Level-5 have been no slouches here, giving the characters and backgrounds of the game proper the same kind of subtly nuanced animation that has become the hallmark of Ghibli quality and which infuses that special kind of magic into everything they do. Even outside of the fully animated cutscenes – which adhere to the ridiculously high standard we’ve come to expect from Ghibli productions – the player is frequently invited to just stop and drop his jaw at the typically brilliant character design and the lush backdrops and environments. Especially on the PS3, but even on the humble DS, Ni No Kuni is one of the most achingly gorgeous games you’re likely to ever feast your eyes upon. The title says it all, really – take a Dragon Quest game, replace one legend of visual storytelling with another (Dragonball creator Akira Toriyama for legendary animation house Studio Ghibli) and this is pretty much what you get – the same old gameplay and basic structure given a new lick of polish and with a couple of fresh gimmicks thrown in.īut what a lick of polish it is.
(Note: This review is of the Japanese version of the game and therefore many of the names, terms etc.
