Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, like most JRPGs, has an emphasis on its story and worldbuilding, adhering to its own set of characters, rules, and mysteries until the credits roll. Similar to an Isekai anime, Oliver gets transported to a foreign world unlike anything he has seen before.
What follows is a Studio Ghibli-inspired adventure where you capture monsters, tackle massive dungeons, and come face-to-face with daunting enemies. As you unravel the mysteries of Ni No Kuni, you'll probably be left with some questions by the time the credits roll. After all, most JRPGs answer most questions while leaving some up to your discretion.
10/10 Who Is Swaine's Soulmate?
Swaine is the third party member in Ni No Kuni and adds a good dynamic between Oliver and Esther. When you first find him, he is plagued by a Nightmare that must be removed. Unlike many other characters in the game, you don't need to find his Soulmate in Motorville to help him feel better.
Furthermore, we never see his Soulmate. Every other character has a counterpart in Oliver's world, leaving the absence of one for Swaine to be all the more perplexing. Is there a person or animal that you meet in Motorville that could be connected to Swaine, or is it simply up in the air?
9/10 Why Were The Soulmates Localized To Motorville?
Throughout your adventure in Ni No Kuni, you'll come across characters who require you to assist their Soulmates in Oliver's world. Despite the game taking place across vast continents and islands, all of the Soulmates you encounter are localized to one town in a different world.
The development answer to this question is to simplify the game's structure, but the lore aspect of it remains unanswered. Theoretically, Soulmates could be scattered anywhere on the Earth, so why were they all compacted into a single, small town?
8/10 How Was Shadar Significantly Older Than Oliver?
Shadar is the main antagonist for most of Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, which makes it all the more surprising when we learn that he was Oliver's Soulmate the entire time. However, the big difference is that Shadar was significantly older than Oliver.
The other Soulmates in the game were almost direct counterparts in appearance and age (save for Genghis and Tengri, of course). Hypothetically, Soulmates should exist parallel to each other, but Shadar would've had to exist without Oliver at some point, meaning he was a special case of some kind.
7/10 Why Didn't The White Witch Turn Everyone Into Zombies Sooner?
After you take down Shadar and attend the celebration in Ding Dong Dell, something mysterious comes from the sky and turns everyone into mindless, rampaging zombies. The White Witch decided to take matters into her own hands and enslave the other world.
However, if she was capable of doing that at any time, why did she ever rely on Shadar, or the Council for that matter, to get the job done for her? It would've made much more sense to immediately target Oliver the moment he and Drippy entered the Other World. After all, she watched his adventure from the safety of her castle.
6/10 How Did Horace Make A Kid Version Of Himself?
In every town you visit, you'll find the spirit of a kid named Horace. If you solve each of his Riddles, he'll give you a spell every time you succeed. Once you find them all, it's revealed that Horace is actually the spirit of a full-grown person. While some thought he was the author of the Wizard's Compendium, that turned out to not be the case.
A lot of magic is explained in the game, but making a child version of yourself is not on the list. The only other time we see that is with Pea and the White Witch, but even that isn't thoroughly explained. It also wasn't something that she did intentionally.
5/10 Can Oliver Ever Return To The Other World?
At the end of the game, Oliver succeeds in saving the Other World from the White Witch and her tyranny. However, instead of staying there, he says goodbye to all his new friends and goes back to Motorville. It's a somber ending, as you'll spend most of your time in that place only to leave it.
The question remains, though: could Oliver ever go back? After all, if he still has some magical powers locked inside him, couldn't he find a makeshift wand in Motorville again and transport himself back?
4/10 Did Oliver Remain Friends With The Soulmates?
Most of Oliver's friends in Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch live in The Other World, but he still helps them by interacting with their Soulmates. Esther's, her father's, King Tom's, and more Soulmates are all helped by him.
As he adjusts to his new life without his mother, would Oliver try and maintain connections with those Soulmates? They would be almost the exact same people as the ones he knew in the Other World after all. Perhaps it's time that Level 5 made a direct followup to Oliver's quest.
3/10 What's The Deal With Alicia?
The events of the game are kicked off by the sudden death of Oliver's mom. Drippy appears to tell him that his mom's Soulmate is a powerful wizard who was captured by Shadar, so he goes to the Other World to try and save her.
However, it's revealed that Alicia was, indeed, his real mother, didn't have a Soulmate, and was gone for good. It's difficult to understand how someone from the Other World would be able to permanently stay in Motorville and build a life, only to suddenly die.
2/10 Who Is Oliver's Dad?
Oliver's mother gets plenty of explanation throughout Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, but one character we don't get much of is Oliver's father. Would Alicia have met someone in Motorville to have a child with, or was it someone from the Other World?
There is a working theory that Oliver didn't have a father and was instead born out of Shadar's requirement to have a Soulmate. Some theories suggest that Gallus or the Wizard King could be his father. It gets messy once you start to dive in.
1/10 Could Oliver Have Used Breach Time To Save His Mom?
Oliver's entire adventure hinges around the desire to save his mom. Midway through, he encounters Gallus and learns the Breach Time spell. It can only be used once, which allows Oliver to acquire Mornstar to take on Shadar. However, couldn't he have used Breach Time to go back far enough to prevent himself from ever getting in the makeshift car, thus keeping his mother alive?
Another option is to use Breach Time to travel back and fight alongside Alicia with his newfound strength to prevent Shadar or the White Witch from combatting her in the first place.
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