Ni no Kuni Devs Tease "Modern Day" Game

The devs behind the Ni no Kuni games already have another project in the works, one that takes players to a modern day setting as opposed to fantasy worlds.

Developer Level-5's producer and CEO Akihiro Hino spoke to Bandai Namco producer Katsuhiro Harada about the future of the developer's games in an ongoing series of interviews called "Harada Kills." Published by 4Gamer.net (via Gematsu), the latest interview had Harada asking Hino about the possibility of an MMORPG.

"I do. I always think, 'If I get a chance I want to make one,'" Hino said when asked if he ever wanted to make his own MMORPG. "However, I still feel the pain of having to cancel True Fantasy Live Online (Xbox)."

Despite having to cancel the True Fantasy Live Online project, Hino said that he still hopes to be able to make such a game someday. When Harada questioned whether such a game would be set in a medieval kingdom like previous projects have been, Hino said that he wasn't sure but indicated there were already some ideas in place.

"We do have an idea," Hino said. "I'm not sure if we can call it an MMORPG or not, but were plan to make a big title on the same scale as one. Also, since were going into our 20th year, we want to make something we like. If we able to get support from talented people able to do things we can't, then I think we'll be able to make it. By the way, the game we're preparing won't be fantasy but rather 'modern day.'"

This announcement marks the first news of such details for the unannounced Level-5 game, but given the timing for the devs' 20th anniversary, Hino said that it was fine to reveal such details. That doesn't mean that the game will be released in 2018, however, but an official announcement can be expected.

"It was said somewhere that we'll make a game for our 20th anniversary, so I think it's OK," Hino said when asked if it was okay to reveal such details about the anniversary project. "Although we say it's a game for the 20th anniversary, it won't come out this year. Rather, we wanted to make the announcement in the year of the anniversary. For example, Ni no Kuni was a 10th anniversary celebration title, but it wasn't actually released until two years later."

Level-5's most recent game, Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, is now available for the PlayStation 4 and PC.