Studio Ghibli fans have been patiently waiting for localization news about Ni No Kuni, Level 5’s RPG collaboration with the famous Japanese animation studio behind Princess Mononoke and others. Even if the news was bad, at least it would put speculation to rest.

As it turns out, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch will actually come here next year on PlayStation 3, courtesy of Namco Bandai.

The news was timed to Level 5’s “Vision” event in Japan late last week. I didn’t have anything up when the event happened because everything was filtering over on a Friday night. Sorry, bros!

Otherwise, Level 5 surprisingly announced a Professor Layton spin-off, Layton Brothers: Mystery Room, for somewhere very different than DS: iOS. As this isn’t a proper sequel, it’s likely Professor Layton isn’t leaving Nintendo’s nest, but Level 5’s experimentation onto Apple’s platform is certainly an interesting move.

Studio Ghibli fans have been patiently waiting for localization news about Ni No Kuni, Level 5’s RPG collaboration with the famous Japanese animation studio behind Princess Mononoke and others. Even if the news was bad, at least it would put speculation to rest.

As it turns out, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch will actually come here next year on PlayStation 3, courtesy of Namco Bandai.

The news was timed to Level 5’s “Vision” event in Japan late last week. I didn’t have anything up when the event happened because everything was filtering over on a Friday night. Sorry, bros!

Otherwise, Level 5 surprisingly announced a Professor Layton spin-off, Layton Brothers: Mystery Room, for somewhere very different than DS: iOS. As this isn’t a proper sequel, it’s likely Professor Layton isn’t leaving Nintendo’s nest, but Level 5’s experimentation onto Apple’s platform is certainly an interesting move.

Matchstick puzzles on your iDevices!

Portable matchsticks, yes please

GREAT NEWS! Ni No Kuni looks amazing, the visuals and the music appears to be just up my alley.

I want Ni No Kuni sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much.

You know what, as a DS owenr, I'd be pissed off at this if I didn't own a PS3...

but NOW I DO! Come to Europe, please!

All these things are exciting to me.

I hope it comes with that rad spellbook

@EoinMason said:

You know what, as a DS owenr, I'd be pissed off at this if I didn't own a PS3...

but NOW I DO! Come to Europe, please!

Why don't you just import? : )

But it won't have this!

@Cloudenvy said:

@EoinMason said:

You know what, as a DS owenr, I'd be pissed off at this if I didn't own a PS3...

but NOW I DO! Come to Europe, please!

Why don't you just import? : )

PS3 games are region free so do it!!, will be pre-ordering this ASAP, don't care how it plays, I just want to experience this game. If it's anything like Tales of Vesperia, oh man, I hope it's as good as that game, I don't play many JRPG's, but when I do, they tend to amaze me.

@Cloudenvy said:

@EoinMason said:

You know what, as a DS owenr, I'd be pissed off at this if I didn't own a PS3...

but NOW I DO! Come to Europe, please!

Why don't you just import? : )

Fair point, could do that. At the same time, if it comes to PS3, I'll have the great looking animation on my big screen TV so it'd be win/win either way.

This article is good because I get the quest thx giantbomb <3

Namco Bandai will also bring Ni no Kuni to Europe (according to Gamasutra).

@ScaryGaryofAk said:

Portable matchsticks, yes please

Never had those before.

This makes me happy. 
 
It looks like 2012 will be a good year for RPG's.

Can't Level 5 just make Dark Cloud 3. I loved those games.

@devilzrule27 said:

Can't Level 5 just make Dark Cloud 3. I loved those games.

I second this. I want more Georama, dammit. This is really great news about Ni No Kuni though.

@Cybexx said:

But it won't have this!

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/1/18950/1989774-17dmi_super.jpg

What is that?

@JacDG said:

@Cloudenvy said:

@EoinMason said:

You know what, as a DS owenr, I'd be pissed off at this if I didn't own a PS3...

but NOW I DO! Come to Europe, please!

Why don't you just import? : )

PS3 games are region free so do it!!, will be pre-ordering this ASAP, don't care how it plays, I just want to experience this game. If it's anything like Tales of Vesperia, oh man, I hope it's as good as that game, I don't play many JRPG's, but when I do, they tend to amaze me.

You know what, I COMPLETLY forgot about that. New PS3 owner and all.

I'll consider it for sure.

That Professor Layton news isn't exactly shocking. I remember hearing that Ghost Trick came out on iOS but only in Japan, and I have to say, Professor Layton/Ghost Trick/Ace Attorney games make complete sense for iOS devices. And maybe they will help teach App Store users what it's like to play a legitimately good game.

They already confirmed it was getting localised around the time of TGS.

@HomemadeZiggurat said:

@Cybexx said:

But it won't have this!

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/1/18950/1989774-17dmi_super.jpg

What is that?

The most amazing game manual ever made, that's what.

Can't wait for some Ni No Kuni.

Anybody else surprised that Disney isn't publishing Ni No Kuni considering they put out Ghibli's movies in America?

so stoked that professor layton is coming to iOS

The Layton game isn't really Layton-esque. It's apparently was originally a DS game (Mystery Room) that got moved to iOS and placed in the Layton-verse starring Layton's son (!?). It looks more like a crime solving mystery than a Layton game.

Wait, are they calling it Ni no Kuni in the US? Weird...

@Cybexx:

Didn't you kinda need the spellbook for some gameplay purposes? or was that only in the DS version?

Finally matchstick puzzles on your iPhone.

@Agnosticwatermelon said:

@Cybexx:

Didn't you kinda need the spellbook for some gameplay purposes? or was that only in the DS version?

The PS3 game hasn't come out in Japan yet so we don't really know. Apparently the book is included in digital format but I'm going to guess that is just for novelty.

For the DS game it is pretty integral to the whole experience because it shows you what you need to draw with the stylus to activate a spell, beyond that it has a ton of lore in it and its a very well made book.

I love Layton.

Hey maybe I'll finally get around to playing a Layton game now.

@doejonathan said:

Namco Bandai will also bring Ni no Kuni to Europe (according to Gamasutra).

Aaaaaaaww Yeah!

Portable matchsticks, yes please

Layton on Android would be awesome for me, but I don't mind having it on my iPod Touch instead of my phone. Would rather not switch between two devices, my iPod is a purely music playing device and my phone does everything else.

@BisonHero: Ace Attorney on iOS/Android would make me a very happy boy.

@Cybexx said:

@Agnosticwatermelon said:

@Cybexx:

Didn't you kinda need the spellbook for some gameplay purposes? or was that only in the DS version?

The PS3 game hasn't come out in Japan yet so we don't really know. Apparently the book is included in digital format but I'm going to guess that is just for novelty.

For the DS game it is pretty integral to the whole experience because it shows you what you need to draw with the stylus to activate a spell, beyond that it has a ton of lore in it and its a very well made book.

I would hope the book was more for novelty in the PS3 version than anything else, but the recent manzai trailer that showed it off makes it look as though it's at least somewhat of an intrinsic part of the game. I know that they intend to make at least some plot and gameplay changes to make the PS3 game a different beast than the DS one, but the book is one of the few variables they've remained very mum about. Certainly curious to see how it plays out as somebody making their way through the DS version now. Although if they really do intend to at least keep a copy of the book on hand in a digital format for the PS3 one, I don't envy the person who has to translate all of that, even if it is indeed a beautiful book.

Out of curiosity, are you a Japanese speaker? I only ask because it's a pretty rare sight on here to find somebody else on here who actually sounds like they've played the DS version and, to my knowledge, there continue to be no English guides for it because, well, that'd be a fun game to do one for.

@JusticeJanitor: If Ghost Trick came out on iOS, it seems inevitable that some sort of Ace Attorney compilation would come out on iOS eventually. Unless they think the series is too old to be worth it at this point. I've certainly seen Japanese publishers make decisions as dumb, if not dumber, than that.

I can't wait for Ni no Kuni. It looks so damn good.

iPhone game:

If only I had a PS3.

Uh oh, not looking good for 3DS.

@EoinMason said:

You know what, as a DS owenr, I'd be pissed off at this if I didn't own a PS3...

but NOW I DO! Come to Europe, please!

Namco is also bringing the game to Europe so no worries.

@Pepsiman said:

Out of curiosity, are you a Japanese speaker?

Not really, I self taught myself a bit and then brute forced my way through some import games. I'm actually still fairly early on in Ni No Kuni, partially because it takes me a long time to translate anything and partially because I got distracted by work and other games.

@RobertOrri: Why I know you from the I-R-C

@JusticeJanitor:

The first Ace Attorney is on iOS.

Massive Ghibli fan.

This is my most anticipated game in a long time. A shame they didn't get Disney to distribute it, seeing as they pulled some nice voice-acting for the movies. Hopefully they will add the option of japanese vocal, which I don't see there being any problems doing. Game looks fantastic, extremely vast and with some really interesting set-piece gameplay.

And last but not least: Joe Hisashi in charge of the music. The man, the legend.

Wrong Level 5, Patrick.

I've been recently been buying a lot of games for my new PC so it's nice to see a cool exclusive come out that I want to play. My PS3 library looks really disappointing next to my 360 and Steam libraries.

Let the good times roll.