Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

[TheGrandMom]

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68bYWUOEXs8"]YouTube- Ni No Kuni PS3 - Level 5 - Studio Ghibli World Premiere Trailer[/nomedia]


Studio Ghibli and Level 5 are releasing a couple of RPGs that I'm totally stoked for! One is for the DS and one is for the PS3 and they are called The Another World. I'm going to assume that they are 2 different games but linked to one another....at least I'm hoping. (I haven't really researched it so if someone knows please post a link and the info please!) The above link is for the PS3 trailer and below is the DS trailer. (Sorry this newest video wasn't up on Youtube yet so you'll have to watch it on Kotaku.)


Studio Ghibli's DS Game Also Looking Beautiful

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

All I know is the story is from the people that did Princess Mononoke among other anime films. I'm optimistic since this isn't a collaboration with Sony (L5/Sony games tend to be as boring as shit), but I don't know much beyond the fact that The Another World will be the largest DS game in terms of gigabits.

The other largest DS card goes to Tokimeki Memorial: Girl's Side, but that's Japan-only and something most people couldn't care less about playing here in the US.

[Feba]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

In before Pai Pai acting like a little girl.

And TGM you forget to point out how mind-numbingly beautiful this game is looking like it will be.

All I know is the story is from the people that did Princess Mononoke among other anime films.

You really, really need a soul. Ghibli films tend to have great localization too. Hell:

Cate Blanchett
Noah Cyrus
Matt Damon
Frankie Jonas
Tina Fey
Liam Neeson
Cloris Leachman
Lily Tomlin
Betty White

That's the cast list that Walt Disney put together for Ponyo, which nobody even saw because Americans are assholes.

[Balfree]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

OMGOMGOGMOGMOGMGMOGOMG!

love the style and OMGOGMOGMOGM GHIBLI GAME!

is this their first time making games?

[TheGrandMom]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

I loved the style of Tales of Vesperia and this is like that +1. It looks like it kind of has a Pokemon flavor to it too. I don't want to get too hyped about it....lately when that happens it comes out and is a huge letdown.

Tales of Vesperia

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

In before Pai Pai acting like a little girl.

And TGM you forget to point out how mind-numbingly beautiful this game is looking like it will be.



You really, really need a soul. Ghibli films tend to have great localization too. Hell:

Cate Blanchett
Noah Cyrus
Matt Damon
Frankie Jonas
Tina Fey
Liam Neeson
Cloris Leachman
Lily Tomlin
Betty White

That's the cast list that Walt Disney put together for Ponyo, which nobody even saw because Americans are assholes.

If anything its games Dark Cloud, Rouge Galaxy and White Knight Chronicles that are soulless affairs. They are some of the most dull and sterile games I've ever played. The only games L5 ever made that had a soul were Dragon Quest and the Layton games. Pardon me if I like games that don't thrive on randomized dungeons, poorly designed menus and contrived item creation systems.

At least the Alchemy Pot was fun.

Additionally, cool how you left out Claire Danes and Billy Bob Thorton off that list, possibly because they didn't do a good job with their roles in Mononoke. It sounded like they didn't even care, which was kind of a problem, I'd say. Still like the studio's style, which is why I've seen other movies by them.

Spirited Away was my favorite by Studio Ghibli.

[Armando]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

Holy fucking shit, this actually makes me wish I had a PS3 for once.

I'm going to rage if this is actually a really good game (beyond graphics) and it fails to sell because it looked too "cute."

[TheGrandMom]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

Personally I enjoyed the hell out of Dark Cloud and Rogue Galaxy and disagree with you Kitten. Now WKC, was a huge HUGE disappointment. Even my son who is more forgiving eventually got to the point with the game where he didn't give a shit anymore and said he wasted a lot of money when he could have gotten just as much out of it with a rental. (Really funny thing too was that he convinced three of his friends to buy it so we could play online together. Now whenever he comes up with a suggestion, they call me and get my opinion first. lol)

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

I think Sony made a huge PR mistake with Dark Cloud, as they did try to promote it as a Zelda-type game. In fact they promoted it as a "Zelda-killer." You know, like how they promoted Killzone as a "Halo-killer."

And both blew up in their faces pretty good, because neither game possessed the qualities of what made Zelda or Halo popular. A poor version of Actraiser with Z-targeting battles is what I got from Dark Cloud. Zelda is a game that prides itself on intricately designed dungeons and they're not cut-and-paste affairs. In fact, Zelda is know for dungeons and exploration, not Z-targeted combat.

The second DC game was better than the first, but still - randomized dungeons killed it for me. Dragon Quest VIII showed they could actually do dungeons right, but not by their own devices.

Dark Cloud should have been promoted on its own merits, but it should have dropped the randomized dungeon bit - that shit is just lazy design. The only place randomized dungeons really work well is in strategy RPGs.

[Feba]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

The second game was better, but still - randomized dungeons. Meh.

lolmegaten.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

lolmegaten.

Persona 3 and 4 do have randomized dungeons to an extent, but they're not really about exploration so much as they are about ascending upward or downward, now are they? Nope, its just fighting you way through the dungeon and occasionally doing a mini-boss or dealing with a floor with a special trick to it.

Persona and Persona 2 don't have randomized dungeons.

Each floor in Dark Cloud does that Mystery Dungeon bullshit - "find the key to progress to the next randomized floor." This happens on every floor, every time and consists of the same ritual to find the key. That gets boring fast and character growth comes at a crawling pace.

SMT: Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga and Strange Journey all have dungeons built from the ground up. Those dungeons can go on for dozens of levels without any randomization and only some repetition in design. So random dungeons not a "MetaTen" thing, its a Persona thing.

Remember, Persona is a spin-off series, Persona is not main series Shin Megami Tensei. Digital Devil Saga is a spin-off, too, but it adheres to the main series dungeon style.

The SMT games like to pull "vector dungeon" kinds of antics on you. Trap doors, damage panels, open a door and something wants to kick your ass - that sort of thing. Wizardry kinds of stuff. If you're not familiar with that, try Class of Heroes on PSP or Etrian Odyssey on DS. You will be suckered in by cute anime characters and then mauled with classic western dungeon design.

[Feba]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

I wasn't referring to the games, I was referring to our local megatenhead decrying randomized dungeons and contrived synthesis.

But no BBQ, I get it; it's ok when you like things.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

I wasn't referring to the games, I was referring to our local megatenhead decrying randomized dungeons and contrived synthesis.

You said "lolMegaTen." MegaTen games do not have randomized dungeons, Persona games do. Persona is not "MegaTen" it is a spin off. Shin Megami Tensei might be slapped on as a surname, but Persona is very much its own franchise totally separate from the actual main series.

You know, the games you are now mischaracterizing as having random dungeons by saying "lolMegaTen"

When you say "MegaTen" people don't think Persona because its not referred to as "MegaTen," just "Persona."

In Japan it started out as "Megami Ibunroku: Persona" and has since just been "Persona" as of the second game. Brand identity, yo.

But no BBQ, I get it; it's ok when you like things.

Maybe I'm just not explaining it that well.

A better way of describing the Dark Cloud games is that they are "roguelikes." They do not bear the crushing difficulty of rougelikes, but they do have the same overall structure - a structure I happen to loathe intensely.

Each floor has an objective. That objective is randomized, as is the structure of the dungeon. You complete that objective to progress to the next floor. This should sound familiar to FFXI players, because I've just described Nyzul Isle.

Here's how Nyzul Isle goes:

You enter a floor. The leader reads the objective. The party bitches about the objective and whatever other random conditions have been placed on the floor. Its just a damn good time when you're a White Mage and the floor restricts the use of White Magic, especially when you get to the boss floors. Wipe-inducing fun.

Persona just has randomized rooms. There's no "find the key" or "slay six of X" to progress to each new, randomly-generated floor. There's no random ailment thrust on you - you just keep on moving forward as you would in a traditional RPG. That's the difference.

[Feba]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

You said "lolMegaTen."

Yes. Because I'm talking to you. But again, I get it BBQ, lots of people with your condition have trouble understanding non-literal speech.

[Icemage]

re: Ni No Kuni: Studio Ghibli and Level 5 coming out with some amazing stuff!

Note: This topic isn't about Persona/Shin Megami Tensei. Drop it kids, or I'll have to send you to the corner with dunce caps on.

/moderator hat off

Want this game lots. Makes me happy that I own a PS3. I don't normally import, but I'll make an exception if a North American localization isn't announced.


Icemage