Nihon Falcom
2018 will be a very busy year for Falcom with ToCS I and II for PS4 in Spring and ToCS IV in the Fall (most likely their traditional 'last week of September' timeslot, right before the end of the fiscal year). In their latest financial briefing they mentioned outscourcing. This enables them to undertake bigger or more projects. I think the real benefits of this will come in the long-term, after 2018. Right now, they have The Legend of Heroes, Ys, and Tokyo Xanadu, but if they're gonna pump out two games each year instead of one, they might want to create some new IP or broaden their portfolio with spin-offs. I expect them to release their first effort in this approach in 2019.
Nippon Ichi Software
As for Nippon Ichi Software, I'm happy that they've found success in Japan with Coven and Yomawari. They've made a lot of games in 2016 and 2017, but most of them weren't successful at all. I'm really looking forward to their reveals. They should really put effort in aligning their Japanese and western division. Many NIS games don't get localised (or very late), while NISA's 2017 efforts on the front of third-party titles wasn't great either. They had the controversies with Ys VIII and Danganronpa 3; they localised and published a couple of games that didn't have any critical success (for example, Touhou Kobuto V has a 42/100 on Metacritic.) What's been announced so far for NISA is lukewarm: The Lost Child (which sold <10k in Japan and probably won't move much more in the west), Fallen Legion: Rise To Glory, and two NIS games (which I'm excited about!). As for NIS's Japanese efforts, there is Anata no Shikihime Kyouikutan (a brawler for NSW/PS4/PSV), and the remake of The 25th Ward: The Silver Case. Weirdly enough, the NISA ports of The Longest Five Minutes and Penny-Punching Princess for Switch haven't been announced for Japan, which is another bulletpoint on my list when it comes to 'aligning NISJ and NISA'. I think those two games would do decently well on Switch in Japan, compared to their Vita performance in 2016.
The Vita is losing popularity in the west, and in Japan, its market share dropped more than 50% in 2017 (YoY). With no new Sony handheld in sight, Nippon Ichi Software will need the PS4+NSW combo, and they seem to embrace it. They will need to introduce the Nintendo audience to their series to unleash the Switch's full potential though. The current Vita audience will split into three groups: those who shift to PS4, those who shift to NSW, and those who go mobile-only. The NSW's active audience will consist Vita players who are familiar with NIS's series and long-time Nintendo fans who are not. So I think a ports to the Switch of series they consider their flagship franchises for the next couple of years are essential.
As for the titles they named in the interview above, I see Coven and Disgaea 6 happening. Yomawari seems a bit soon... The first game released in October 2015 (October 2016 in the west), the second in August/October 2017 worldwide. So that's two years inbetween. To have a third game in the following year seems a bit too soon. Maybe a 1+2 Switch port could do, with 3 following in 2019. But especially western fans already had two consecutive years of Yomawari. I think a third year would damage its potential. Give fans a small breather. It'll be interesting to see what NIS will come up with anyway. They released their first Unreal Engine 4 game this year, Hakoniwa Company Works for PS4. I wonder what NISA will do with that game, but I'm more interested to see what NISJ will develop with UE4 in the future.
Level-5
Then there's Level-5, which has had some tough years with a lot of delays, the decline of Youkai Watch's popularity, and the continued failure to properly enter the mobile market. At least Otome Yuusha is out now, but let's not talk about its performance. 2018 will see the return of Ni no Kuni and Inazuma Eleven. I'm not sure how to feel about both. Especially Inazuma Eleven seems like a risky project: rebooting the beloved series and targeting old and new players on And/iOS/NSW/PS4. That's a very diverse line-up of platforms. Assuming that 'major title' is unannounced, I wonder what it will be. Level-5 has such a diverse history. In general, I think Level-5 is an amazing idea machine, but a terrible execution machine. They're good sprinters (they achieve high speed/success very fast), but they can't run a marathon. I'm sure Ni no Kuni II will be good, I'm sure they can bring back Inazuma Eleven, I'm confident that Level-5 can make Megaton Musashi a success (whenever that's coming), so 2018 will be a great year for Level-5. But when the next iteration comes, that's when their struggle starts again. It's such a shame, because Level-5 has such an absolutely amazing library of IP. But they've been like this for 10 years now (since the release of the first Inazuma Eleven game/anime season) and I don't think they have the skill to change.
Aquaplus
Cool to see they have surprise success with Utawarerumono with its third(?) entry. I don't know the studio well enough to comment on their actions and teases, so let's move on.
Cygames
Same for Cygames. Granblue Re:Link looks cool tho.
Koei Tecmo
Omega Force finds success whatever they do, until any name other than 'Shin Sangoku Musou' or 'Sengoku Musou' gets a number higher than 2 behind its name. Their license games always have such a steep decline (just look at One Piece: Pirate Warriors) and I don't think Toukiden has much staying power either. Attack on Titan 2 and Dynasty Warriors 9 look cool. Hopefully they'll come up with some cool new collab. Just don't make Dragon Quest Heroes III, because it'll flop. Team Ninja seems to be working on Dead or Alive 6. I'm looking forward to that. Hopefully they have the manpower to make Fatal Frame 6 too :3