Ni no Kuni

[Ghost World]

My Wizards edition is still sat in the cellophane in came in! roughly how long is the game without going mad with the side quests?

I think I've seen Leon saying he's about 16 hours in and enjoying it very much

[ratsoalbion]

I'm enjoying it quite a lot, mostly, but there are reservations. It's a JRPG. It is very grindy and repetitive.
The thing is, if you ignore the side quests you won't be high level enough to proceed (possibly not true if you play on Easy).
In my experience not only do you need to do all the side quests for XP & loot but you also need to grind a fair bit as well.

How Long to Beat says 40-50 hours to finish, 90 to complete: http://howlongtobeat.com/gamebreakdown.php?gameid=11119

[Buckled Kipper]

Even on easy I'm getting killed a fair bit, so yes grinding is deffinately a must. But I love JRPG's so that's not a problem for me.

[mik]

You can make it a good 25-30 hours before you need to grind, depending on how well you've upgraded your familiars. I just past the point where I had to spend a few hours leveling up and I think I'm ready to press on through the story. Still loving every second I spend with the game. It's a total delight.

[ratsoalbion]

Well I dispute that, given that you don't even have familiars for the first few hours! I've definitely had to grind a few times (sixteen hours in), but I do concede that I could probably manage my party and tactics slightly more diligently. Saying that, I always make sure everybody has the best gear available at least.

[mik]

Hmm, well, it wasn't until I hit the snowy continent that I was outmatched and needed to go do some grinding. I guess based on how you've leveled your familiars, the gear you're sporting, and indeed the way you manage combat, your mileage may vary.

[Buckled Kipper]

It's not so much that I feel the need to grind, just like to do it every so often to keep ahead of the curve combat wise.

I would deffinately recommend playing on easy to anyone who is worried about the difficulty. It dosn't feel paired down at all, and still represents a fair challenge. I'm currently playing Persona 4 on normal which is a doddle compared to this on easy.

[ratsoalbion]

It appears that you can change the difficulty on the fly, so if you're finding Easy too dull or Normal too hard you can change it.

[PressEscToExit]

It's not so much that I feel the need to grind, just like to do it every so often to keep ahead of the curve combat wise

I'm much the same.

I think they've done a little bit to discourage grinding here by making the MP cost is so high on Tricks/Spells etc, since items to replace it aren't super common early on and it'd be too much hassle to keep using inns. I'm pretty much just fighting whatever I bump into on my way through all the side quest stuff, and my team can comfortably handle everything the main story is throwing at them at around the 32 hour mark.

[mikeleddy83]

Looks like you're all far into this and Jerome McI's latest update on the 2013 games thread has really pushed me to make progress in the game, I've done just about anything to force me to push on but it's such a bloody beautiful game that I can't! The Sonic Mole was posting this about Valkyria Chronicles and although I shut myself away with that one I feel indebted to take some of that advice into this.

I'm cursed with these cel-shaded games, between the windwakers' slow journey over a year to finish and Okami's 7 year wait until completion I'm sure I've nailed my weakpoint within games!

[Baron Phil]

Can anyone tell me if there is a difference in the xp you receive depending on if you tame or finish off familiars in battle?

So far I've been landing the killer blow if it wasn't a familiar I wanted but I thought I should start taming when I have the opportunity to fill up the wizards companion.

Edit: Just looked and I see that all the familiars are already in the companion, so I guess ill tame them if I want them.

[mikeleddy83]

I wondered about that too, still have to check but the numbers felt different to me (maybe the tally board loads up faster if you tame) and it's always hard getting the same foes lined up no matter the avatar you bump into on the plains.

Edit (23/02/2013): I found this out a few days back but I had a bunch of encounters where I gained an average of something like 100 exp from each battle, the battle where I tamed a familiar I think I got 102 exp, so it doesn't seem to make a difference.

[anka2]

This game really is at least 15 hours too long, or rather has 15 hours of padding that could be turned into meaningful quests or story. Derwins taming quest were horrible, spent around six hours in total on them and just hoping to tame the critters. The chance is really too low to be enjoyable. Over all, it's a fine game and I hope for more Ghibli-games in the future. Oh, and <3 Mr Drippy.

[James]

Amazon have finally dispatched the Ni No Kuni Guide! I was sure the stock shortages were a death knell for my ever getting a copy.

Can't wait to pour through the art and extra details.

[AndyKurosaki]

Amazon have got this sent off to me, I've debated getting it as I've not really properly got into a JRPG for a long time. But this looks so good that I very much look forward to when it arrives.

[BasementShaxx]

Picked up the Wizard's Edition at launch, put in just under 60 hours and finished the main story and a chunk of the post game quests. Still nowhere near completed though. If anyone is having difficulties I know of a couple of farming spots where a super rare mob spawns and gives more XP than most boss fights.

[ratsoalbion]

Please do share (within spoiler tags)!

[Combine Hunter]

God I wish I had the money for this game

[ratsoalbion]

If I had a physical copy and not the download I'd lend it to you Josh.

[The Sonic Mole]

Picked up the Wizard's Edition at launch, put in just under 60 hours and finished the main story and a chunk of the post game quests. Still nowhere near completed though. If anyone is having difficulties I know of a couple of farming spots where a super rare mob spawns and gives more XP than most boss fights.

Yes, please!

I'm about 30 hours in and it's still charming the pants off me.