Since before the days of "Dragon's Lair," gamers have long dreamed of truly "playing a cartoon." Though video game tech has catapulted beyond many babies of the '80s' wildest dreams, with HD titles blurring the lines between GCI cutscenes and gameplay, it's taken the renowned Studio Ghibli's ("Spirited Away," "The Borrower Ariety") team-up with developer Level-5 to continue scratching gamedom's itch for a game embracing the look and feel of a traditionally animated film with "NI No Kuni."The title's latest trailer compares Ghibli's animation to the upcoming Playstation 3's in-game action and the results are pretty stunning. Luscious landscapes, bustling village scenes and sweeping views start to take a backseat to the game's RPG elements toward the end of the trailer (it's a bit like "Pokémon" meets "My Neighbor Totoro" for a second), but that doesn't detract from the 2011 release's overall presentation as another work of Ghibli art.

Admittedly, the game's Nintendo DS version embraces the limitations of its more polygonal-capable hardware with a slightly more "videogame" look to it, but its charm endures in a recent trailer of its own.

With any luck, fans outside of Japan will have more info on the title's availability on both systems beyond "next year" soon.

Check out the trailer below:

[Via Kotaku]

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