Ni no Kuni is BEAUTIFUL oh man
It’s got all of this whimsy and so much imagination. The demo went from defeating a forest guardian and obtaining a magic locket from a tree along with a spell to give a man some enthusiasm (literally, with magic) to getting to the top of a volcano and defeating a fire lord sicked on the main character’s party by an evil wizard(?) which resulted in propelling the fire lord into the pit of the volcano before dropping a very large boulder onto it, keeping it down for good.
The battle had me controlling familiars, and using them to battle for me, in addition to directly controlling Oliver (the main character) and using his magic skills against foes. Battling felt great, and getting to actually maneuver the characters instead of just choosing commands feels good, even if it is a little hard to scroll through abilities.
Honestly, I still just can’t get over the environments. This game is gorgeous, and I can definitely see this coming straight out of Studio Ghibli. Even the overworld was stunning, doesn’t even matter that Oliver traverses it on foot; I’m totally cool with checking out the scenery as I stroll from place to place (between battles, that is).
I’m definitely picking this up as soon as I can.