They mentioned Ni No Kuni on UPF and I've been trying to figure out if the story here's connected, or if it's a Final Fantasy sort of thing.

I wanted to play the first but was scared away by what seemed like a mediocre middle. Hoping this one tightens up the experience a bit, and if reviews are good I'd like to jump straight into II. But I wanna know if I should play the first... first.

Or have they even announced the details? The trailer looks neat and all but I have no context if I should recognize anyone.

I don't think it's related. I gotta let you know though, Studio Ghibli is not involved in this one.

even if it were set in the same world, I feel that the story will be self contained that you don't have to play the previous game to get the most out of it. I thought the first game ended well, should probably finish it anyways.

I can understand being scared of the first one when it was new, but there's no risk but time now, seeing as the game is fairly cheap these days.

I don't really remember much about Ni No Kuni since played it when it first came out. All I remember is that is a pretty good game that goes on a little bit too long. I remember being really into the whole Digimon/Pokemon hybrid thing it had going on and The Studio Ghibli art went the long way. If you don't really have much nostalgic feeling for that the game might wear on you.

It's story and characters didn't really stick with me very much. I do remember the first half's villain being much better than the second half's villian. If the game didn't have the second villain it's story would have been a lot tighter.

@blackichigo: The game originally ended after you defeat that first villain on the DS and the PS3 version was like an extended cut.

I remember thinking before playing it that the DS got screwed out of the full game, but that split was pretty obvious in the PS3 version, and not necessarily better off for it.

If you do play the first game, be prepared to wrestle with some terrible AI. The characters you are not currently controlling will very quickly burn through all their mp and die. Unless you tell them not to use magic, then they'll just die. It might get better. I quit playing shortly after getting my second party member.

@liquiddragon: That kind of sucks.

Edit - At least Joe Hisaishi still composes.

@sinusoidal: I don't remember how far I got hour wise; I only got so far as to the fairy queen or whatever. Drippy (I think his name was), his town. My brother, a much bigger JRPG enthusiast got really far (nearing the end he said I believe), but quit because he said he hates how the battles become about the familiars, and that the friendly A.I. weren't that helpful. If it gets like that, it really stops me from wanting to ever go back honestly. What I did like was that the world was interesting to me, and I love JRPG's that give you that kind of lived in town feel, where you walk around and there are NPC's working/playing, and you can talk to them to get side missions. There are plenty of those kinds of JRPG's, but I thought Ni No Kuni was really good at it. That said, the voice work (contrary to what some have said) was cringeworthy and overly sentimental in spots, and I don't want to keep going if it gets cheap, or I have to rely on the familiars. I didn't really play as far as I got because of the combat. The story also didn't go anywhere fast and interesting to me, with a lack of animated scenes, which I really appreciated.

Ni no Kuni (the PS3 version) always seemed like a game that would fit perfectly on the Wii U.

Thinking about this game today just makes me wanna play some more Eternal Sonata, if we're talking great art and music.

@ntm: Couldn't agree more. That game had so much charm it was shocking to not see on a Nintendo platform. I hope the new one lives up to the styyyyyle of the first.

@liquiddragon: Man had no clue studio ghibli is not involved on this one. I think that was kinda the one main selling point for the console version of this game.

@i_stay_puft: Yeah, they've done a terrific job of not telling people that. To be fair, if I didn't know they had a hand in the 1st game, I might think this new game looks more interesting.

@liquiddragon: Honestly, I can't say I care all that much if Ghibli is directly involved or not. The biggest thing they brought to that first game was the artstyle, which they are keeping for this game. They weren't solely responsible for the story of the first one and frankly whatever they did contribute on that end was not enough to elevate it to Ghibli classic. Ni no Kuni never really felt like more than a Level 5 game with Ghibli style art. (Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.)

This game could go either way in quality, but I don't think I'd feel any different if Ghibli was involved.

@ntm: If I'd played Ni No Kuni before JRPGs were ruined for me by a decade of backwards innovation and piss poor writing, it might have been one of my favorite games ever. As it was, steaming piles like Eternal Sonata, Resonance of Fate and the irredeemably awful Final Fantasy XIII trilogy had soured me to the point where any flaw would be its undoing. Maybe I'll give it another shot down the line once I've cleansed my palate a little.

@zeik: Yeah, I tend to I agree with you. I think they also did the FMV and that was pretty good but no Ghibli is not a deal breaker. I can only assume working with a company like them, like Disney, can be creatively and logistically super difficult as well. Still worth a mention though. I'd definitely like to see more from this game.

The cut scenes in the first game were fantastic, so no Ghibli is a shame. Still, those cut scenes were a small portion of the game, so I'm still intrigued because it's the best JRPG I've played in ages.

@sinusoidal: As someone who also hates every game you just mentioned i can say with confidence that Ni No Kuni is amazing and worth playing

From my experience playing both games, I believe that the second game is a sequel to the first. However, the second game takes place many years later, long after Oliver and the original gang have passed away. This is proven when Evan is revealed to be a descendant of King Tom, who was king of Ding Dong Dell in the first game (I'm not putting this in a spoiler block since it isn't really part of the story in the second game, but I will change that if people want). But the games are spread apart enough that you don't need to play the first to play the second. Both are amazing games in their own right, and you can play both separately. They both have incredible stories with lovable characters, and the battle systems in both are different enough that you can choose which one you prefer.