Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a role-playing video game, developed by Level-5. It was released for the PlayStation 3 in Japan in November 2011, and published in Western regions by Namco Bandai Games in January 2013; the game will be released for Nintendo Switch in September 2019 alongside a remastered version for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4. The game is a significantly enhanced version of Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn, which originally released for the Nintendo DS in Japan in December 2010.

Gameplay
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a 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 Motorville. 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 and "familiars". Familiars are creatures that can be tamed, in order 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 a number of 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 Motorville. While trying out a new vehicle designed by his friend Philip, Oliver almost drowns, but is saved by his mother Allie; however, she immediately dies from heart problems after saving him. 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 that 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 in his world.

In the other world, Oliver finds a multitude of broken-hearted people affected by Shadar, and uses his new-found magic abilities to restore those pieces of heart which 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, daughter of one of the great sages, and Swaine, a thief who initially steals a crucial item from them, but who ultimately decides to help. 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 are able to 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 in fact 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 realises that the girl he saved was the young Alicia herself. Shadar then uses his power to sever the link between himself and Oliver, in order 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 then travel 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. Feeling powerless, she found and used the manna spell, believing it would bring peace and prosperity to her people. When the horrific effects of manna were revealed, she gradually witnessed the death of all of her subjects, including the council, and found herself on her own; she was gradually driven to despair and became the White Witch, believing that all life must be destroyed in an attempt to "start over". Her power created an illusory version of the council to oversee the destruction of the world. The remains of her kind intentions also created Pea, the incarnation of her as a child, to help Oliver on his journey. Pea was sent to Motorville by the spirit of the Wizard King, Cassiopeia's father, to give Oliver his starting wand and teach him gateway so he could eventually save Cassiopeia/The White Witch from herself.

Having been defeated, Cassiopeia fuses together with Pea and is restored to her former, kind self. After assisting the group in destroying the Zodiarchy, the last manifestations of the council, Cassiopeia declares that she will dedicate her life to making amends for her actions and Oliver bids farewell to his friends before returning to his old life in Motorville.

Development
Conceived as a project for Level-5's tenth anniversary in 2008, Ni no Kuni: The Another World was announced in the September 2008 issue of Famitsu, as a title for the Nintendo DS. In June 2010, Level-5 announced that the game would also be released for the PlayStation 3, with significant differences; the DS version was renamed Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn, while the PlayStation 3 version was given the title Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. Both versions were revealed to be in development separately, only retaining the same "story axle", while features such as artwork, graphics and specifications all received significant changes. Journalists noted that the game's announcement ignited widespread anticipation within the gaming industry.

To spur pre-order game sales, Namco Bandai collaborated with several retail outlets to provide a special edition version of the game, with extra features and content. The "Wizard's Edition" includes a unique case packaging, the Wizard's Companion book, a Drippy plush doll, as well as exclusive downloadable content. The game was originally released in Japan on November 17, 2011,[20] and in Western regions in early 2013: in North America on January 22, in Australia on January 31, and in Europe February 1. At E3 2019, Bandai Namco announced that Wrath of the White Witch would be released for Nintendo Switch on September 20, 2019. A remastered version featuring some graphical improvements will also be released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 on the same day.