Japanese developer Level 5 made some big announcements at their recent Vision conference held in Tokyo, including the welcome news that Ni no Kuni will be published in Europe courtesy of Namco Bandai. The experienced publisher will also be handling the North American version, which was announced last month.

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Ni no Kuni is one of those Japanese-developed games which has received plenty of attention in the West despite there being a constant question mark over whether it would ever be released here.

Today Level-5 president Akihiro Hino confirmed that an English localisation is in the works, and that the publisher is targeting an early 2012 release date in North America.

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One of my all-time favourite games is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker on GameCube. A large part of its appeal is its use of cel-shaded graphics which lend it a unique, cartoonish charm.

I’ve often wondered how cel-shaded visuals would make the transition to the current generation of consoles, and have even played some titles like Tales of Vesperia on Xbox 360 which utilises a fairly subdued form of this technique.

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If you’re a fan of games developed in Japan you’ll no doubt understand the importance of having a dedicated localisation team to ensure that the title in question receives a proper English translation and is released in Western territories soon after the Japanese version.

During the PSOne era it was not uncommon for a highly anticipated game like Final Fantasy VII to take more than six months to reach our shores, and often the English translation contained various spelling and grammatical errors.

Thankfully the situation has improved over the years, and some current-gen Japanese games such as Metal Gear Solid 4 were released worldwide on the same day.

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[Update] Added a new trailer showing snippets of animation from the DS version of Ni no Kuni, and an extended look at the special magic book. [End of Update]

Level 5 and Studio Ghibli are currently hard at work on the duo’s videogame collaboration, a stunning Nintendo DS and Sony PS3 RPG by the name of Ni no Kuni, and thanks to a recent press conference held by Level 5, some new media and details from the game have emerged.

Ni no Kuni features real-time 3D animation on the PS3 during gameplay, and after watching the released trailer, in-game graphics look to have been taken straight from a Studio Ghibli movie, with (what appears to be) traditional turn-based RPG combat, overworld exploration and town navigation.

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According to Japanese game magazine Famitsu (and discovered by Kotaku), the excellent looking Nintendo DS game, Ni no Kuni, has made the transition from that handheld console to Sony’s home platform, the PS3.

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Level 5’s upcoming RPG heading to the Nintendo DS, Ninokuni, is looking amazing, especially thanks to the visual work that Studio Ghibli is providing for the title.

Studio Ghibli, the famed Japanese animation studio responsible for My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, amongst many others, are working with Level 5 (Dark Cloud, Professor Layton and the Curious Village) to create Ninokuni, which is shaping up to look just as distinctive as both of the company’s previous signature works combined, as the latest screenshots released by Famitsu can attest.

In Ninokuni, players take on the role of Oliver as he uses a special magic book to take part in battles in the game, while the game itself will ship with a real booklet (to represent the in-game magic book) which will be required to play, which includes hints, a bestiary and other information to help players progress through the adventure.

Ninokuni is expected to release on the DS in Japan this year, while a release date for the rest of the world is unknown. Check out the rest of the screenshots from Ninokuni below:

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