Ni no Kuni Message Board older than one year ago

As promised, Level-5 announced a PS3 Ni no Kuni game during a press conference today. Rather than being simply a PS3 version of the DS game, Ni no Kuni for PS3 bears a new subtitle: "Queen of the Holy White Ash," as Siliconera translates it. And it looks, well, like a Studio Ghibli movie in polygons. A comparison image on the game's website places a scene done in the game's engine alongside a scene from the animation, and they look shockingly similar! See the trailer after the break.

Queen of the Holy White Ash won't be out until 2011, but the DS game will precede it. Level-5 also announced a Japanese release date for Ni no Kuni on DS: December 9, 2010. That version still comes with a hardcover book full of magic spells and information about the various creatures inhabiting the world.

#clips Famed animation company Studio Ghibli is collaborating with Fukoka-based game developer Level-5 on the upcoming Ni no Kuni. It is now coming to the PS3. We've posted screens of the game. Would you like to see it in motion? More »

#level5 Ni no Kuni, the collaboration between famed anime company Studio Ghibli (My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service) and Professor Layton developer Level-5, is not only coming to the Nintendo DS, but also the PS3. It will knock your socks off. More »

Looks like there’s another subtitle going on there. Perhaps Level-5 realized that they didn’t like ‘The Another World’ and went with something snappier!

Ni no Kuni: The Another World, the DS RPG made as a collaboration between Level-5 and animation company Studio Ghibli, is expanding beyond the handheld. The latest issue of Famitsu (via Andriasang) reveals that the game is being made for PS3 in addition to DS. This must be the "another platform" mentioned in the TGS 2008 trailer! Well, that and the mobile spinoff announced last year.

According to Andriasang's report from the magazine, the new PS3 version will use cel-shaded visuals for the in-game imagery, combined with art and animation from Studio Ghibli in cutscenes. Level-5 is holding a press event this week, so hopefully we'll hear more about the release plans for both the PS3 release and the recently delayed DS game. In the meantime, you can read our impressions of last year's DS demo here.

Professor Layton, White Knight Chronicles, and Dragon Quest IX developer Level-5 is expanding from its Fukuoka, Japan base, founding a new office in Tokyo focused on its ROID mobile gaming platform, overseas business, and "new enterprises." The move could portend worldwide release of the developer's mobile games, or even expansion of its publishing business. In Japan, Level-5 publishes the Layton series, Inazuma Eleven, and other titles independently. If a localized Inazuma Eleven is indeed on the way, Level-5 could be looking to start up its publishing business outside of Japan with that title. Or, less spectacularly, we suppose the new office could be tasked with localization of games and dealing with Western publishers. [Via Siliconera]

Level-5's Ni no Kuni: The Another World is, in general, a pretty standard JRPG. However, it's a pretty standard RPG that takes place in a Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke) world, and is thus magical. It really feels like you're inhabiting a Ghibli movie, from the appearance of swarms of cute little spherical characters to the lush forest environments. The frequent animated cutscenes and the persistent voice acting (every line of text in the demo, whether in a cutscene or spoken in a pop-up text window) is fully voiced, which helps the cinematic feel.

Bring on the big ones, they give more XP!

Party up to take down the monsters of the wild.

Explore a large and prosperous town.

Knowledge is definitely power.

Knowledgeable little critters always make the best companions.

Life in the big city is always overwhelming at first.