We take a look at the beautiful action-RPG collaboration between Level-5 and renown animation house Studio Ghibli.
What we're talking about: Ninokuni is a game originally announced for Nintendo DS as a collaboration between game developer Level-5 and Japanese animation giant Studio Ghibli (the studio behind films such as Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away). The PS3 version, Shiroki Seihai no Joō, follows the same story as its DS counterpart, but it's been rebuilt from the ground up for the PS3 with completely revised visuals.
Where we saw it: At the Level-5 booth on the Tokyo Game Show floor.
What you need to know:
- The game is a similar to action role-playing games like Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, right down to the animal characters that fight for you on the battlefield. The game is fixed, however, on the main character Oliver and his companion, Shizuku (the dude with the lantern nose). Other characters and their animals might join them on the the battlefield and can perform combined attacks, but the interface and the camera angles make it clear this is an intimate story all about Oliver and Shizuku.
- It's impossible to get lost in this game. Dungeon areas like a forest are linear, the big open-world map usually has a very clearly visible destination (like a castle off in the distance), and in towns, Shizuku runs ahead of Oliver toward the next quest objective and will patiently wait for you if you decide to wander off.
- The battle system allows for Oliver to fight with a little stick, but primarily, players use an Oliver menu to give commands to his attack animal. You scroll through options with the D-pad and activate them by pressing circle. You can also hit L1 to trigger combined attacks with other players' animals or with Oliver himself on the battlefield.
- Occasionally, an option in the D-pad battle menu will flash, indicating you should perform that action next (taunt, block, rush, etc.). Following these prompts is like performing a quick-time event but with less "Think fast, button mash!" urgency.
- It's a very, very pretty game. The animation style used in-game is so smooth that you barely notice the difference between it and the Ghibli animations used in story cut-scenes.
Point in development cycle: Probably alpha. The Japanese release window is sometime in 2011 and so far, there's no talk of a U.S. release.
My take: The game is exquisite but not very complex. I'm thinking it's a good title to have your friends gather around and watch like an interactive movie. Just make sure they bring Kleenex -- the game starts off with a dead mother, and Ghibli knows how to milk your emotions.
