One of the most unique games you'll come across for 2013, a must have for any PS3 owner.
The story at the very beginning is a little sad, a boy called Oliver who lives in the small town of Motorville. Oliver loses his mother from a terrible accident, just when Oliver had begun to think that all hope is lost, Drippy who is the Lord High Lord of the Fairies appeared, and told him that if they travelled together to the Fairy's world and defeat the evil Shadar. There might be a chance of brining his mother back; but there is still evil afoot in Drippy's world by the Evil White Witch, so it's up to Oliver and his new friends to saving the world.
Gameplay: Like most RPG games you'll get to travel across the world, explore other towns, dungeons, forests and icy caves. This is what you would suspect in any game. While visiting other towns on its main story or clearing some side quests; you can explore or go to the next destination on Oliver's quest; various forms of transport gradually become available to help travel around the world more easily. 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 a number of stamps for their current merit stamp card, which can be exchanged for upgrades.
You'll also carry a locket, you can check which pieces of hear you have been carrying around you'll have pieces like Courage, Kindness, and Enthusiasm these pieces can be used on various characters or towns peoples in other towns. If you see a character feeling down or empty you'll know that Shadar has stolen a piece of their heart. You can restore their faith if you have the right piece on you. Doing these simple tasks can give you a reward, or move on to the next part of the story.
The strongest part about Ni No Kuni will be its battle system when it comes to battling bosses and monsters on the field. It may have a mix of Pokémon and Dragon Quest you can fight of enemies or you can summon and command a familiar and also accompanying them. Central to the gameplay, familiars are creatures which are like monsters that can be sent out by a character in battle to fight for the player. Familiars level up and evolve alongside the human characters; each have unique stats and capabilities, and can be guided through their upgrades with treats and equipped with items. Some of the treats can help Familiars gain new spells and abilities which may come in handy in later battles.
Graphics and Sound: If anything is made by Studio Ghibli you can tell that this game feels more like a movie then a game, but it can actually be the opposite too feels more like a game then a movie. The animation is just flawless and breath-taking to watch, the environments and landscapes look stunning while exploring the around various part of the world. Not only that some of the characters you'll come across are yet memorable and funny at the same. The animation and graphics really pick up when it comes to cutscenes when to animated scenes during various parts of the game. But do be aware that this will take at least 4000MB on your PS3 hardware so keep that in mind if you want the spare space on your PS3.
The voice acting is terrific too the English voice acting is well done but there is also the option to change the voice acting to Japanese which also sounds perfect for an RPG game coming from Japan. The soundtrack is yet another feature that makes the game perfect the whole music is composed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, you could listen to this all day if you wanted to.
Overall: Clearing the main story can take you more than 40 hours or more but there's a ton of stuff to do straight after on side-quests, and collecting the odd trophy's which is also being added in if you are a trophy collector. All I would say is this, don't rush through the story all at once try and take your time because this is one of the most unique games to come across for 2013.