It had to happen. Studio Ghibli, the animators who brought us Howl’s Moving Castle, My Neighbour Totoro and the Oscar-winning, Spirited Away, are but a few months away from launching Ni no kuni, a beautiful RPG developed in collaboration with Level-5.
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Renowned for their whimsical visual style and fantasy/adventure story lines, this is the first foray into gaming for the Ghibli crew since an ill-fated attempt more than a decade ago to bring Nausicaa to the gaming realm. The studio’s co-founder and most famous director, Hayao Miyazaki (who is anti-gaming) does not appear to be involved in the project. Despite the brilliant director’s lack of involvement, previews and screen shots of the game show off the stunning, highly-stylised aesthetic they are famous for.
The game revolves around a young boy who has to enter another world, defeat monsters and collect tokens in order to bring his dead mother back to life – the game even comes complete with a 352-page book of spells to defeat his enemies. Ni No Kuni has been well received by reviewers, despite some critics doubting the game would crack the US market. Ryan Winterhalter of 1up.com suggests the game would need a “strong distributor to be viable in the United States”. But judging from the screen shots, it would be fair to say the game would have appeal over a broad demographic of gamers – it looks like Studio Ghibli’s transition into gaming may pay off.
Ni No Kuni drops on Nintendo DS December 2010 and PlayStation 3 January 2011.
For all the latest reviews and updates, visit www.1up.com
