Notable Releases:

Usually, we mention a lot more in this section, but there were few noticable releases this week. We highly recommend the one game we picked up though.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a PlayStation 3 exclusive JRPG. Originally a Nintendo DS game, which the US never got, a tweaked version eventually released on the PlayStation 3 in Japan back in November 2011. It took a long while to make it over here, but it was well worth the wait. The game features Japanese and English voice tracks and is translated expertly. The game is abound with puns. Luckily, I love puns, and the game makes me grin every few minutes with monster names like “Baatender” and “Turbandit.” Get it!?

Level-5 developed the game in collaboration with Studio Ghibli, the anime company famous for Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and many more. It’s a classic, light-hearted, beautifully animated Ghibli tale starring Oliver, a pure-hearted 13-year-old boy who can’t swim.  Some cut-scenes are fully animated cartoons, while others are presented in the game’s cel-shaded graphics. It’s like playing through one of the Ghibli’s movies – and it works fantastically.

As Tyler puts it, who is PlayStation 3-less, this game may be the reason to purchase one. It’s that good. I’m about 15 hours in and all I want to do is play it. Ni no Kuni is a beautiful, heartfelt, interesting JRPG.  It captured me and won’t let me go. The battles still haven’t bored me, as JRPG battles tend to do, and running into new familiars – the monsters in the game – keep me interested, considering I can recruit them to my team. While battling, the player can switch on the fly between Oliver, his familiars, and other characters.

Ni no Kuni is like kind of like Tales crossed with Pokémon. Really, it’s awesome, and I can go on about it for a while more, but I suggest trying it out yourself. There is a free demo on the PlayStation Network. Play it.  Look back for a full review once I’ve finished the game.

Full Health highly recommends Ni no Kuni to anyone who enjoys Studio Ghibli films, RPGs and monster games, such as Pokémon.

Check out Ni No Kuni’s Metacritic page for full reviews.

Nintendo Direct News:

The morning before our show, Nintendo released a Nintendo Direct video, dubbed “Wii U Direct,” detailing tons of pretty awesome Nintendo news.

Nintendo mentions that a new “Legend of Zelda” for the Wii U is in the works. To hold us over until then, we can play an HD remastered The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker for the Wii U in the fall. It looks gorgeous, though the cel-shaded style of the original appears toned down.

I've been wishing for a Majora’s Mask Wii U remake ever since the fan-made trailer made it to YouTube. Did Wind Waker really need the graphical overhaul? The cel-shaded graphics aged extremely well, especially compared to the Majora’s Mask Nintendo 64 graphics.

More Nintendo Direct Announcements:

Yoshi Wii U game, in a similar style to Kirby’s Epic Yarn.

Unnamed Wii U game from Monolith Soft, creator of Xenoblade Chronicles. It looks beautiful!

Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem for the Wii U. A very unexpected, but exciting announcement for RPG fans.

Virtual Console is finally coming to the Wii U with a spring update. Customers who already purchased titles for the Wii can repurchase them on the Wii U for a discounted price of $1 for NES games and $1.50 for SNES games.

Loading times will be reduced. Finally! This is my biggest complaint about the Wii U. It’s a silly thing to complain about, but when I want to go back to the menu, I want to go back to the menu now.

Miscellaneous News:

Project X Zone for the Nintendo 3DS is coming to North America. The game is a tactical RPG with a huge list of characters from Namco Bandai Games, Sega, and Capcom.

Signup for The Elderscrolls Online beta!

For even more news and additional comments, listen to the podcast! Newest is at the top.

Next week:

Hitman HD Trilogy

Skulls of the Shogun

Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault

And much more!

About Full Health:

Full Health is a videogame talk show started by Casey DeFreitas and joined by DJ Milez (Robert Araya) in February 2012. Tyler Odom has since joined, providing a voice for the oft forgotten sports games. Together, their interests span just about all videogame genres and consoles.

Listen live every Wednesday at 5 p.m. right here on this website – just click the “Listen Live!” tab. Miss the live show? They’re recorded here!

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