Level-5 Bringing Studio Ghibli-Animated RPG To PS3

Ever since it was announced in 2008, Level-5's upcoming Studio Ghibli-animated roleplaying game Ni no Kuni had only been known to be in development for Nintendo DS, but now the studio has revealed it has a PlayStation 3 version in the works as well. Independent developer Level-5 has steadily increased its profile over the last several years, having developed two Dragon Quest games for Square Enix and self-published its own Professor Layton series in Japan. As for Studio Ghibli, this major Japanese animation studio co-founded by animation legend Hayao Miyazaki is known for films like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, and Ni no Kuni is its first major video game collaboration. Japanese print publication Famitsu -- as reported by Siliconera -- confirmed a PlayStation 3 version of Ni no Kuni, but did not give any indication of when it will be released. Meanwhile, the Nintendo DS version of the title is said to be scheduled to ship this fall. With development said to have begun about two years ago, Ni no Kuni was originally scheduled to release some time in 2009, but has seen multiple delays. Not only will the PlayStation 3 version of the game feature high-definition graphics, it will apparently also feature a significantly different game design and plot. A batch of downscaled screenshots of the game demonstrate its visual style, which includes detailed 3D environments and flat-shaded characters reminiscent of traditional cel animation.