The two demo choices from the TGS 2010 trial version -- a meeting with the cat king, or a trek through the waterfall corridor to fight a boss. Text: "Hey! How many times do I have to say it? I'm the great fairy, Master Shizuku!"

TOKYO – It is difficult to describe how it feels to grab a PlayStation 3 controller and explore an environment that is barely different from what one would see in the latest Studio Ghibli film.

I'll have to settle for "breathtaking."

Level-5 is showing a playable demo of the PlayStation 3 version of its collaboration with the masters of Japanese animation, Studio Ghibli, at Tokyo Game Show this weekend. Ni no Kuni: The Queen of White Sacred Ash is scheduled to be released in 2011, following the Nintendo DS entry in the series.

The portable game looks good, but the PS3 version is unbelievable. The movements are amazingly fluid, and animations happen with no less precision than in the detailed frames in Hayao Miyazaki's films. Moving Oliver, the main character, through the waterfall corridor in the demo was so much fun that I didn't even try to advance through the field, worrying the Level-5 attendant next to me that I was having some serious trouble with the game.

I was completely immersed in the colorful, relaxing scenery, so much that I found myself running back to dead ends just to check one more time on the detail that had been put into the minute corners of the forest.

Oliver exhibits a variety of movements as you control him. He cutely tiptoes over log bridges, reacting in realistic movements to the objects around him. Despite all the work put into Oliver's animation, however, he is actually not the character that takes part in the battles. That's reserved for the "Protector Warrior," or "Imagine," a stuffed-animal-looking creature that Oliver controls and shouts out orders to in battle.

This may immediately call Pokemon to mind, but from what was shown in the Queen of White Sacred Ash demo, each character has its own solitary creature to control, so I doubt it has anything to do with catching 'em all.

The battles in the PS3 title are more action-oriented than the DS game, and are a lot of fun to watch. The Imagine creatures dance around the enemy, attacking at intervals whenever their Active Time Battle-like energy bar fills up. Once, I tried to attack too soon, and Oliver shouted, "You can't!" to let me know that I had to wait. There is also a special option next to the attack command, which I imagine is different for every creature. In this case, the Protector's was "Charge," which allows him to charge up strength for a stronger attack.

At the end of the waterfall corridor, I ran into the Horn Taurus, a tall beast with antlers that would give the Shishi God from Princess Mononoke a run for its money. Numerous times during the battle, the enemy would get angrier and angrier, resulting in a cool cinematic scene that depicted its stance and countenance transformations. Toward the end, Oliver's friend Shizuku popped in to give me pointers and lend a hand. All in all, it made for one exciting boss battle, and the time flew by very quickly.

I am really excited about the PS3 version of Ni no Kuni. It is going to be great to just sit down, relax and explore a massive, interactive Studio Ghibli world. I hope the game is moderately expansive, but judging from the emphasis placed on story, I doubt it will be very open-ended.

There was no menu available and the demo was rather short this time, so I suspect I've merely scratched the surface of what this game has to offer. I hope the 2011 release date comes soon, but I'd honestly like Level-5 to take its time on this and make Ni no Kuni: The Queen of White Sacred Ash as immersive and vivid as possible.

Images courtesy Level-5

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