Ni no Kuni: Hotroit Stories (2010)

Hotroit Stories is an episodic role-playing video game. A prequel to Dominion of the Dark Djinn and Wrath of the White Witch, Hotroit Stories follows Oliver and his friend Mark, who create a custom car by finding parts around the town of Hotroit eventually making their way to an abandoned factory in their search. They are accompanied by a cat. Throughout their search, Oliver and Mark encounter creatures similar to the imajinn/familiars of the main game, which they must fight to proceed. Unlike the main games, Hotroit Stories does not feature magic; characters instead attack using items such as dry ice for similar effects. Anne Lee of Chic Pixel noted that the game features a similar art style to EarthBound (1994). The game was first teased at a press conference in June 2010, as well as at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2010, before its formal reveal at the Level-5 Vision conference in October 2010. The first chapter, titled "Oliver and Mark", was released in December 2010. Since its release, there has been no news regarding the development or release of subsequent chapters.