It recently came to my attention that Level-5 actually released a prequel game to the Ni no Kuni titles called Ni no Kuni: Hotroit Stories. Why haven’t I heard of it before now? Probably because it was only released on iMode phones in Japan on a service Level-5 offers called ROID (short for “Revolutionary Original Ideas Discovery”). The service is probably best known for hosting the Professor Layton spinoff title called London Life, which was released in the west bundled with copies of Professor Layton and the Last Specter.
Now if you don’t notice an uncanny resemblance to Mother 2 (also known as EarthBound) in the above screenshot, let me jog your memory:
Okay, it had a stronger resemblance in my head, but still… The point is, Hotroit Stories was developed by Brownie Brown, makers of the Mother series! (and London Life, as well) The game follows protagonist Oliver and his friend Mark… as they fight snakes?
Not really sure how Hotroit Story fits into the Ni no Kuni story, but its resemblance to Mother alone makes it intriguing. And there’s a cat that follows protagonist Oliver around town!
Wouldn’t it be great if Namco Bandai could include Hotroit Stories with the North American release of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch? Wishful thinking, I know, but considering this title is only available on a very specific service for certain cell phones in Japan, the likelihood any of us will ever get to try it is exceedingly low. I’d be interested to know how it was received (it was released in 2010, for the curious).
Don’t forget, Namco Bandai has a special Wizard Edition of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch available for preorder on their online store! This version is the only way North Americans can get a physical copy of the amazing spell book released in Japan, so if you’re at all interested, now’s your chance! You can read my full impressions of the Japanese version here.
Sigh – I really need to move to Japan. They get all the cool stuff. I would buy a phone for this.
I second that sigh, Matt 🙁
BTW, Anne, there’s a STRONG resemblance between Mother 2 and ‘Hotroit Stories’ (what a name!), if you ask me. In fact, it’s so strong it made me weep a little.
Also, that battle scene! Gah, it’s terrible that most of us likely will never play this spin-off.
Maybe the folks at Level-5 will alter it a bit, as they did with London Life, and release it on the 3DS eShop in the future? Yeah, I know that’s about as likely as me learning Japanese, but you never know.
I’ve totally got the PS3 version of Ni no Kuni on my wish list, BTW. Now I just have to get a PS3. Hopefully Sony will help make that happen by dropping the price this fall/winter…
Matt – We all need to move to Japan! Maybe we should start a foreign gamer community 😉
Bryan – Phew, glad someone else sees the resemblance! I mean, I know it’s there, but I really thought the Hotroit Stories screenshot with Oliver in front of his house looked EXACTLY the same as the corresponding image in Mother 2, but I was a bit surprised that it wasn’t quite as similar when I loaded up my rom to grab the screenshot.
The battle screen looks so similar, too! It’s almost like what another Mother title would look like if they made another one today.
I’ll cross my fingers for a PS3 price drop! I hear there are rumors about an even slimmer version being in the works? Either way, you definitely need to experience the wide variety of great titles only on the PS3 🙂