20 Video Games That Will Make 2013 An Awesome Year For Gamers

20. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aAs-vZ4rZE 2012 was an underwhelming year for Playstation 3 retail exclusives. While Sony knocked it out of the park over the past year with an excellent lineup of downloadable titles, their portfolio of retail releases left something to be desired. Seems like this is no longer going to be the case, as Sony looks to be sending the PS3 out in a blaze of glory with an incredibly strong-looking lineup of exclusive retail games in 2013. And of all these titles, Ni No Kuni: The Wrath of the White Witch, could end up being be best game in Sony's 2013 lineup. Why it will be awesome: Ni No Kuni is a collaboration between two of Japan's most talented and celebrated creators of top-tier entertainment - film house Studio Ghibli (Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away) and game developer Level 5 (Professor Layton series, Dragon Quest VIII). The game has the look and feel of an authentic Studio Ghibli film (see above video) with the excellent gameplay that Level 5 is well-known for. After spending some time recently with the demo, which is now available in North America on the PSN, I can confirm that this game very much has the feel of the classic PS2 title Dragon Quest VIII while at the same time bringing something to gamers something unlike anything they've ever seen before. JRPGs (Japanese Role Playing Games), despite thriving on portable platforms such as the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP, have become conspicuously scarce on home consoles over the past 6-7 years. Ni No Kuni looks to continue mini-renaissance of console JRPGs that began in 2012 with Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story, and could end up being one of the finest JRPGs we've seen in a long time.