I’m going to start off my new series, “Have You Heard Of,” with a game that has varying amounts of hype depending on what circles you’re in. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, as it will be called in the west, is a game being co-developed by gaming giant Level-5, and anime tycoon Studio Ghibli.
Why should I be excited about it? That should be pretty obvious, given the names mentioned above. If you don’t know either of those companies, then you should know that Level-5 is the developer of games such as Dark Cloud, Dragon Quest VIII-IX, White Knight Chronicles, and the Professor Layton series. If you don’t recognize Studio Ghibli, perhaps Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, or Princess Mononoki ring a bell? These are some high profile companies, and the combination of these two is definitely something to look forward to.
What kind of game is it? Ni No Kuni is a cell-shaded role-playing game for the DS and PS3. At the moment, only the PS3 version is being localized for international release. The game features the ability to enter “Another World” and cast spells from a magic book. Given Level-5′s previous demonstration of polish, and Studio Ghibli’s standard of storytelling, I wouldn’t expect anything short of outstanding in that department.
The game has been out in Japan since November of 2011, but isn’t expected to be localized until 2013. Still, this is one to look forward to and keep on your radar.
————
Sean is an Elite Cosplay guest blogger. He runs his own website called RiseofGamer.net where he blogs about video games. Check it out!