Another World,^[a] known as Out of This World in North America, is a 1991cinematic platformeraction-adventure game designed by Éric Chahi and published by Delphine Software. The game tells a story of Lester, a young scientist who, as a result of an experiment gone wrong, finds himself on a dangerous alien world where he is forced to fight for his survival.

Remastered presentation: a joint effort between visionary game-designer Eric Chahi and developer DotEmu, Another World is back in its 20th Anniversary Edition with High Definition graphics faithful to the original design.

Another World was developed by Chahi alone over a period of about two years, with only help with the soundtrack from Jean-François Freitas. Chahi developed his own game engine, completing all the game's art and animations in vector form to reduce memory use, with some use of rotoscoping to help plan out character movements. Both narratively and gameplay-wise, he wanted the game to be told with little to no language or user-interface elements. The game was originally developed for the Amiga and Atari ST but has since been widely ported to other contemporary systems, including home and portable consoles and mobile devices. Chahi has since overseen release of various anniversary releases of the game.

Out Of This World Game

Another World was innovative in its use of cinematic effects in both real-time and cutscenes, which earned the game praise among critics and commercial success. It also influenced a number of other video games and designers, inspiring such titles as Ico, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, and Delphine's later Flashback.

• 5Release

Gameplay[edit]

Another World is a platform game, featuring a control scheme where the player uses either the keyboard, joystick or gamepad to make the protagonist run, jump, attack and perform other, situation-specific actions, such as rocking a cage back and forth. In the initial part of the game, the player's character Lester is unarmed. He is able to kick at small creatures, but is otherwise defenseless.

Later in the game, the player acquires a laser pistol from a fallen foe. The pistol has three capabilities: a standard fire mode, the ability to create force fields to block enemy fire, and a powerful charged shot that can break through force fields and some walls.^[5] Enemies also have the same capabilities, requiring the player to take advantage of the three gun modes and the environment to overcome them.

Lester and his alien ally cannot sustain any damage, and the game ends immediately if either of them is struck by a projectile or comes in contact with an animal or an environmental hazard.^[6] However, the game uses numerous checkpoints enabling the player to keep restarting at the last point indefinitely. On the Amiga and older consoles without the ability to save a game, the player can write down an alphanumeric code for these checkpoints and re-enter it when restarting the game later. In any given scene, the game provides no clues as to what the player should do next, features no HUD except for an oxygen bar during the swimming sequences, and no on-screen text; and the characters the player meets speak in an unintelligible alien language.^[7][8]

Plot[edit]

The protagonist of the game is Lester Knight Chaykin, a young genius physicist. In the opening cinematic, Lester arrives at his high-tech underground laboratory in his Ferrari 288 GTO^[9] during a thunderstorm and goes to work on his experiment using a particle accelerator, attempting to reconstruct what happened when the universe was born. Immediately before the particles reach their intended destination, a lightning bolt strikes the laboratory and interferes with the accelerator, causing an unforeseen particle fusion and an explosion, opening a hole in time and space and teleporting Lester to a barren, alien planet.^[7]

After evading a number of dangerous indigenous animals, Lester is captured by a race of humanoid aliens and taken to a subterranean prison camp. Lester escapes along with an alien captive known as 'Buddy' and the two of them must evade capture while travelling through a series of dangerous environments, battling alien soldiers and wild creatures while solving numerous puzzles in order to survive. The duo traverse the prison complex, a cave system and a tower structure.^[7][8] In the game's climax, Lester is severely wounded by one of the aliens, but with the help of his alien friend, manages to kill his attacker and escape. After reaching the top of the tower, Lester collapses, but is promptly joined by Buddy, who picks Lester up and the two escape on a dragon-like creature, flying off to the horizon.

Development[edit]

The game's French designer Éric Chahi had previously worked as a game programmer and then as a graphic designer for video games since 1983. It was the success of his earlier work with Paul Cuisset as a graphic designer for the adventure gameFuture Wars for Delphine Software and its royalties that gave him the chance to develop Another World 'without any constraint of any sort or any editorial pressure.' After Future Wars was released in 1989, Chahi had the choice either to work on Cuisset's next game, Operation Stealth, or create his own game. As 'there had been many books and tools released to develop easily on the Amiga at that time,' Chahi felt confident that he could go back to programming.^[10]

The game was influenced by works that Chahi liked at the time. The art and atmosphere were influenced by science fiction books such as Dune, artists such as Michael Whelan, and comic illustrators such as Richard Corben.^[10]Manga such as Dragon Ball influenced the way it suggests a lot with very little, character blurring effects, and charging power attacks.^[11]

In August 1989, Chahi was impressed by the flat-color animations that the Amiga version of Dragon's Lair had and thought that it would be possible to use vector outlines to create a similar effect using much less computer storage. After first attempting to write the graphical routines in C, he turned to assembly language. He wrote a polygon routine for the Motorola 68000 on an Atari ST to test his theory, with much success. Later, he found that he could run the code on the Amiga platform and achieve a frame rate of about 20 frames per second, later recognizing this as 'a major turning point in the creation of the game' and the point where he knew the polygon approach would work.^[12] He was able to take advantage of the Amiga's genlock capabilities to create rotoscoped animations with the polygons, using video recordings of himself performing various actions. Though he had tried to use smaller polygons (which Chahi called 'pixigons') to construct the backgrounds for the scenes based on Deluxe Paint artwork, the process of creating them was excruciatingly slow, and he returned to using bitmapped images.^[12][13]

Éric Chahi^[10]

While Chahi had a clear idea of how to implement his game engine, he mostly improvised when creating the actual content of the game, allowing the game to develop 'layer by layer without knowing where it was going.'^[12][14] He planned on creating a science fiction game that was similar to Karateka and Impossible Mission. Because he wanted to create a dramatic, cinematic experience, the game features no HUD or dialog, giving the player only a representation of the surrounding game world during both gameplay elements and the cutscenes progressing the story. However, with no idea of the technical limitations he would face while building out the story, he focused more on creating ambiance, rhythmic pacing, and narrative tension to the game.^[12] Chahi resorted to developing his own tool with a new programming language through GFA BASIC coupled with the game's engine in Devpac assembler, to control and animate the game, interpreted in real-time by the game engine, effectively creating his own animation sequencer.^[12][13]

With the creation of the tools needed for building out the rest of the game by December 1989, Chahi began working on the introductory sequence as a means to validate the full capacities of his engine. The introduction sequence also gave Chahi the chance to explore the types of cinematics he could create through the engine. Chahi later considered this the 'first step in the improvisation process' that he used throughout the rest of development. He finished the game's introduction sequence in early 1990 and started working on the first level. Chahi worked at the game at a linear pace, developing each section of the game in chronological order and influenced by his own personal feelings and attitude at the time. For example, as Chahi recognized he was trying to create a game on his own, the first portions of the game evoke loneliness and isolation, reflecting Chahi's mood at the time. He did not have the original intention of the character meeting an ally, but again described the improvisation approach led him to include the alien friend, and had included specific cinematics that showed a close up of the alien to help the player imagine this world.^[12]

Later in the game's development, Chahi added laser pistols, including the one that Lester carries for several effects. The idea was influenced by the Star Wars franchise, but added depth to the gameplay by giving the player more options. He also found that repeated laser fire by the enemies helped to enunciate the rhythm of the game. Chahi would later add in the plasma ball that increased the available strategy to players. Several points in the game use elevators or teleporters to move Lester between levels; Chahi had used these instead of stairways, as it was difficult to produce proper animation for these.^[12]

After 17 months of development, Chahi was only about one-third finished with the game, and realized that this rate would have been impractical. He began to take steps to simplify the development, including reusing background graphics and creating building blocks that allowed him to focus more on the game's puzzles. At the same time, he began to seek a publisher for the game. He first spoke to his former employer, Delphine Software, but also sought other distributors. One, Virgin Interactive, was favourable to Chahi's game but had suggested that he change it to a point-and-click style adventure game. Chahi had considered changing the game in line with this request but realized 'the effort to do this would have been too huge, and some friends who played the game loved it.'^[15] Ultimately, he accepted Delphine's offer in June 1991, and set a tentative release date in November. To meet this deadline, Chahi used storyboards to sketch out the rest of the game's plot, balancing the overall pacing of the game. One ending captured on these storyboards, but abandoned, was Lester becoming the leader of the alien world. Chahi also argued for his own cover art for the game even with the time crunch for release; he had been disappointed in cover art that was foisted on his games by previous publishers and insisted he be allowed to create it for this game.^[16] The game was finished in 1991, which inspired the game's tagline: 'It took six days to create the Earth. Another World took two years'; Chahi noted his own exhaustion at completing this project is mirrored in the near-death of Lester at the end of the game.^[12]

Upon publishing, Delphine did not perform a playtest of the full game, only having previously tested the first portion of the game. Delphine's U.S. publisher Interplay undertook a full playtest and Chahi fixed a number of bugs that arose from this. Interplay had also requested additional changes in the game, including making the game longer and changing the game's introduction music. Chahi was adamant about retaining the game's opening music, and had attempted to change Interplay's minds by sending them an 'infinite fax', a looped piece of paper, with the message 'keep the original intro music' on it. Only when Delphine's lawyer got involved and told Interplay they legally could not change the music did Interplay relax this requirement.^[12][17]

Soundtrack[edit]

The game's music was composed by Jean-François Freitas. The music was influenced by film soundtracks such as Back to the Future.^[11] Black Screen Records released CD and vinyl versions of the 18-song soundtrack in August 2017.^[18]

Release[edit]

The game was originally released for the Amiga and Atari ST in November 1991, running at a display resolution of 320×200 pixels. These versions received less play-testing than other versions, making for a less-fluid game, but the Amiga's sound capabilities afford it a high sound quality compared to contemporary ports. The game released on the Atari ST is identical, but with a less refined sound, and its colors are less sharp than on Amiga. These versions had code wheel protection that made it difficult to use unauthorized copies, forcing the player to enter a code (series of figures) looked up from a code wheel that came with the game. The player had to turn the wheel according to the number that was requested in the screen whenever the game is loaded in order to reload the game.^[17] Another small change between the Amiga and ST versions and the others was that Lester would yell as he grabs the vine in the first area if he was not being chased by the beast in these versions; this feature was omitted from most other versions.

The game was published in North America under the title Out of This World in order to avoid confusion with the popular but unrelated soap opera television series Another World. Coincidentally, the science fiction sitcomOut of This World aired at the same time as the game's USA-Canada release.

Ports[edit]

Worldvideo

Reviews praised the game's graphics, sound, and gameplay, but criticized its short span. Chahi, working for 16 hours a day for two months, responded with creating a new level just before the amphitheatre scene, when the alien friend rescues Lester at the end of a long dead-end corridor. Chahi said: 'I like this extra level a lot because it reinforces the close relationship between the hero and the alien by developing their mutual aid.'^[10] Also added were more dangers and more save points. This ended up being the 1992 DOS version, which was coded by Daniel Morais, and had the exact code wheel protection of the Amiga and ST versions. The Macintosh features higher resolution than the DOS version, but is otherwise identical.^[17]

Through Interplay Entertainment, the game was ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive), and the Apple IIGS in 1992. The SNES, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (3DO) and Apple IIGS ports each contain a prologue before the introduction begins, which consists of an entry that comes from Lester's diary. The Mega Drive port's prologue is different from that of the SNES and 3DO ports. The Sega CD version of Another World combines the original game (with CD-quality new music by Freitas) with the sequel, Heart of the Alien,^[17] and was released exclusively in North America as Heart of the Alien: Out of This World Parts I and II.

All of the console versions include some form of dynamic musical score during gameplay, and in the case of the Mega Drive conversion, use arrangements of the music originating in the SNES and Apple IIGS versions. This differs from other versions which only have music for the opening and ending segments. Interplay wanted to add additional tunes by Charles Deenen. They also wanted to exchange Jean-François Freitas's music for a different soundtrack, but Chahi did not agree to the change and Delphine's lawyer helped to keep the original intro music.^[17] The Apple IIGS and Super NES versions were programmed by Rebecca Heineman, who said: 'Since Interplay wouldn't pay for a Super FX chip, I found a way to do it with static RAM on the cart and DMA which got me a great frame rate. Interplay wouldn't pay for the static RAM either, so I ended up using Fast ROM instruction. Interplay wouldn't pay for a 3.6 MHz ROM either. So, frustrated, I shoved my block move code into the DMA registers and use it as RAM running at 3.6 MHz. It worked. I got fast block moves on slow cartridges and made a game using polygons working on a 65816 with pure software rendering.'^[19]Another World is the only game directly ported from the Super NES to the Apple IIGS, which has the same 65C816 microprocessor.

The 3DO port was developed by Interplay in 1993, and features very detailed raster graphics backgrounds. However, Chahi believes that this actually detracts from the game, because the polygons do not fit in with this, and thus make the backgrounds look flat. The game's soundtrack was changed again, albeit without any legal troubles, due to Chahi's focus on a new project. Some new tunes were also added, all played from the disc, such as when Lester escapes the big pool in the first level and when he is grabbed by the guard that appears at the end. At the ending, there is a fragment of the introduction of the sequel, Heart of the Alien. Also included in some versions of this 3DO release is a separate minigame 'Stalactites', in which the player pushes up stalactite shapes falling from the top of the screen.^[20] Another hidden feature of this version is the animation of Bill Heineman getting his head chopped off.^[21]

Chahi acquired the rights to Another World's intellectual property from Delphine Software International after they closed down in July 2004. Magic Productions then offered to port the game to mobile phones, and it was ported with help from Cyril Cogordan. Chahi saw that the game's playability could be improved, so he used his old Amiga for reprogramming certain parts of the script and made the graphics' shading clearer in order to counter mobile phones' low resolutions.^[17] In July 2005, almost a decade and a half after it was first released on the Amiga, the game was released for mobile phone handsets using the Symbian operating system, thanks to Telcogames and developer Magic Productions.^[22] In 2006, Magic Productions also released a remastered Pocket PC version for Windows Mobile 5.0 OS or later in QVGA (320×240 resolution).^[22] Telcogames entered administration in 2008, closing the Magic Productions studio. The administrator's letter to stakeholders mentions that its assets will be sold, but does not indicate to whom or mention Another World assets by name.^[23]

An Atari Jaguar port of Another World was originally in development and planned to be published by Interplay in September 1994 but it was never released.^{[24][25][26][27][28][29]} In 2012, the Jaguar port of the game was confirmed and approved by Chahi. It was released as a limited collector's item in cartridge form, complete with a box and manual published by the association Retro-Gaming Connexion (RGC) in 2013. The game engine was rewritten especially for the Atari Jaguar to make use of the console's several processors: the GPU and blitter perform polygon rendering; the GPU performs on-the-fly data decompression; the DSP plays stereo music and sound effects; and the 68000 CPU performs JIT compilation and execution of the scripts. The Jaguar version is playable in the original graphics 16-color mode and Deluxe 15th Anniversary graphics 256-color mode. It can be played in normal and speed-run modes. It supports five languages: English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish.^[30][31]

15th Anniversary[edit]

After the release of the Pocket PC version, in 2006 Chahi created a new Windows version targeted at Windows XP. Emmanuel Rivoire increased the resolution to 1280×800 pixels and Chahi created more detailed backgrounds. He found that his original choice to use polygons for the game characters enabled him to use the original character art at a higher resolution. The game still supports the original 320×200 resolution, as well as the original background art (as an option), and it features twice as many checkpoints as the original, which makes it somewhat easier,^[17] as well as newly remixed sounds.^[32]

The game does not include Interplay's extra music, but it includes the extra level, as well as the added enemies and hazards from the console versions. This version is part of the Another World 15th Anniversary Edition CD-ROM released in 2007, which also includes a development diary, an exclusive postcard autographed by Chahi and a separate soundtrack CD.^[33] The CD-ROM version of 15th Anniversary Edition contains strict digital rights management technology – upon installation, the game verifies the user's serial number through the Internet, allowing only for five installations of the game using any given serial number. Uninstallation does not reset the count, so after five installations, the player must purchase a new copy. This problem does not exist on the digital copy sold by GOG.com.^[8]

20th Anniversary[edit]

At the 2011 Game Developers Conference, Chahi announced that an Apple iOS port of the title would be created by DotEmu and distributed by BulkyPix.^[34] On September 22, 2011, BulkyPix released a special 20th anniversary edition for the iPhone/iPad, featuring a switch between the original and HD graphics, new intuitive touch controls or a classic D-pad, three difficulty modes and remastered sound effects. The Android version was released in March 2012, the Steam version was released in April 4, 2013 and the GOG version was released April 22, 2013 (15th Anniversary Edition available on GOG in the same package as 20th Anniversary Edition).^[35][36]

Éric Chahi^[37]

The console versions of the 20th Anniversary port were released by Digital Lounge for Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS in June 2014.^[38][39] The three PlayStation versions allow cross-platform functionality. According to Digital Lounge, the goal was to 'simply to deliver the original experience of Another World faithfully, with the benefits of today’s hardware and a high level of polish'. Chahi said the animations were 'refined to remove the rough edges revealed by such a high resolution rendering' of up to 2560×1600 pixels.^[37] Digital Lounge and DotEmu also worked on the port for the Nintendo Switch, which was released on July 9, 2018.^[40][41]

Another World, along with Flashback, will ship as a single retail package by Microids for the PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One in November 21, 2019.^[42]

Reception[edit]

Another World was commercially successful, selling about one million copies during the 1990s.^[63] The game received critical acclaim. Computer Gaming World criticized the brief documentation and short length of gameplay, but praised the game's graphics and Amiga sound, and called it 'one of Europe's most playable and enjoyable arcade efforts.'^[64] The Lessers of Dragon gave the game 5 out of 5 stars and called it 'an adventure that will keep [the player] on the edge of [one's] seat for some time to come.'^[65] Reviewing the 3DO version, GamePro said 'Out of This World is destined to be a classic', but that the 3DO version has too little improvement to be worthwhile for those who have already played the game.^[66]

Among many other accolades, Another World was named as number one top new Amiga game of 1992 by Amiga World^[67] and received the award for the Most Innovative New Game of the year from Electronic Gaming Monthly.^[68] In 2012, it became one of the first 14 titles added to the video game art exposition at the Museum of Modern Art.^[69][70] It also received the nomination for Game, Classic Revival at the 2014 National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) awards.^[71]

Retrospectively, Kristan Reed of Eurogamer called Another World 'one of the most visionary and memorable games of its time.'^[10] Reviewing the 15th Anniversary Edition in 2010, Eurogamer's John Walker called it 'still utterly beautiful', adding that the game's art style is 'just fantastic. Chahi's design is exquisitely simple and enormously evocative. Built from spare polygons, its paper-craft-like animation conjures the world, the creatures and the threat wonderfully.'^[8] In a 2014 review of the 3DS version, Bob Mackey of USGamer opined 'Another World is definitely an experience every gamer should have — and not just for the sake of checking out a historical curiosity. Another World still feels incredibly forward-thinking, almost as if Chahi had developed a game for this decade's indie scene without even realizing it.'^[72]

In 2008, Tim Rogers named Another World 'The best videogame of all time', describing it as 'an Actual Genius’s osmosed omniscience regarding game design.'^[73] In 2011, Wirtualna Polska ranked the 'visionary' Another World as the 15th best game for the Amiga, remembering it for a cinematic feel and 'uncommonly' high difficulty (for a first-time player) and calling it 'one of the most important titles in the history of electronic entertainment.'^[74] In 2012, 1UP.com ranked this 'short-but-sweet cinematic action game' as the 99th most essential video game of all time, commenting: 'Especially in an age of entertainment where fans cry out for pages upon pages lore and glossaries for the tiniest minutiae of their fiction, Out of this World's dimension contains a sense of mystery that makes it all the more lonely, and often, quietly beautiful. The game can be brutal and heartbreaking, but Chahi's amazing vision makes [it] a thoroughly gripping experience.'^[7] That same year, Lucas Sullivan of GamesRadar named it as number one top 'cult-classic franchise' that should be rebooted in a way Prince of Persia was, commenting that 'despite a small cast of characters, minimalist gameplay, and some truly grueling difficulty, Another World ... resonated with gamers in ways they weren't expecting. The game's vivid vector graphics were utterly stunning at the time, and the pacing of the heavy, nicely animated platforming naturally melded with taking in the sights of the sublime alien landscape,' and adding that 'slowly adapting to the hostile surroundings offered a hard-earned satisfaction and a surprisingly moving story.'^[6]

The alien 'Beast' creature from the game's first level was ranked sixth on the GameSpot's 1999 top list of best monsters in gaming^[75] and IGN ranked the game's laser gun as the 86th best weapon in gaming history in 2012.^[5] The alien 'Buddy' was ranked third on GameSpot's list of the ten best sidekicks in 2000, along with a comment that the 'groundbreaking' Another World 'is one of those rare games that everybody seemed to love.'^[76] Discussing 'Buddy' in 2013, Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Adam Smith called him still 'one of gaming’s greatest companions'.^[77]

Entertainment Weekly wrote that 'More like being in a movie than playing a video game, this leisurely paced, noir-tinted adventure demands that you use your wits to find your way out of an eerie parallel universe.'^[78]

Legacy[edit]

Eric Chahi^[79]

A sequel titled Heart of the Alien was developed by Interplay and released exclusively for the Sega CD in 1994. The game is similar in graphics and gameplay, as the player plays as Lester's alien friend Buddy. Chahi had nothing to do with the development of the sequel, beyond suggesting 'redesigning the game from the alien point of view,' by which he meant making an alternative version of the original game but was misunderstood.^[17] In 2014, Polish filmmaker Bartek Hławka created a live-action fan film titled Another World: The Movie.^[80] Chahi has stated in several interviews that he has no intention of making a sequel, as he wants the ending of the original to remain ambiguous and fans could make their own conclusion to Lester's story.^[81][82]

Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama^[83]

The company that produced Another World, Delphine Software, has since gone into administrative receivership and Another World remains their most recognized game. Paul Cuisset's best-selling 1992 game Flashback, also released by Delphine but created without any involvement from Chahi, features similar gameplay and graphics and makes a few nods to Another World, including the use of personal force fields in combat, a nearly identical end text in the ending cutscene, and an almost exact motion recreation of the gun pickup cutscene. A very similar plot premise was used in 1999's Outcast by Infogrames Entertainment, too from France.^[8] The game also had a big influence on several other game designers, especially in Japan. Fumito Ueda cited Another World as an inspiration for his creation of Ico.^[84]Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series, said it was one of the five games that influenced him the most.^[85] Video game designer Goichi Suda called it his favourite game.^[86]

Chahi returned to the concept of cinematic platform games after leaving Delphine. In 1998, he and his company Amazing Studio made Heart of Darkness, which is in many ways a spiritual successor to Another World. After that, Chahi disappeared from the game industry for several years, but in 2005 he regained interest in making video games.^[87] In 2011, Ubisoft released his next game, From Dust.

Notes[edit]

1. ^Known in Japan as Outer World (Japanese: アウターワールドHepburn: Autā Wārudo)

References[edit]

Citations

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External links[edit]

• Another World at the Museum of Modern Art
• Out of This World at MobyGames
• Another World at TV Tropes
• Another World at Hardcore Gaming 101
• Another World at the Hall of Light database of Amiga games
• Another World at Lemon Amiga

Ni no Kuni^[a] is a series of role-playing video games published by Bandai Namco worldwide and developed and published by Level-5 in 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, as well as creatures known as familiars,^[b] which can be tamed for suitability during battle.

Conceived as a project for Level-5's tenth anniversary, Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn was released 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. The games were developed separately, retaining similar stories, but featuring significant artwork, graphics and specification changes. A localized version of the game was published in Western regions by Namco Bandai Games in January 2013. A sequel, Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, was released on Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 in March 2018. Two mobile games have also been released: Hotroit Stories in December 2010 through the Roid service, and Daibouken Monsters in May 2012 through the GREE service. The former follows the story of Oliver and Mark as they try to find parts for a car, and the latter is a social card game in which players collect cards featuring imajinn.

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 August 2019.

• 3Development

Games

Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn was released in Japan on December 9, 2010, for the Nintendo DS. After his mother dies, Oliver sets out on a journey to another world to save her. Alongside the fairy Shizuku, Oliver meets Maru and Jairo on the way, who assist him on journey. After retrieving three magical stones to complete a wand to defeat Jabou, Oliver discovers that he cannot save his mother, but vows to protect the world regardless. He defeats Jabou, who uses his power to ensure that Oliver does not die as well.^[3]

Ni no Kuni: Hotroit Stories was released in Japan on December 9, 2010, for mobile devices through their Roid service. It follows the story of Oliver and his friend, who create a custom car by finding parts around Hotroit, eventually making their way to an abandoned factory and encountering creatures.^[4][5][6]

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch was released for the PlayStation 3 in Japan on November 17, 2011, and published in Western regions by Namco Bandai Games in January 2013; the game was released for Nintendo Switch in September 2019 alongside a Remastered version for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4.^[7] The game is an enhanced version of Dominion of the Dark Djinn; the plot is almost identical, featuring an extended ending. Some character names were also changed; Shizuku was changed to Drippy, Maru to Esther, Jairo to Swaine, Lars to Marcassin, and Jabou to Shadar, among others.^[8] After Shadar is defeated, the White Witch appears and casts a spell that turns the citizens into undead-like creatures. When Oliver and his friends reverse the spell, they discover that the White Witch was once a young queen called Cassiopeia who had noble intentions, but was manipulated into wanting the destruction of the world. After Oliver defeats the White Witch, she is restored to her former self, and declares to dedicate her life to making amends for her actions. Oliver then returns to his old life in Motorville.^[9]

Ni no Kuni: Daibouken Monsters was released in Japan on May 11, 2012, for mobile devices through the GREE service. Players travel to another world and collect cards featuring imajinn. An occupant of the other world is trapped in every card; by flipping the card, players have the ability to use the occupant's abilities during battles.^[10][11][12]

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom was released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 on March 23, 2018.^[13][14][15] The story follows King Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, who is usurped from his castle, and sets out to reclaim his kingdom.^[16][17][18] He is aided by Roland, a visitor from another world, and Tani, the daughter of a boss of air pirates.^[19]

Common elements

The series consists of four role-playing games and one social card game. Each game typically features a third-person camera. The player controls the player character in a combination of combat and puzzle game elements to achieve goals and complete the story.^[20]Hotroit Stories is the only installment to feature an overhead perspective,^[4] while Daibouken Monsters is played as a card game, with no character movement.^[12] All games in the series feature a battle mode. During battles, player command a single human ally. To fight enemies in the main game, players use magical abilities^[c] or familiars;^[23] in Hotroit Stories, players attack using items such as dry ice for similar effects,^[6] while Daibouken Monsters limits players to using familiars only.^[11] The battle mode in Wrath of the White Witch and Revenant Kingdom is on an open battlefield, allowing players to freely roam around the area,^[24][14] while Dominion of the Dark Djinn employs a grid layout, whereby players can create formations to avoid attacks.^[25]

Like other role-playing games, the series have players complete quests, which are linear scenarios with set objectives, to progress through the story. Outside of quests, players can freely roam the open world, finding towns, dungeons, and other dangerous places scattered throughout. One of the core aspects of the games is the ability to travel between worlds; the majority of the games take place in a magical world, often referred to as the 'other world', while part of the games take place in Oliver's hometown.^[26] Upon leaving a location, players enter the World Map, which can be navigated, or used to select a destination.^[26] The world may be fully explored from the beginning of the game without restrictions, although story progress unlocks more gameplay content and forms of transport to navigate the world.^[26] In the main games, players initially run to navigate the world, though later gain the ability to travel by boat; Wrath of the White Witch adds the ability to ride on the back of a dragon.^[27]

Familiars, known as imajinn (イマジン) in the Japanese version of the games, are creatures that wander throughout the game world. They can be found in different shapes and forms, and can be obtained after being defeated in battle. They can then be tamed, in order to be suitable to send out in battle to fight for players. Players command familiars, who generally have a range of magic and physical attacks. Familiars level up and evolve alongside the human characters; each have unique statistics and capabilities, and can be guided through their upgrades with treats and equipped with items.^[28] Familiars are not present in Revenant Kingdom; creatures known as Higgledies are used in combat, with different spirits using special moves on enemies.^[14]

Development

Conceived as a project for Level-5's tenth anniversary,^[29]Ni no Kuni: The Another World was announced in the September 2008 issue of Famitsu, as a title for the Nintendo DS.^[30] In June 2010, Level-5 announced that the game would also be released for the PlayStation 3, with significant differences;^[31] the DS version was renamed Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn, while the PlayStation 3 version was given the title Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.^[32] Both versions were revealed to be in development separately, only retaining the same 'story axle', while features such as artwork, graphics and specifications all received significant changes.^[8] Journalists noted that the game's announcement ignited widespread anticipation within the gaming industry.^{[33][34][35][36]}

Level-5 collaborated with Studio Ghibli to produce the game's animated sequences, and the game features graphics and visuals replicating the traditional animation style of Studio Ghibli films.^[37] The collaboration began when musician Naoya Fujimaki, who had previously worked with both companies, introduced Level-5 president Akihiro Hino to Studio Ghibli president Toshio Suzuki. At the time, Studio Ghibli had completed work on Ponyo (2008), and the animation team had no ongoing projects, which influenced Suzuki's decision to collaborate with Level-5.^[38] Another influencing factor of the collaboration was witnessing Hino's passion for the project. Studio Ghibli approached the production process in the same way that they would create an animated film.^[39] Work on the animation began in July 2008,^[40] and took much longer than the predicted three months.^[38]

Studio Ghibli's Yoshiyuki Momose served as the director of animation, drawing character designs and storyboards.^[38] Hino wished Dominion of the Dark Djinn and Wrath of the White Witch to have a heartwarming feel;^[39] the artwork and character movements was greatly inspired by Studio Ghibli's work,^[41] particularly due to their attention to detail, as well as their talent in creating storyboards and utilizing camera control.^[42] The development team constantly watched Studio Ghibli's films during development.^[29] The team wanted the theme of the game to resonate with children; they initially considered the idea of expressing adventure and dreams. They later explored the concept of a child's greatest influence, their mother, and the possibility of losing them.^[43] The game's main playable character, Oliver, is a 13-year-old boy.^[44] The team decided to make him a child as they wished to showcase a coming of age story. They wanted children to empathize with Oliver's development, and adults to relive the excitement of their adolescence.^[29]

For Dominion of the Dark Djinn, the development team found that the Nintendo DS was best suited to the game's development.^[45] Alongside the launch of Dominion of the Dark Djinn on December 9, 2010, Level-5 also launched the first chapter of Hotroit Stories, titled 'Oliver and Mark' (第1章〜オリバーとマーク), for mobile devices via the Roid service.^[4][5]Wrath of the White Witch was developed for the PlayStation 3. The team planned to bring the game to the console from the beginning of development, but opted to work on the DS version of the game beforehand due to the larger number of DS users in Japan at the time.^[46] The team found they could render the game world with great detail, using the hardware to its full potential to present the animation, world and music.^[41] Hino felt that the PlayStation 3 version allowed the game's music to accompany the imagery, which was not possible on the DS version.^[46]

Following the Japanese launch of Wrath of the White Witch on November 17, 2011, Level-5 developed Daibouken Monsters. The development of the game is the result of a comprehensive partnership between Level-5 and GREE, which resulted in the former developing three titles for the latter.^[47] Early registrations for the game began on March 21, 2012,^[48] and it launched for mobile devices through the GREE service on May 11, 2012.^[49]

Level-5 worked with localization company Shloc to translate Wrath of the White Witch for Western regions; the two studios collaborated for many weeks.^[50] The team found great difficulty when localizing the game for Western regions, particularly due to the large amounts of text and audio that required translation. Other minor changes to the artwork and animation also occurred, such as making Oliver bow in a Western manner.^[51] By December 12, 2012, development on the localized version of Wrath of the White Witch stopped as the game was submitted for manufacturing.^[52] It was released in North America on January 22, 2013,^[53] in Australia on January 31,^[54] and in Europe on February 1.^[55] The game was released for the Nintendo Switch on September 20, 2019. A remastered version, featuring enhanced graphical capabilities, will be released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 on the same day.^[7]

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom was announced at PlayStation Experience on December 5, 2015.^{[13][16][17][18]} It was released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 on March 23, 2018.^[15] Studio Ghibli was not directly involved with development.^[56] Hino said that the game aimed to better fulfill the ambitions of the original game, with deeper stories and improved visuals.^[57] In June, 2019, according to Japanese magazine Nikkei that Akhirio Hino revealed a third installment series is in development.^[58][59]

Music

When Studio Ghibli agreed to produce the animated sequences of Ni no Kuni, they contacted Joe Hisaishi to work on the game's music. Hisaishi, who previously worked with Studio Ghibli on films such as Princess Mononoke (1997) and Spirited Away (2001), met with Level-5 producer and writer Akihiro Hino. After witnessing Hino's passion for the project, Hisaishi agreed to work on the game's soundtrack.^[60] Rei Kondoh also created background music for the score, and all in-game music was performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. 'Kokoro no Kakera', the theme song for Dominion of the Dark Djinn and Wrath of the White Witch, was written by Hisaishi; his daughter Mai Fujisawa performed the song in Japanese, while chorister Archie Buchanan performed the English version. The team found great difficulty in selecting a performer for the English version, though ultimately settled upon Buchanan due to his ability to convey the 'vulnerability and innocence' of the game's characters in a 'moving and powerful performance'.^[50] For the orchestral music to fit onto the Nintendo DS at a high quality, Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn was shipped on a 4-gigabit game card.^[61] Hisaishi also worked on the score for Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom.^[18]

Two Ni no Kuni soundtracks were commercially released. An album titled Ni no Kuni: Shikkoku no Madoushi Original Soundtrack was released in Japan on February 9, 2011, featuring music from Dominion of the Dark Djinn.^[62] A two-disc soundtrack was later released on March 28, 2013; the first disc is a re-release of the Japanese soundtrack, while the second disc contains additional tracks from Wrath of the White Witch.^[63]

Film

An animated film adaptation, simply titled No no Kuni, was produced by OLM, Inc. and distributed by Warner Bros..^[64] It premiered in Japan on August 23, 2019, and was directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, with Hiro as producer and scriptwriter and Hisaishi as music composer.^[65]

Reception

Another World Game Wiki

The first two main games were very well received, with praise particularly directed at the visual design, characters and story, soundtrack, and unique gameplay. Dominion of the Dark Djinn scored 38/40 from Japanese publication Famitsu, who felt that the game's elements are effectively utilized to maintain excitement.^[66] Michael Baker of RPGamer named it the 'best overall game' at the time,^[67] and Janelle Hindman of RPGLand wrote that the game is 'a reminder of why people used to flock to the JRPG genre in the first place'.^[1]Nintendo Gamer's Matthew Castle called it 'one of the best experiences on DS'.^[25]Wrath of the White Witch also received critical acclaim.^[68] It received 85 out of 100 from Metacritic, indicating 'generally favorable reviews'.^[69] Colin Moriarty of IGN named it 'one of the best RPGs', and among the best PlayStation 3 exclusives,^[2] and Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot wrote that it joins the 'hallmark of the greatest RPGs'.^[27]

The artistic design of Dominion of the Dark Djinn and Wrath of the White Witch received acclaim, being favorably compared to Studio Ghibli's previous work;^[66][70]Stephanie Bendixsen of Good Game called the art 'vibrant and exciting', noting that it 'brings the game to life in the most beautiful way'.^[71] The story and characters were also well received, with IGN's Moriarty naming them among the game's standout features^[2] and Edge praising the believable and complex characters.^[72] Critics considered the games' music to be appropriate for gameplay; Jim Sterling of Destructoid compared the soundtrack favorably to Dragon Quest VIII,^[73] and RPGLand's Hindman lauded the music as 'gorgeously crafted'.^[1] The gameplay and combat system polarized reviews; some reviewers found it a refreshing mix of styles from other role-playing games,^[1] with Joystiq's Sinan Kubba calling it a 'triumph',^[74] while others noted its difficulty, and similarity to similar games.^[72][75]

The game's received multiple nominations and awards from several gaming publications. Dominion of the Dark Djinn won the award for Future Division from the Japan Game Awards in 2009 and 2010, and the Excellence Award in 2011,^[76] and also awarded the Rookie Award from Famitsu in 2011.^[77]Wrath of the White Witch appeared on several year-end lists of the best role-playing games of 2013, receiving wins from Destructoid,^[78]Game Revolution,^[79]GameTrailers,^[80]IGN,^[81][82] the 18th Satellite Awards^[83] and the Spike VGX 2013 Awards.^[84] It also received Best Game from The Huffington Post,^[85] Best Sound from Cheat Code Central,^[86] and Excellence in Animation at the SXSW Gaming Awards.^[87] At the 13th National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards, it received multiple wins, including awards for Animation, Art Direction, Original Light Mix Score, Original Family Game, as well as Original/Adapted Song for 'Kokoro no Kakera'.^[88]

In Another World With My Smartphone Video Game

In May 2018, Namco Bandai reported that the series had collectively shipped 2.8 million copies worldwide, with Wrath of the White Witch shipping over 1.1 million copies and Revenant Kingdom shipping over 900k.^[89][90] By the end of 2011, it was reported that Dominion of the Dark Djinn sold over 560,000 units;^[91] it was the 33rd best-selling game in Japan in 2010,^[92] and the 45th best-selling in 2011.^[91]

References

Notes

1. ^Ni no Kuni (二ノ国, lit. Second Country)
2. ^The creatures are known as 'imajinn' in the Japanese versions of the games,^[1] and 'familiars' in the English version.^[2]
3. ^The four playable characters in Dominion of the Dark Djinn and Wrath of the White Witch possess differing abilities to use in battle: Oliver and Marcassin/Lars use wands to cast spells, Esther/Maru plays songs with a harp, and Swaine/Jairo uses trick shots.^[21][22]

Another World Video Game Walkthrough Steam

Citations

1. ^ ^abcdHindman, Janelle (October 9, 2012). 'Ni no Kuni'. RPG Land. Archived from the original on September 20, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
2. ^ ^abcMoriarty, Colin (January 15, 2013). 'Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Review'. IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
3. ^Level-5 (December 9, 2010). Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn (in Japanese). Nintendo DS. Level-5.
4. ^ ^abc'NDS「二ノ国 漆黒の魔導士」の'プロローグ'，「二ノ国 ホットロイトストーリーズ」第1章が本日配信開始'. 4Gamer.net. Aetas, Inc. December 9, 2010. Archived from the original on December 22, 2010. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
5. ^ ^ab'『二ノ国』の序章はケータイから！『二ノ国 ホットロイトストーリーズ』が配信'. Famitsu. Kadokawa Corporation. December 9, 2010. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
6. ^ ^abMonogatari, Gaijin (December 10, 2010). 'Jandemonium (December 10th, 2010)'. RPGamer. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
7. ^ ^abMarshall, Cass (June 11, 2019). 'Ni no Kuni is coming to Switch, getting remastered for PC, PS4'. Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
8. ^ ^abGantayat, Anoop (June 24, 2010). 'Ni no Kuni PS3: Artwork Versus Realtime'. Andriasang. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
9. ^Level-5 (January 22, 2013). Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. PlayStation 3. Namco Bandai Games.
10. ^Gantayat, Anoop (March 21, 2012). 'First Screens: Level-5's New GREE Games'. Andriasang. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
11. ^ ^ab'「これでダメならソーシャルゲームは諦める」とレベルファイブ 日野晃博氏が語った。「グリー×レベルファイブ共同発表会」レポート'. 4Gamer.net. March 22, 2012. Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
12. ^ ^abJohnston, Ken (March 21, 2012). 'GREE and LEVEL-5 Announce a Comprehensive Global Partnership' (Press release). Burlingame, California: GREE. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
13. ^ ^abGoldfarb, Andrew (December 5, 2015). 'Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom Announced'. IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on December 5, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
14. ^ ^abcCampbell, Colin (January 26, 2017). 'Ni No Kuni 2 is looking just as sweet as the original'. Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on January 26, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
15. ^ ^abWales, Matt (December 12, 2017). 'Ni No Kuni 2 has been delayed until March 2018'. Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on December 18, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
16. ^ ^abFrank, Allegra (December 5, 2015). 'Ni No Kuni 2 is coming to PlayStation 4'. Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 5, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
17. ^ ^abHansen, Steven (December 5, 2015). 'New Ni no Kuni coming to PS4 without famed animation house Studio Ghibli'. Destructoid. Archived from the original on December 5, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
18. ^ ^abcKietzmann, Ludwig (December 5, 2015). 'Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom brings a fairytale RPG to PS4'. GamesRadar. Future plc. Archived from the original on December 5, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
19. ^Romano, Sal (February 9, 2017). 'Ni no Kuni II details story, characters Evan, Roland, Tani, and Higgledies, game features'. Gematsu. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
20. ^Amini, Tina (January 29, 2013). 'Ni no Kuni Is Gorgeous, Reviewers Agree. But Not Everyone Is Head Over Heels'. Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
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Bibliography

• Grossman, Howard (January 2013), Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - Official Game Guide, United States of America: Prima Games
• Level-5, ed. (2010), 二ノ国 漆黒の魔導士 取扱説明書, Japan: Level-5

External links

Another World Soap Opera Episodes