 6:18 PM on 09.17.2010 |
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Ni no Kuni does for Ghibli movies what Uncharted 2 and God of War 3 do for American action films. The game is a first class anime that you can play. All of the backgrounds are coated in beautiful, watercolor-style textures, and the games characters are masterfully cel shaded. Where the game really got me was the character animation. It's so subtle, yet so masterfully crafted. The most evocative moments from Studio Ghibli films often come from those quiet, seeming inconsequential events that somehow work to make the animated world on screen feel completely real.
In just the brief time I had with Ni no Kuni, I experience several moments like this. The way that the game's young protagonist seriously but playfully hops from rock to rock when traversing a small stream, the way his small cape seems alive as if waves in the wind, the way an NPC glances over at you as you walk by with a slow calm that speaks to an existence of totally harmony; it all comes together to put the player in a state of tranquil, but intense engagement with the game's events.
Oh, and the gameplay. It's pretty standard stuff. The battle system felt reminiscent of Final Fantasy XII; real-time combat with multiple commands that you can send to your party. My Japanese is awfully weak, so who knows what I was doing, but I counted about ten directions in all that you can give to your party members, and about five commands that you chose for yourself. It mostly felt like the NPCs where taking out the game's enemies on their own, but that was fine by me. I was happy just to be there.
"This game contains no tutorials or explanations. Part of the experience is to discover things for yourself."
Thus reads the disclaimer when you fire up a new game of The Starship Damrey, Level-5's atmospheric sci-fi adventur...
The first in Level-5's Guild02 triple pack, The Starship Damrey, arrived on the 3DS eShop earlier today for $7.99. A new trailer for the moody sci-fi adventure game has surfaced, featuring choice words from game designer Kaz... With the three Guild02 games already out in Japan and the first in the set, Starship Damrey, scheduled for release in the States on May 16, it's time to look towards he future. It's never too soon to start thinking "sequel"!
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According to Si... Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy is set to arrive on North American shores in 2014. After arriving in Japan back in late February, the sixth entry in Level-5's series of puzzlers is slated to arrive in Europe someti... It was previously announced that two of the three games in Level-5's Guild02 compilation, Bugs vs. Tanks! and The Starship Damrey, would be localized for the US eShop. Missing from that news was any indication that ... Three distinct games released under the Guild01 banner on the 3DS eShop are going on sale soon. From Thursday, April 18 through May 30, shmup Liberation Maiden ($4.99), airport sim Aero Porter ($2.99), and role-play... For months now, fans, or prospective fans who don't own a PS3, have been clamoring for a localization of the DS version of Ni No Kuni, which Namco Bandai shut down to due "translation issues and costs regarding the Wizard's C... What's next for the team behind Ni no Kuni? A mysterious new PlayStation 4 project, apparently. Level-5 boss Akihiro Hino confirmed as much in a recent interview with Nikkei Trendy.
Currently in the planning stages, Hino... |
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