For many bosses, this build-up time isn't nearly long enough. As with all other actions, defending requires flipping through a menu and selecting it in real time therefore bosses have build-up to their major attacks to give you time to select. Boss encounters are built around a primary strategy of avoiding major attacks by defending or evading. The lack of control is annoying but workable for most of the regular enemy encounters throughout Ni no Kuni, but it's a serious hindrance in more difficult boss battles. It's a sloppy combat system that's even more frustrating when you realize how much it holds back your AI partners from being effective. which in turn introduces a cooldown timer before you can select it again. You can't actually control any movement until the attack timer runs down unless you cancel the command. That wouldn't be a problem except that sometimes characters will get stuck running head-first into an ally as they try to line up an attack. I was never able to work out why this happens from time to time.Īttacks also have a minimum range requirement, so often your character will burn some of the attack counter getting closer to an enemy. Sometimes you'll choose attack but the creature you're controlling will inexplicably just stand there for the first few seconds of the timer, letting it tick down.
Ni no kuni wrath of the white witch series#
Selecting "attack" brings up a five- to ten-second timer, and until it runs out, your character will continue a series of auto-attacks on the enemy. While real-time combat makes for faster battles than if it were turn-based, the lack of direct control is often frustrating. You can run around the battlefield at will as whichever character or creature you've selected, but you still choose your actions - even the most basic attack - from a menu. Ni no Kuni's combat takes place in real time, though it allows you to pause to switch between Oliver and one of the other party members or any of the familiars currently in your employ. It leaves plenty of room for training your favorite familiars in whatever direction you want, although that flexibility feels wasted on the messy combat mechanics. and you can give them gems that teach specific abilities. Beyond the major evolution decision, you can perform minor stat tweaks on creatures by feeding them different sweets - chocolate increases strength, pie increases accuracy, etc. I was initially bothered to discover that "metamorphosing" a familiar kicks it back to level one, but freshly upgraded allies are still fairly powerful and catch up fast enough to diminish any sense of an endless grind. By the end I was able to choose whether to turn my pirate cat into a fire-happy "Puss in Bouts" or a water-based "Puss in Boats." The game's translation throws out puns constantly, but they're always clever enough to make me smile. Early in the game I captured a swashbuckling cat named a "purrloiner." Each familiar has two major upgrades in its life - the first is down a single path, while the second splits into two directions. Ni no Kuni's adorable familiars benefit from a deep evolution system as they help out Oliver. Oliver and all additional party members can carry up to three familiars at a time that can be swapped in battle, while extra recruits wait to be called in at save points. Instead he tames and trains wild enemies, which become familiars. Oliver's role as a wizard leaves him ill-suited to face the monsters of Ni no Kuni. There's a sense of wonder to seeing how Studio Ghibli interprets even the most obvious of RPG tropes - the evil empire, the rogue with a heart of gold, the boy wizard with a powerful destiny. Whether it's a desert city with fountains of flowing milk or a graveyard with an ominous moon permanently fixed in the sky, Ni no Kuni is dotted with stunning, memorable settings.