Ni no Kuni

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Ni no Kuni is a hybrid Anime-RPG set for release in January 2013. It's made by Level-5 (Dark Cloud, Professor Layton, White Knight Chronicles) and is the first major video game release of Studio Ghibli (Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke), and it honestly looks like the two got together and made a baby. A very pretty, quirky little baby.

Here are a few off-screen gameplay links:

http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/09/19/ni-no-kuni-monster-battle

http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/10/12/nycc-ni-no-kuni-wrath-of-the-white-witch-off-screen

I get really antsy when I see anything that reminds me of Dark Cloud. I put hundreds of hours into DC2 on the Playstation 2 years ago, and it is without a doubt my favorite RPG on that system. Probably still my favorite RPG in Sony's long library of games, including the Final Fantasy series. Then you mix it with what is one of, if not THE best names in animation, Studio Ghibli. It looks so pretty, and the combat seems fluid and really enjoyable. So much like the games that came before it, but polished and done up in a way that also seems new and refreshing.

Obviously we wont' know until somebody can actually get their hands on it for a more detailed examination, and I know this won't be everybody's niche, but Ni no Kuni might end up being my favorite game of 2013. Certainly, if it's as good as Dark Cloud 2, my most played game of 2013.

 

[Diet Soda]

Looks nice. PS3 exclusive or do us Nintenards get to play it as well?

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Looks nice. PS3 exclusive or do us Nintenards get to play it as well?

PS3 exclusive. Except technically there is a DS version floating around, but it only came out in Japan. Not sure graphically how it compares though. I'd have to guess it's a different game is some pretty drastic ways. I'm not sure even the 3DS is capable of running an engine that can produce what's in those PS3 videos.

You never know, they might put it out for WiiU next year. But Sony is getting its hands on it first in America.

 

[Diet Soda]

PS3 exclusive.

Shame. It seems like the kind of harmless fun I'd enjoy.

I'm not sure even the 3DS is capable of running an engine that can produce what's in those PS3 videos.

Of course. Come on, that would like trying to power a car with a hamster on a wheel.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

It just makes me wonder how the DS version of the game compares. I often find myself enjoying RPG's a lot more on the DS than on most consoles. Shame I'll probably never know.

 

[Diet Soda]

Well I imagine it would be more akin to the Professor Layton games.