Level-5 Reveals Five New Games

Level-5, the independent Japanese developer that's worked on everything from early PlayStation 2 RPG Dark Cloud to the world-beating, epic Dragon Quest VIII, is celebrating the tenth anniversary of their founding. Normally this would call for some cake and maybe letting the staff go home a bit early, but nothing doing for the outfit that Akihiro Hino and friends founded a decade ago -- after all, they're a big-name publisher in Japan now, and in the upcoming Level-5 Vision 2008 event in Tokyo (starting September 26), the company plans to announce five brand-new games that show exactly how versatile Hino's software house has become.

[meepmoopmeep]

dammit! why not make a PS3 horror-RPG!!!
i love me survivor horrors and one from Level-5 for a current gen platform
would be freaky!

i hope there will be more surprises than this list
*cough*Dark Cloud3PS3*cough*

[Vojkan]

Because PSP is massive in Japan, smart pants! Also development cost in cheaper on PSP so 2+2=4 not 5

[meepmoopmeep]

yeah, you're right,

but I AM more important than Japan
so are my wants.

:)

hehe

and i think DS is more massive over there.

[Homicide]

Ushiro sounds very interesting. The only one that I like from that list. Izunma sounds very stupid. Middle school soccer team saves the world. WTF?

[geda]

yeah it sounds pretty stupid... but seeing as these guys pulled off a strategy rpg about joan of arc and a few other outlandish games i have no doubt that they will own with it

[heyheyhey]

aww come on, more Japan-centered handheld games? i sincerely hope this isn't the extent of Level 5's line-up for their convention

where's DC3, Rogue Galaxy 2?

[ash_divine]

I'm sure there's more. after all, the Level 5 Vision 5000 hasn't even started yet(it's Friday, I think). and none of those are particularly "shocking".

[steck67]

Sony should really buy out Level-5, and have them become 1st party developers for the Playstation brand.

[RememberThe357]

If they don't do it some one else will. That seems to be the nature of the industry. Plus, having The quality of Level-5 in the pool of first party cooperation at Sony would help everyone of the studios Sony owns. One thing they need to be careful of, however, is getting too large, but if Level-5 is willing to be absorbed, Sony should jump on the chance. We all know that they would be well worth the risk, and would probably pay for them selfs a number of times over.

[JRaptor]

I wouldn't think being too large is a concern for Sony's worldwide studios. All their studios are kept separate and maintain their own identities, unlike the EA version of absorbing them.
Buying them out would just be the equivalent of having a very iron-clad exclusivity contract...along with a bit more direction in what sort of games they would make.

They really need to buy Level 5 though. Japan is the one area that Sony has very little first party support and polyphony digital & team ico don't release their games very often. They need to compensate for the decreased third party exclusivity from Japanese developers.

[TOSgamer]

I love that game.

[tocrazed4you]

Dark cloud 3 DARK CLOUD 3 DARK CLOUD 3 DARK CLOUD 3!!

[ps360s]

I never played Dark Cloud before! I keep hearing people talk about it but I did'nt really think much of it! I know I might be missing out...whats it like I might go buy it if theres a 3rd mention for the Ps3...don't want to be missing out now do i!

[PirateThom]

Dark Cloud may be the most underated game in the entire PS3 library, both in acclaim and sales. Fantastic game.

[RememberThe357]

I got too tired of all the reading(I'm dyslexic) and the random dungeons, plus the weapon creating kind of overwhelmed me at the time. However the shining light of the series so far, in my opinion, was the combat, which after playing Rouge Galaxy I think they have perfected. So the prospect of a Dark Cloud 3 is near perfection. With steller combat, great story telling, the weapon creation and the visuals we're seeing in WKC, they could be offering an unrivaled RPG line-up. But, with that said, we will just have to wait and see. Looking foreword too it.

[Marceles]

(looks at PSP and DS tags)

sigh....I guess they're testing out how well WKC does first

[Freak of Nature]

Double sigh from me....

Dark Cloud 3 is all I looked for in this article,and it's no where in sight....

[Shaka2K6]

HA!

[Fadixon]

i dont think sony should buy them they already make games exclusive for them and nintendo(no microsoft bec after the incident they said they wont be making games for them) they should be left freely to design the games that suit each console best

[STFUAJPG]

What incident??

edit: Nevermind I found out. I think.

[theKiller]

i dont know about it can u tell me please?

[RememberThe357]

But I'm scare that Square will swallow them up.

[JRaptor]

yeah, that's what I'm scared of too. Square seems to be the new EA, at least in the acquisition department anyway.

[Hentai]

Level 5 have gain enough experience to move on to the next level.

[Laexerias]

Level 5 is the highest level.

[RememberThe357]

but with their recent offerings, they haven't really "raised the bar" so to speak. I think that leave some room for other developers,such as Level-5, to take the top stop when is come to quality JRPGs. WKC seems to be in the position to move the unity that games like Dark Cloud and Rouge Galaxy deserved to move, so I think you guys may be right.

[Fadixon]

level 5 was developing a game called phantasy star i think for the xbox but microsoft went out of patience and canned it so level 5 got pissed and said they wont make any games for microsoft

[BlackIceJoe]

Fadixon Phantasy Star is from Sega the game you are thinking of is True Fantasy Live Online and Hino has said in the past He would still like to finish the game. Just this time it being for the PC. I for one hope the game does get finished TFLO looked like it would be a great game.

On topic I have to hand it to Level-5 they sure have a lot of games coming out. Not only these five new games but White Knight and the new Dragon Quest game. With the games Level-5 is putting out I see L5 becoming as great as Square-Enix some day or may be even pass them.

[Fadixon]

my bad i forgot the name and yea i hope it gets finshed as well btw noob quesion how do i edit my comment?

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

When you look at your comment, the last thing in the options on the lower right-hand side will be "edit", right next to "reply".

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Huge letdown.

[Fadixon]

their is only agree disagree report reply cant find edit anywhere

[KiddyBrownTurd]

YES!!!!!!!!!! I was hoping they'd make another. Last one was AWESOME! I need my puzzle fix! Some of these puzzle can get kinda hard when you're fighting sleep. BEST time to play that game, LOL.

[Relientk77]

wheres Rogue Galaxy and/or Dark Cloud 3?