Further Gaming: The Ni no Kuni Demo
In addition to finishing FF13, I've also spent some of my PS3 time lately playing the demo of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. This is the jointly-developed Level-5/Studio Ghibli RPG. Level-5 is the company behind Dragon Quest 8/9 and the Professor Layton series. Studio Ghibli is... well, Studio Ghibli. Can this game not be awesome?
...well, kind of, in the sense that the demo isn't really the greatest introduction. When you start it up, after picking your language, you choose one of two scenarios. In the first one, you wander briefly through a forest and and then are thrust into a boss fight. If NnK were a standard purely menu-driven RPG, this would be fine, but it has some action-RPG elements and a few interesting tricks that really would have benefited from a couple of splash screens at the start. I flailed around, died once, retried, and managed to beat the boss the second time. There's some tutorial bits during the fight, but frustrating thing is that only afterwards do you get access to the in-game reference manual/tutorial NPC.
This is not something that will be a problem with the actual game, as sitting down and reading the manual will take care of most of the command-related uncertainties, and presumably there will be time to play out a few standard battles before taking on a boss.
Post-boss there was some running through the lovely overworld and fighting a few random battles, a quick puzzle to solve, and then gaining access to a town just as the demo timer ran out. Random battles are Dragon Quest 9 style in that you can see the enemies running around. If they spot you, they'll chase you; sometimes you can evade them, sometimes you'll meet them head-on, and if you're unlucky, sometimes they'll attack you from behind, getting the drop on you in the actual battle. For the most part, it's pretty easy to at least meet their charges.
I absolutely love the spellcasting/emotion puzzle system and I'm curious as to how that will play out as the game goes on. I'm looking forward to actually being able to explore the town of Ding Dong Dell.
The second scenario picks up a bit later in the game with two party members, each holding three familiars. This makes battles easier as you have an companion who can do her own attacking/healing/backup based on how you set the AI. You start out needing to get to the top of a volcano in three minutes. This involves a bit of patience at certain points in order to bypass lava spouts. There are also random enemies to fight, but the timer doesn't decrease during battles, so there's no reason not to fight. At the top, there's another boss fight. I flailed a bit in this one but did a much better job; again, reading the manual so I know more about positioning and attacking will be helpful. Also fun is the addition of multi-familiar strategy: my ice-based familiar did a reasonably good job at attacking, but was also more vulnerable to the fire-based attacks. There's a handy elemental strength and vulnerability reference chart right on the screen when you swap familiars. I ended up swapping back to my main one for the most part. Anyhow, once the boss is done, so is the scenario.
There is one problem I found myself having that I'm not sure I can change in the actual game or if I'll just get used to over the course of playing: the circular menus found in battle. I kept hitting right on the control pad to pick the option on the right; what that actually does is turn the menu to the right, picking the left option. By the second boss fight I was starting to get the hang of it. That's really the only full game-related complaint that I have.
Did picking up the demo change my opinion of the game? Not really. I intended to get it before the demo, and I certainly want to get it now. However, now there are specific things I want to know about. What happened to the unenthusiastic guard? Where did my second party member come from? What's up with this floating evil sorcerer guy?
Overall, the game feels like a more interactive Dragon Quest 9 with Studio Ghibli visuals and music. It's beautiful and charming, and I look forward to finding out the whole story.
...well, kind of, in the sense that the demo isn't really the greatest introduction. When you start it up, after picking your language, you choose one of two scenarios. In the first one, you wander briefly through a forest and and then are thrust into a boss fight. If NnK were a standard purely menu-driven RPG, this would be fine, but it has some action-RPG elements and a few interesting tricks that really would have benefited from a couple of splash screens at the start. I flailed around, died once, retried, and managed to beat the boss the second time. There's some tutorial bits during the fight, but frustrating thing is that only afterwards do you get access to the in-game reference manual/tutorial NPC.
This is not something that will be a problem with the actual game, as sitting down and reading the manual will take care of most of the command-related uncertainties, and presumably there will be time to play out a few standard battles before taking on a boss.
Post-boss there was some running through the lovely overworld and fighting a few random battles, a quick puzzle to solve, and then gaining access to a town just as the demo timer ran out. Random battles are Dragon Quest 9 style in that you can see the enemies running around. If they spot you, they'll chase you; sometimes you can evade them, sometimes you'll meet them head-on, and if you're unlucky, sometimes they'll attack you from behind, getting the drop on you in the actual battle. For the most part, it's pretty easy to at least meet their charges.
I absolutely love the spellcasting/emotion puzzle system and I'm curious as to how that will play out as the game goes on. I'm looking forward to actually being able to explore the town of Ding Dong Dell.
The second scenario picks up a bit later in the game with two party members, each holding three familiars. This makes battles easier as you have an companion who can do her own attacking/healing/backup based on how you set the AI. You start out needing to get to the top of a volcano in three minutes. This involves a bit of patience at certain points in order to bypass lava spouts. There are also random enemies to fight, but the timer doesn't decrease during battles, so there's no reason not to fight. At the top, there's another boss fight. I flailed a bit in this one but did a much better job; again, reading the manual so I know more about positioning and attacking will be helpful. Also fun is the addition of multi-familiar strategy: my ice-based familiar did a reasonably good job at attacking, but was also more vulnerable to the fire-based attacks. There's a handy elemental strength and vulnerability reference chart right on the screen when you swap familiars. I ended up swapping back to my main one for the most part. Anyhow, once the boss is done, so is the scenario.
There is one problem I found myself having that I'm not sure I can change in the actual game or if I'll just get used to over the course of playing: the circular menus found in battle. I kept hitting right on the control pad to pick the option on the right; what that actually does is turn the menu to the right, picking the left option. By the second boss fight I was starting to get the hang of it. That's really the only full game-related complaint that I have.
Did picking up the demo change my opinion of the game? Not really. I intended to get it before the demo, and I certainly want to get it now. However, now there are specific things I want to know about. What happened to the unenthusiastic guard? Where did my second party member come from? What's up with this floating evil sorcerer guy?
Overall, the game feels like a more interactive Dragon Quest 9 with Studio Ghibli visuals and music. It's beautiful and charming, and I look forward to finding out the whole story.