Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch will launch in North America and Europe in Q1 2013, Namco Bandai has announced.
The game was previously slated for winter 2012 in North America and early 2013 in Europe.
Level-5 boss Akihiro Hino was on hand during Namco Bandai’s “Global Gamers Day” press conference today to speak about the project.
“Ni No Kuni initially began as a 10th anniversary project for Level 5. We wanted to make something we felt strongly about on a creative level that also had meaning as a game,” he said.
“We wanted the game to capture the beautiful animation techniques that Studio Ghibli is known for, so we asked them if they would render the animation scenes for this new project.
“Initially they were interested in the project, but didn’t like the title we had at the time. We came up with the name Ni No Kuni, which they liked, and production started soon after.
“While Ni No Kuni might look like a traditional RPG at first glance, we really challenged ourselves to come up with something that would be new and exciting.”
The game will feature language support “for each territory.” The North American version will feature English and Japanese voiceovers, while the PAL edition will feature English and Japanese voiceovers, as well as English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish subtitles.
Expect a new trailer soon.
Thanks, Jintor.