One day, not long ago while browsing youtube.com, I came across an interesting video under the tag of Level 5. Turns out that they had a hand in making a game by the name of 'Ni no kuni: The Another World'. The story is a about a boy named Oliver (who the player will play as) who lives with his mother until she suddenly dies. He is then accompanied by his stuffed toy (made by his mother) turned into magical companion who leads him into the fantasy world of the Another World, the universe parallel to his own. There, he embarks on the quest of reviving his beloved mother. Very simplistic overview of story. Heck, even I'm not sure if that's how the story goes.
The game itself looked interesting and beautiful in the trailers as well as through the screens of RPG game play. The beautiful, movie-quality, fully voiced animated cut scenes were just one of the things done with the help of the famous Studio Ghibli (as well as the rumored fully orchestrated music by Joe Hisaishi) though the cut scenes do remind me a little of Level 5's Professor Layton series. So far, we've seen the use of a rune book system where the player draws runes from a book, as well as turn based battling similar to Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy.
The game has that iconic and much loved Ghibli feel and style. Though I'm not one to usually go out and buy a turn based RPG, Ni no Kuni looks like a game to get excited about.
The release date for Australia, yet alone the US, is yet to be confirmed as the original Japanese version of the game set on the release date of Spring 2010.
Now go watch that trailer!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-u5rXbeUyE&feature=related
Here's the GT exploration gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfAYlxsYayM
