PixlBit

I didn't love the combat.  I wish it was truly turn based like DQ or something.  Otherwise I loved everything about this game, and I hope I get the gumption to finish it.  Great music, graphics, story... I just didn't love the combat. 

I would say that at the 3rd boss, in the gold forest, juggling between 3 pokemons in real time is very tricky, and I can see if you don't have patience for this sort of thing, why some people hate it. It's basically the FFXIII paradigm system, but not as intuitive. Interesting...

My feelings exactly! I got hung up on a Lava boss creature (I forget the name) and then got slaughtered trying to get back to town. I rage quit, but I may read a guide and then give it another shot. I just didn't like the way you navigate options during battle. You had to think fast and find the right selection bubble before an enemy attack. It was not a comfortable system.

I think I'm headed in to that area, with the Lava. You definitely need to level grind your pokemon before attempting new regions or especially any boss fights. But, that's every JRPG. This is no different.

Isn't this the RPG with a big sense of humor?  I think there were two characters with British accents in it if I remember correctly.  I definitely remember seeing this one 1UP.

I don't know about the British accents, but the companion has like a bad Irish/Scottish accent, where you do need to read the subtitles to understand sometimes, but even the subtitles have an accent, so I don't know. 

Drippy has a Welsh accent apparently.

Only a few Hours in myself, i need to crack on. I like it but there's a but i feel held back somewhat, it's hard to explain.

It's definitely an old school game design, where you have to complete the entire dungeon alive until you get to a save point just before the Boss fight. And cure and magic restore items are expensive, so...there is also the char grind necessary before progressing, and I don't know how I feel about that yet...?

Like Matt, I loved everything about the game except the combat. I didn't finish it, though. I got distracted by something else.

I feel like it's a bit like Dark Souls difficulty sometimes, seriously!

The battle system may not be perfect, but It hink Ni no Kuni is probably the best RPG on the PS3.

Why couldn't it have been exactly like Dragon Quest VIII! I loved that game and it had a similar style but pure turn-based battles. HD version for PS3? I wish.

I really enjoyed playing Ni no Kuni.  I thought it was a cute rpg.  The issue with the review on 1UP is that Bob Mackey wrote that review and some people didn't like his writing or him.  I didn't like him much myself.  He is a bit annoying in his writing and as a person.  "Professional" he was not.  I'm sure BrokenH could share more. 

Ah yes the infamous Mackey review, thanks for reminding me. LOL. 

i really enjoyed the game. i was going thru withdraw from a jrpg - so wasnt bad - but the art style made up fro all the negatives.

Wait, did you finish it? I know the game has been out for about a year, and I just started it.

yep i finished it

I like a lot of things about Ni No Kuni, but I decided to stop playing it after 10 hours or so. I couldn't get past the slow pacing and hand-holding. In my opinion, it's one of those sad games with amazing potential brought down by a few poor design choices.

That sounds about right.

Interesting. I'm finding the combat a bit challenging, and the actual thing that's keeping me interested in playing the game. We'll see where I stop...

I was enjoying it even though I didn't like the battle system much either. What stopped me was a sequence where I had to control two characters at the same time using the left and right sticks to get them across a bridge with holes in it (as far as I remember). My brain does not work that way so I was forced to quit.

Pity really because stuff like that has prevented me from finishing many an RPG.

Ha! I remember that part. Annoying, but I made it through.

I didn't get stuck there at all. I just moved the character on the right first, then the left, then the right. Moving them at the same time is too difficult. I only moved them together at the same time for the very last 4 tiles. Interesting place to stop.

I'm in the same boat as everyone else, it is a really good but slightly flawed game. Got about 15 hours in and got destracted by other stuff. I will get back to it one of these days, but yeah staight up TBC would have made this game an ace in the whole.

I actually liked the battle system , it was fast paced and tight. Almost everything else about it was awesome too, the only problem was that it was horribly paced. The first couple of hours are intresting, but a bit of a slog.

Bad Sidd!  If we don't like the battle system you aren't allowed to either. We don't take kindly to people having different opinions 'round these parts. LOL

Lol, I had to think about if I would get flamed or not by posting this, and then I remembered I'm in Pixlbit!

Im only about 15 hrs in, and it seems that having three party members makes the battles easier, if the pokemon are leveled up. It doesn't sound right, but it's true.

Loved Ni no Kuni, combat and all. It's been my favorite game released this year. I thought the 1UP review was kind of bullshit myself. The reason why it's so cheap is that it apparently sold well enough to be reissued as a Greatest Hits title, although I don't know what sales criteria is used for Greatest Hits on PS3. My guess would be 250,000 copies.

Well Im glad to finally be playing it. Good stuff!

It's a nice enjoyable semi-oldschool RPG. More than long enough and just enough charm to make it worth sticking with provided you have the time! Hopefully Level-5 will return to classic RPGs once again.