Ni No Kuni will finally bring JRPGs to PS3

Critical Game writes: One of the glaring problems of this generation of consoles has been its failure to produce truly great traditional Japanese RPGs. Certainly there have been plenty of solid efforts, and the likes of Lost Odyssey, Eternal Sonata, Resonance of Fate and Final Fantasy XIII all have their charms. We have even had excellent deviations from the standard style of Japanese RPGs with the strategy focused Valkyria Chronicles. But looking back at the 128, 32 and 16 bit eras it is hard not to get the impression that when it comes to memorable, high quality traditional Japanese RPGs, we have been left wanting by the HD consoles. Ni No Kuni could be the game that finally overturns that preconception.

[B-Real206]

All I want is a US release.

[lightningsax]

I'm guessing we'll see a PS3 US release. They'll certainly have enough of a niche audience at the very least that will eat this up, plus a bunch of people that loved Studio Ghibli in the past but didn't necessarily buy every RPG out there. So long as there's a bit of marketing, it'll sell.

The DS version... now that's up in the air. It's much more traditional than the PS3 one, it obviously has less impressive graphics, and Japan may still have that lingering perception that traditional JRPG's don't work in the US without some hook or a long-running franchise.

[Yi-Long]

...but only when it has the option for the original voices and it's uncut.

[bananlol]

I may not have finished a single jrpg beyond the ps1 era, but after watching that first image i simply must get this game. A friend of mine kept going on about a studio ghibli game, but i thought that was only for the ds. This is great news, hopefully we have a EU release date within a year.

@Yi-Long
Its on a BlueRay and not made by squareenix, so yea it will probably have the original voices and be uncut. Knowing studio ghibli is involved pretty much sets this in stone. I think the mailed a fucking sword to some jerk who was trying to edit the western release of princess mononoke.

[AKS]

Just give me English subtitles and I will import it from Japan I'd actually prefer that so there is no chance it will be localized in a way that includes $***ty dubs and cuts content because they think I would be to bewildered and confused to learn about something from outside my culture. It really blows my mind that some of these beancounters think the crowd shopping for Japanese games would not be open to cultural differences.

The artwork is Ghibli gorgeous. I can't wait to see it in motion set to music. I know the score will be terrific. Does anyone know who is the composer?

[rockleex]

But what they don't know is that there just hasn't been any great JRPGs, at least for the HD consoles, this generation.

The only ones I can think of is Lost Odyssey (only because other JRPGs suck compared to this), Valkyria Chronicles (niche), and Demon's Souls (niche AND only for hardcore gamers).

I still have hopes that someone can release a great JRPG this generation. Versus XIII and Ni No Kuni are great contenders.

JRPGs that should be released this generation are:

Persona 5
Dark Cloud 3 (step your game up Level 5)
Kingdom Hearts 3

JRPGs that are unlikely to be released this generation but SHOULD be are:

new Chrono game
Final Fantasy Tactics 2
FF7 remake (if Versus is any good)
new Suikoden (MUST be on par with Suikoden 2's level of epicness)
Xenogears reboot (Square still owns the rights, can be made into a franchise since the original game was supposed to be 6 separate games taking place over thousands of years)
Tales of Destiny 3
Breath of Fire 5

And then some others.

[Kain81]

All i want is a EU release

BTW Namco-Bandai Sucks

[scruffy_bear]

Total agree a EU release would make my day as we are short of JRPG's on the PS3

[IDesertFoxI]

An EU release would be pretty cool.

[foker]

well they brought Demon's Souls to Europe,.. And the edition they made wass badass for 60Euros or less,..

Im just glad I got to play my favorite game of all time,..

[Mondayding]

And you'll not get either. Opinions why...?

[MetalFreakMike]

They need to bring this game over here and stop not giving us games we want. Too many games that still need to make their way over here that will most likely never will. I'm mostly talking about the Tales games but maybe things will change........(Who am I kidding......).

[imoutofthecontest]

Demon's Souls, Tales of Vesperia, Disgaea 3+4, Valkyria Chronicles, Tales of Graces F, Final Fantasy XIII, Nier, Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4 soon, Atelier Rorona, Atelier Totori, Resonance of Fate, Eternal Sonata, Trinity Souls of Zill O'll...
The PS3 already has lots of JRPGs on it and a lot looming in the horizon.
Not sure where the "finally" comes from.

[Chris399]

The "finally" is rather out of place. As far as JRPGs on home consoles, the PS3 is where it's at. 360 had the advantage of being first to market, so they had the upper hand initially, but the tides have since turned and a lot of those titles went multi (Star Ocean, Eternal Sonata, Vesperia).

I know you weren't making a comprehensive list, but there's also Folklore and WKC 1 & 2. A bunch of SRPG titles too, like Tears to Tiara, Agarest 1 & 2.

Interesting to note is that the PS3 future release calendar is chock full of JRPGs, whereas the other two consoles are lacking in this genre for the foreseeable future.

[Redempteur]

as a rpg fan i'm more than happy with my PS3.

[Ravage27]

Since ArTonelico3 and AtelierTotori are already locked for a 2011 release, all i need now is the confirmation of the localization of both WKC2 & Ninokuni and i'll have enough to satisfy my RPG hunger next year.

Btw for those interested in TrinityZillO'll, there's a demo up on the japanese PSN store and it's FANTASTIC. Game plays much better than i thought and it has a decent art style too.

[mastiffchild]

My mate was saying great things about Trinity... as well. He played a bit out in Tokyo and was surprised at the depth of the action combat and that the switching between characters was really well integrated into the core game play. Way he told it it even looked better than we might have expected and it could be a really good game when it arrives over here in the EU/UK. I'm certainly very interested now.

[Blaster_Master]

None of those games feels like jrpgs imoutofthecontest. Those are action game's with rpg elements. Us hardcore jrpg fans have been waiting for something in the lines of like FFX, Xenogears, Grandia, ect ect... since the beginning of this gen. This is not a jrpg if it has an action battle system. I hate tales like games, if I wanna play a action rpg ill just play God of War.

[imoutofthecontest]

Tales games aren't action RPGs, they're turn-based. The action RPGs on my list are Demon's Souls, Yakuza, and Trinity Zill.

While many of them have flashy action, their battles are still turn-based.

They're not to your personal liking, but they're certainly JRPGs.

[Blaster_Master]

cant be turn based when you button mash to hit enemies.

[Redempteur]

So you're saying tales of and star ocean , even if they exist since the SNes aren't jrpgs games because they have a action battle system ?

Your tastes are your own but open your mind , man !
These games are jrpgs whenever you like it or not . ("us hardcore ?" if you're so hardcore you should have been busy playing the good jrpgs this gen already ( there are plenty of them ))

"cant be turn based when you button mash to hit enemies."
button smashing? did you play those games ? the "meat" of the tales of game is to comboing your ennemies ..bouton smashing is useless past the tutorial stages .
Blocking , evading is all part of the battle system.

[Blaster_Master]

I dont mind action rpgs. Summoner and Oblivion come mind. But we are talking jrpgs'. When I think of jrpgs' I think of Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Skies of Arcadia,Alitier Iris, (BTW, Atelier Rorona sucked bad but that was a jrpg). I know Dragon Warrior 9 came out for the DS, but still I want to play the darn game on my tv in HD. I want games that make you travel in a world map, search for mystical items in caves and labyrinths, use special items to open up new areas (like the tide stones that opened up the casscade caves in Dragon Warrior 4) Skies of Arcadia is probalby my favorite rpg, why isn't there a sequel yet? Im going through good jrpg withdrawls over here and you guys keep on accepting these turds that devs just drop in your laps. I've about given up seriously. Good jrpg's are dead IMO. Now we got action games' with rpg elements. Thanks new school gamers. Thank you very much for ruining gaming for me.

Redemptur, you just proved my point.

[mastiffchild]

No, not really. JRPGS in the sense BM wants them exist mainly on the handhelds these days-there's plenty of pure turn based stuff on PSP and DS but it's a niche market today and one that's shinking as JRPG makers look to expand beyond the core who supporterd them for so long. IMHO there needs to be more thought put into combat in JRPGS. Why can't there be a true marriage of strategy(turn based) and true skill based action in them?

I advocate a system where the difficulty affects what you do in combat starting with an easy mode for newcomers that looks after most of the strategic stuff and allows "press X to win" for them to get into the stopries and the genre. As the difficulty ramps up you could have dynamic pauses for the turn based stuff-so you can implement your strategy but in a set time and then go back to battles where actual skill(and not just single button presses) dictate part of the outcome and the execution of what you planned in the pauses. Real time dodging/evading and the casting of spells/cures that you set up in the pauses which could get shorter as the difficulty ramps up further. IDK how hard to implement this would be but, even if it's flawed(which it no doubt is) at least it would be a starting point for trying to grow the user base AND placate people who like the trad stuff too.

The last thing we really need is for the JRPG gamers to be split further as all that means is fewer sales all round and fewer games even making it west. I understand people like BM enjoy their turn based stuff(I do too but not to the exclusion of everything else)but the elitist attitude isn't helping and makes, imho, devs job seem even more difficult in trying to move the genre forwards. Seriously, I also see why people think the "after you..." nature of turn based combat is a bit silly too. A good halfway house that pleases action and strategy fan alike is what's needed and to do so a bit of compromise from gamers is also in order, no? Be best all round from where I'm sat and if you really MUST have pure DQ trad turn based you know where to find it anyway.

My scheme might not work, IDK if it would, but thought along similar lines is about the only hope I see for JRPGS not dwindling even further and getting more and more niche and the user base more and more splintered.

[Redempteur]

"Redemptur, you just proved my point. "
you proved nothing all the experiences you've presented are possible with some actions rpgs like "tales of" did you try it ?

dragon quest is a classic but it doesn't define jrpgs as a whole..you've just limiting your point of view.
i don't need to explain my tastes in jrpgs....i game since i don't know when .and most Jrpgs don't always have the epic scale of a dragon quest 4 or a sky of arcadia ... Is persona 3 a action rpg ? there is no epic exploration in it ..yet it's a good jrpg

"Now we got action games' with rpg elements."
play them because you look foolish .. The turn based model is gone because it need to evolve simple as that Only dragon quest keep using it because they keep their roots to the extreme.

that said it's your taste.. keep waiting for old school battle systems with no tweaks .. you won't get any Jrpgs to play .
PS: atelier rorona was the perfect exemple of a old school battle system ( Similar to atelier annie ) yet you hated it ..
Way to be logical with yourself

[imoutofthecontest]

Sounds like BlasterMaster's definition of an "RPG" is "games I like."

Watch this: "Xenogears and FFX aren't RPGs because you just button mash to beat enemies."

See how easy that is?

[Da One]

I' played most of those they're JRPG's FFX quality JRPG from SE is never happening again
Persona is coming who knows when
Grandia = Dead
Xenogears.......well Xenoblade

Action battle systems. So you're saying that Rogue Galaxy, Dark Cloud1 and 2 aren't RPG's due to the action based battles system(ARPG).

[WLPowell]

You have no idea what your talking about. "hardcore JRPG" fans like yourself consider God of War to be an action RPG like Demon's Souls? Then you and the rest of them are clueless beyond help. Just because they're not turn-based doesn't mean they don't "Feel like jrpgs".

[Blaster_Master]

free roam combat with dynamic battle system (button mashing) is an action game. Anyone who thinks other wise is clueless. Sorry. Action game + rpg elements doesn't make an rpg. Unless you add tons of story, npc characters that are more than just voice overs, shops, quest, towns, weapons shops, and most of all currency/exp not the all in one orb collecting.

[mastiffchild]

Why does action combat HAVE to mean mashing? That's just a cheap argument to me and, though I can thiunk of some lazy systems where it's true, it really shouldn't be like that. Thgere are ways of joining the strategy of turn based with the freedom of action based combat and we don't need to dumb down either for those wanting a challenge on either front. Do them both well and integrate the system well and you're off. No reason it can't work and nop reason action combat in JRPGS cannot depend on the strategy elements as we3ll as NOT being simple button mashing.

Loads of games already offer the exploration and NPC interaction you also crave for things to be regarded as RPGS BM, don't they? If that's the case I don't see why we can't marry things further as button mashing need not apply here and you know it-if the action took real skill and was affected by the strategic choices you made in game would you feel different? Sometimes JRPG gamers are too stuck in their ways to even consider new ways forwards and it makes it hard for devs to make great new games with a chance of appealing across the board and that's what we should all be aiming for as there will always be niche titles at either end of the spectrum for fans of pure action or pure turn based anyway. If that means handheld gaming then so be it-niche titles on HD consoles cost too much to be frequent occurences, no?

I just feel there needs to be a big move towards bringing the disparate parts of JRPG gaming together and the main driuve needs to be a great, integrated combat system that allows action skill and turn based elements to be equally important to your in game success. Why not? I outlined my idea above(very briefly) but I'm sure you could all think of similar but better ways yourselves. But surely, we can agree that something needs to be done before the genre gets sidelined further?

[Cubes]

Got to say I love the look of this game, beautiful artwork.

[ReaperXL7]

A US release has already been confirmed by level-5, the only thing we really need is a date for that release.

Also food for thought, Level-5 has created a branch of their studio in california with the express purpose of localizing their games to help ensure that they see release soon rather than later.

One of my most anticipated games of next year easy.

[Clarence]

I really hope we get to play this game.

[bustamove]

Bring this game to the U.S!

[PS360fanboy]

At last, jrpgs on the PS3!

[-Gespenst-]

I'm trusting this and Versus XIII to set jrpgs back on the right track again.

[stuntman_mike]

I'm so excited about this game, hope they bring it to the UK. Finally looks like they will release a traditional rpg and not mess around with the formula.

[maxcer]

im still waiting on a NA ToV ps3 release