Ni no Kuni for the DS vs. PS3 – What’s the Difference?

As a big fan of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch for the PS3, it was only a matter of time before I discovered that there was actually an earlier version of the game for the DS called Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn.  Unfortunately, this version of the game was only released in Japan, with the reasoning I had heard being the fact that this game requires a physical copy of the Wizard’s Companion, a book that is included in a digital format with the PS3 release.  On the upside, fans have created an English translation of the game, which I recently watched on YouTube thanks to YouTuber Alice N Asgard.  So what’s the difference between the two games, you might be asking?  Well, you’re in luck, because that’s the exact focus of today’s post!

The Ni no Kuni Wizard’s Edition Has Arrived!

As you may remember, I recently attempted my very first auction on eBay in an effort to purchase the Ni no Kuni Wizard’s Edition at an affordable price.  Long story short, I lost the auction, but ended up getting a similar item for about the same price.  The only difference is I got the European version (more specifically, the German version) instead of the North American one, so I missed out on a few extra goodies.  Fortunately, nothing of any real importance is missing, and now that it has finally arrived, it’s about time I talked about it.

Ni no Kuni and Why Swaine is the Best Character: A Random Rambling

In recent times, I have decided to replay Ni no Kuni, a game that has become near and dear to my heart.  It is due to the fact that I’m living in a rental with limited items unpacked that I returned to the game so soon, as when I enjoy a game, I will often try to spend longer between playthroughs to keep it fresh.  So often in the past, I would replay my favorite games until I couldn’t stand the sight of them.  Not so anymore.  It’s ironic that I intentionally avoid my favorite games, but it keeps them fun, so it’s worth it in the end.

Day 22: A Game Sequel Which Disappointed You

As I slowly inch my way forward through the 30 days’ worth of video game topics, I arrive upon a pretty easy one, a game sequel which disappointed me.  One game in particular springs to mind, but since it is such an obvious choice, I also wanted to briefly discuss one of the biggest crimes a sequel can commit.  For me, anyway.  We’ll see if you agree.

New Eiffel Tower T-Shirt Design!

G’day, folks!  Just thought I’d share with you all a new t-shirt design I added over on my Spreadshirt Marketplace.  I actually haven’t added any designs in over a year or so, but I finally had some inspiration.  And it all started with a little piece of fan art I did…

Day 14: Current (or Most Recent) Gaming Wallpaper

The newest of the 30-day video game topics is my current or most recent video game-themed wallpaper.  As much as I would like to have actual video game wallpaper, I’m assuming they must mean my computer’s desktop.  And due to my obvious level of obsession with all things gaming, it should come as no surprise to anyone that I do indeed have a video game desktop.

I actually went through many different images for my desktop in the semi-distant past.  I…don’t remember most of them, but I do recall having a screenshot of the secret ending of Donkey Kong Country 2, where the Kongs are gazing at the sunset, along with a Jak 2 screensaver.  That’s right, there was a Jak 2 screensaver, which I earned by completing this odd, little game on the game’s official web site.  It had Jak sitting in jail, looking bored, while bugs crawled around and the sky outside would change depending on the time of day.  Kind of…weird, to say the last.

No More Hand Holding

I think it’s safe to say that many gamers find tutorials tedious, whether they be an entire level devoted to teaching the basics of a game or frequent interruptions where we are forced to read pages of text explaining every detail of every action we can perform in, even such simple tasks as buying a potion in a store.  As if the Buy option was not intuitive enough.

I have long been bothered by tutorials.  They cause me to rush through the beginning of a game just so I can get through the boring…hand holding.  I don’t think any of us want the game to hold our hands along the way.  I bought this game to have an adventure, to have fun, to do things I can’t do in the real world.  I’m not having much fun when I try to run ahead and explore and am tugged back by the game’s belief that I still haven’t learned the basics of jumping yet, so I ought to try it a few more times.

The Completion of Lightning Returns and a Question

It took about 95 hours, but I am finally done with Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns, and I don’t think I want to play another RPG again for a long, long time.  Nevertheless, I ended up having a lot of fun with the game, even if my initial impressions weren’t great.  Before I get into my thoughts, however, it would probably be best to summarize what you can expect from this game if you haven’t already played it.

In this game, the world is going to end in about 13 days (less, if you aren’t careful), and Lightning has been tasked by the deity Bhunivelze to save the souls of as many people as possible so they can make it to the new world.  You will have more or less time in order to complete this monumental task depending on the number of souls you collect, which is accomplished by completing several main quests and a bunch of side quests in four main locations.  The game’s battle system is far better than that of the first two games of the trilogy, as you actually have control over Lightning.  Plain and simple.  The battles of the other two games largely involved watching your characters while they did everything pretty much on their own, while this one allows you to control Lightning on the battlefield, guard, attack, etc.  You have three different schemas you can switch between during battle (kind of like in Final Fantasy X-2, but not quite as…upsetting), and each schema can have up to four commands.  You do not level up from fighting, however, but through side quests, which was actually a nice change from traditional RPGs.

Top Songs from Ni no Kuni

I recently had the immense pleasure of playing through a truly spectacular RPG, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.  This game excelled in storytelling and characters you could really feel attached to.  The graphics were beautiful.  And the music, well, it all fit perfectly in this amazing world and served to enhance something that was already truly special.  Behold, my top five songs from Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.

The (Tidy) Return of the Old RPGs

Lately, I have really begun to lose my affection for RPGs, a genre I used to love after discovering how amazing they could be thanks to my first playthroughs of Square’s Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy X.  Those games were truly special and introduced me to some complex and deep stories and characters I could really fall in love with (but not in that way, you silly people!).  For this reason, I came to look to Square Enix for good RPGs, I found myself, nevertheless, underwhelmed with the release of FFXII and FFXIII.  While I did have a lot of fun checking out some of the old RPGs, like FFVI and FFIX, I still had quite a bit of trouble finding any good new games of the genre, and as my schedule became busier, I also had less desire to spend such a huge quantity of time on a whole category of games that, in general, felt slow-paced and tedious.

That all changed when I was first introduced to Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch on the gaming blog, RPG Square.  Something about it caught my interest, and I ended up finding it at Wal-Mart when I was in possession of a gift card.  And yet, at the same time, I must admit that my initial impression of the game was a bit reluctant.  I didn’t know about the cartoony style of graphics (I know, I’m a snob sometimes), and when I saw the creature on the cover (who turned out to be Mr. Drippy), I thought, oh, no, not another cutesy sidekick.