Ni no Kuni follows the journey of Oliver, a resident of Motorville. While trying out a new vehicle designed by his friend Philip, Oliver almost drowns but is saved by his mother Allie who immediately after dies from heart problems. As Oliver cries, his tears cause his doll, a gift from his mother, to come to life and reveal itself as a fairy named Drippy, who tells Oliver that he is from another world where an evil wizard named Shadar took control. He also tells Oliver that each person from his world has a "soulmate", a person that shares a link with someone in Oliver's world, and that his mother looks very much like a great sage, Alicia, who was captured by Shadar. Realizing that Alicia must have been Allie's soulmate, Oliver sets out with Drippy to travel to the other world and rescue Alicia in the hope that doing so will bring Allie back in his world.
Outside of quests, players can freely roam the overworld. Players explore towns, villages, dungeons and dangerous places scattered throughout the world, and possess the ability to travel between the world and Oliver's hometown of Motorville. Upon leaving a location, players enter the World Map, which can be used to select a destination. The world may be fully explored from the beginning of the game without restrictions, although story progress unlocks more gameplay content and forms of transport to navigate the world: players initially run to navigate the world, though later gain the ability to travel by boat, or on the back of a dragon.
Source: Wikipedia, "Ni no Kuni", available under the CC-BY-SA License.
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