Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch | Demo Impressions

<p>Releasing a demo for an upcoming JRPG can be a double-edged sword&semi; potentially dulling the reflection of an otherwise bright and expansive adventure&comma; and limiting the character progression systems that hook a player into long and quiet weekends&period; Studio Ghibli &lpar;<i>Spirited Away&comma; Princess Mononoke<&sol;i>&rpar; and Level -5’s &lpar;<i>Rogue Galaxy&comma; White Knight Chronicles<&sol;i>&rpar; recently released PlayStation Network demo bathes in a much more positive light&comma; delivering two segments of the full experience that demonstrate a subtle glimpse into the magical and heart-warming world of <i>Ni No Kuni&colon; Wrath of the White Witch<&sol;i>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>No matter which scenario you pick&comma; the demo gives you twenty-five minutes of play time in each&comma; allowing you to explore the beautiful overworld at your leisure&comma; or rush to the boss fights awaiting you in either chapter&period;  This is more than enough time to get accustomed to the battle system and gawp at the stunning visuals finely crafted by Level-5 and Studio Ghibli&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;33105" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-33105" style&equals;"width&colon; 620px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;ni-no-kuni-demo-impressions&sol;ninokuniwoodland&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-33105"><img class&equals;" wp-image-33105 " alt&equals;"Beautiful environments make exploration a pleasure&period;" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;12&sol;06072510&sol;ninokuniwoodland&period;jpg" width&equals;"620" height&equals;"348" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-33105" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Beautiful environments make exploration a pleasure&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Oliver’s character model inherits the delicate and distinctive art that Studio Ghibli is known for&comma; and he—along with the rest of the cast—is rendered beautifully in real-time at the hands of Level-5&period; Witnessing the small ripples of water as you stroll through the woodland&comma; or glaring at the daunting shadows and fiery lighting of a lava pit below your feet during a desparate mountain climb&semi; these are moments that exhibit a promising future come January 25<sup>th<&sol;sup>&comma; where fans can enter a Ghibli world come to life&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Not everything is executed this well&comma; however&period; Voice acting is sub-par for the English dubbing&comma; but the option to pick the original Japanese voiceover will alleviate this issue for most&period; At least in the demo&comma; the real problem lies within the minute-by-minute storytelling&period; It looks like a lot of the dialogue will feature no voices at all&comma; reducing some cutscenes to still images&period; Whether or not this is a factor unique to the demo&comma; we cannot say&comma; but it would be unfortunate if such a grand art-style was neutered by a mostly voiceless narrative&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;33112" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-33112" style&equals;"width&colon; 620px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;ni-no-kuni-demo-impressions&sol;ninokunifirelord&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-33112"><img class&equals;" wp-image-33112" alt&equals;"Fiery combat against one of the demo's largest boss encounters&period;" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;12&sol;06072437&sol;ninokunifirelord&period;jpg" width&equals;"620" height&equals;"348" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-33112" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Fiery combat against one of the demo&&num;8217&semi;s largest boss encounters&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>The meat and potatoes of your experience throughout the demo will be found in the game’s battles&period; Using a real-time system based on cooldowns and attack durations&comma; <i>Ni No Kuni’s<&sol;i> combat is incredibly hands-on&period; You have the ability to control Oliver&comma; the Familiars that aid him in battle or his friend Esther at anytime during the fight—switching between them and capitalizing on their unique abilities when necessary&period; This allows you to avoid an incoming melee strike and quickly throw a fireball&comma; or perhaps retreat and use an item to heal you and your allies&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At any point during the exchange&comma; the enemy can launch a long-range attack that will require a defensive stance to mitigate the damage&period; Every option you make will see a small coodown after usage&comma; and this keeps battles tactical and intense throughout&period; This strategic element is enhanced&comma; as the demo hints at a robust levelling system with unlockable abilities and a wide variety of Familiars to use throughout the game&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Admittedly&comma; the smaller monsters presented little challenge&comma; even if they caught you off guard with a type of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;pre-emptive strike”&period; But picking the appropriate Familiar will yield better results across all encounters&comma; becoming a pivotal role in <i>Ni No Kuni’s<&sol;i> boss fights&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;33113" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-33113" style&equals;"width&colon; 620px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;ni-no-kuni-demo-impressions&sol;ninokunioverworld&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-33113"><img class&equals;" wp-image-33113" alt&equals;"A huge overworld acts as a great playground to explore and level up&period;" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;12&sol;06072428&sol;ninokunioverworld&period;jpg" width&equals;"620" height&equals;"348" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-33113" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">A huge overworld acts as a great playground to explore and level up&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Between the gorgeous exploration of the huge overworld and the fast-paced battles of the <i>Ni No Kuni&colon; Wrath of the White Witch <&sol;i>demo&comma; the final release is becoming one of our most anticipated titles of next year&period; November 17<sup>th<&sol;sup>&comma; 2011&comma; marked the day of an exciting collaboration between two of Japan’s best known studios across anime and gaming&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><i>Ni No Kuni&colon; Wrath of the White Witch<&sol;i> will be available throughout America and Europe on January 25<sup>th<&sol;sup>&comma; 2013&comma; exclusively on the PlayStation 3&period; Be sure to check back on BagoGames for the full review&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"zemanta-pixie" style&equals;"margin-top&colon; 10px&semi; height&colon; 15px&semi;"><img class&equals;"zemanta-pixie-img" style&equals;"border&colon; none&semi; float&colon; right&semi;" alt&equals;"" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;img&period;zemanta&period;com&sol;pixy&period;gif&quest;x-id&equals;d9a23998-c9c3-4f8d-be1e-62f79099e40d" &sol;><&sol;div>&NewLine;