| Ni no Kuni | |
|---|---|
 Series logo as seen in Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom | |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing |
| Developer(s) | Level-5 |
| Publisher(s) | Bandai Namco Entertainment
|
| Creator(s) | Akihiro Hino |
| Writer(s) | Akihiro Hino |
| Composer(s) | Joe Hisaishi |
| Platform(s) | |
| First release | Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn December 9, 2010 |
| Latest release | Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds June 10, 2021 |
Ni no Kuni [a] is a series of role-playing video games developed and published in Japan by Level-5; Bandai Namco publishes the games outside Japan. The first games in the series chiefly follow the young Oliver, and his journey to another world to save his mother and stop the beckoning evil. The sequel follows Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, a boy king who is usurped from his castle, and sets out to reclaim his kingdom. The games utilize several magic elements, allowing players to use magical abilities during gameplay, and follow groups of characters travelling the fantasy world to put an end to its threats.
Conceived as a project for Level-5's tenth anniversary, the first game in the series, Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn, was released in Japan in December 2010 for the Nintendo DS. An enhanced version of the game for the PlayStation 3, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, was released in Japan in November 2011; it was developed separately, retaining a similar story, but featuring significant artwork, graphics and specification changes. A localized version was published in Western regions by Namco Bandai Games in January 2013. A sequel, Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, was released worldwide on the PlayStation 4 and Windows in March 2018. Three mobile games have also been produced: Hotroit Stories, released in December 2010 through the Roid service, follows the story of Oliver and Mark as they try to find parts for a car; Daibouken Monsters, released in May 2012 through the GREE service, is a social card game in which players collect cards; and Cross Worlds, released for Android and iOS in June 2021, follows a beta tester for a fictional virtual reality game, which transports them to the world of Ni no Kuni.
The animated sequences for Dominion of the Dark Djinn and Wrath of the White Witch were produced by Studio Ghibli, and the original score was composed by Joe Hisaishi and Rei Kondoh. The artwork was also greatly inspired by Studio Ghibli's other productions. The character development—particularly that of Oliver and his friends—was a large focus of development, and was intended to make children empathize with the characters and for adults to relive their adolescence. The developers chose to initially develop for the Nintendo DS due to its suitability for gameplay, and later used the power of the PlayStation 3 to its full potential to render the world with great detail.
Games in the series have been praised as being among the best modern role-playing games. Reviewers mostly aimed their praise at particular elements of the games: visual design, and its resemblance to Studio Ghibli's previous work; characters and story, for their believability and complexity; the soundtrack, and Hisaishi's ability to capture the essence of the game world; and the unique gameplay, particularly for its ability to blend formulas from other role-playing game franchises. The games also won awards from several gaming publications. In May 2018, Bandai Namco reported that the series had shipped 2.8 million copies worldwide. An animated film adaptation produced by OLM, Inc. and distributed by Warner Bros. was released in 2019.
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