NI NO KUNI: WRATH OF THE WHITE WITCH (Zero Punctuation)

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This week, Zero Punctuation reviews Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch.
Fast-talking Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw reviews a new game each week in this animated series that combines informed critique with cutting humor. Watch the next episode of Zero Punctuation a week early, only on The Escapist.
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[@Nr4747]

"Fortunately, the AI partners are a great help if one happens to be running an insurance scam . . ." this part *really* had me cracking up.

[@mikedawolf95]

Saints Row Insurance Fraud

[@Entropy3ko]

Truth be told, Studiuo Ghibli only did the art, animation and visuals of the game. They had very little to do with the story or anyhing else in the game.

[@draugnaustaunikunhymnphoo6978]

Well..... duh.

[@dubstepbee6892]

Probably because there uuuh.... Oh right Not A Game Development Studio

[@Fish-In-A-Tin-Can]

I would love to see Yahtzee play a visual novel or a bishōjo. His review would be priceless.

[@dethbreth8]

You mean like Katawa Shoujo or Hatoful Boyfriend?

[@kashawn105]

There's only so much someone can scream

[@HolyGoddessMotherAnne]

He did Doki Doki Literature Club so he has done a visual novel.

[@techsmechs2485]

@@darkpinktv6721 He didn't remotely pick apart Studio Ghibli, though. Obligatory re-statement that "not shit" is sterling praise coming from him.

[@charlieseen]

"I find children to be less enjoyable company than poisonous sea urchins with attachment issues" cracked me up even more knowing that he now has a sea urchin of his own

[@EpicUltraKingSmizzy]

"You're mine now whte boy!" I rofled so hard

[@aegisfate117]

This is a pretty strange comment about white guilt that he made though

[@zelda12346]

The review on the combat is spot on. It's a big clusterfuck. For the first 30 levels. The problem with Ni no Kuni's combat system is that it's balanced around avoiding burst damage while continuously taking minor sustained dps. Thus, you have to stay mobile so you can continuously heal the minor damage and save the potions for when you fuck up with the all-guard vs aoe burst. That's how it works in theory, which is reality in the mid game. However, early on the difference between dps and burst is pretty much 0, so taking ANY damage can be hugely detrimental to your survival. This is all because the damage and defense scale at roughly the same rate while the glin regen scale on max mana and health. You NEED all-guard to smooth out the difficulty curve; early game is wrought with spikes in difficulty when going to a new area. It's very frustrating, but surviving that does reward you with a combat in which taking damage isn't a big deal if addressed correctly. You have plenty of time to worry about the wind-up attacks and plan accordingly. Late game is a fucking joke. You get can raise an aoe pet whose heals are more broken than a Disc Priest in S8 2s arena. On top of that, you can equip a sword that not only gives a shit ton of attack but also 10% life steal. Once you get the last upgrade from the side-quests let me break down what this means: You don't give a fuck about minor damage because your LS heals it up. You don't give a fuck about non-disabling wind-ups because your aoe healing is broken. You don't give a fuck about conserving mana because your max mana in through the roof so your blues glins restore a shit ton. I used 1 elixir on the last boss fight. You actually have to beat the game and LOOK for challenges in order to get a decent fight. I don't think the combat ruins the game for me; the strategy in setting up your pets is actually quite deep just like in pokemon. That said, why the hell do I barely fight with Oliver if he is hero of the story? Oh wait, I do fight with him. Just not on the normal fights because he's too powerful to deign to fight such weak monsters and only during boss fights where putting in the bare minimum with your pet is just not enough. And you thought Shadar was an asshole.

[@Flurriestone]

The part where you said "Running around waiting for the mascot to drop Mana" accurately describes boss fights in this game.

[@garthaholic99]

This game was so good there were parts where the story literally brought tears to my eyes

[@Montesama314]

Wait... what? Is the "octopus abortion sequence" a real thing?

[@Riftweaver1981]

basicly, yes. you go inside the massive fairy mother (as in.. shes the size of a mountain) to rescue some of the young fairies who are trapped inside her. its not quite as basic as he made it out to be. but overall, yes

[@hughmiller1423]

Think a decorated daycare in a body coupled with a body of water

[@markpenrice6253]

#japan , dude

[@Dukeofnachos]

No, don't be silly. It's a jellyfish. And also they're being born, not aborted. But yes, you are inside of Drippy's mom. The characters were just as weirded out as you are.

[@evilplaguedoctor5158]

Dukeofnachos so.. it's a C-section then?

[@leovigild_]

All the people that were complaining about how he generalized the genre should've realized that they were watching a video game critic and comedian have his opinions on a game, not a peacekeeping organisation trying to appease everyone's tastes.

[@ShadowMuppetX]

That, and being a rabid RPG fan and loving even most modern Final Fantasies I have to say...he's not exactly wrong. RPGs tend to be more about content than mechanics and take a "more is more" approach that can sometimes get overwhelming and annoying. It really is the genre's true weakness and he hit the nail on the head. I don't see why you can't be a fan of something and still see the problems the game bombards you with over the course of eleventy million hours of lot's of what is essentially a lot of vaguely related mechanics shoved together. But of course because what RPG gamers WANT is "moar content". THat doesn't make him wrong, it just makes it that you happen to like the exact thing that he's complaining about, which isn't wrong either.

[@doflamingodonquixote1929]

Jailen Kurimuzon what are you? his lawyer?

[@leovigild_]

Doflamingo Donquixote I wish I was!

[@SonicFan2525]

I personally adored this game. I love Studio Ghibli and it felt like one of those old school JRPGs that you would play on the PS1 during the golden age of JRPGs. Its easily one of my favorite games on the PS3 if not my favorite overall.

[@bridgetkandi1090]

i've played 8 1/2 hours of ni no kuni in two days... help me

[@SonicFan2525]

Miles Prower Its amazing haha.

[@thewatcher509]

Miles Prower I finished all the side quests, main story, and the pseudo bush rush side quest. But I still don't have all the trophies. I'm 80 hours in

[@bridgetkandi1090]

Laura Quirola worth it though

[@TheEclipto21]

I will admit, I do think older JRPGs are better than modern ones. But if you look at series like Tales Of, they're showing some form of revival. The Tales Of series has good ideas and the battle systems are pretty amazing. I think they are steadily getting better again.

[@freedomguerrilla8513]

"wrath of the white privilege" Is that a new COD DLC?

[@timebomb4562]

+Freedom Guerrilla tumblr have voted it their top favourite game of all time

[@stinger59605]

With cod it would be “WRATH OF THE WHITE RUSSIANS”

[@MaganmashFlutefighter]

2:19 "...you use the left analog stick to move." Yahtzee, that arrow is pointing to the RIGHT analog stick . . .

[@MaganmashFlutefighter]

@Yer Nan this comment was seven years old. I don't have even the vaguest recollection of what it's referring to. So uh, time to rewatch, I guess.

[@kronosbach5263]

@@MaganmashFlutefighter 8 years old now!

[@99sonder]

The story does get better later, but I don't blame you for putting it down.

[@emrys2619]

I don't need no kuni

[@damobeck1]

God damn it Barbra!

[@bridgetkandi1090]

i'm a strong independent white witch

[@Hotfox999]

Miles Prower Who dont need no mana!

[@RemUchiha]

Puns of damage.

[@colintilson2808]

*clap clap*

[@shintanji]

"'spirited away' is what i call my unmarked van" oh my god

[@markpenrice6253]

I'm afraid to admit that I lost it at the bingo card. In a good way. As in I paused the video once the full complement of tropes was revealed and just kept nodding and laughing ever harder as I read through them. I love the movies, but... yeah, pretty much nailed it there, Croshaw. Though, it's not really always the case that bigger = friendly. For every Totoro or Radish Spirit there's a God Monster or city-destroying dragon (...or, if you're a borrower, there are about as many bad humans as there are good ones). And even the Laputan robots are beings of rather fickle affection. I'd swap that out for "at least 50% of the central cast look eerily similar to those of any other random SG title you'd care to name". Well, a somewhat more succinct version of that idea, anyway. They do seem to use a rather limited stable of animated actors and actresses...

[@lowhp_comic]

"...to show that you use the left analog stick to move" *[arrow points at right analog stick]*

[@DarknessIsTheTruth]

Princess Lucina No, no. The arrow is is showing that you move the analog stick to the RIGHT to move RIGHT.

[@PonzooonTheGreat]

+Princess Lucina Erm... No it''s not.

[@michaelwho7142]

Yes it is

[@guardingdark2860]

Yes it is. That's why the back of it is connected to the left stick and the pointy bit is not even remotely connected to the right analog stick. Especially since in other videos, usually he puts the pointy bit either connecting to the object it's pointing to or at least very close. Plus, the character ostensibly controlled by the controller is on the left, moving to an objective to the right. So it would make sense for the stick to be pointing right.

[@tatlxtael2303]

I'd possibly like to see him review a Tales of game. Those JRPGs are the best and basically have the combat system he longs for. Of course the game is massive in length because of its rich, detailed story. For most of the Tales of series anyway.

[@snakelord2]

He should review Tales of Symphonia that game..........Jesus as of yesterday I have played that game 15 times through (I played the other times when I was 14) and the story never fails to amaze me it's wonderful I think yhatzee would like it........only issue is he Won't be finished it in 5 or 6 hours lol

[@StyryderX]

DON'T. Seriously.

[@TheEclipto21]

I'd like to see him to Tales Of Xillia 2 when it gets released next month. Ok, he might not have context, but the fact it's a sequel to a good JRPG (and that the battle system in the original was brilliant) might just be enough to make him see that not all JRPGs are evil.

[@tatlxtael2303]

Ben Hodges His tendency to only see the bad in most games makes me want him to not do that. Just cause I don't want my favorite franchise to have a new one ripped in it by a guy who probably won't have played enough of the game to know what a masterpiece is it.

[@TheEclipto21]

Miniel good point, but perhaps the differences and the flow of the battles might make him change his mind.

[@camerontrivett3808]

In relation to the Studio Ghibli bingo card Princess mononke manages to avoid most

[@merrittanimation7721]

Nausicaa has a lot of them but doesn't fill any rows completely

[@mikaLtubeyou]

On the bingo card, "Humans specifically resembling pigs", shouldn't that be marked as well ? They have the swine capitale in it.

[@BrandonandAnime]

I'd like for him to review a Tales of Game. Xillia was the most recent release, I hate most jrpg's but I've always been a fan of the Tales series. I think he'd like it, even though it is far from perfect.

[@farcastk0]

You're one of the only people that can make me laugh Yahtzee

[@Maplestarknight]

SPOILER WARNING: Turns out your mom is actually dead. NOT COMING BACK IN ANYWAY. She didn't have one of them soul mate things because she was from the fantasy world thing and she used time travel to go back/forward in time (not sure which) And then went to the regular place and had Oliver. So I got really sad when I found that out.

[@Maplestarknight]

Yep. And you don't find out til like 2/3 way in.

[@Maplestarknight]

The game does have a childish exterior what with all the emotion junk but it can get pretty sad and dark. Right when you think the game is over and think some earlier part was set up for a sequel IT ALL GOES TO HELL. In the BEST WAY.

[@InsanelyMike]

Did you see grave of fireflyes..... Japanese are not concern about lying to kids to make them feel that they live in a fantasy and everyting gonna be fine forever. The story talk about accepting death, something adults do... something needed to become an adult.

[@Nightsparrow626]

Oliver's soul mate was the superior twist.

[@Maplestarknight]

Yeah, but I remember seeing it coming at some point. Like I thought, Where is Oliver's soulmate? And then I thought, wait... I haven't seen anyone in the real world who seems like _____ and I haven't seen one here for Oliver and it kinda clicked.

[@ajellenberger816]

It's still a great game. It's slow starting off, but once you get halfway through it'll hook you and refuse to let go. Great story, too. For as safe of a story as it is (coming from Studio Ghibli), it managed to have a few completely surprising plot twists for me. Great characterization and amazing music to top it off, and this is one of my favorite rpg's of all time

[@StalinBrosef]

I just picked this game up a couple of weeks ago, and 65 hours later, I'm more satisfied with Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Noise than I have been with any JRPG in the last decade. It hit all the right spots for me, like it's the PS3's Chrono Trigger. That's how good it is. However, I couldn't help but laugh at how true some of what he's saying is, the skipping dialogue part, and ESPECIALLY the combat commands. Apparently to my cohorts "ALL OUT DEFENSE" means stop everything you're doing and run directly into the enemy's line of fire. I went through 20 phoenix feathers during the Guardian of Worlds fight before I gave up and just solo'd the fight as Oliver, because my "support" decided to stand in front of the Great Divider attack immediately after being resurrected every single time.

[@SwagxPlatypus420]

I would LOVE to see him review "antichamber"

[@nerderiffic8682]

Thinking back one thing i really like about ni no kuni's plot is that the mum character stays dead, that the stages of grief will always have to be traversed and death doesn't have some magical cure

[@CrimsonPimpLV]

Well, i finished the game after my 3rd or so try. I found the story to be interesting enough. Yes, the 12 hour all attack/defend option was odd, but looking past some classic jrpg flaws Ni no Kuni is a great game :D

[@AmaranthOriginal]

The best part about the defend option, far as I'm concerned is that it doesn't last long enough to handle more than one special attack and it has a recharge. I'm also not a fan of the way it'll tell you to attack a weak point, then your character or his Pokémon will refuse to go anywhere near it.

[@olivermiddleton6655]

Wait, was that ending line a reference to psycho?

[@mechofdeath1504]

Rasumas I was wondering the same.

[@ArtemyMusha]

Yes. That's how the Escapist's youtube channel works. They put content from a week ago on their youtube channel, so that people will be kept up to date while still leaving the option open to check out the content on their website.

[@blindbeholder9713]

Well, yahtzee, how unfortunate you didn't get to the end, with the final twists being that 1. people don't come back from the dead so the quest ultimately fails, and 2. the bad guy was the parallel universe version of Oliver all along. Yeah.

[@calvinclark9478]

Wow, dark for a Gibbli work.

[@09philj]

+Calvin Clark A lot of Miyazaki's work is kind of grim in one way or another.

[@calvinclark9478]

Grim, but still able to be light-hearted without reducing the tone to darker than a black hole.

[@keiichimorisato98]

+Calvin Clark did you watch Princess Mononoke?

[@calvinclark9478]

+keiichimorisato98 I've wanted to watch it but I never got the chance. It looks awesome.

[@nowere-man5581]

I like how he points to the right analog stick....

[@GenkiGanbare]

I'm stealing the Studio Ghibli Film Bingo Card.

[@ievolution-9651]

"Defend.. hard of hearing bottocks." ROFL I gotta remember that. :)

[@Sonichero151]

I remember when I watched my friend play this at a party. He got through the first third of the game and we all just began making jokes on how the White Witch was very very late to her namesake game. That was fun. But I remember nothing about the game itself I think Pokemon were involved.

[@JesusKrispies]

I've watched all of these squinty-bazillion times, and I think this one may be the funniest.

[@Sabata101]

I'm a huge JRPG fan but for the most part almost 90% of JRPGS that come out now seems really rushed and almost is if the developers had to decide on game play or story telling, although some get both right, thank you Xenoblade and Radiant Historia. For the most part a JRPG's main focus is on story telling but as of late most of the stories are mostly build and then the the developers saying "Oh shit we are running out of the time given to us to tell this story! Quickly now we need to wrap it up!"

[@baronteapot4265]

The RPG concept contrasts with how games are made these days: with the upcoming game industry crash, it's all about high-volume sales. Pump as many games out as quickly as possible. It's certainly not illegal for a game to be released half-finished; look at lots of PC releases, or those that ship with game-breaking bugs. 'Sim City' and 'Diablo 3' are a couple of recent ones. Are there any laws against this? The videogame industry seems pretty vague on what constitutes fraudulent marketing, with the 'Aliens: Colonial Marines' mess being a massive lie told by publishers that their demo was of actual gameplay; they should've been offering full refunds to all customers, but everybody seems to just swallow it. I don't know why - you wouldn't buy a book that was only half-written, or see a movie that faded to black after 45 minutes. It's so bizarre, but hopefully it won't go on for much longer! Anyway, JRPGs need loving care and attention to become much-loved classics like the 'Final Fantasy' games. If the development team couldn't give two shits about completing their own game, it's doubtful that consumers would get all teary-eyed over something half-baked. :-/ Excuse the rant. lol

[@Sabata101]

No your rant is very much needed and should be heard. I think almost every gamer can agree about how the gaming industry now feels like they can get away with any thing that they could not get away with, case in point Skin/Head DLC you have to pay for or any thing that was original was put in a game as an extra for the players to find. In fact every one should agree with your post. It really does feel like companies are just trying to push out as many games as they possibly can and not giving a damn with the quality or love put in to the game like they use to. The time of finding secrets and unlockables are now almost gone. Now it's just a a way for companies to get money as fast as they can. If the the constant rush of games in bulk continue it will most likely be a repeat of the Video Game crash of 1983.

[@YorkJonhson]

Love how "Nature Rules People Suck" has a spot on the Studio Ghibli bingo card. Lol

[@hoopsiclemcgee4244]

Could not agree more. Beautiful game, abysmal gameplay. Your partners are unbearably stupid and the game is paced so slow it's ridiculous.

[@TheObsidianX]

Hoopsicle Mcgee just add some convoluted metaphors and you have a zero punctuation review

[@Pooky1991]

And what about Drippy. 99.9 percent of the time hes useless and will heal me after i have already used a potion or healing spell or go into the animation when I finally have an opening and about to unleash my spell against an enemy

[@joaomarcoscosta4647]

To anyway who cares, the original Nintendo DS version eventually got an English fan-translation patch in 2018, and despite the less detailed visuals the gameplay is much better. (It plays more like a traditional turn-based RPG, instead of that weird hybrid thing they did with the PS3/Remastered versions.) Also, as far as I've played, I think the story without all the "new" cutscenes has much better pacing.

[@ArtyI]

4:54 If I remember correctly, that is what happened at the end!

[@60b1in]

I believe that most of JRPG's would be happier if they were movies...

[@keiichimorisato98]

+Václav Lacina i think you mean full 52 episode anime series.

[@greatswordofvictory1271]

+Václav Lacina If you turned JRPGs into movies/anime/shows, there would either be a hue one part move or a bunch of multi part movies. There would either be millions of normal episodes or a large amount of super long episodes.

[@Overlord0011]

Hey, Yahtzee, there’s a game coming out some time this year called Mutant: Road to Eden. Since you liked XCOM and everyone seems to be comparing it to that, I think it’d be interesting to hear your take once it comes out.

[@ChrisRayGun]

I disagree to some extent. Some games should be on the shorter side. Shooters and fighting games for instance. RPGs and heavily story driven games like Mass Effect should keep their long run times. My opinion.

[@TS6815]

do you still feel this way chris

[@maitresong1]

@@TS6815 Would like to know this as well Chris

[@reggsdgf7386]

Answer the question Chris

[@aargh93]

Yes there is. You can put three spells in quick select and they can be changed during combat in the pause menu.

[@sethporter3145]

I love Ni No Kuni, but all Yahtzee says is sad but true...

[@1ViperGal1]

I may be a little bit naive, but wouldn't it be nice to have a game like this use the wii remote? I think it's a nunchuck controller? Run with the left one (or right depending on your preference) by tipping the mouse forward or back to run backward, dodge by swiping to the side real quick and attack using the other one not to mention the spells. Feel like you really are using that wand. Just a thought...

[@1ViperGal1]

Still would be nice though if it worked better :)

[@Deathclaw-lh5tl]

1:50 - ...That didn't actually happen did it?

[@mdbr2]

lol, it did....

[@zaracondemi6375]

Jordan Heath lol

[@thomasd3104]

Of Course it didn't. It was a jellyfish, not an octopus.

[@icelady1833]

Deathclaw2014 oh yeah, it happened

[@napoleoncomplex2712]

'I'm very close to calling this a bad day.' said the grieving imp with chickenpox.

[@CaliberStone]

I simply don't get it. I liked the combat system. It rewarded me for thinking on my feet and punished me if I was lazy. It forces you to switch up, use different characters and abilities, all while avoiding the giant beastie who's trying to gobble you up.

[@tomstonemale]

The controls are shit though.

[@Pooky1991]

Still shit controls. The controller has more buttons that would've made it more bearable and less annoying. I can't even call the boss fights difficult because half the time i nearly died because i clicked the wrong command while trying to navigate the annoying command wheel

[@INGLEBOP]

"I find children to be less enjoyable company than poisonous sea urchins with attachment issues" Oh to be his child 😅

[@cyvation]

Wrath of the White Privilege.

[@jupitersgodzilla7114]

Wrath of the White Guilt

[@OlOleander]

Oh god, I'd forgotten that guitar solo in this one.

[@Gogito4]

I've been in love with the series ever since ToS. For me it's second only to FFVI as the best GAME ever.

[@wesleythomas7125]

I was today years old when I got the Ed Gein joke at the end...

[@Screwy]

Why doesn't Yahtzee play the SMT games?

[@chadwick5343]

Yahtzee is full on casual. I'm not sure he'd get very far in.

[@StyryderX]

Guy McDude It'll make an interesting review video though.

[@lwinton60]

2:16 maybe given that's the right analogue stick.

[@QuilloManar]

0:16 As a Brony, this picture made me laugh.

[@TheTriforceDragon]

Having played the game to the end I could not help but cringe a bit every time the plot point of bringing his mom back was brought up...

[@zelg.5551]

Jokes on you Ben, even if you kept on playing, Oliver's mom would still be dead, effectively curbstomping the entire quest. Also, the game gets deliciously dark as you go further in, complete with domestic abuse, matricide, gambling, capturing and brainwashing monsters to serve as your slave soldiers and meatshields, grown men getting hot and bothered over a little girl, dead (not the good kind) rising from their graves to level entire cities filled with defenseless people who enjoyed peace several decades too long and can't do shit to protect their loved ones and family, the mentioned above trip to a giant's vagina and more! Loved the game to bits, too bad it was so all over the place that it was hard to remember what the fuck you were supposed to do and difficulty jumping up and down swiftly and randomly like a rabid badger.

[@RequiemForADream110]

Fucking christ that Psycho reference. 11/10

[@PokemonTrainerJames]

You like FF6? I can forgive you for now.

[@kabloosh699]

How can you not? When are they going to make a game with 9 or so 3 dimensional characters again?

[@NarcoticDimension]

This... this is my EXACT same experience with this game.. word for word.. never before has one of yahtzees reviews made sense to me..

[@TheLinkedlink]

am i the only person who likes tales of earthsea?

[@TheLinkedlink]

but the books are better,i'll admit (by like,a lot)

[@TheLinkedlink]

yeah..it's kinda bad,but not that awful..the book was gold tho

[@TheLinkedlink]

oh my god,so i'm not the only one :D if you liked the movie,by all means read the books,all five of them,they are awesome

[@TheLinkedlink]

the books barely resemble the movie really,it's just random pieces and characters from the 3rd and 4th books put together,so it's a very different experience to read the books than watch the movie. also,the 4th book is the best

[@thewatcher509]

Naw

[@SabreKen]

The internet needs more people like you

[@nephi-odandy9728]

but......i liked tales of earthsea

[@Argentknight16]

You are not alone!!!!

[@homerjr.3881]

You are alone.

[@nezuko0429]

The only thing i didnt like about tales of earthsea was the ending. Other then that it was a great movie I don't understand why people think its shit but o well thats their opinion.

[@nephi-odandy9728]

Nezuk0

[@KidSnivy69]

Doesn't make it good

[@SpecstacularSC]

1:44 was actually a scene from a nightmare I had once, where I was damn near hysterical at the thought of loading my parents and they were... disturbingly complacent.

[@MrChaos500]

studio chibly is now shut down

[@TheEclipto21]

It's sad, but oh well, it just wasn't good enough to support itslef

[@sethporter3145]

They're actually halting product releases now following the retirement of director Hayao Miyazaki...

[@brianbucceri6412]

NOoooooooooooo

[@CJM727]

There still alive its just Miyazaki left the studio.

[@TheJboy88]

A JRPG made by my favourite animation studio? I approve.

[@insertrandomurlhere]

Eh. Even if you finished the game, she'd still be dead anyway. Because the mom came from that world.

[@KorZv]

I damn near couldn't believe my eyes when I refreshed KZbin and saw this. I knew staying up until 4am wasn't a waste of time!

[@MrElvisNilsson]

Yup, agreed. Nice game, and story, fucked up 'cause of the horrendously bad combat system.

[@superjerk281]

That arrow indicates the direction in which the left analogue stick is being moved.

[@ginag.c.2127]

HA HA HA HA GRASSLANDS DESERT FOREST JUNGLE ICE WORLD FIRE WORLD BOSS BADABUM BADABUM BADABUM BADABUM THING!!!!

[@Mr.BednaR]

"Ha! Clumsy Twat!" 🙈😂😂 I'm actually crying

[@NoahStavish]

Ponyo is not shit? Wow. I must've been confused then when I was watching a completely different Ghibli made movie with a little disney thrown in.... Oh Wait!

[@vurtualboy]

Um, Miyazaki takes a lot of his inspiration in ALL movies from disney? Not to mention the invention of Japanese anime is nothing more than an artists inspiration from Disney movies. Good job brah

[@mchangalot]

Also studio Ghibli is part of Disney. Owned or just part of but still.

[@vurtualboy]

not at all, disney just handles the english localization such as dubbing and such...

[@mchangalot]

And such. Not the best way to convince me but yes Disney does do that. How can they do that? Like all properties there are legal issues with even dubbing and subbing and Disney doesn't do it out of the kindness of their hearts. They own them. They own the rights. They have the legal ability to do so. If they didn't Disney would not and could not do the sub. Because Disney does not work for Ghibli.

[@vurtualboy]

you... really need to look up how business works. Let me give you a hypothetical situation. I'm a company, I need to make a website, so I hire "Websites R Us" to make me a website, I do not own "Websites R Us", and they are in no way whatsoever part of my company, they are a hired contractor to do a job for me, it's not different than a single individual ordering pizza, you don't own the pizza delivery driver. No, I have no idea what you're talking about legal issues, I think you're pulling this out of your ass. Ghibli COULD, just like many companies could localize their own content, but it's much cheaper to make a contract with another company and have them do all the localization and their payment would be a percent of sales. Please, before you reply to this, please just read the Studio Ghibli Wiki. "In August 1996, Disney and Tokuma Shoten Publishing agreed that Disney would distribute internationally Tokuma's Studio Ghibli animated films."

[@pippo17173]

He does have a point about the JRPGs of today. They stretch the content so far just to keep it fresh.

[@PSspecialist]

So basically you don't like JRPGs because you're impatient.

[@lfanroy4137]

I can't speak for Yahtzee, but pacing is important. RPGs should use the strengths of both slow and fast parts... but I shouldn't need to clear my schedule for a cross-country game of fetch every other quest.

[@pr6800]

While I don't take Yahtzee's opinions seriously, I think it's perfectly okay to not play games that test your patience. Games should be *fun*, and when you get older and busy as fuck, you just don't have the patience to play a game that feels like it wastes more time than it provides joy.

[@PSspecialist]

Most of the stuff you mentioned don't apply to all JRPGs. I think a series of games that everyone has to play before claiming to dislike JRPGs is Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (especially 3 and 4.) You can't just look at a few mainstream console titles and say that JRPGs suck. Nowadays, these games tend to be better on handhelds. As for the time issue, I don't understand. Are you saying that people who have jobs don't get any free time? It depends on the job. Also the world isn't only comprised by kids and adults. What about high school, college etc?

[@SonofTiamat]

Please. Back in the 90s, JRPGs were awesome. Nowadays they suck. I have patience for games that are rewarding, not games that have overly convoluted control schemes. The only RPG to come out of Japan and not suck ass is Dark Souls, and that's only because it feels Western. Not what does that tell you about the state of JRPGs? They're fuckin' dead and the harder Japan tries to resurrect them the worse they get.

[@PSspecialist]

tiakpark You couldn't have spoken a more subjective opinion than this. Have you played any of the portable JRPGs like Bravely Default or Person 4 Golden or did you only check out what Yahtzee reviewed? There is nothing convoluted in the games I mentioned. If you find them so then JRPGs are not for you. Don't speak about JRPGs dying just because you don't like them. Be a little open minded and accept the fact that not all games will be made for your tastes in mind and that a lot of people actually enjoy them. JRPGs aren't going away anytime soon. Yeah the masses like other games more but when the best selling games of our gen are the CoDs then I don't think the masses are good at deciding what's quality and what's not.

[@TheCitrusGames]

THIS is EXACTLY how I felt when I played the game.

[@yarution367]

I've come to the conclusion that I should never watch yahtzee review any JRPG as it will almost erk me past the point of infinity. His generalization of an entire genre never really made sense to me. I'm not a Weab or someone who says JRPGS are the best but they really have some gems like chrono trigger,Crono Cross, Xenogears, Fire Emblem, Secret of mana, Xenoblade Chronocles,and Tactics ogre. are all amazing games but I guess their JRPGS So they must have a whiny emo protagonist, are Too long, have a "weird" plot, and bad combat mechanics. But I'm not mad at yahtzee for his opinions but hell if I don't like some of them

[@linkno1]

The thing is that even though he may not be a massive fan of JRPG's, he hits the nail on the head for the most part and the generalizations he makes are pretty common among the genre. True, some of his complaints (such as turn based combat) are personal preference rather than being actually bad but, it's still true for the most part. Whiny emo protagonist is the main culprit here and I will say that a lot of JRPG's didn't have this...DIDN'T...We can probably thank the highly overrated Final Fantasy VII with it's annoyingly emo crybaby protagonist for setting this in stone, because ever since the release of that polished turd the amount of sobbing self harming lead characters in JRPG's has skyrocketed.

[@yarution367]

linkno1 The "emo" protagonist thing isn't even real. Any time a character goes through any kind of emotion for any extended period of time they are immediately labeled emo or whiny. Like Cloud who is constantly going through an existential crisis, and watching his friends die in front of him yet people still expect him to be all cheery and OK with that shit. Coupled with that people act like being angsty at all despite characters being teens doesn't make sense contrary to the fact that is a main trait of most teenagers. FFVII was a decent RPG and a OK cool plot it is surely not the best but it damn sure isn't shit.

[@yarution367]

darkfur3 Cause you know being the cause of your best and only friend's death and then letting his woman who you swore to protect die right in front of you is totally not a reason to brood or finding out your life is a lie yeah totally not bad

[@ChristophBrinkmann]

He openly stated, in this video, no less, that he enjoyed FF6 and Earthbound. Besides, his criticisms are perfectly valid. You have the right to like what games you like for the reasons you like them, but so does he.

[@Usernamesdontmatter1]

yarution367 Dude video game characters have killed their best briends or wives or children and not become as bitchy as cloud. Sure they become fucked up and generally kill everyone but still. Sure he can feel bad about it but not let the fact cockblock him for 2 whole years after you fucking avenge her.

[@bgw316]

That BINGO card honestly works for every Ghibli film I can think of.

[@ripleyandweeds1288]

"Wrath of the white guilt" i'm cracking up

[@ThePepperkingXY]

Much better review than all the other Ni no kuni reviews!

[@spiropedamort]

Just noticed at 2:21 he says "use the left analog stick to move" and the arrow points to the right analog stick.

[@ourtinywindows]

Absolutely bang on. I found it lovely and charming but about 100 hours in I just couldn’t. Toooo Long.

[@seabassten10]

I love it when I understand the reference in these.

[@fuschwei2365]

I just watched a COD: Advancrap warfart before this. So looking forward to HIS review.

[@MegaPwnisher]

i just go to their website, where these videos are uploaded a week early and on time. i also read their short comics called critical miss which is pretty darn good too.

[@nicolasjamo]

Loved the Norman Bates reference at the end

[@FatrickAteman]

"might as well get it over with wene your young" Yhatzee knows nothing of grief does he?

[@luckygozer]

this guy is a critic always gives critique to games so that better games can be made in future

[@quickhakker]

just my bit and i only played it to the point of the tripple boss battle of shadar which is a beautyfull pain to do but amazing reward, the scene after is heart wrentching but amazing, what i wish would happen is more audio dialogue

[@99sonder]

Yeah there's a crap ton of reading, which is a shame because when there is audible dialogue, I don't want to rip my ears off.

[@guguigugu]

"octopus abortion sequence meant in innocent spirit" strikes me as a very accurate summary of japanese pop-culture

[@Blenheim212]

Anyone else notice how at 2:18 he says "LEFT analog stick", yet points at the right one?

[@Snickersnek]

I think the arrow is indicating the direction to move the left analogue stick towards, as the Character is on the left of the aggressively-annotated destination.

[@glenmathers1033]

For level-5 (who made Professor Layton which is damn fantastic) I expected something just as good to match Ghibli's lovely art...

[@Tigerman9001]

Never heard of this game. I just came here to listen to his voice while dishing out insults. Ahh, how soothing~

[@BTML498]

Ha Ha, fellow viewer of Alchestbreach You got my reference and now I got yours Huzzah!

[@RegretDesi]

Yahtzee, you pointed at the right analog stick when you were rambling about knowing how to use the left stick to move. Apparently, you need these tutorials.