Ni no Kuni getting english release

[TomGuycott]

Spoiler

I never understood Ghibli's movies anyway

It's just lots of subtext (and just plainly spelled out in general too) about how war is bad, really, at least all the ones I've seen. I've never seen Kiki's Delivery Service, for example, which as far as I can tell probably has the LEAST to do with that kind of thing, though that's what I also thought about Castle in the Sky before I saw it and that probably had the MOST to do with that kind of plot.

Especially so considering the fact that

Castle in the Sky is the ONLY Ghibli movie out of the ones I've seen where the villain was ENTIRELY a villain with no redeemable factors (Like the villain in Spirited Away caring for her baby) or just being filled with shades of gray in general.

ANYWAY, on the topic of the game I think that the Ghibli style looks kind of ugly for human models, and that I hope the animation quality I usually associate with the studio isn't diminished in the 3D animation (so far it just looks okay, nothing great or terrible, just too early to tell). What I DO like are the monster designs so far, I've always liked the monster and creature designs by Ghibli. I think the biggest factor is likely going to be gameplay. I happened to find this footage of a boss battle from the DS version:


(No, you moron, Video takes don't end in a /Spoiler tag.)

One thing I like here is the way the formation in battle is movable and a factor in victory. It's a step up from traditional turn-based battle systems, which I consider a point in the game's favor. Granted I have no idea how the PS3 version will play, I didn't read how the battle system is supposed to work from the footage I saw. Overall I think the game could prove enjoyable, though I don't think it'll end up being legendary beyond the "Oh, Studio Ghibli's name attached to a game!" factor. I mean, this thread is the first I've heard of it at all.