Industry Insiders have been providing an important role in the dissemination of information in the gaming scene recently. Tidux is one such insider who provides a little bit of accurate information from time to time. Recently taking to Twitter, Tidux teased followers with the following four tweets, “Oh got a hint for y’all this afternoon, #PS4 #Exclusive”, “3rd party studio.”, “Not a fps” and “And no remake”.

When Twitter user MrPaNtsONhEaD suggested that the game in question might be Ni No Kuni 2, a rumoured sequel to the hugely popular JRPG from Level-5 and Studio Ghibli, Tidux replied, “So @MrPaNtsONhEaD figured it out! #PS4”

However it must be noted that this is not at all official and there’s no evidence to confirm his claims. This can only be confirmed at this time by way of an announcement from Sony or Level-5. As usual take this with a grain of salt but what do you think of this? Would you be interested in a sequel to Ni No Kuni?

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Despite being exclusive to Playstation 3 and suffering several supply shortages, it was able to beat previous number 1 holder Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, which is now in third place, and EA’s FIFA 13, currently in second place.

Namco UK’s Lee Kirton stated that, “We expected good sales as the pre-orders were close to shipment. In the end we have created a demand for this amazing game and have stock going out to channels this week.

“We have focused PR, marketing and the community has been brilliant. We have been solid with communication and reviews in the UK have been astonishing. We are very pleased, but ultimately it’s down to an incredible game from Level 5 and some strong communication from me and my team.”

Source: GIBiz

Then it grabbed me by the nipples with its arresting visual flair. The game is the end result of a collaboration between Dark Cloud creators, Level 5 and Studio Ghibli, who are basically the Japanese Disney; creating classic anime films such as Spirited Away.

The Japanese animation inspired visual design feels like injecting a rainbow into your retina, or getting slapped by the ocean on a summer’s day.

Vivid strokes of colour dance across the screen as the characters interact animatedly. The animation, in the Ghibli created cutscenes especially, is remarkable. At times, you actually feel as though you’re inside of a Ghibli classic and you feel like a kid again. (Unless you are a kid and then you’ll just feel like you, I suppose, albeit with a happy eyeball).

One of the things I noticed, and I know it doesn’t sound very impressive on paper/the internet, is how the main character actually has a dedicated animation for descending stairs. The JRPG evolution has arrived! I don’t mean to sell it short (I was actually impressed) as this really is a big deal in a genre more interested in stats, than aesthetics and immersion.

Most JRPG’s are focussed on the aforementioned stats and stories. Ni No Kuni is no different – except the story is much more relatable than your standard JRPG fare. Oliver, a boy of thirteen, lives in small-town America, called Motorville, complete with white picket fences and OCD afflicted gardeners.

The story starts out with its feet firmly planted in the realms of reality and promptly burrowing deeper into the rabbit-hole.

After a traumatic experience in the ‘real world’, Oliver is promptly whisked off to a parallel version of his reality by his stuffed toy, Drippy, who came to life after being activated by the tears of the crying boy.

Drippy claims to be Lord, High Lord of the fairies, in a land called Ni No Kuni, where Oliver may be able to fix the cause of his recent trauma. in the process stopping the evil Shaddar, who is stealing portions of peoples’ hearts.

There are hints throughout, that the fantasy world you’re spirited to, is just that… a fantasy. The experiences faced by the young Oliver, are enough to make anyone retreat into a fabrication in the recesses of their mind. It’s always hinted, but never explicitly stated, making for a more interesting and involving narrative for an inquisitive mind.

The alternate dimension is filled with doppelgangers of the people Oliver knows back in his hometown, and even some of the animals. Also, when he is inside Motorville (as you travel between worlds to overcome certain problems) nobody acknowledges his otherworldy companions.

If Ni No Kuni is a construct of Oliver’s mind, he must have the disposition of an artist.

When you enter the exceptional environment for the first time, you are greeted with vast expanses of green fields and blue skies. Birds fly past, clouds roll across the sky, tracing shadows along the ground beneath your feet. Little traces of light flash across the sky, and the grass sways in the wind. It is the most detailed ‘world map’ I’ve seen in the genre.

It isn’t long after you first enter this lush landscape until you encounter an enemy, who are all visible, and avoidable, in the field. These play out in real time, allowing you free movement on the battlefield so you can make space between yourself and the enemy, evading attacks and setting up abilities. It starts off simply and drip feeds mechanics, sometimes during boss battles, infuriatingly.

As your quest develops, you gain access to a myriad of friendly creatures called Familiars. Each has a specific combat role and gains in experience alongside the antagonist as the game progresses.

As they ‘level up’, they gain access to new skills and can eventually be forced into evolving by feeding them a specific item. When you evolve the creatures it resets their ‘level’ to one, but once they reach the point they were at originally, they will be much more powerful versions of themselves.

In battle, you can only control Oliver or one Familiar/ally at a time. Each Familiar has a timer that ticks down until they eventually pass out from overexertion. This is a means of encouraging you to use your whole arsenal, but is a mixed success. In most of the big battles, you can get through it by running from your enemy as Oliver and firing off spells when they inevitably miss a strike.

As long as you can time your use of the defense command and can top up your MP when it’s low, you can win the majority of the bigger encounters with this tactic. That’s not to say it works on them all, however. In fact, some of the encounters are controller-snappingly infuriating.

The difficulty just sort of ambles along at a steady rate, spikes suddenly and then dips again, dramatically. The frustration only increases in tandem with the number of companions and usable abilities at your disposal.

When it does work though, the battle system feels fresh and hands-on; the free movement adding a layer of involvement into proceedings, especially as you need to keep an eye out for restorative Glims. Glims come in three flavours: blue for magic, green for health and gold to unleash a powerful, character specific ability.

Seeing all the different Familiars’ Miracle Moves (as the Golden Glim attacks are called) is compulsive gaming at its best, and collecting the perfect team of miniature critters is as addicting as it was when a certain game popularised the concept.

You capture them by beating their asses until they love you, and then using one of your allies’ skills to serenade them.

Each Familiar has a star sign and creature type. Each human character has preferred familiar types, and after it’s explained to you, it’s down to you to find the miniature icons representing preferences.

This is the point where I find the game slightly inconsistent: things that should be simple, are sometimes vague, yet the things that could be used to add a layer of thought to the exploration are overly simplified.

As you progress through Ni No Kuni, you meet people who have had their hearts broken by Shaddar, and it’s up to Oliver to fix them. You do this by finding out what it is they’re missing and then finding somebody with an excess of the trait they are lacking.

How do you find what they are lacking/overflowing in, I hear you ask? You find out because the game tells you exactly what you have to do, taking any thought out of the process.

Even when you know what you must do, you can’t pull up the magic menu and do it. Oh no, you have to wait for the game to categorically tell you that it’s time to perform the action.

There are many spells that you can cast in the field: whether to aid you with the completion of a puzzle, or to open up a blocked path. But they can only be used at predetermined moments, negating the need for experimentation.

One thing that does make up for this, however, is in the game’s alchemy. You can conjure up some inspired creations by getting your genie to mix a concoction from your collected items. There will probably be guides available online since the game has been out for a while overseas, but I found it a joy to just tinker with a bit of risk/reward item stirring, instead of letting someone else discover its intricacies for me.

Like a mortar and pestle, the game mixes ingredients both old and new, in an attempt to create a synergy; sticking with traditional JRPG mechanics and introducing a few of its own. It’s a mixed success. It is both brilliant and average, compelling and tedious. Whilst it is at times brilliant, there are just a few minor annoyances holding it back, and in a game with such a long runtime, little irritancies can really start to grate. Not you though Drippy, mun, youer tidy. (That was my best Drippy impression and it wasn’t very good).

It’s very hard to dislike the game just based on pure characterisation. Mr. Drippy manages to make a podium finish as one of the best sidekicks in gaming, and the whole world just oozes personality. So while not quite the evolution I was hoping for, still, an inter-dimensional leap forward for the JRPG, to a parallel world where they were still awesome.

This game was reviewed on the PS3.

But a Ghibli project isn’t just defined by its visuals. It’s also defined by the soundtrack from Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi, who’s handled such esteemed projects for the studio as Castle in the Sky and the Academy Award-winning Spirited Away.

In a new behind the scenes video, Hisaishi talks about the creative process behind the music for Ni no Kuni. Interestingly enough, he managed to compose the entire soundtrack in 7 days. Wait, did we say “interesting”? We actually meant to say, “what the hell, does not compute!”

Hopefully the soundtrack itself will see a separate release in the coming weeks.

The magazine gave it 95/100, rating different factors of the game all in the high 90’s (Graphics: 96, Gameplay: 98, Accessibility: 96, Lifespan: 97, Innovation: 99). In the bullet points about the game, they mentioned that it was an “epic, enthralling adventure that’s brimming with character” and a “gorgeously unique and magical title that conjurs the wonder and joy of a kid’s cartoon, while delivering the sort of hands-on depth to satisfy even the most seasoned of Final Fantasy fans”.

Some itty bitty scans have also been revealed of the game, where the review score is visible.

The game is currently is scheduled to release in North America on January 22nd.

Source: TheSilentChief

Level 5 CEO Akihiro Hino talks about the founding of the studio, its development and creative principles. The reason behind the name “Level 5”? The desire to make 5-star products like a 5-star restaurant. Yes, believe it or not, the company name was inspired indirectly by food.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is actually the adaptation of the Nintendo DS version of the same, and is slated to release for PS4 on January 22nd 2013. A demo is currently available on the Playstation Network.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch has pre-order bonuses if you buy from Gamestop or Amazon. Namco Bandai announced these bonuses for the game which will launch early next year on January 22nd, 2013.

So what are these pre-order bonuses you ask? Well for starters, you will get an exclusive steelbook which also features alternate artwork. These supplies are limited though, so you better hurry if want that steelbook.

This bonus is for people who buy from Gamestop, and for Amazon customers, you get an exclusive griffy familiar, not seen in the original Japanese version of the game.

Able to spy its prey from great distances, the griffy is known as the Hunter of the Skies. The game developed by Level 5 is shaping up to be a great spectacle on the PS3 and you can also check out our preview here.

Our author Jordan wrote: “Even with but a brief encounter with Ni No Kuni, it looks poised to deliver the Ghibli sensation of the films, with dialogue positively swelling with charm and glee, undoubtable one of the brightest looking titles of 2013.”

So what are you waiting for? That steelbook isn’t going to order itself.

Ninostarter works by totting up the number of Wizard’s Edition pre-orders made on the clubNamco website and as the figure rises, additional items are ‘unlocked’ to be made available for this special edition. There’s a catch, however, as clubNamco stops taking pre-orders at the end of next month, so that’s from now until 31st August to pre-order the Wizard’s Edition in North America.

Ni No Kuni: The Wrath of the White Witch is a magical, Studio Ghibli journey through a land of mystery and wonder, coming exclusively to PlayStation 3 on 22nd January 2013 in North America.

If there’s one word to describe Studio Ghibli films, it would simply be ‘sublime’. Nobody quite captures the essence of childhood wonder in such a compelling and truly mesmerising way. The closest Western cinema has is undoubtably Pixar, but there sheer other-worldy nature of Studio Ghibli films is simply incomparable.

Ni No Kuni: The Wrath of the White Witch is Ghibli’s second foray into games, the first being a the little-known Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color which never secured itself a European release. Even Ni No Kuni itself was originally released way back when in 2010, in Japan, on Nintendo DS, receiving a PS3 release in late 2011.

If Ghibli’s involvement alone isn’t enough to make you bounce around the room in giddy wonder, LEVEL-5 are also having a say, the masterful tykes behind the Professor Layton and Inazuma series.

As you’d expect with any Ghibli title, Ni No Kuni is told through a combination of 2D anime cutscenes and similar 3D gameplay, in a world chock-full of bright colours, mystical vistas and some of the most charming characters you’ll ever meet. Think Calcifer from Howl’s Moving Castle and, or Boh and Yubaba’s bird in Spirited Away and you’re right on the money.

This adventure’s protagonist is a 13-year old boy called Oliver, living the exciting and wondrous life of any young lad, until tragedy strikes, sending him through a magical journey to help someone he loves, accompanied by a child-hood toy come to life, the marvellous fairy Drippy. He’s a knee-high cuddle-bug, with a lantern at the end of his nose, his nose, his nose, localised with a charming Welsh accent in the English language version, and brought to life superbly.

Drippy takes Oliver into Ni No Kuni, the literal translation being ‘Second Country’, with the aid of a magic book. It’s Spirited Away meets Wizard of Oz, only there’s so much more to Ni No Kuni than that.

Every NPC encountered so far is distinct and wonderful, even most enemies possess an innate charm which smudges the line of good and evil. Comparisons with Pokeman have been rife, but again it’s unfair to simply compare Ni No Kuni in such a two-dimensional fashion. As well as Drippy, serving as a friend and guide rather than a battle partner, Oliver is accompanied by familiars, who share Oliver’s mana and health, adding further dimension over the ‘traditional’ turn-based combat which dominates Japanese games like sepia does The West.

Death also carries a penalty beyond simply resetting and sending Oliver back 15 minutes in time, it seems the National Health hasn’t quite made it to Ni No Kuni yet and you will be billed. Upon dying once, and not exactly accruing a King’s ransom, I was left penniless, so it remains to be seen just how severe this is. One thing it does, however, is to teach caution. Ni No Kuni is not a game of brute force, and rightly so in a delicate world such as this.

Even with but a brief encounter with Ni No Kuni, it looks poised to deliver the Ghibli sensation of the films, with dialogue positively swelling with charm and glee, undoubtable one of the brightest looking titles of 2013.

Ni No Kuni: The Wrath of the White Witch finally comes to Europe on 25 Jaunary and North America on 22 January, published by Namco Bandai exclusively for PlayStation 3.

This game was previewed on a PlayStation 3. 

Releasing alongside the standard version of the game in Europe, Asia and Australasia, Ni No Kuni is an epic tale of a boy on a quest to save his mother, developed by the highly esteemed LEVEL-5 studio in conjunction with the mesmerising Studio Ghibli.

The Wizard’s Edition will contain hardback copy of The Wizard’s Companion, a 300+ page version of the spellbook Oliver uses throughout the game; a full-colour Wizard’s Companion detailing all of the creatures, items, spells and history of the ‘other’ world. The very limited edition will also contain an exclusive plush doll of Oliver’s guide, Drippy, as well as some exclusive in-game DLC. Pre-ordering at select retailers will also unlock two more familiars, Flutterby and Griffy.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch and the Wizard’s Edition is coming exclusively to the Playstation 3 on 25 January 2013.