It’s taken a LONG time–and it’s going to take a while longer still–but Level-5 and Studio Ghibli’s unbelievably gorgeous PS3 RPG Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is finally closing in on a North American release, delivered stateside by Namco Bandai. Still no specific launch date to report, but a Winter 2012 release window has been confirmed today. For Europe, the game will make its debut in Q1 2013.
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a collaborative effort all the way. Level-5, the development team behind Dragon Quest VIII, Dragon Quest IX, Dark Cloud, Professor Layton and so many other great titles, brings its JRPG know-how to the party, while Studio Ghibli, the Japanese film studio behind animated movie classics like Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away, supplies the film-quality character designs and animations, all to tell a lovely story about a young boy on a quest to bring his deceased mother back to life. On his journey to become a magician, Oliver must befriend and train various creatures to fight by his side in battle.
One final tidbit of great importance, the U.S. release will feature both English and Japanese voiceovers. That’s an option I know all JRPG fans will be happy to have.
Now, back to how beautiful the game is. Take a gander at these four new gameplay videos to see Ni no Kuni in all its fluidly animated splendor. After that, flip through the gallery of new screenshots. Maybe pick one to make your desktop wallpaper like I did.
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Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
