactics going on through out the battle. But aside from that it's novel for the most part and at least brings something interesting to the table. I'm not to far in right now, so we'll see if it gets any better once things start really picking up.

I gotta ask. Where the hell is that Ruffian thief bounty? I found Grumpeafowl, but this Ruffian bastard eludes me even after wandering around the entire area surrounding Ding Dong Dell.

I eventually gave up and move along to the next area. So far, I am in love with the game and it's a real delight to play.

You can check the overworld map (R1) and the glowing blue dots are the bounties.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

Oh, and for those of you who haven't gotten this game:
Why haven't you gotten this game? Lack of PS3? Not your kind of game? Didn't interest you?

I'm still waiting for my copy to ship from Namco Bandai .
January 22 release date means Digital River waits until that day to begin processing orders, so the actual orders haven't even shipped yet. Clearly not every retailer online is as efficient as Amazon.

 

[Tanis]

WARNING:
THERE IS A GAME SAVE DESTROYING GLITCH!

Not sure if I can like other sites, so just google it.

 

[Ryotknife]

I heard the game got pretty good reviews and ive been hankering for a RPG but....

dear lord something about the graphics irritates me. I love cell shaded games and in general i like level 5 but....I dunno it feels like watching old anime and i just cant stand that art style in that game. Not to mention it reminds me of Para-rapper.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

WARNING:
THERE IS A GAME SAVE DESTROYING GLITCH!

Not sure if I can like other sites, so just google it.

In this case, you can link other sites. Don't worry, but thanks, I heard about that and I hope they get it patched soon.

I heard the game got pretty good reviews and ive been hankering for a RPG but....

dear lord something about the graphics irritates me. I love cell shaded games and in general i like level 5 but....I dunno it feels like watching old anime and i just cant stand that art style in that game. Not to mention it reminds me of Para-rapper.

It's pretty classic Studio Ghibli style.

Spoiler

Personally I think the art is beautiful. Dragon Quest games bother me much more than this ever could,
but people will like what they like.

 

[Torrasque]

Oh, and for those of you who haven't gotten this game:
Why haven't you gotten this game? Lack of PS3? Not your kind of game? Didn't interest you?

I'm still waiting for my copy to ship from Namco Bandai .
January 22 release date means Digital River waits until that day to begin processing orders, so the actual orders haven't even shipped yet. Clearly not every retailer online is as efficient as Amazon.

Oh, you're one of those poor bastards
It sucks that they dropped the ball on that one. Especially for the people that they just outright cancel their order =/

Everything that I've done up to this point, I've figured out for myself. I'd suggest you do the same, but its better to ask for help than smash your head against a wall for several hours when you don't have to.

Just got to AL-Mamoon (i think that's what it was called) last night before I stopped.

I gotta ask. Where the hell is that Ruffian thief bounty? I found Grumpeafowl, but this Ruffian bastard eludes me even after wandering around the entire area surrounding Ding Dong Dell.

I eventually gave up and move along to the next area. So far, I am in love with the game and it's a real delight to play.

But man oh man I haven't played a jRPG of this sort in ages. Perhaps that's why I'm having a surprisingly difficult time with it. I mean, I'm making progress. But I have gotten more than enough Game Overs than I thought I would have this early in the game. It's humbling.

The ruffian you are looking for is really far south on the beach in that area if I recall correctly. Whenever I am looking for a quest mob or person, I just look around on the map for a flashing blue dot. If that fails me (some errands are really annoying to find and complete) I just check all the hints that they have given me. That hasn't failed me yet, even if it is annoying at times...

<spoiler=Don't read if you haven't cleared the Sage trials area yet>Lol, I had not died at all until last night shortly before bed. I got the bridge spell and went back to the rolling hills to bridge that one area (cuz I thought I could) but the mobs over there kicked my ass. So I figured, "I mind as well continue to the next area". Well I had recently metamorphosed 2 of my familiars and picked up a new one, so my party was still kind of weak. I wasn't taking one fight seriously and was just messing around with new abilities, when suddenly Esther died... My little familiar wasn't the OP beast that he was before (is still only lvl 15) so he wasn't enough to finish off the other two mobs. So I died a second time

You really have to enter every fight with all your wits about you, or prepare to die =/

I'm playing it through with English my first time, and I find it amusing that everyone has a slight british accent. And then there's Mr. Drippy with his heavy accent xD

 

[Ryotknife]

WARNING:
THERE IS A GAME SAVE DESTROYING GLITCH!

Not sure if I can like other sites, so just google it.

In this case, you can link other sites. Don't worry, but thanks, I heard about that and I hope they get it patched soon.

I heard the game got pretty good reviews and ive been hankering for a RPG but....

dear lord something about the graphics irritates me. I love cell shaded games and in general i like level 5 but....I dunno it feels like watching old anime and i just cant stand that art style in that game. Not to mention it reminds me of Para-rapper.

It's pretty classic Studio Ghibli style.

Spoiler

Personally I think the art is beautiful. Dragon Quest games bother me much more than this ever could,
but people will like what they like.

I like the princes mononoke style and have fond memories of that anime. Granted that might be because it was my first anime exprience alongside Akira 15 years ago. Hell, i even saw mononoke in theaters.

But from image 2 downwards the art style irritates me. I think it is the chubby cuteness style. I am kinda embarrassed to say, but I secretly wish that the game did mediocre so I would not feel so bad for not playing it. Now it is a battle between wanting to play a great RPG and my irritation.

Also the dragon quest graphics did irritate me a little bit, but not as much as these. I think im not fond of overly cute things.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

Oh, you're one of those poor bastards
It sucks that they dropped the ball on that one. Especially for the people that they just outright cancel their order =/

Yeah I just received shipping confirmation today, so in my case *fingers crossed* they just took waaaay long processing my order. Hopefully the wait will be worth it.

I like the princes mononoke style and have fond memories of that anime. Granted that might be because it was my first anime exprience alongside Akira 15 years ago. Hell, i even saw mononoke in theaters.

But from image 2 downwards the art style irritates me. I think it is the chubby cuteness style. I am kinda embarrassed to say, but I secretly wish that the game did mediocre so I would not feel so bad for not playing it. Now it is a battle between wanting to play a great RPG and my irritation.

Also the dragon quest graphics did irritate me a little bit, but not as much as these. I think im not fond of overly cute things.

That style in particular, the big eyed chubby face style seems to be the way they draw young people and children in particular, adults tend to be much more detailed.

Spoiler

[img=300]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QR8WS0CzODs/SSZUsbDV5qI/AAAAAAAABlY/_7XFY6_Xj30/s400/ponyo2.jpg[/img]

Even though the art of Dragon Quest VIII irritated me to no end, I still enjoyed the game, and actually found myself liking the look of it eventually, at least within the context of the game. (I wouldn't go watching DBZ afterward). Maybe give it a rent, to see if you get used to it. Try for a good play session and maybe you'll warm up to it. If you don't, at least that way you're not $60 in.

Windwaker also irritated me at first, and now it's one of my favorite in the LOZ series.

 

[Smertnik]

Huh, it's out already? Where do you live? Amazon states the release date as 1.2.

 

[Torrasque]

Huh, it's out already? Where do you live? Amazon states the release date as 1.2.

Canada

 

[EHKOS]

I want to play this but I'm terrified it's going to end very very sadly