What becomes of the broken hearted?

* warning - the following probably contains spoilers. Possibly not, but one can't be too careful *

I've been racking up the hours on Ni No Kuni for the past month or two now and it's proving to be a joy to play. The fantasy world is beautiful and immersive, the gameplay mechanics are simple but have great scope, the story being told is rich and engrossing. In short, it's got most of the things I look for in a video game.

In terms of narrative, the way in which the story is slowly unveiled with new levels of intrigue being added is artfully done and is continuously exciting. In a similar way to a novel that me and several friends are currently reading, Dracula, we (the player/reader) are shown glimpses of who appears to be the lead antagonist of the tale, the eponymous White Witch, early on. The characters, however, have no apparent knowledge of her and are concerned with Shadar, a malevolent force who is portrayed as the reason for all the disharmony and imbalance in the world, but one who is clearly in thrall to the White Witch. As a result there is this dramatic layer of mystery surrounding her, and one that makes me want to put off stag do preparation, job hunting and domestic tasks in order to get to the bottom of it.

Would have done the laundry but this cuddly toy came to life and started yapping at me in a Welsh accent

The most intriguing parts of the game though are two of the core themes; the existence of dual worlds, and broken hearts. This is a great article that sets out cogently what I've been finding exciting about these game mechanics - http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/03/03/ni-no-kuni-and-coping-with-depression

The broken heart idea in the game has resonated with me quite a bit, especially after beginning with my breakfast project. It's become evident to me that everyone suffers from some form of anxiety, with this being more prominent in some people than others. It's important that people who are suffering from a lack of enthusiasm, belief, confidence or whatever, are helped out by those who have a surplus of these traits. It's common sense, but it's nice to be reminded of this and have it reinforced by a video game; something that people lacking in enthusiasm, belief, confidence or whatever might turn to as a form of solace or escapism.

This guy was a right pain

An extra level of intrigue is provided by the incursion of Shadar into the 'real world' that Ollie is from. As pointed out by the article above, an early encounter sees Ollie returning to his world in order to mend the heart of someone who is the soul mate of a character in the fantasy world. Doing this helps to heal them of malaise in the fantasy world, so that they can then help Ollie out in his battle with Shadar over there. The person in question that needs helping out turns about to be an abusive father and husband who is suffering from a lack of kindness. So far, so reasonable for the real world setting, but this is all exacerbated by the fact that a demon known as a Nightmare has instilled itself in the void of kindness and transformed the victim into the abusive monster he has become rather than just a mean spirit. Ollie must defeat the demon in battle in order to restore the individual. Here, a monster from the fantasy world has invaded the 'real world' and this incursion has far-reaching consequences for the inhabitants. With such an incursion, the question is raised as to how real the fantasy world is? Could it all be an imaginary escape, with the real battle being fought in Ollie's head in the real world? This reading is something I am looking forward to exploring further as the story progresses. Thrown into the mix is a character that doesn't seem to belong to either Ollie's world or Shadar's world, and I have a feeling that she could be a key player in taking the story to another dimension, both figuratively and literally.

So far then, Ni No Kuni is living up to expectations and proving to be a fun and inspiring game to play. The fantasy world setting has just opened up for me as I have just acquired a dragon to fly. Next time I will focus on the world itself as a fantasy setting, and perhaps compare it to other fantasy worlds. Top 10 fantasy settings? Why not.

Commuting made easy