Studio Ghibli's new game getting the HD treatment on PS3

1:00 PM on 06.25.2010   |   Josh Tolentino

Ever since the profound influence of Final Fantasy VII struck gamers everywhere, it's fair to say that character designs have been trending towards the profitable "belts-and-zippers" crowd of fans, inspiring endless cosplay attempts (and the occasional Bible Black parallel) and moving millions of tons of hair product yearly. That's why RPGs that look "different" tend to catch peoples' attention, and in the world of anime RPGs, nothing would be more "different" than the iconic style of Studio Ghibli.

That's part of the reason why Ni no Kuni: The Another World has been on my radar for a while, since that title's being developed by Level-5 (of Professor Layton and White Knight Chronicles fame) in close cooperation with the people behind Ponyo, Totoro and most of the other work that makes the mainstream perk up and "notice" anime every so often.

And now, lovers of Ghibli visuals (that own a PlayStation 3) will have even more to celebrate, as Ni no Kuni will be getting a PS3 release! And it's not just a port job either. The PS3 version will be constructed "from scratch", using different assets and even "story developments", apparently highlighted by it having a different subtitle than its DS-bound sibling. The price of this, though, is that the PS3 version's ship date will lag behind the DS, which is set for December this year.

It remains to be seen just how the two games are different excepting platform and resolution, but we can expect to hear more about it in the future. In the meantime, check out the sweet trailer below. You'll see a comparison between Ghibli's 2D animation and the game's 3D rendering about forty seconds in.

MOAR Video games:

I knew it, new Tales game commercial was only a teaser

Moe Can Change! still looks pretty moe to me

Type Moon isn't done with Mahou Tsukai no Yoru just yet

A look at the pretty concept art for the next Tales game

Persona 4's Naoto gets a spinoff novel, new hairdo

Facebook Shares

Around the web