Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Instant classic"

Pros:
-Big game world to explore with loads of secrets to find.
-No random battles! Instead enemies wander the world map and are in dungeons. Oh, and most will run from you if you're too powerful for them.
-Art style is unique to consoles and great to look at.
-Some characters are hilarious and memorable
-Finally, after how many years of waiting, we get a console RPG with Pokemon/DWM elements and it works pretty well.
-Game is pretty much bug free and runs smoothly, which is saying something these days. Also I had no crashed or freezes or any technical problem.
-Combat is fun and the boss battles reminded me of raid bosses in World of Warcraft, which was also fun and challenging.
-The musical score is done by the Tokyo Philharmonic, and it is great throughout the game.
-The sheer amount of interesting things in your "Wizards Compendium" to read and look at sets a high bar for the industry as to what a codex/manual could be. Also, answers to many questions you may go on the internet to answer are in the Compendium and solving your own challenges is satisfying.
-You have a large party so someone or a familiar is leveling up all the time. I helps alleviate battle fatigue somewhat.
-Very high production values.



Cons:
-Game starts very slow, as in large amounts of game-play must be passed before all features are available
-Game starts off hard, but gets easier as you go, especially thanks to an enemy that gives experience like the metal slimes in Dragon Quest later in the game.
-Narrative is childish and cheesy, but it works if you can stomach it.
-Familiars (somewhat similar to Pokemon) feel very similar to one another with a small move pool and evolutions that don't look different enough.
-The difficulty in the game is largely tied to your ability to hit defend at the right time and the availability of mana restoration items, especially early on when money and available items to purchase are limited.
-Characters and familiars in game are rather plain looking, especially Motorville, your hometown you have to come back to several times in the story.
-Bounty hunt monsters and "errand board" quests are mostly the same thing over and over again.
-Game designer seemed unsure whether they wanted familiars or story characters to be the focal point in combat and your main characters start to feel lame/weak in comparison to your familiars as the game progresses.
-NNK is probably too hard for kids (imo), but the storyline and art style/graphics are very childish (Think Nintendo/Disney Channel level). Who is this for Level 5?
-Can be grindy


Despite its flaws, any RPG fan should at least give this game a try, but be sure to give it a least a 10 hour try, as it takes a while to get going.