Ni No Kuni coming to Switch this September, remastered version coming to PC and PS4

Another E3 2019 leak proven true: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is coming to Nintendo Switch. Bandai Namco confirmed the news earlier today with a new trailer which locked in a September 20 release date. Not only that, the publisher announced Ni No Kuni Remastered for PS4 and PC, also bound for September. To be clear: Switch is getting the original version of Ni No Kuni, while only PS4 and PC are getting the Remastered version, presumably for technical reasons. 

It's been over six years since the original release of Ni No Kuni. If you missed it, it's a sterling JRPG by Level 5 featuring writing and animation from none other than Studio Ghibli. It is achingly beautiful, so I can't imagine how stunning a remaster will be. It's a great fantasy story, too, and a bit darker and more mature than the equally delightful Ni No Kuni 2. You play as Oliver, a young boy on a quest to bring back his mother. Warning: prepare tissues.

If you're coming from the sequel, the biggest difference you'll notice is the lack of a kingdom manager. That's strictly a Ni No Kuni 2 thing; instead, the original game has a Pokemon-adjacent creature-leveling system. You can collect and strengthen allied familiars as you progress, and they really help liven up the game's combat. That's another big difference: where Ni No Kuni 2 goes for pure real-time action combat, the original does the real-time, turn-based hybrid thing where you choose formations and attacks from menus while moving around in real-time. It plays a bit like Kingdom Hearts 3, but it's got some tricks up it sleeve. In any case, Ni No Kuni is a fabulous game, so it's nice to see it coming to more platforms. 

Head here for all the latest E3 2019 games

Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with 12DOVE since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.

Latest in Gaming
GDC The Game Developers logo
When is the Game Developers Conference 2025 and why is it so interesting?
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Everything announced at Pokemon Presents 2025
Saros screenshot featuring the main character and am imposing monster in the background with a swirling void in its chest and multiple arms with balls of fire
Everything announced at the PlayStation State of Play February 2025
Close up shot of an anime schoolgirl with a superhero mask over her eyes in a screenshot from Mightreya.
My Steam wishlist is bigger than ever thanks to the indie devs flooding social media with 15-second clips explaining their games
FGS Spring 2025
The Future Games Show Spring Showcase is back and will have a new live segment from the GDC event floor
A close-up of the Doom Slayer in the upcoming PC game, Doom: The Dark Ages.
Xbox Developer Direct 2025: date, time, and where to stream the showcase
Latest in News
inZOI Character Studio screenshot showing a young woman with short black/pink hair, black cat-like ears, and a black blouse with a bowtie
The creator of upcoming life sim Inzoi says he was "recklessly brave to even think about creating a game of this scale"
Rise of the Ronin
A year after its PS5 launch, Rise of the Ronin debuts on PC to "Mixed" reviews and performance complaints: "Stuttering on a 4090 is just... no"
Rise of the Ronin's photo mode offers some wonderful shots
On the heels of Rise of the Ronin's PC launch, its director says there's a "significant" amount of Japanese Switch gamers: "I am closely watching how this will change with the release of Switch 2"
Stardew Valley Castle Village mod
Stardew Valley Expanded creator is building an "even more ambitious" mod with a whole new city and "dungeons inspired by The Legend of Zelda"
Dino Crisis 2 art showing a young woman and man back-to-back amid tall green grass, both with their weapons drawn
Dino Crisis gets a fresh trademark filing by Capcom, but it might not mean the 26-year-old survival horror franchise will get a new installment like fans expect
Cujo
Netflix is making a brand new adaptation of Cujo, the infamous Stephen King book about a killer dog