Overview
Hi pips!
This post is already 2 days overdue so I apologize for that. It was supposed to be a brief summary of what I've experienced so far in playing the game for a week but the CP race kept me busy and I'm now at the 9th day. First of all, I'd like to say that it's a very indulging game. I'm still having some minor issues with the gameplay itself but the music and the animated sequences are definitely A-tier. To tell you the truth prior to playing the game I had only a vague idea of what it's all about. I had heard of the prior series Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the Witch so I knew it was an rpg with your typical fantasy elements but other than that I'm really clueless about the specifics.
What I noticed first after the installation was the server selection page with this dreamy background music playing and there was the name Joe Hisaishi at the bottom left corner of the screen. Later did I realize that it was the legendary Ghibli composer. Hayao Miyazaki did the visuals and this guy did those nostalgic scores which basically gave alot of people some amazing childhood memories.
It's like playing a game inside a Ghibli movie to be honest. The 5 main characters are G material especially the swordsman who looks like Howl from Howl's Moving castle. The default mount Catarumpus is a semblance of the cat bus from My Neighbor Totoro and speaking of Totoro the familiar sidekick NPC Cluu looks like a mini version of him. The environment is a feast for the eyes so if you ever want an mmorpg with both great visuals and music then this one might be for you.
A Semi F2P Basic Guide
Character Selection
There are five characters to choose from in Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds and each one of them have their all individual merits. Switching classes in the game is very easy so I strongly advise everyone interested to dabble in each class and raise their levels at least up to level 20 to get each class' individual bonus. The +25 storage capacity would come handy as you progress in the game. But more importantly is that players would be able to choose their preferred main based on their experience. Anyways, below is a brief summary for each class to give you an idea.
The rogue is an agile long range dps character but unlike other bow characters from your usual mmorpg's this one has a few support skills which is great for utility in party plays. Ni no Kinu is a game that encourages party style play due to the several buffs each member could share within the party. And because of it's longer range, rogue class players have greater mobility compared to other classes. Coupled with other perks like fast attack speed it's great for afk grinding. F2P players will find this one their ideal class. Actually, the top player in our server is a rogue so we can really see the potential. The only downside is it's below average defenses. With almost same combat power a barbarian or a swordsman can easily decimate this one if ever they close the gap, so better be fast with your hands rouge mains.
Witch is a mid range dps character and the one who has the greatest burst potential. It can clear mobs the fastest but being a glass canon also has it's flaws. Essential witch skills like Crystal Wave and Blink either costs alot or have very low drop chances. If rogue has below average defense then witch is way lower than that so having the blink skill would be very important for survivability. For me it's not very F2P friendly unless one has alot of time to grind for those essential skills.
The destroyer is the tank of the game but we have a problem with this if we're in the F2P category. Although it has rock solid defenses it's low-mediocre damage is bad for grinding mobs making it lean more to being party dependent. Yes, the game encourages party style play but there are many instances where players choose to go solo so it would take a longer time for destroyers to level up. Also, the core skill for taunt costs money so it's not very F2P friendly.
Engineer is my main class in the game. It's a mid-range dps that has lots of heals and the party cooldown reduction buff is something sought after in both PVE and PVP situations. The important massive healing skill Healing Tree can be acquired within the game without spending a penny so it's very good for F2P players. This heals also saves alot of gold from buying potions another reason why alot of parties invite this class for PVE grinding. Engineer is the only class that has the resurrection skill (which is also free) and I'm currently at 70% progress in acquiring this skill. You can check this one in the medal shop. The only downside is the damage output as it pales in comparison to witch and rogue.
The swordsman is a melee dps class. It's more like an all around melee class with alot of useful buffs like for attack and movement speed. I find this class very useful as a party member in the 3 v 3 Lava Valley PVP especially because of the generous increase in mobility provided by the movement speed buff. Although not as strong as an engineer it also got a healing skill. There are a few downsides if your looking into this class if you're F2P. Melee classes in general has a bit of disadvantage in grinding mobs because some mob skills have wide range AOE skills. Most of the time all skills landed before killing the mobs even before a swordsman or a destroyer close the gap. Another one is that if one wants to play a swordsman to it's full potential then they'd need to spend a good amount of cash for the OP passive stun skill.
To furhter summarize my class recommendations for F2P's:
Rogue and Engineer > Witch > Swordsman > Destroyer
And that's all for today. Hope you guys have a great time. See you soon.