I am surprisingly disappointed by this game..

[ProjectSeph]

***Potential Spoilers***

Now, I understand the potential backlash for criticising a game labelled as 'Overwhelmingly Positive' on steam. Though to my utter disbelief, Ni No Kuni simply failed to meet expectations.

Initially I was well and truly drawn into the world. Growing up on old-school anime, and adoring much of what Studio Ghibli has to offer, as well as adoring Joe Hisaishi's fantastic previous works, I could not fault the music/visuals.

The characters all felt quite unique, and whilst not 'amazingly' written, they possessed a sense of charm.

Overall, the first 10 or so hours of the game were quite pleasant as I found myself looking forward to 'The next cutscene/chapter to unfold', as well as the prospect of acquiring new familiars etc.
Though, sadly, after this point I found that the gameplay loop became far too cyclical for my liking.

New town. Leader suffering new kind of heartbreak. Go back to other dimension and fix. Get reward. Next!
It simply became unsurprising, and felt uninspired.

Even the combat became stale. Apart from the fact that button mashing "Attack" wins most fights, I was thoroughly disappointed with the move-sets possessed by familiars. I had hope that each familiar would be unique to a degree, and their evolutions would possess unique abilities; but they don't.
There are simply a pool of abilities, and each type of familiar just gets a selection of what is available. It honestly made my final-stage <insert familiar> feel bland, as there was nothing 'special' about them. 'Want to win most fights? Just increase Attack, and mash X'.

Finally, my biggest disappointment/annoyance with the game comes at the frustration of being 'tutored' 40+ hours into the game ...

I see a person who is missing "Kindness". I select "Give Heart". "Nothing Happened".
I talk to the person, dialogue ensues, your sidekick Mr Drippy chimes in with a "This pooer fella needs a lick of Kindness eh? Better cast Give Heart". And now I am prompted to cast the spell.

.....-_-

..I know. For the 1000th time man, I know!
I know the gap in the landscape needs me to cast bridge. I know those icicles need to be melted with fire. I know. I know. I am 40+ hours into the game, and you have reminded me of this every-single-time. At what stage are you going to give me the controller to actually play the damn game?!

This is, without question, the biggest point of frustration I have with playing the game.
Ni No Kuni does nothing to respect you as a gamer. It does nothing to allow you to problem solve. It holds your hand through the entire game ...until it throws a difficulty spike at you with a boss fight encounter you likely haven't levelled up enough for (unless you were grinding).

And now, drained of my willingness to play through the tedious gameplay loop, I am feeling quite let-down at the lost possibilities.
At this point, I would have much preferred to watch a cinematic YouTube playthrough of the game, as all I am finding appealing currently is the potential for a cutscene to be just around the corner ...which, by the way, are becoming fewer and further between at this stage in the game.
I am probably in the last quarter of the game, but I am actually considering packing it up and walking away from my nearly 50 hours of gameplay.

I know there really is no purpose to writing this except to connect with people on the topic and hear what their thoughts and opinions are (before I get shot-down for having an opinion)

But otherwise, thanks for reading, and happy gaming!

[Aurian]

Publicado originalmente por Zeldajiggmin:

I agree with some parts of your review here, but I think you're being overly critical of the game. You're judging the game based on what it isn't rather than what it is.

Does that matter, though? Playing a game should be fun, and if what isn't there causes somebody to not enjoy the game, why keep playing? I can't speak for everyone, but I don't have enough free time to invest 10+ hours in games I don't enjoy.

RPGs are largely a matter of taste, and there are a lot of them. Plenty of opportunity for everyone to find the games they personally enjoy, and avoid the ones they don't. :)

Personally, I really enjoyed the Shadowrun RPGs and the Witcher games. The mature presentation probably played a part in that. I've also played my share of Pokemon, despite the sickening cuteness, because the gameplay was that good.

[ChuKoe]

The combat is bad in this game. It feels like a simple mix of pokemon and star ocean but none of the good parts. This coupled with the fact that there is an immense amount of combat, most unavoidable (monsters move faster than you for a huge portion of the game), makes the game rather un-fun to play. The story progression, the music, and the art work were the only reason I kept playing but I gave up eventually. I just couldn't do it anymore.

Combat could have been much more interesting with any kind of gimmick to keep the player engaged beyond, press attack option, watch familmon attack a handful of times through autopathing and repeat.

[Aurian]

Publicado originalmente por ChuKoe:

The combat is bad in this game. It feels like a simple mix of pokemon and star ocean but none of the good parts. This coupled with the fact that there is an immense amount of combat, most unavoidable (monsters move faster than you for a huge portion of the game)

This really grated on my nerves too. Other RPGs with monsters on the overmap let you avoid them 100% if you don't want to fight. The Final Fantasy games used to have unavoidable combat at all times, but the newer ones gave you items to stay out of combat as long as you wanted.

[Ashoka]

Publicado originalmente por Aurian:

Publicado originalmente por Zeldajiggmin:

I agree with some parts of your review here, but I think you're being overly critical of the game. You're judging the game based on what it isn't rather than what it is.

Does that matter, though? Playing a game should be fun, and if what isn't there causes somebody to not enjoy the game, why keep playing? I can't speak for everyone, but I don't have enough free time to invest 10+ hours in games I don't enjoy.

RPGs are largely a matter of taste, and there are a lot of them. Plenty of opportunity for everyone to find the games they personally enjoy, and avoid the ones they don't. :)

Personally, I really enjoyed the Shadowrun RPGs and the Witcher games. The mature presentation probably played a part in that. I've also played my share of Pokemon, despite the sickening cuteness, because the gameplay was that good.

I agree with you on not wanting to play games you find fun, but if you don't want to pour hours into games, I wouldn't suggest playing RPGs Many of them are hundreds of hours long, take lots of time to grind your characters up, and especially JRPGs are cutesy like this. If it's not your thing it's not your thing, but this game certainly isn't for people who aren't fans of the genre.

[Ashoka]

Publicado originalmente por ChuKoe:

The combat is bad in this game. It feels like a simple mix of pokemon and star ocean but none of the good parts. This coupled with the fact that there is an immense amount of combat, most unavoidable (monsters move faster than you for a huge portion of the game), makes the game rather un-fun to play. The story progression, the music, and the art work were the only reason I kept playing but I gave up eventually. I just couldn't do it anymore.

Combat could have been much more interesting with any kind of gimmick to keep the player engaged beyond, press attack option, watch familmon attack a handful of times through autopathing and repeat.

I understand it's a matter of preference, but reading your comment, you clearly didn't get very far in the game. There are a million ways to get past enemies. Especially early they want you to fight enemies so you can grind up EXP for the coming difficulty spikes. You generally don't want to skip fights anyways in an RPG, but there are ways to avoid it not very far into the game. The combat also is very simple early on, but gets much more advanced as you progress. Again, it's an RPG, and if you're not prepared to pour hours of time to get to the good parts, you probably shouldn't play them.

[Ashoka]

Publicado originalmente por Aurian:

Publicado originalmente por ChuKoe:

The combat is bad in this game. It feels like a simple mix of pokemon and star ocean but none of the good parts. This coupled with the fact that there is an immense amount of combat, most unavoidable (monsters move faster than you for a huge portion of the game)

This really grated on my nerves too. Other RPGs with monsters on the overmap let you avoid them 100% if you don't want to fight. The Final Fantasy games used to have unavoidable combat at all times, but the newer ones gave you items to stay out of combat as long as you wanted.

This game has several difficulty spikes not very far into it. Most RPGs let you surpass the enemies, but also let you taste your own mistakes when you get your butt kicked. I don't think you played very far into the game, but there are a ton of ways to avoid enemies in this game. If you get one of the first upgrades in the game through side quests called Jack-Be-Nimble, it increases your movement speed. This allows you to easily out run most enemies in the game. Eventually, you even get a spell called Levitate (which makes you float, thus you have no footsteps to you can pass enemies undetected), or even Veil (enemies cant see or smell you, so you can just walk past them). It's an RPG, running past enemies isn't really how the game works.

[Aurian]

Publicado originalmente por Zeldajiggmin:

I agree with you on not wanting to play games you find fun, but if you don't want to pour hours into games, I wouldn't suggest playing RPGs Many of them are hundreds of hours long, take lots of time to grind your characters up, and especially JRPGs are cutesy like this. If it's not your thing it's not your thing, but this game certainly isn't for people who aren't fans of the genre.

Dude, I'm old and probably started playing RPGs before you were born. I love long RPGs if they're entertaining. I've played several dozen RPGs that were entertaining for a hundred hours +, but this one was just boring.

I already said I didn't play very far into it because it wasn't fun and an overly simplistic, ridiculously easy snoozefest. I played very far into other RPGs because they were fun and at least somewhat challenging from the beginning, and not 20 hours in. Is that so hard to grasp?

[ChuKoe]

Publicado originalmente por Zeldajiggmin:

I understand it's a matter of preference, but reading your comment, you clearly didn't get very far in the game. There are a million ways to get past enemies. Especially early they want you to fight enemies so you can grind up EXP for the coming difficulty spikes.

Gonna stop you right there. There are not a million ways to avoid fights, there is one. Movement. All the enemies for the first 20 hours of the game move faster than you do. Meanwhile enemies occupying narrow swathes of space remove any leverage the player may have to avoid it. Why might the player want to avoid it? Because it's a buzzkill. Participating in the fight wouldn't be bad for the other points highlighted, the combat sucks in general. I've been playing RPGs awhile, my first RPG was breath of fire and that game was pretty grindy.

[ProjectSeph]

Publicado originalmente por Zeldajiggmin:

I agree with you on not wanting to play games you find fun, but if you don't want to pour hours into games, I wouldn't suggest playing RPGs Many of them are hundreds of hours long, take lots of time to grind your characters up, and especially JRPGs are cutesy like this. If it's not your thing it's not your thing, but this game certainly isn't for people who aren't fans of the genre.

Going to pile on the bandwagon here and shoot this down.
I have enjoyed a great many RPGs in my time, and poured hundreds of hours into them.
Also, I have enjoyed a great many more JRPGs in my time, and poured hundreds of hours into them.
In fact I have been playing these types of games, and enjoying them, for nearly 30 years now.

I wholeheartedly disagree that JRPGs are mainly 'cutesy'.

Case in point:

- The early Final Fantasy series
- Chrono Cross/Trigger
- Lost Odyssey
- Xenogears
- Vagrant Story
- Grandia
- Breath of Fire

....etc etc. (need I go on?)

I am absolutely a fan of the genre, but I will say it again, Ni No Kuni simply had way too many flaws and exercises in tedium to make it worthwhile playing through the game (for me).
It was immensely more enjoyable to just watch a YouTube cut-scene video and treat it like a standalone Ghibli anime.

Many other JRPGs don't create such a predictable gameplay loop, or they at least compel the player forward with fun mechanics and/or enticing storyline.
Unfortunately, this game did not.

It doesn't come down to a matter of 'Are you a JRPG enthusiast or not'. It comes down to what this particular game had to offer.
For me? Not a whole lot I couldn't get from a YouTube video.

[Stew_Padaso]

Publicado originalmente por The Watchmaker:

***Potential Spoilers***

Now, I understand the potential backlash for criticising a game labelled as 'Overwhelmingly Positive' on steam. Though to my utter disbelief, Ni No Kuni simply failed to meet expectations.

Initially I was well and truly drawn into the world. Growing up on old-school anime, and adoring much of what Studio Ghibli has to offer, as well as adoring Joe Hisaishi's fantastic previous works, I could not fault the music/visuals.

The characters all felt quite unique, and whilst not 'amazingly' written, they possessed a sense of charm.

Overall, the first 10 or so hours of the game were quite pleasant as I found myself looking forward to 'The next cutscene/chapter to unfold', as well as the prospect of acquiring new familiars etc.
Though, sadly, after this point I found that the gameplay loop became far too cyclical for my liking.

New town. Leader suffering new kind of heartbreak. Go back to other dimension and fix. Get reward. Next!
It simply became unsurprising, and felt uninspired.

Even the combat became stale. Apart from the fact that button mashing "Attack" wins most fights, I was thoroughly disappointed with the move-sets possessed by familiars. I had hope that each familiar would be unique to a degree, and their evolutions would possess unique abilities; but they don't.
There are simply a pool of abilities, and each type of familiar just gets a selection of what is available. It honestly made my final-stage <insert familiar> feel bland, as there was nothing 'special' about them. 'Want to win most fights? Just increase Attack, and mash X'.

Finally, my biggest disappointment/annoyance with the game comes at the frustration of being 'tutored' 40+ hours into the game ...

I see a person who is missing "Kindness". I select "Give Heart". "Nothing Happened".
I talk to the person, dialogue ensues, your sidekick Mr Drippy chimes in with a "This pooer fella needs a lick of Kindness eh? Better cast Give Heart". And now I am prompted to cast the spell.

.....-_-

..I know. For the 1000th time man, I know!
I know the gap in the landscape needs me to cast bridge. I know those icicles need to be melted with fire. I know. I know. I am 40+ hours into the game, and you have reminded me of this every-single-time. At what stage are you going to give me the controller to actually play the damn game?!

This is, without question, the biggest point of frustration I have with playing the game.
Ni No Kuni does nothing to respect you as a gamer. It does nothing to allow you to problem solve. It holds your hand through the entire game ...until it throws a difficulty spike at you with a boss fight encounter you likely haven't levelled up enough for (unless you were grinding).

And now, drained of my willingness to play through the tedious gameplay loop, I am feeling quite let-down at the lost possibilities.
At this point, I would have much preferred to watch a cinematic YouTube playthrough of the game, as all I am finding appealing currently is the potential for a cutscene to be just around the corner ...which, by the way, are becoming fewer and further between at this stage in the game.
I am probably in the last quarter of the game, but I am actually considering packing it up and walking away from my nearly 50 hours of gameplay.

I know there really is no purpose to writing this except to connect with people on the topic and hear what their thoughts and opinions are (before I get shot-down for having an opinion)

But otherwise, thanks for reading, and happy gaming!
:elscience::cozyspaceengineersc:

It sounds like you just don't like the game. The prompts to cast magic are there for a reason you know, an event needs to be triggered. you're complaining about the give heart/take heart mechanic because it'd tedious....just like feeding the familiars. It's a JRPG. You probably haven't talked to random person X to get some alchemy unlocked to make it less tedious. ~70% of the people who have bought this game haven't even gotten to alchemy yet (global stats via steam).

[Aurian]

Publicado originalmente por Stew_Padaso:

You probably haven't talked to random person X to get some alchemy unlocked to make it less tedious. ~70% of the people who have bought this game haven't even gotten to alchemy yet (global stats via steam).

People have a limited tolerance for tediousness, so if certain quality of life unlocks are happening too late in the game, some players will already have moved on to something they enjoy more.

I held out for 10 hours, that was my limit. Not because of the heart mending in particular, just the gameplay in general.

[ProjectSeph]

Publicado originalmente por Stew_Padaso:

It sounds like you just don't like the game. The prompts to cast magic are there for a reason you know, an event needs to be triggered. you're complaining about the give heart/take heart mechanic because it'd tedious....just like feeding the familiars. It's a JRPG. You probably haven't talked to random person X to get some alchemy unlocked to make it less tedious. ~70% of the people who have bought this game haven't even gotten to alchemy yet (global stats via steam).

Don't simplify my argument. The story was fine, when told through a different medium (YouTube).

But I stand by my position that 10+/20+ hours into the game, I don't need to be reminded (every time) to do the thing I have literally been doing for 20+ hours.
"Yes oh faithful companion, I know I should cast <such and such> to make a bridge here. I've only done it 20 times with you already."

This game provides way too much hand-holding. And I don't believe this is just a "trait of JRPGs".
And even if it is, what kind of an argument is that?!

"It's a JRPG, so these flaws are considered normal/acceptable."
Hogwash.

There are many examples of a JRPG/RPG done beautifully.
...for me, this game isn't one of them.
It's merely a whimsical and fun story wrapped in beautiful packaging ....though it's rather bland, repetitive and tedious at it's core.

I may have found the game more fun were I a lot younger and had a smaller frame-of-reference with the genre, but as it stands, I have a lot of experience with these types of games, so I have come to expect better things. Especially when older games have done so much better in terms of overall presentation.
(Case in point: Xenogears)

God forbid someone disagree to a game rated as 'Overwhelmingly Popular' though...

[Codester]

Publicado originalmente por Zeldajiggmin:

I agree with some parts of your review here, but I think you're being overly critical of the game. You're judging the game based on what it isn't rather than what it is.

This is one of the silliest things I have read on Steam to date.

[markornikov]

What about Ni no kuni II, has it the same amount of hand-holding?
Because i totally agree with the OP, it starts to annoy me as well in this game and i'm not even that far into the game.

[ProjectSeph]

Publicado originalmente por markornikov:

What about Ni no kuni II, has it the same amount of hand-holding?
Because i totally agree with the OP, it starts to annoy me as well in this game and i'm not even that far into the game.

I've never played Ni No Kuni II, so I can't give an objective answer I'm afraid.