Amateur Recommendation Hour: Ni No Kuni Wrath Of The White Witch

Today’s recommendation is a game renowned in the annals of Japanese role-playing games for it’s distinctive art style, familiar soundscape, and real time collection battle system. A collaborative effort from one of the most well known animation studios in the world, it’s beloved composer so responsible for the personality of the works he has contributed to, and one of the most underrated yet prolific Japanese developers in recent video game history. All of which come together to create something that feels distinct from its fore-bearers yet is able to retain the feel and charm of them.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch was developed by Level-5, whom you may know of Professor Layton and more recently Yo-Kai Watch fame. That fact in and of itself would inspire confidence, however it is the collaboration with Studio Ghibli and it’s illustrious composer Joe Hisaishi that are so vital to the games intrigue and ultimate execution of it’s emotions that take it beyond what it might have been without.

Oliver, a young elementary school aged boy, living against the backdrop of Motorville, a Detroit-inspired 1950s America, alone with his mother. His friend, Phillip, has been working on motor-propelled vehicle for sometime, Oliver aware of its progress. Upon being ready for a test drive, Oliver and his friend tear down the road at some ferocity. A little too much as Oliver his hoisted out and into the water. Fortunately enough for Oliver his mother dives in to save her son, but at the cost of her life. Upon returning home, Oliver is stricken by grief and begins to sob. His tears cause his doll, a gift from his mother to spring into life. Revealing himself to be a fairly from another world, Mr. Drippy whose home is being overtaken by an evil sorcerer Shadar. He also tells Oliver that each person from his world has a "soulmate", a person that shares a link with someone in Oliver's world. And so they head off in search of his mother’s soulmate, with hope of bringing her back to life in our world.

While its main narrative writing is solid enough, if a bit messy at points, it is in the dialogue and characters that Ni No Kuni is able to create its connections. Beyond its fairly novel premise each character, in particular Oliver is given core traits, weaknesses, motivations for not only wanting to assist in the fight for the other world, but also to help Oliver achieve his goal. Even secondary characters are given  preciously important drops of depth that add dimension to their personalities and most importantly of all, react to the consequences of the actions of our protagonists. 

As you would expect from a game bearing the Ghibli logo, the pomp and circumstance of proceedings is noticeable, in how characters interact, each beings design, but not enough to undermine the idea that this world is suffering. In fact it is the collective consciousness of the population of Ni No Kuni’s vibrant, watercolor landscape that tells its struggle believably in its interactions. Not only is it crawling with aggressive monsters who must be tamed, but in its people who require emotional support. With Oliver’s special locket, the ability to give and receive different kinds of feelings, he is able give hope and perspective back to those suffering from a lack of certain feelings to those hyped up on an excess of others. The rot of Ni No Kuni is felt on a more subliminal level beneath its saturated exterior shell. Think about it. There are plenty of beautiful landscapes, places, and towns in our world on a purely aesthetic level. However when you talk to certain members of any given population within these places, an exhaustion, a pain, not yet reflected in all of our perceivable domains is noticeably present.

When in combat, it’s real time battle system for the most part, shines as a result of free movement, and the ability to switch between party members and their familiars with a few button presses. Even the subpar party AI is not enough to undermine the fluid feel of the battlefield. The enemies you are able to tame becoming your familiars in the process. Feeding them certain foods will help increase their statistics and effectiveness in battle. But only a certain amount in a given time frame until they become too full and don’t want any more, lest you abuse the gift of companionship.

My personal interpretation of this work is that it is about the interconnectivity of human emotions and how the best and most healthiest way to support one another though the most difficult struggles in our personal lives is to find balance by lending ourselves and the positive emotions we have gathered from others and our experiences to those who are in shorter supply of the necessary feelings we have needed to keep ourselves in check. This natural give and take being a vital part of keeping our world a healthy place, even on the smallest level. These ideas are reinforced through its gameplay systems, and it is a simple application of ideas that are able to reinforce its themes and messages. It’s not just the words that are able to tell stories within the medium of gaming. It’s how these words are given to you through your interaction with the game world and it’s systems in place.