Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.0.2 Update

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is an action role-playing game, developed by Level-5. The game is a significantly enhanced version of Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn, which was originally released for the Nintendo DS in Japan in December 2010.

It was released for the PlayStation 3 in Japan in November 2011, and published in Western regions by Namco Bandai Games in January 2013. It was also released for Nintendo Switch in September 2019. A remastered version was released for PlayStation 4 and Windows in September 2019, and for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in September 2022.

Players control Oliver, a young boy who sets out on a journey in search of a way to resurrect his recently deceased mother. The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot, by boat, or on a dragon. While players navigate Oliver throughout the game’s world, other characters can be controlled during battles against enemies; during these battles, players use magic abilities and creatures known as “familiars”, which can be captured and tamed.

Development began in 2008, simultaneous to Dominion of the Dark Djinn. The game’s animated sequences were produced by Studio Ghibli, while the original score was co-composed by Joe Hisaishi. The art style was also inspired by Studio Ghibli’s other productions. The character development of Oliver was a large focus of the game, intending to make children empathize with the character and for adults to relive their adolescence. The developers used the power of the PlayStation 3 to its full potential to render the world with great detail not possible in Dominion of the Dark Djinn.

Following its announcement, Ni no Kuni was widely anticipated. It was acclaimed by many reviewers, with praise particularly directed at its story, graphic design, and gameplay. Wrath of the White Witch became one of the best-selling PlayStation 3 games, selling over 170,000 units within a week of its Japanese release, and over one million units within fourteen months of its Western release. The game was nominated for and won awards from several gaming publications. A sequel, Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, was released in March 2018.

GAMEPLAY

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is an action role-playing game that uses a third-person perspective. Players complete quests—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story. Outside of quests, players can freely roam the overworld. Players explore towns, villages, dungeons, and dangerous places scattered throughout the world, and possess the ability to travel between the world and Oliver’s hometown of Mooresville. Upon leaving a location, players enter the World Map, which can be used to select a destination. The world may be fully explored from the beginning of the game without restrictions, although story progress unlocks more gameplay content and forms of transport to navigate the world: Players initially run to navigate the world, though later gain the ability to travel by boat, or on the back of a dragon.

When players encounter enemies, they enter a battle system. Battles take place on an open battlefield, allowing players to freely roam around the area. During battles, players command a single human ally or one of the familiars accompanying them; all characters and familiars are manually moved around the battlefield. To fight enemies, players use magical abilities[c] and “familiars”.

Familiars are creatures that can be tamed, to be suitable to send out in battle to fight for players. Familiars level up and evolve alongside the human characters; each familiar has unique statistics and capabilities and can be upgraded through the use of treats, and equipped with items. When all enemies in a battle are defeated, players may receive experience points, currency, and items. When a specific amount of experience is earned, characters’ levels will increase, and their abilities will improve. Health is lost when players are attacked by enemies, while mana points are depleted through the use of magic. Should a party member lose health or mana points, they can be restored by using provisions. Health and mana can also be restored by picking up orbs, known as “glims”; a golden glim restores all health, and enables the powerful “Miracle Move”, which may deal significant damage to enemies or provide assistance to allies.

The errands that can be undertaken at the request of townspeople and the bounty hunts available from the Taskmaster are collectively known as “tasks”. When tasks are completed, players will earn several stamps for their current merit stamp card, which can be exchanged for upgrades. The in-game Wizard’s Companion book includes pages featuring Oliver’s spells, as well as a bestiary, short stories, alchemy recipes, and maps.

PLOT

Ni no Kuni follows the journey of Oliver, a resident of Mooresville. While trying out a new vehicle designed by his friend Philip, Oliver almost drowns but is saved by his mother Allie who immediately after dies from heart problems. As Oliver cries, his tears cause his doll, a gift from his mother, to come to life and reveal itself as a fairy named Drippy, who tells Oliver that he is from another world where an evil wizard named Shadar took control. He also tells Oliver that each person from his world has a “soulmate”, a person who shares a link with someone in Oliver’s world, and that his mother looks very much like a great sage, Alicia, who was captured by Shadar. Realizing that Alicia must have been Allie’s soulmate, Oliver sets out with Drippy to travel to the other world and rescue Alicia in the hope that doing so will bring Allie back into his world.

In the other world, Oliver finds a multitude of broken-hearted people affected by Shadar, uses his new-found magic abilities to restore those pieces of heart that they lack, and travels the world to seek out the four great sages who may be able to help. Along the way, he meets Esther, the daughter of one of the great sages, and Swaine, a thief who initially steals a crucial item from them but ultimately decides to help out. As they enlist the sages’ help, they learn of a wand known as Mornstar that could be used to defeat Shadar but are at a loss as to how to retrieve it as it was recently destroyed by Shadar. Soon after, they find themselves many years in the past by the actions of a stranger and can retrieve the wand there.

After returning to the present and retrieving three magical stones to complete the wand, Oliver learns that his mother Allie was the great sage, Alicia. Realizing she could not defeat Shadar, and that he had destroyed his soulmate in the other world to avoid the possibility of being defeated through them, she chose to travel into both the future and into Oliver’s world in the hopes of finding his next soulmate. After settling into this new world she eventually gave birth to her son Oliver, who unknowingly became Shadar’s soulmate. After he is defeated, Shadar’s past is shown. He was once a soldier who helped a young girl against orders and whose hometown was destroyed to set an example; a being known as the White Witch called to him to embrace his despair and become the Dark Djinn, Shadar. The spirit of Alicia talks to the dying Shadar who realizes that the girl he saved was the young Alicia herself. Shadar then uses his power to sever the link between himself and Oliver, to save Oliver from dying as well.

With Shadar defeated, Oliver prepares to return home but the White Witch appears and casts a spell known as “manna”, an ash-like substance that turns all living beings in the three major cities into undead-like creatures. A girl named Pea, who has been appearing to Oliver on occasion, travels with the group and uses her magic to clear the cities of manna and restore the people to normal; the group proceeds to defeat the White Witch herself. They discover that she was a young queen called Cassiopeia from thousands of years ago who had noble intentions but was manipulated by her “council of twelve”, calling themselves the Zodiarchs, who desired to run the country.