Ni No Kuni | Zavvi | £29.99 (save £4) | Price Comparison | Ni No Kuni Review

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch | £19.99 | PSN
Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch Price Comparison
Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch Review / Video Review

We've posted the list of PSN sales this week already, but this one is worthy of special note. It's a fantastic game, one of the best JRPGs of this generation, if not all time. Get on it, PS3 owners!

• What: Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch
• Where: Game Collection
• Current Price: £29.95
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch Price Comparison
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch Review / Video Review

This is the first time I've seen the much-loved JRPG under £30 and I wouldn't expect to see it drop much further any time soon. This offer is only for the weekend, so it'll be back up to £33 by Monday. On the plus side, for your money you're getting one of the best RPGs we've seen on this generation of consoles. Do you really want to be burned by the next Final Fantasy game again? Thought not. Don't forget to check out our reviews in the links above for more information on the game.

Thanks to dibz10 at HotUkDeals.

Been struggling to nab a copy of the JRPG extravaganza that is Level-5 and Studio Ghibli's Ni No Kuni? Well fret not, as Namco Bandai have announced that UK stock is due to be replenished this week.

In what can only be described as a massive coup for JRPGs, PS3 exclusive Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch has soared straight into the number one sales spot. This sublime collaboration between Level-5 and Studio Ghibli has haunted our dreams for months now, and the finished product is nothing short of spectacular. Check out our Ni No Kuni video review and in-depth written review for more details.

Elsewhere in the charts, Hitman's HD trilogy joins the same old faces jockeying for position, and the top forty is still bereft of Wii U exclusives. We've got the full UK top ten after the break.

With Ni No Kuni releasing this week, we reflect on JRPGs as a genre and discuss their niche appeal here in the West. We chat about our favourites, and try to come up with a top three, as well as discussing how the genre might broaden its appeal outside of Japan.

PWNCAST | Season 3: Episode 4 - JRPGs, Recorded: January 31st, 2013

Parental Advisory: We've tried to keep it as conversational and informal as possible, and you should be warned that there may be a few instances of strong language.

Click the banner at the top to play the file, or right click and select 'Save Link As' to download the file onto your hard drive.

Want more? Check out the rest of our PWNCAST posts onsite, hit us up on iTunes, or subscribe to the PWNCAST Feed here.

• What: Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch
• Where: Tesco Direct
• Current Price: £35
• voucher Code: TD-KFPW
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch Price Comparison
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Review
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Video Review
  

Overwhelming demand has seen the Level 5 / Studio Ghibli JRPG absolutely fly off the shelves since launch. As such, the price has gone up a little, but Tesco are currently the cheapest we can find by over £3. For Ghibli or JRPG fans, this really is the game you've been waiting for. Check out Matt's review links above if you still need convincing.

Thanks to erikadvice at HotUkDeals.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is out on Friday and, as we've discussed in a rather long and deeply involved review, it's pretty damn fantastic!

Here's a little summary:

Ni No Kuni is more than the sum of its parts, more than Level-5 doing an impression of Studio Ghibli. The story might not quite be in the same league as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, but there's something that resonates all the same. There were moments that brought tears to the eye, others that brought the biggest smile to my face, and innumerable little vignettes that made me audibly chuckle, and all this amplified by visuals that dazzle and delight, a score that floods your ears with magnificence, and Familiar-based combat that proves rich and deep and engrossing. A triumph in roleplaying escapism.

Anywy, the video review is ready, so you can hear the mellifluous tones of my voice while sinking into a game so pretty it would probably make John McClane swoon.

Platforms: PS3

Developers: Level-5 | Studio Ghibli

Publishers: Namco Bandai

NB. There are some light story spoilers in terms of the set up and Oliver's motivations, but that's it.

There's a reason why I love RPGs - perhaps the greatest being that it's such a rich and varied genre. Sometimes I want to forge my own path and write my own stories in a world of fantasy and adventure. Other times, I want to dive into a narrative-rich experience that sucks me in like my favourite books might, and lets me fill in the gaps between plot points. There's a sense of immersion with which I've always connected, from tabletop to page-turner to PC to Game Boy to Xbox to iPad. Much of it has to do with investment, and the time and careful consideration that goes into setting things up the way we want them and developing characters in certain ways. But more often than not, it has to do with exceptional world building, and the sheer thrill of escapism.

Level-5 and Studio Ghibli know more than most about weaving fantastical webs designed to captivate the mind and warm the heart.

It's one of those collaborations that you dream of, really, and one that fans might never have thought would genuinely occur given Ghibli's famed director Hayao Miyazaki's apprehension over video games as a worthwhile medium. But although he might have little to do with Ni No Kuni himself, the strong sense of morality and strength of character that oozes from the works of his such as Ponyo, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and Spirited Away, are clearly evident in Ni No Kuni. It's clearly been a labour of love, enormous in scale and yet rich in detail. The name gives it away: Ni No Kuni, roughly translated, means 'second country', stirring up connotations of another world, a concept that works on a number of levels.

The dream, of  course, is that playing Ni No Kuni is like virtually living out a Studio Ghibli film - one in which you play a more direct role. But have Level-5 pulled it off?

• What: Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch
• Where: Tesco Direct
• Current Price: £30.99
• Voucher Code: TD-KFPW
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch Price Comparison
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch Preview

It seems like we've been waiting forever for this Studio Ghibli / Level 5 JRPG, but there's not long to go now before the February 1st release. Zavvi's deal that I posted last week was a marginally more expensive and his since sold out, making this the best choice for anyone who still hasn't pre-ordered. There's a demo on the PSN store if you're still not sure, or you can check out Matt's video of the game's opening half hour.

Thanks to TanyaSpace at HotUkDeals.

Ni No Kuni is nearly here. Next Friday, PS3s will be overrun with delightful whimsy, masterful RPGing, astounding aesthetics, and floods of tears. Our review - both text and video - will be arriving on Monday, but in the meantime stick the new launch trailer in your face and, if that's not enough to suffice, you can watch the entire first half hour of the game right here.

Now we've invested in some nifty video capture hardware, we figured it's about time we started bringing you some more video goodness. For a number of games that we review, we're going to look to provide Opening Scenes videos to supplement our review material. In this series of videos, we'll simply present the first 15-30 minutes of the game in question - no voiceovers, no waffle, no edits, just pure, unadulterated gameplay footage!

First up, it's Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.

Ni No Kuni's European Wizard Edition is set to include an adorable Drippy plush toy, an enormous 300-page art book and some exclusive DLC... but if you really want to torture yourself, this new unboxing video also shows off the extras included in the US version. American customers will net a bonus soundtrack CD, wizard coin and art cards thanks to the region-specific 'Ninostarter' swag campaign, so prepare to hold back a few tears or epithets.

Just focus on cuddly Drippy. Lovely Drippy. Nice, CALMING Drippy.

Either way, Matt is hard at work on our Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch review in advance of its February 1st release date.

Ni No Kuni may have been delayed by another week, but the latest trailer explains why it's almost certainly going to be worth the wait. Veteran Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisashi (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle) waxes lyrical about how he transitioned from animated films into videogames, and how the fantasy setting inspired him to create original music that "everyone can enjoy."

As previously reported, Ni No Kuni will release on February 1st for PS3.

Namco Offer Free Familiar DLC By Way Of Apology

Curse you logistics! Namco Bandai apologised today, saying that Level-5 and Studio Ghibl's phenomenal-looking JRPG Ni No Kuni has been delayed by a week.

• What: Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch
• Where: Zavvi
• Current Price: £31.46 (use code PRE2013)
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch Price Comparison
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch Preview

Its so close we can almost taste the sweet tears that'll be shed over this heartwarming collaboration between Studio Ghibli and Level-5. Excited doesn't even begin to cover it. Zavvi are running a host of pre-order deals right now, so make sure you punch in PRE2013 to undercut Gameseek.

Being The Hut Group, though, I wouldn't hold your breath for it on launch day.

Platforms: PS3

Developers: Level-5 | Studio Ghibli

Publishers: Namco Bandai

Being invited to spend three hours in the company of Ni No Kuni is akin to delightful torture. A twenty-minute, combat-oriented demo can give you a flavour for the game, not  to mention something to write about, without sucking you in too much. The fact is that, having lost track of time with Oliver and Drippy in Level-5's gorgeous JRPG, I didn't want to leave. Thank god we don't have too long to wait until it's actually out, then!

We covered the game's opening scenes in our last hands-on preview, but here's a quick refresher. Our hero is a young chap named Oliver who, one a fateful night, decides to sneak out of his house in Motorville and test-drive the souped-up car he's built with his chum. Only it goes wrong, the wheels literally fall off, and Oliver ends up in the local river, unable to swim. Anyway, to cut a long story short, his mother rescues him, then dies because she has a weak heart, Oliver wakes up an imprisoned fairy after crying all over it, and the fairy (named Drippy) reveals that the world he comes from is inhabited by close doppelgangers of those who live in Oliver's, and that their souls are connected.

Essentially, our man Olly decides that he's going to venture into Drippy's world, learn to become a wizard (one of the last of a dying breed), save Drippy's world from the nefarious machinations of an evildoer known as Shadar - the Dark Djinn, save  his mum's doppelganger, and thereby hopefully restore his mum back in Motorville.

Simples.

By now, you probably know that Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch is a collaboration between veteran JRPG designer Level-5 and legendary animators Studio Ghibli.

You probably also know that it's the most heartbreakingly beautiful game we've seen in years.

The PS3 exclusive has received a lengthy Gamescom trailer, which reinforces just how badly we want to play it. Look out for this in January 2013 - check out our Ni No Kuni hands-on preview for more details.

Platform: PS3

Developers: Level-5 | Studio Ghibli

Publishers: Namco Bandai

Playing Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is an activity that requires the gamer to constantly pinch themselves in order to make absolutely certain that they aren't dreaming. In a day and age where we told by publishers and platform holders that we have to pay a high price for everything, where mainstream gaming milks its audience for every last drop, where we're told that we can't possibly be allowed nice things, that we're stupid, and violent, and need to be constantly stimulated every 5 seconds for fear...it's heartwarming enough that such a wonderful union has blossomed.

Studio Ghibli and Level-5 sitting in a tree.

As with most relationships, high drama tends to hide the simple matter of asking someone out. In this case, Level-5 had the early concepts for a game, and they asked Studio Ghibli if they fancied collaborating on it.

The story is all Level-5, though it's clear where they've drawn their inspiration from. The game opens with protagonist Oliver running around his little home town, picking up groceries, and concocting the sorts of adventurous plans with his best friend that young boys do - the sort that will invariably result in danger, grazed knees, and a worried mother. Slipping out of his house after dark, the boys' experiment has terribly tragic consequences, and Oliver is left inconsolable at the loss of someone close to him, crying rivers at the result of his folly.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch is still months away from its European release, with Level-5 and Studio Ghibli painstakingly ensuring that every aspect of the English localisation is up to standard. Sadly, the wait has gotten even more unbearable thanks to a clutch of gorgeous new screenshots, which to not put too fine a point on things, are heartbreakingly lovely.

We recently caught up with Namco Bandai's Dennis Lee, who talked us through the localisation process at E3 2012. Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch is scheduled for a January 2013 launch exclusively on PS3, and Matt will be delivering some hands-on impressions soon.