Ni no Kuni

[TKz]

Ni no Kuni is like the least frustrating JRPG ever.

Saying that, I've seen Srar post in Coin Op and she said she doesn't really like grinding, so I'm guessing The Genie or the first Heartbroken. Those two must be a pain if you're not training up higher than needed.

[ZJ Penn]

The Genie messed me up as I had no mana for the fight. I survived using all my provisions, but damn they're not cheap in this game to replace. The game isn't particularly difficult, but the switch to AI allies might be off-putting to people.

I'm up to...

...the Tombstone Trail/Hamelin and my party is changing pretty rapidly although I have some stalwarts. Mitey has pretty much gone to shit and I don't want to waste a jumbo stone on his second evolution. Thumbelemur is still pretty good but has been overtaken by my Cutpurrse, which is great. Both Swaine and the girl (forget her name :/ ) have their starting familiars too, the penguin being particularly strong. The Imp has been surprisingly disappointing in its third phase. The shark you get from Ding Dong Well is pretty strong. On the other hand, the skeleton was a massive disappointment, as was the Clubber Cub.

[Benji]

Question - do you get more jumbo drops throughout the game, or are the three of each it for the entirety? I don't want to waste one I might need later.

I just started Hamelin and...

... TIME TRAVEL! OOOoOOOoOoooh. Yeah, I don't know, seems like we're going to have another mystery, but at least the mystery of who Swaine is looks like it will be solved in the next half hour or so.

[TKz]

You can make them with Alchemy. You need to read the book, Benji! Gawd. I don't know the forumla but it's like, regular drop + Moon/Planet/Star/Sun Crystal.

Also god. I need a bloody Stardrop. I've got like... Level 28 first form just waiting to evolve.

[Your Mom]

Played for like 90 minutes. I am thinking I am going to like it but I have a couple worries already.

1, Too many cutscenes! I mean I get that it's based off some Anime but it seemed like I could only make it 10 feet before hitting another 5 minute mini cartoon. Hoping that is just because they need to set the story up.

2. I don't know about Drippy. Like I like him but I'm not sure whether I am going to love him or hate his voice so much that I wish he would just go away by the end. It could go either way right now.

3. A minor one but the enemies are too darn cute! I don't want to kill the cute little dog or brightly colored fish guy!

[TKz]

Mrs. TKz felt the same way about that last point. Would it make you feel better to know that the game explains they just get kind of, scared away rather than killed or anything?

And you don't need to worry about the cutscenes, pretty much once you get past the first Forest area, they'll start to be more spread out. The further into the game you get, the more spread out the cutscenes get. I don't think I've had an anime one in ages, let alone one without skippable dialog.

[Your Mom]

But they like explode into a ball of light. They must be awfully scared

[Benji]

You can make them with Alchemy. You need to read the book, Benji! Gawd. I don't know the forumla but it's like, regular drop + Moon/Planet/Star/Sun Crystal.

Also god. I need a bloody Stardrop. I've got like... Level 28 first form just waiting to evolve.

I only read the book when needs be. It's too awkward to read through.

Totally with you on Stardrops, my Babana familiar was stupidly over-levelled compared to the rest.

Played for like 90 minutes. I am thinking I am going to like it but I have a couple worries already.

1, Too many cutscenes! I mean I get that it's based off some Anime but it seemed like I could only make it 10 feet before hitting another 5 minute mini cartoon. Hoping that is just because they need to set the story up.

2. I don't know about Drippy. Like I like him but I'm not sure whether I am going to love him or hate his voice so much that I wish he would just go away by the end. It could go either way right now.

3. A minor one but the enemies are too darn cute! I don't want to kill the cute little dog or brightly colored fish guy!

Too many cutscenes problem goes away quite soon. I'd say once you get into the bounty hunts and fetch missions. You will grow to like Drippy, he's a bit of a tit at first, but he grows on you. Absolutely with you on the third, but soon you'll be glad of their cuteness when you can get familiars

[Skummy]

Drippy got on my nerves at first too. I don't know if he has the Welsh accent in the US version but that just seemed to jar with the character a bit for me.

It's not so much cutscenes that bothered me as how long all the conversations take. Stuff that could be covered in one or two text boxes becomes a back and forth dialogue way too many times.

[Benji]

I keep humming the flipping theme tune. Proper tidy it is, but I don't want to hum it all day, like!

[Your Mom]

I got Mitey on my team! I love him so much!

[TKz]

Best part is the comedy show. I was actually laughing out loud at that.

[ZJ Penn]

I love it when the game just opens up and forgets the plot for a while, giving you tons of side stuff to do and new areas to explore.

[Benji]

Played yesterday, and I'm about to go search for some stones...

... and I have a fucking DRAGON. I was just thinking how much I liked the game, but how it was really missing that feeling of something epic since all we've done so far is a bunch of small jobs, and then I get a dragon to ride about on. I was convinced I'd get the airship, so glad I didn't. Between that and the travel spell, movement is way more fun.

The jump to third level of metamorphoses (sp?) has taken place, with Mitey the Mite, Gogo the Duck and Sid the Seed Sprite all getting priority, and it was a pain in the ass. Them suddenly jumping down to Lv1 again made me realise that I've been relying on them way too much. So I've kept some of my familiars on second stage until those three are boosted a bit. Pain, but it helps me get more used to a secondary familiar set.

[Clawson]

Finally got the Trophy for Alchemizing 120 different items. Now that was a fucking grind and a half. Holy shit.

[Your Mom]

Is it normal that one of my familiars is higher level than me? I thought that was kind of odd

[Benji]

It'll happen. They lose all their levels once you metamorphose(?) them.

[Herr Matzat]

I just got a vouche to get 15€ of the game tomorrow. If they don´t raise the instore price i´ll get this tomorrow for 34€

[The Mask of Norro]

This game has been an absolute blast so far. Seriously, I just made it to Castaway Cove and I've been hooked for ages. So much to like about the game-- I love Drippy's accent and mannerisms, it's like has been said, he grows on you. My Mite is my favorite familiar and is a proper bad-ass in his second form right now, but I also love the others I've picked up along the way. Story has been fine for me too, and as a Miyazaki fan I can't say I mind the cut-scenes because of how much I adore the style.

If I had to give a detractor I'd say it's Oliver actually. I love his character and I love the touches they add to show what a little gentleman he is, but if I have to keep hearing him say things like "Jeepers", "Golly" or "Oh gosh" I may have to switch to Japanese, because it is driving me stark-raving mad

[Clawson]

If you do go to Japanese make sure you switch to English for the last part of the game. The dialogue gets phenomenal.