Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

A collaboration between Level-5 and the famous animation studio Ghibli produced a fairy-tale RPG about a boy named Oliver, who, after losing his mother, sets out through a parallel world full of magical creatures called familiars to bring her back to life and stop the evil sorcerer Shadar. The visual style faithfully echoed the poetry of Ghibli films, with hand-painted environments and characters designed by longtime animator Yoshiyuki Momose, while the music was composed by the renowned Joe Hisaishi, Hayao Miyazaki's court composer, in full orchestral form.

The combat system combined turn-based elements with active movement, and collecting, training, and evolving adorable monsters similar to Pokémon made the game accessible to a younger audience without losing depth for more experienced RPG players. In battle, the player switches between Oliver and his familiars, watches their stamina, and tries to catch the moment when an enemy reveals a weakness. Spells are learned from an extensive spellbook, which also serves as an encyclopedia of the world, and the player leafs through it even outside of battle, giving the whole experience a nostalgic feel of a children's picture book. Familiars are further tamed by singing, fed treats that boost their stats, and at certain stages transform into stronger forms, giving creature-collecting its own depth comparable to the main story.

Critics praised especially the audiovisual production and the emotionally powerful story about loss and forgiveness, making the game one of the most beautiful titles of the entire generation. Ni no Kuni showed that combining Japanese game design with animation mastery can create a timeless experience, and it won loyal fans even outside the traditional JRPG audience, which later led to a successful sequel on PlayStation 4. The link between the real world and the parallel dimension, where the emotions of characters in one world affect the fates of their counterparts in the other, gave the game unexpected emotional depth, and the animated sequences shot directly by Studio Ghibli rank among the most beautiful cinematic interludes of the entire PS3 generation.