Dengeki have a rather detailed preview of Level-5’s Ni no Kuni: The Another World up, and confirm in the introduction to the feature that the game is being readied for a release in Japan this Fall.
The game starts out in the town of Hotroit, with the protagonist, Oliver, building a car with his friend, Mark. The push the car out to the riverside to take it for a test drive, but Oliver ends up driving it into the river. On the verge of drowning, he is saved by his mother, Ali, who dies of a heart attack following his rescue.
Later, Oliver is seen mourning his mother’s passing, clutching a doll she once gifted him. As Oliver’s tears fall on the doll, it comes to life and tells him of the alternate world it is from. The doll-cum-fairy, named Shizuku, asks that Oliver travel back with him to this alternate world (named Ni no Kuni) to help defeat the dark mage that sealed him into a doll. He also tells Oliver there’s a chance that he could find a way to save his mother as well.
Dengeki also have an absolutely gigantic gallery of screenshots from the game, so be sure to click over and give them a look.