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'Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom' delayed until January 2018
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch brought the unique beauty of a Studio Ghibli movie to North American PS3s in 2012. The gorgeous RPG was slated to get a sequel, Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, this coming November, but it looks as if we'll have to wait a bit longer. In a video message on publisher Bandai Namco's Twitter feed, Akihiro Hino, CEO and President of developer LEVEL-5, explained the delay and apologized deeply to fans. It's not a huge wait, though, as the new launch date is set for January 19th of next year.
'Ni No Kuni 2' changes everything but the Ghibli-esque charm
Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom is beautiful. If it's not the detailed environment, it's the expressive cartoon characters interacting with one another like some kind of CGI anime masterpiece. That's due to animation director Yoshiyuki Momose's input: He previously worked at Studio Ghibli for many years, and it still shows in the sequel coming to PS4. During the two-part demo I played at Bandai Namco's E3 booth, cloaks fluttered in the breeze, the protagonist winced when struck with fire and my tiny battle companions -- prime plushies of the future -- scuttled around the battlefield like even cuter Pikmin. The gameplay taster centered on two major boss battles, but I found myself waiting, hoping, for another sumptuous cut scene to help fill in the mysterious backstory -- and distract me from the fighting.
'Ni No Kuni II' arrives November 10th
Ahead of Sony's highly anticipated E3 address Monday, Bandai Namco confirmed that its sequel to 2013's Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch will arrive on November 10th. The story follows young King Evan as he attempts to rebuild the Kingdom of Ding Dong Dell after an attempted coup.
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Sony's golden NINOKUNI 'Magical Edition' PlayStation 3 heads for Japan, Criss Angel's mind
Not that Sony's PlayStation 3 hasn't been touched by Midas before, but this is the first time we've seen the new(ish) form factor doused in such official fashion. Per usual, it'll be the homeland that's treated to the NINOKUNI Magical Edition PS3 console, a decidedly wizard-approved bundle that'll include a copy of Ni No Kuni. The only edition available will boast a 160GB hard drive, a single Dual Shock controller and a glorious icon on the lower-left of the machine. It'll be available in Japan this November for ¥33,780 ($440), but only in "limited quantities." So much for magic that lasts forever, huh?
Level-5 and Studio Ghibli's Ni no Kuni delayed again
Those of us looking to recreate the Studio Ghibli movie experience of a young child being drawn into a magical hidden world will just have to be patient. Ni no Kuni, the DS RPG co-created by Level-5 and the legendary animation studio, has been delayed until this fall. (It had previously been delayed from last year to this spring.) Not much of an announcement of the delay was made -- just quiet indication from various Japanese gaming news sources that Ni no Kuni's scheduled release window had been changed to the fall. Perhaps as some consolation some new screenshots were released, depicting Oliver and a friend working on a car (seen above). If you'd like to know if this is a game worth waiting for (even if a localized version has not been announced), please direct your attention to our impressions of the TGS demo. [Via Andriasang]
Ghibli discusses The Another World in latest Famitsu
The latest issue of Famitsu includes an interview with Studio Ghibli president Toshio Suzuki, who discusses the company's collaboration with Level-5 on the development of Ni no Kuni: The Another World. The game, in which you play a boy who is transported to a mysterious world in order to bring his mother back to life, is being made to celebrate Level-5's ten-year anniversary. According to Suzuki, when Ghibli's entire team is working on a project, they tend to generate about five minutes of high-quality animation per month. Even for animation, that's pretty slow, but it means that the overall quality of the product will be impeccable -- if you've seen any of Ghibli's movies, you'll know that's generally the case.Studio Ghibli tends to shy away from video games and Level-5 seems to be very lucky to have the chance to work with the animators on The Another World. A composer close to both Level-5 and Ghibli introduced the two at a time when the animation studio had just finished work on its latest piece and, with the absence of nothing better to do, agreed to work on Level-5's game.
DS Daily: Most anticipated
Since the first footage of Ni no Kuni: The Another World appeared at the Tokyo Game Show last week, it has become the DS game I'm most looking forward to. A Level 5/Studio Ghibli collaboration is the stuff dreams are made of. The animation, predictably, looks wonderful. I already just want to hold the included spellbook. Maybe stroke it. Is that wrong?Plenty of other titles were showcased last week in Tokyo, so now seems like an appropriate time to see which made the most impact on each of you. Are you crazy about Chrono Trigger? Giddy about Gyakuten Kenji? Cuckoo for Castlevania? If you could have one upcoming DS title in your hands right now, what would it be?
Take a closer look at Ni no Kuni: The Another World
Well, it's Friday, and as promised, Level-5 has sent out some juicy screens for their upcoming game with Studio Ghibli, Ni no Kuni: The Another World. As you can see above, Studio Ghibli's amazing animation is present and the their wonderful imagination means the game will have some incredibly inspired characters. Head past the break for some more screens, courtesy of Famitsu.
Level-5 has big plans for DS, enlists aid of Studio Ghibli
Good news, fan of all things DS. The handheld is getting some more love from Level-5, in the form of more games. Level-5 pres and all around handsome dude, Akihiro Hino, has made public his company's intent to rock the DS right out of your hands. How? Well, first is a proposed partnership with Studio Ghibli, the folks behind awesome animated films like Spirited Away.
Famitsu: Level-5 and Studio Ghibli teaming up on DS game
Recent scans from Japanese gaming weekly Famitsu detail a new Nintendo DS project titled Ninokuni: The Another World from the fine folks at Level-5 (which is currently putting the finish touches on the PS3's White Knight Story). "What's so special about this project?" you ask, clutching your Totoro plushie. Get this: the animation will be handled by the legendary Studio Ghibli. Not altogether too surprising; anyone familiar with the excellent animation in Level-5's Professor Layton series knows that there wasn't much room for improvement.Famitsu says there will be a console version though a platform has not yet been decided; Level-5 wants the experience to be distinct from the DS release and that desire will affect the platform decision. Both versions will come with the same "Magic Master" book – shared by the main character of the game – which will need to be referred to while playing the game (let's hope it's portable!). With TGS just around the corner, we're hoping to hear more – and maybe see more – soon. [Via Opposable Thumbs]
