Ni no Kuni dev endeavors for games to transcend film

A deeper look at Studio Ghibli’s involvement with Ni No Kuni

It appears that Level-5 has some pretty lofty aspirations with Ni no Kuni. In this follow-up to the title’s initial developer diary, Animation Director Yoshiuki Momose discusses the collaborative effort behind the project. Words are quite unnecessary to convey how gorgeous this title looks. And if creating a living, breathing world with Studio Ghibli wasn’t ambitious enough, it might interest you to hear that the team behind Dragon Quest VIII and the Professor Layton series has some deeper designs in mind for both their company and the industry at large.

Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino has hopes that Level-5 can set itself apart form how the typical Japanese developer is perceived. He strives to create an environment where his employees are free to express themselves. And he dreams of a day when games are something more than they are now, envisioning a future when they are tantamount, if not a cut above, cinema. If we’re not quite there yet, Ni no Kuni certainly looks like a step in the right direction.