All Articles: Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Level-5’s Hino Yoshihiro confirms that multiple Ni No Kuni games are currently in development

Hino Yoshihiro, the President of Level-5, recently sat down for an interview with Japanese newspaper Nikkei, and he had a few things to say about the future of the Ni No Kuni franchise.

Yoshihiro told the newspaper that he wants to release multiple new games in the series after the animated film adaptation, which will be released in Japan in August. The developer will start this ambitious plan right away with the launch of a Remastered version of Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch for the PC, PS4, and Switch in September.

After that, Yoshihiro said he would like to take “a new approach” with future installments in the franchise (all but confirming Ni No Kuni 3), while also adding that Ni No Kuni games will also continue to be associated with smartphones.

Aside from Wrath of the White Witch Remastered, nothing is known about most of the new Ni No Kuni games in development, and it’s possible it could be a very long time before we learn more.

Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch | Tagged

GTA5 is “Game of the Year” at the 2013 VGX Awards

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The first ever VGX Awards (formerly known as the Spike TV Video Game Awards) were held last night and the best games of 2013 were once again crowned by GameTrailers.com’s Geoff Keighley (with an assist from Community‘s Joel McHale). The general consensus among the Internetatti is that the show still doesn’t know what it wants to be and that the “intimate studio setting” (and McHale) made the whole thing feel a bit bizarre. But what about the award winners?

In what is sure to be the first of many, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V was named “Game of the Year” by the VGX Advisory Council. Rockstar’s crime saga also took home “Best Soundtrack.” But, the developer missed out on “Studio of the Year” honors. That award went to Naughty Dog for their work on The Last of Us. Their apocalyptic story was also awarded “Best PlayStation Game.” “Best Voice Actor” (Troy Baker), and “Best Voice Actress” (Ashley Johnson). Other multiple award winners include indie sensation Gone Home (“Best PC Game” and “Best Independent Game”) and BioShock Infinite (“Best Shooter” and “Best Song in a Game”).

A complete list of this year’s winners, including the remaining genre awards, “Best Xbox Game” (the surprising Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons), and “Best Nintendo Game” (Super Mario 3D World), can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ni No Kuni, The Cave, Just Dance 4, Dust 514, Disgaea 2, more added to PS Store

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It’s another big week for Sony’s PlayStation Store this week.

This week’s big new release is Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, Level-5’s collaboration with Studio Ghibli that has locked JRPG aficionados into a frenzy. And speaking of collaborations, adventure game The Cave marks the first team-up of Ron Gilbert and Double Fine Productions.

What else, what else… Today is the first day of the Dust 514 open beta and the PS2 Classic Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories has been added to the store to go with last week’s addition of the first game. Finally, Ubisoft has added a download version of Just Dance 4 to the PlayStation Store.

Hit the jump for more information on this week’s new releases (including Ninja Gaiden Sigma and a new PSP game) and check out the PlayStation Blog for an overview of this week’s new game add-ons. (more…)

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New Releases: Ni No Kuni, The Sims 3: 70s 80s 90s Stuff

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Two new games will be released in stores this week, but I have a feeling that one will be much more popular than the other.

This week’s biggest new release is definitely Level-5’s Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. Level-5 is on quite the roll lately (after the success of the “Guild01” releases on the 3DS eShop) and their collaboration with Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli has had gamers in a frenzy for a long time. We’ll finally get to see what all the fuss is about soon.

Also available this week is the latest Sims 3 “Stuff Pack,” The Sims 3: 70s, 80s, and 90s Stuff. I predict a lot of bell bottoms, spandex, and flannel.

Posted in News, PC, PS3 | Tagged

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Hands-On Preview: Get Ready For a Beautiful Adventure

There are many Japanese games I get excited about, even if they never end up coming here. But there’s one that I’ve been especially excited to see hit these shores for a very, very long time. I was pleased to finally be able to check out a demo – anything is better than nothing! And I can confirm that the demo for Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is just as amazing as all of those words make it sound. (more…)

Posted in Previews, PS3, Top Story | Tagged

Ni No Kuni’s E3 2012 trailer reveals January 22 release date

Gamers everywhere were pretty distraught when Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, the Namco Bandai-published PS3 collaboration between Level-5 and Studio Ghibli, was delayed from late 2012 to early 2013. Thankfully, the new year will only be three weeks old when we finally get a chance to play it. An E3 trailer for Ni No Kuni was released by Namco Bandai ahead of the big show and it confirms a January 22, 2013 release date for the game.

If you’re a fan of gorgeous animation, you owe it to yourself to watch the trailer above.

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Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch delayed; four gameplay videos released

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch has been delayed in North America, but with good reason. According to publisher Namco Bandai, the reason for the delay is an awesome one – not only will the game have a full English dub, but there will also be an option for the Japanese vocal track with English subtitles. My heart did a dozen cartwheels when it heard the news.

This PS3 exclusive, which is a collaboration between Level-5 and Studio Ghibli (can you say powerhouses?), will be out in winter of 2012 (AKA November/December) instead of early 2012 as first announced. To make you feel better, you can hit the jump for the four new gameplay videos that were released. Spoiler alert: they’re incredible. (more…)

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New IPs to Play Before the End of Days

The Mayans and film director Roland Emmerich would have us believe that the end of the world is nigh. Really nigh. Knee nigh almost. But despite the warnings, it seems most game designers shirked off the warning that was Emmerich’s masterpiece 2012 and decided to roll out the same old stuff. We have Final Fantasy XIII-2, Guild Wars 2, Borderlands 2, Darksiders II, The Darkness II, Mass Effect 3, Max Payne 3, Soul Calibur V, and Street Fighter X Tekken (I know the X doesn’t equal 10, but it might at well). I am sure some of these games will be amazing (and I have my £40 saved for Borderlands 2 already), but if it really, truly is the end of life, the universe and my games consoles, then is it too much to ask to play something new before we’re all burned, drowned, stabbed or frozen to death (depending on which mood Emmerich is in) instead of say, another instalment of Call of Duty or, hypothetically, taking an isometric political espionage strategy game from 1993 and turning it into yet another First Person Shooter?

Thankfully no. (more…)

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