Aside from its beautiful visuals, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is no slouch in regard to storytelling. As Oliver and his friends find a way to help his mom get cured of a disease, he encounters the mysterious Horace, seemingly a ghost who lost his memories while exploring the world. During his conversations with Oliver, Horace will start to give riddles that players need to solve.
Aside from giving a bit of trivia to make the world of the Ni no Kuni game more engaging, these riddles actually contain prizes for players who can solve them. In fact, some of the game’s most useful spells are locked behind these riddles, making them a must-solve for players who want to maximize the experience.
Who Is Horace?
Before fans of Ni no Kuni approach this questline, they would probably be interested as to why the riddles are being asked in the first place. This questline begins as soon as players meet Horace for the first time in the tombstone to the right of the Ding Dong Dell palace courtyard. It’s soon revealed that Horace is an old ghost appearing in the visage of a young boy, and is often reminiscing of his past.
As players begin having conversations with Horace, he will start appearing in various locations across the game world. Players need to use the Spirit Medium Spell in order to converse with Horace, and frequent interactions will initiate Horace’s riddles.
What Are Horace’s Riddles?
Although not necessarily a strict “questline,” Horace’s Riddles are a series of challenges wherein Horace will quiz players regarding trivia found in the game’s compendium, the Wizard’s Companion. Players who answer his questions correctly would receive various rewards, primarily Spells and sometimes unlockables.
Unlike other riddles in other games like Silent Hill, all answers to Horace’s predicament would simply need players to study the Wizard’s Companion carefully, as most of the answers to the riddles are contained here.
Riddle 1: Ding Dong Dell
Players get access to the first “riddle” as soon as they meet Horace for the first time in the memorial shrine. Talking to him will give players the Spirit Medium Spell, which they have to cast on Horace in order to complete his challenge.
The Spirit Medium Spell, although an everyday spell, is quite handy whenever players encounter spirits. This actually becomes a part of Ni no Kuni 2: The Revenant Kingdom protagonist Evan’s arsenal, which he will use to talk to ghosts to gain information on various subjects.
Riddle 2: Al Mamoon
When players get to Al Mamoon, they may be able to locate Horace near the central milk fountain. Talking to him will unlock a Tale of Wonder, which tells the story of “The Cowardly Prince and the Lion". By the end of the story, Horace will ask players whether they remember who the third-shortest among the Prince, the Lion, the Dragon of the East, or the Dragon of the West was. The answer here is the DRAGON OF THE WEST.
Answering this correctly grants players the Draw Poison Spell, which is both an everyday and battle spell that allows players to cure poison. Players may find this Spell extremely handy when fighting some of the game’s toughest foes, who often rely on poison as a way to debilitate the player’s advances.
Riddle 3: Castaway Cove
Players can locate Horace once more in Castaway Cove, located around south of the Southerlands, on a bridge. In here, Horace will once again give players a riddle. This time around, Horace talks about the old Nazcaan alphabet, and he will then lead players to the “Tools of Wizardry” section of the Wizard’s Companion where players need to translate something for him. The puzzle is embedded onto the cloak of the wizard illustration, and players need to tilt their head sideways to see the pattern. The answer to this puzzle is FINEST FIBER.
After this, Horace will reward players with the Vacate Spell. Through this Spell, players may now be able to force Oliver and his teammates out of dangerous places (dungeons) and back to the nearest section of the overworld where the Travel Spell becomes usable.
Riddle 4: Fairgrounds
Before players reach the Fairygrounds, they can once again encounter Horace along its outskirts. Players can choose to skip interacting with him in order to get to the Fairy Godmother, or talk with him in order to get yet another riddle, this time weaved into their conversations about burgers. Horace tells players that there’s just “something” burgers need to have in order to become super delicious. To solve this, players need to go to the “Provisions Page” of their Wizard’s Companion, and look for the recipe for the Cheeseburger. The answer to this riddle is CRISPY LETTUCE.
When players solve this, Horace says they should’ve given players the Levitate Spell, but he lost it. Instead, players give players an Alchemical Formula: Sage’s Secret. With this item, players can get 100 HP and 100 MP restored to them, making this an extremely useful item in combat.
Riddle 5: Hamelin
When players reach the busy city of Hamelin, players can find Horace standing on the balcony that can see the main street below. They can easily see this platform from the outside of the Hootique. Talking with Horace this time would have the ghost reminisce about the Wizard’s War, where he will ask players about the number of Automata Familiars seen in the Wizard’s War mural in the Wizard’s Companion. The answer to this riddle is FIVE (5).
Solving this puzzle will have Horace rewards players with the Chart Chests Spell. Thanks to this Spell, players are now able to “seek” chests they wouldn’t normally be able to see. After obtaining this, players may want to reexplore previous cities and dungeons they’ve visited to see if they missed any chests.
Riddle 6: Yule
Players who managed to reach the snowy town of Yule can see Horace just lurking inside the house of the Yule Elder. Unlike his other appearances, Horace seems particularly intent on looking at a particular teal-colored plant, which he will ask players to identify. The answer to this riddle is BLIZZARD BLOOM.
When players solve this riddle, Horace will reward them with the Cloudburst Spell. This allows rain to fall from the sky and deal Water damage to enemies. Those who are hit by the Spell may also be Nixed, giving players tremendous advantage in their combat encounters.
Riddle 7: Perdida
When players reach Perdida, they can find Horace once again lurking about, but this time inside the Very Swift Solutions shop. Players who interact with him this time will have Horace ask them to check for certain nuggers of information within the “Regions of the World” in the Wizard’s Companion. He says these pages often have Nazcaan words that are similar to each other, but only one region has one Nazcaan word unique to it. The answer to this riddle is JABAL AL-DUKHAN, or in Nazcaan means “Old Smoky".
Solving this riddle for Horace will reward players with the Veil Spell. Thanks to this Spell, players would be able to “mask” their scent and prevent detection from various creatures. As such, any enemies that Oliver will encounter anywhere won’t attack or even notice him until the Spell ends in two (2) minutes. This effect also ends if Oliver runs into the monster.
Riddle 8: Again In Ding Dong Dell
After players finish the events in Nevermore Castle, they will once again go back to Ding Dong Dell. And as per usual, Horace will be in a cemetery, this time to the north of Ding Dong Dell. Talking to Horace will have him quiz players yet again, now about translating runes located on the monument behind him. Translating this would read: “Mix black stroke of first and second spell to make another that will serve you well".
To answer this spell, players must look at their Spell List and find the black strokes of the first two (2) Spells given to them: Form Familiar and Gateway. Players then need to look at the Spell List to find a Spell using these black strokes, of which they will find the UNLEASH Spell. This is the answer to the riddle, which then rewards them with the Thunderstorm Spell. This summons violent storms that dish out great damage to enemies.
Riddle 9: Ara Memoriae
This particular riddle is tricky, as Horace’s reward is locked under a special condition. Before players meet Horace, now older, in Ara Memoriae, they need to make sure that players have both answered all riddles thus far and have defeated Gallus along the halfway point of the Ivory Tower. Horace will need the Astra Wand from this level to actually provide players with the reward.
In this riddle, Horace told players that they actually left a warning somewhere in the Wizard’s Companion regarding an evil power, particularly in a segment that explains what said powers were wearing. Players can find this entry under the “Wizard’s Robes” of page 117, with red letters sprawled across the paragraph reading “Beware.” Putting the answer WIZARD’S ROBES will allow players access Errand 136, which involves yet another series of riddles but now involving a new quest.
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch was released for the Xbox One and Series X/S last September 15, 2022. The game is also available for the Switch, PS3, PS4, and the PC.