History VideoGame / NiNoKuni

* NiceJobBreakingItHerod: The BigBad determines by prophecy that Oliver will save their world from said BidBad, so they send a curse at Oliver while he's still on Earth. The results of this gives him the motivation to go to said world and try to save it.

* {{DLC}}: The American version will automatically get the Japanese re-release ones. However; preordering from Amazon gives one the "[[{{Our Gryphons Are Different}} Griffy]]" familiar, and its level-ups; and pre-ordering the StrategyGuide gives the [[TheBigGuy Gold Hurly]] familiar.

* IllGirl: Mari, in her Real World form, is one of these. (In Ni no Kuni, she's the plucky sidekick lass.)

* {{DLC}}: The American version will automatically get the Japanese re-release ones. However; preordering from Amazon gives one the "[[{{Our Gryphons Are Different}} Griffy]]" familiar, and its level-ups.

The next morning, Oliver (not surprisingly) holes up in his room and begins to cry. His tears fall on a [[UglyCute crude yet lovable]] doll his mother gave him, and [[SwissArmyTears set the spirit inside free!]] The spirit, named Drippy (Shizuku in the Japanese version), reveals to Oliver that he's from the "Another World"--a place closely linked to Oliver's town. There, an evil sorcerer has taken a sage named Alyssa hostage. Alyssa and Allie are linked, and if Alyssa is saved, then there's a chance Allie will be, too. Drippy gives Oliver a magic book, the Wizard's Companion, and Oliver sets out into the world of Ni no Kuni in order to save his mother.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: When [spoiler: Myrtle and her Father are reconnecting], Drippy can be seen in the background trying on and modeling an over sized hat.

''Ni no Kuni'' is an {{RPG}} developed by [[{{Creator/Level5}} Level-5 Studios]]. After all the comments calling both the animation and art style of the ''Professor Layton'' games "Ghibliesque", Level-5 decided to one-up the peanut gallery by actually teaming up with Creator/StudioGhibli on the game. While the gameplay is designed by Level-5, all the character designs, lushly animated {{cutscene}}s, and even the soundtrack (composed by the legendary Joe Hisaishi) are all pure Ghibli. Needless to say, this has made a lot of people very excited about it from the get-go. Its NintendoDS version was released in Japan on December 2010, with the PlayStation3 version released in 2011 in Japan (plus a cell-phone prequel). The American and European release is in early 2013.

The next morning, Oliver (not surprisingly) holes up in his room and begins to cry. His tears fall on a [[UglyCute crude yet lovable]] doll his mother gave him, and [[SwissArmyTears set the spirit inside free!]] The spirit, named Shizuku, reveals to Oliver that he's from the "Another World"--a place closely linked to Oliver's town. There, an evil sorcerer has taken a sage named Alyssa hostage. Alyssa and Allie are linked, and if Alyssa is saved, then there's a chance Allie will be, too. Shizuku gives Oliver a magic book, and Oliver sets out into the world of Ni no Kuni in order to save his mother.

* ExpositionFairy: Shizuku. Understandable, of course, since he is Oliver's only speaking companion in Ni no Kuni.

* NoExportForYou: The original DS version with the spellbook is only available in Japan due to the complex spellbook included with the game. Also the two cell-phone prequels. Averted for the PS3 version, which got a North American and European release in January 2013 with all the DLC and extras from the Japanese re-release version.

* SwissArmyTears: They bring Shizuku the doll back to life.

Oliver is a young boy living a tiny, picturesque, slightly European-looking town. He lives with his mother Allie. He and his best friend have been working on making the best racing kart ever--it's already looking pretty snazzy. To try it out, Oliver sneaks out in the middle of the night for a test drive--unfortunately, he plunges straight into the river. His mother leaps in to save him and pulls him to the shore. The physical exertion is sadly too much for her, and she swiftly [[MissingMom dies of a heart attack.]] Yes, it's [[{{Utsuge}} that kind of game.]]

* TitleDrop: Early in the game, Drippy explains to Oliver that there's "another world"[[hottip:*:''Ni No Kuni'' literally means "Another World"]], where he hails from. It becomes somewhat LostInTranslation, as half of the game's title was left untranslated.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Drippy and other NPCs note that he was with Alicia the whole time. [[spoiler: He really meant that literally.]]

* AdiposeRex Ding Dong Dell is ruled by a literal FatCat

* DummiedOut : A close inspection of the DS version reveals the book was once planned to be included in the game, as there is a button for the "Rune Book" in the beta. Many graphics for scenes that were included only in the PS3 version went unused as well. In turn, the PS3 version left out the (animated!) cutscene from the DS version for when Oliver first enters Ninokuni.

* DubNameChange: Drippy for Shizaku, Esther for Maru, and Motorville for Hotroit. Among other monster and town names.

* NoExportForYou: The original DS version with the spellbook is only available in Japan due to the complex spellbook included with the game. Also the two cell-phone prequels. Averted for the PS3 version, slated for North American and European release in 2013 with all the DLC and extras from the Japanese re-release version.

** The translated [=PS3=] version feature british children transported to another world filled with talking animals and an evil white witch. [[TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe Stop me if you've heard this one before]].
** The plot of all versions involve a little crybaby losing his mother (which becomes a driving force of the plot) early on due to her performing a HeroicSacrifice to save his life, [[spoiler: (It later turns out the actual reasons of her death are linked to the BigBad)]], then learning to overcome his weakness and awaken latent magical powers inside him to battle evil, encountering an ActionGirl and a Thief, in a magical world. He comes across [[TheEmpire Borg Empire]] which has totalitarian las imposing all citizens and soldiers wear pig masks. The boss battle of that particular section involves a challenging Pig-headed tank immune to most attacks. Add to this a final boss battle (in the DS version, the PS3 version has a 15-hour worth additional story) is against the [[spoiler: hero's evil alter-ego]]. Oh, and the hero has a final reunion with the ghost of his mother in a lush green dream world ending with her going up to the sky. Does this remind you [[VideoGame/MOTHER3 of anything]]? It doesn't help that there is a [[http://earthboundcentral.com/2012/04/screenshots-of-ni-no-kuni-on-roid/ prequel]] [[NoExportForYou cell-phone game]] in the same graphical style as that particular game.

** A literal DarkWorld appear shortly after the PS3-exclusive arc begins due to a dark cristal [[spoiler: in all three major cities, and everyone there (aside from children, oddly missing) there are turned into zombies you fight. [[IGotBetter They get better shortly before the Final Dungeon though.]]]]

* {{DLC}}: The American version will automatically get the Japanese re-release ones. However; preordering from Amazon gives one the "Griffy" familiar, and its level-ups.

''Ni No Kuni'' is an {{RPG}} developed by [[{{Creator/Level5}} Level-5 Studios]]. After all the comments calling both the animation and art style of the ''Professor Layton'' games "Ghibliesque", Level-5 decided to one-up the peanut gallery by actually teaming up with Creator/StudioGhibli on the game. While the gameplay is designed by Level-5, all the character designs, lushly animated {{cutscene}}s, and even the soundtrack (composed by the legendary Joe Hisaishi) are all pure Ghibli. Needless to say, this has made a lot of people very excited about it from the get-go. Its NintendoDS version was released in Japan on December 2010, with the PlayStation3 version released in 2011 in Japan (plus a cell-phone prequel). The American and European release is in early 2013.