#35
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
YoY: -3
When Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch was first released on the PS3 back in 2013 in the west, home console JRPGs weren't exactly doing very well commercially or critically. Outside of Final Fantasy, which was also going through its own difficult period thanks to XIII not being all that good, and XIV being an unmitigated disaster at launch, most JRPGs had either moved to handhelds, failed commercially, or just weren't all that good to begin with. This was one major reason why I was so very hyped for Ni No Kuni, in addition to being made by a genuinely talented studio in Level-5 in collaboration with the film studio that had created many of my favourite animated films ever in Studio Ghibli.
In terms of audiovisual presentation Ni No Kuni is a beautiful game. The music by Joe Hisaishi is wonderful, and the Ghibli-esque art style is translated perfectly into the new medium. I loved the fair tale-like world, and the colourful cast of characters that inhabit it, from the protagonists to the villains and everyone in-between. The weakest part of the game is probably the battle system, which tries to combine a turn-based and real-time combat systems into one, and as is usually the case, it doesn't quite come together as well as planned. Overall though, this is a great game, and one I should probably try to go back and play again one of these days. If only I had the time.
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