Ni no Kuni Shikkoku no Madoshi Reviews

“Welcome to the world of magic. Magic is a journey striking for greater heights as a never-ending journey. Among your journey there will be insurmountable mountains. They will be valleys to block the path ahead. They will be oasis to smooth your travel wary body. They will be beautiful forest full of temptations. However you mustn’t let these things interpret your journey. All who taken up wizardry must totally devote their self to the entire being to the road of magic. This is the single obligation imposed on all processed wizards. This hardship is absolute.” in this RPG made by Level 5 who made the Dark Cloud series, and Dragon Quest VIII with the collaboration of Studio Ghibli who made films like Spirited Away.

The plot is about a boy called Oliver who lost his mother after she saved him from drowning. While mourning his lost, his tears go on a doll given him by his mother suddenly turns to life. It turns out that it’s a fairy called Shizuku. Shizuku tells Oliver that if he is able to defeat the black mage Jabo. Than he might have an chance to get his mother back since an person have two sides of their self in both the human world and Ni No Kuni, and his mother’s self in Ni No Kuni was trapped while standing up to Jabo. Oliver accepts and after finding a book called the Magic Master and a stick to use as a wand. He cast the Gate spell to enter the world of Ni No Kuni.

With every copy of the game, you get a 350 page-book like the one Oliver gets in the game. The book contains a number of details. One is the spells you are able to cast. Also the book shows you hints on the locations that you will go to in the game that you need to know. There is a section that has all of the items, weapons, and the monsters called the Imajinn where you can look up. Lastly it has short stories about the places and adds more depth to the world the game created.

In the world map, there are hidden treasure chests around that you can find while exploring the map. In the towns, you can take quests that require you to cast a certain spell, kill an Imajinn, or having to look deeper at your book for clues. Also there are a number of puzzles you need to solve from using a spell or looking at a part of the book. In the game you are able to befriend Imajinns for battles with each one having certain types of abilities, and different moves to change the role of the battle. While not in battle, you can play, pet, and brush your Imajinn, you do this so the Imajinn like you more. Also you have to give it food they like since each one is picky. The battles are turn based with the usual commends to aid you in battle. Also in battle you can switch rows with the top is more attack power and the lower row is more defense power. Lastly there is a good amount of extra content after you beat it like the quests, new places be available, spend time in the casino, or going in the coliseum with just your Imajinn facing others for prizes.

One word to sum this game up in my opinion is fascinating. I like the idea of using the book for spells, and hints for the game and the book itself is handled really well with very interesting content to look at. The story is pretty good and it has some short of a charm that gets you more into the game. The animation Studio Ghibli made in the cut scenes are well done with a lot of details being there. The game play is really good with tons of content to do while not following the story or after the story finished. The difficulty is just right while it’s fine in the beginning, it get harder as it go later in the story and after. The Imajinn is done well and while it has a “gotta catch em all” feel like Pokemon, it’s does it in a way it’s not being a rip off. The music by Joe Hisaishi does a amazing job on composing it with really great memorable music adding to the experience of Ni No Kuni. While I don’t have any major complaints, I will mention that some puzzles can be a pain since some of the puzzles require you to look at the book and it won’t go well if you have no knowledge of Japanese. Lastly while you are on the ship, they are higher random enemy encounters that can be annoying since you would be overpowered and you just trying to go to that one place and they keep coming.

Overall Ni No Kuni is one of the best DS experiences I ever had. It has a good story line, great game play, huge content, excellent music, and the book is done very well. I highly recommend this to RPG fans and Studio Ghibli fans.


*I like to thank RedSunGamerTV for the translation from the book on the first paragraph. Here’s his video on the book if anyone’s interested.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1PAR5fitk