Baldo: The Guardian Owls is coming to the Nintendo Switch as a timed exclusive this Summer, as revealed in the trailer from the Nintendo Indie World Direct today. Naps Team is shooting to merge the world of anime (particularly Studio Ghibli) with an open world, action-adventure RPG. The game takes place in a magical land, full of mysterious spells, ancient dungeons, and tons of puzzles for players to parse through. Naps Team promises the game will afford players some serious hours, so we hope the open world is a bit on the larger side - or perhaps more densely packed with things to do and lots of colorful characters to meet.

Baldo will have the player fighting enemies and exploring new lands, but it'll be interesting to see how combat plays out in this game. From the trailer we can see it'll be live combat, but RPG fans are sure to want a bit more info on just how customized their builds can be. The main story will follow a prophecy about the rise of the "No-Heart Creature" and the "pure-hearted" child who was born to stop it, but many side-quests will be available to fill out the rest of the map. The first gameplay trailer promised many "weird and funny" characters scattered about the map, as well as upgrading and collecting new weapons and items. The monster designs are imaginative and reminiscent of anime from the late 90s/early 2000s, and any Studio Ghibli fan will immediately see resemblances to creatures from classics like Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, and Princess Mononoke.

An open-world action-adventure RPG with puzzles and intricate dungeons invokes The Legend of Zelda almost immediately, and with the art style it's hard not to draw at least a cursory comparison to Breath of the Wild in particular. Baldo should find a comfortable home on the Switch and scratch the itch for those waiting on upcoming open-world RPGs like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 and Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition.

Baldo is a timed exclusive for the Nintendo Switch, but no word on how long until it appears on other consoles or PC, for which it was announced.

We'll keep you updated on Baldo as soon as a release date becomes available!