The entertaining battles and the resolutions of plot threads as the game progressed toward the final credits were worth paying the cost of a slow start to the gameplay. This is a game that we'll be talking about for years to come, and I'm happy to have played it.

Despite the delayed journey to the West, Ni No Kuni is definitely a title you should at least give a chance. There is a demo up on PSN that you can go ahead and download, and once you get used to the combat system and mechanics of the game, you’ll be treated to an adventure like no other.

Ni no Kuni is almost a perfect video game adaptation of a Studio Ghibli's movie with only minor problems. Level-5 excels in crafting experiences and Wrath of the White Witch is no exception, from beginning to end exudes geniality. The story is an emotional travel through a fantastic world filled with charismatic characters. The gameplay offers a wide arrange of personalization thanks to an almost endless collection of creatures to capture. In an era in which JRPGs are dying, Ni no Kuni might be the savior that could take things to the next level.

In a certain sense, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch seems to be exactly as advertised. The quality of the artwork is unimpeachable, just as one might expect from the studio that created it. Unfortunately, the beauty of Ghibli has been painted onto the unimaginative and poorly-executed design of Level-5. As a result, Ni No Kuni turns out as blandly as its name suggests.

Level 5's highly anticipated collaboration with Studio Ghibli is just as great as it looks. And it looks great. The art style is exactly what you'd expect from Studio Ghibli, and the same goes for the music. Battles are fought with familiars, that you collect and train throughout the game. It's not a revolution, but it does almost everything right.

To put it lightly, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is one of the best games I have played in years. From the moving story and characters to the amazing visual style and game design, there is little to complain about here.

Wrath of the White Witch combines the innocence of an anime feature film with a well-known “get up and try again” attitude. The game is light-handed with its morals, and not overly melodramatic in its story. It exists as a perfect balance between two drastically different forms of storytelling: a film and role-playing game.

It isn’t for everyone, and it’s definitely not the game that will convince you to pick up a JRPG if you’ve been avoiding them for this long. Even so, I find myself entirely entranced by Ni no Kuni, and I’m willing to look past its flaws as I return to its magical, whimsical world.

With hundreds of hours of gameplay in a world that you’ll never want to leave, Ni No Kuni is not only a brilliant game to start 2013 but also one of the best games in years.

In the end, for anyone with any love for classic Japanese role playing games, Studio Ghibli movies, or just want a charming adventure in a wonderful colourful world, Ni No Kuni will see right by you.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is the textbook example of a Japanese role-playing game that includes all of the required features such as a turn-based combat system and lengthy narrative.

Even though it could give a much better performance, it's still an outstanding JRPG for all the fans of the genre. It is a high-quality gaming title that will let you dream for nice long hours. You just have to forgive its bugs sometimes.

Nu No Kuni is a role-playing game as we have not seen in years. It's a delightful title: in the gameplay mechanics, in the narrative structure and in all the features.

The games industry is full of serious business FPS games and RPGs that blend together in stale genericism. Ni No Kuni sets out to be a unique experience, a beautiful adventure that can be played instead of just watched. While in no way perfect, it achieves its goal admirably.

It has been a long time since I finished a game and felt goosebumps and had to wipe away a singular tear that escaped before I noticed.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a very good game, but it features far too many easily-remedied design flaws to ignore. For players who can look past these flaws, however, a terrific adventure awaits. For all its faults, the game's charming story and loveable cast is one of the most memorable of this console generation. JRPG fans would be remiss to overlook it, but should also be aware that it's far from perfect.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a breathtaking place with the wistful charm of Studio Ghibli's works. With a long roster of side-quests, an open word filled with secrets, clever puzzles, and some of the best-looking credits in any game, you can almost overlook the sharp edges and lackluster AI by focusing on the cel-shaded glow of the magic around one of the rarest, and most spectacular, team-ups anywhere.

Ni No Kuni knows what it is and it never betrays that fact. It’s a JRPG, and in my book, it’s an instant classic.

This mixed with AI problems, some glitches and an over-reliance on played-out concepts makes Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch a great JRPG, but overall, only a good game.

Mechanically it could be a better game, sure, but it’s still definitely a game worth playing.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a special game and a rare beast in the current console generation. A traditional Japanese RPG with a deep and rewarding gameplay experience with a level of polish reserved for the biggest of franchises. Even if level grinding and monster catching is outside your comfort level, this game is worth checking out. Once you spend a few hours with Oliver, Mr. Drippy and his friends you will not be able to put Ni No Kuni down.

Ni No Kuni is the old classic Japanese kolossal updated to our days. If the industry turned its back to the Japanese RPG genre as a whole and the relevance of Japanese games seems to fade away more and more each day... then the work of Level 5 and Studio Ghibli is to be considered a touching love letter to the land of the rising sun and its videogames culture.

Exploring Ni No Kuni is a wonderful, magical experience.

Not quite a masterpiece - but still pretty special. Ni no Kuni has the depth and artistic credibility to justify the partnership with Studio Ghibli. [March 2013, p.69]

If all you ever dreamt of is to starr in a Ghibli movie – to be cartoonified and just be able to control whatever happens – you shouldn’t miss out on Ni No Kuni. It features extensive gameplay amidst an atmospheric world topped with a compelling story. It has everything a modern RPG needs to satisfy a gamer’s every need.

Ni No Kuni is an amazingly complete package. It’s disappointing the game puts the player through a lot of backtracking and the difference between the beautiful cinematic cut scenes and the text balloons is terrible. These are only minor issues when you see the beautifully created world, the excellent fighting system and the incredible amount of content the game has to offer.

Ni No Kuni is a game that conjures mixed emotions. Sometimes I got bored of chasing monsters, got tired of the fighting system that is hard to control, got irritated by some characters that like to repeat their dialogue over and over again, and I got saddened by plot twists - they were too obvious and stripped of symbolism that is present in Ghibli's movies. Despite that I wanted to play more, because almost every time something good happened at the exactly right moment, something that restored my faith in this universe. Ni No Kuni can surprise you till the end, but all in all - I wish it was something more.

For some reason jRPG and Ghibli did not click as superbly as one could hope for. Instead of expected perfection Ni no Kuni is just a very good game. But should we really complain about that? [CD-Action 02/2013, p.46]