Even Yokai Watch? Doubtful of that.
I'll agree though that nothing will remain Nintendo-only from Level-5 now though. Either Nintendo platform + PS4 or Nintendo platform + mobile.
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Japanese developers talk about 2018 plans and beyond in this week's Dengeki Playstation
- Thread starter Laplasakos
- Start date
Even Yokai Watch? Doubtful of that.
I'll agree though that nothing will remain Nintendo-only from Level-5 now though. Either Nintendo platform + PS4 or Nintendo platform + mobile.
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
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
I don't really see any reason they wouldn't also release it on PS4.
Portability. The same reason why there never was a main series Pokémon game on a home console.
I'd be super interested in a PS4 Yokai Watch, since it means they'd have to change up the really annoying battle system.
It's Kojima, do you even have to ask :P?
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Haha yeah. They need to do that anyway if they continue with console games. The Switch in docked mode has the same problem.
a Yokai Watch game that looks like it's original pitch could definitely get more eyes on it
I don't see what's hilarious about it. Since SIE is publishing it and funding, they've watched Kojima build the game from the beginning. People that complain about the development of DS seem to always forget or just choose not to take into account where it started. Konami finally let go of Kojima near the start of December 2015. Sony signed him to a contract shortly after. Then he had to start looking for a new building where he'd establish KojiPro. He also had to come up with a concept for a new game. Along with that he had to begin hiring dozens of people capable of building a game that's up to the standard that the old KojiPro was known for. Then they had to look into technology to figure out which one they'd use since building a new engine from scratch would take even more time. This all began to happen just two years ago. And yet people still joke and act shocked that we haven't seen gameplay for a game that's being developed under circumstances that we've rarely ever seen before (especially for a AAA developed game).
In the moments leading up to the Metal Gear Solid: Rising reveal, yes!
Yup. We've only known of this game's existence for a year-and-a-half, and even then, Kojima's team was still in pursuit of a game engine. People forget that he's been the overseer and creator of many projects, and that he does have a precedence for working at break-neck speeds, given the ambition of his works.
Yet they still announced the game and started producing trailers to drum up hype way too early. That's my problem with this whole thing. The face that people give it a free pass because it's Kojima is what's funny to me.
This is pretty big. A new Warriors game Crossover confirmation and a potential 2019 release for Death Stranding. Awesome!
A pass on what exactly? Basically everything the guy does is scrutinized. He even brought up that people have accused him of wasting time and money to travel the world in the interview he did with IGN earlier this month. The game itself hasn't escaped that criticism either. When the TGA trailer was shown a bunch of people complained about a lack of gameplay.
They annouced the game when they started the project, not early, Kojima had finished the concept and was deciding which of the 2 engines they would use, that means little more than a year of production from then, yet people inside the project have probably already played the game, they just dont think its ready to be shown yet. Kojima doesnt have a free pass, lots of people were asking about gameplay in the TGA trailer thread, its just that there are people that are wiling to let Kojima do his thing. People themselves hype a game(or any kind of product), Kojima or any product manufactor doesnt own to make us anything, no one has bought anything outside of Sony and they seem very happy about how things are working out.
A lot of people are tired of game publishers announcing games way too early with nothing of substance to show and yet people seem to be willing to let Kojima get away with that because they liked the previous games his team was associated with.
Apart from the occasional "still no gameplay" most responses I see to the Death Stranding stuff is positive. I don't go to every Death Stranding discussion but on the places I frequent including here I see many people giving him a free pass.
Interesting. Considering he was given a very capable engine and probably had the vision almost fully realized in his head before starting, I can believe things are progresssing smoothly. Show us that gameplay Kojima.
With the death of the 3DS now most japanese games will end up on the PS4 (and Switch, but I think most will be multiplat), so I'm excited to see the new games for 2018 and beyond
Wow that looks awesome. Like a Yokai Watch version of Ni No Kuni. In fact, as much as I disliked the battle system of NNK, a more refined version of it seems like it would be perfect for Yokai Watch.
At the back of the line since people didn't buy Razor Edge.
More seriously, while TN is big and work on multiple projects at the same time, they usually only work on one big project at a time.
Please don't butcher the characters and story this time like with Mask of Deception's adaptation. It doesn't help that Mask of Truth relies heavily on the events and characterisation in Mask of Deception - several of the main characters' primary motivations in Mask of Truth are based on events in Mask of Deception that were skipped in the anime :/
It's time for Dark Cloud 3.
Good on for more Nioh. Wonder what the new project is hmmmm
Gameplay & conforming 2019 at E3 next year. Just like TLOU2. Also he's truly a wizard if this game is done in 3 years & will prove ppl were being ridiculous saying he announced that game before it was even a thing & it was 4-5 years away.
It was a little early, but given the extreme circumstances of the scenario, they did it for a reason.
- huge fallout with Konami
- nobody knows what he's doing next
- we don't know if he'll take a break
- he gets an engine & a team in short
- he wants to surprise & show his product
- Sony wants everyone to know they got Kojima.
Based on how ppl lose their minds everytime anything about this is shown. The hype seems to be doing fine. Other companies couldn't get away with this cause ppl would wonder why they announced something that early
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLlu_RpElBs#t=14s
simultaneous is the way to go. they're already doing it for their new vita/switch/ps4 game.
Good to know they'll go simultaneous, I knew they were doing that for the Princess game but I wasn't sure if they'd want the double dippers?
Also I gather it's not Disgaea 6 then... that's interesting.
Is my joke about being revealed in a Nintendo Direct another Culdcept situation? Haha
nisa kinda 'gets around to it' these days. they tend not to localize visual novels unless they seem like a sure bet (danganronpa wasn't at the time, but it was a big property in japan with a cult following in the us, and psycho-pass was a well-known anime property). so exile election is way off-base unless nisa localizes it like the way ghost stories came over here, where it's self-aware that it's a danganronpa ripoff. shin hayarigami is similarly difficult due to crappy platform choices (the first was ps3/vita in 2014? the second was ps4/vita in 2016?) princess is a miser and the world's longest five minutes might be coming over a year or two late, but they're making it. they also brought over cladun 3, yomawari 2, and a rose in the twilight last year, with witch and the hundred knight 2 also slated for early next year.
more often than not, platform choices matter too. hero must die seems to be a casualty of neglect. not sure why that one got passed over, but i think the vita mattered quite a lot as a platform. hakoniwa company works should have been on switch in some way, or at least vita for japan (but wound up being ps4-only). unfortunately i think the fanbase for that kind of game isn't on ps4 in the us either, and the lukewarm reception in japan means we're unlikely to see it too. coven wound up being an odd one because it was on vita and then ps4 during a whole time period in which dungeon rpgs really weren't doing it for those platforms (the only bright spot was stranger of sword city).
i'm sure that going forward you'll see more yomawari, small platformer games from the rose/firefly diary team, disgaea of course, and perhaps the new princess-style game, as long as penny-punching princess does well.
It would be about time. Disgaea 5 was released back in 2015.
OP
OP
I doubt it. Megaton Musashi is possible but games like Snackworld, Layton and Yokai is unlikely.
Interesting, if true. Maybe now that Kojima is an independent and using other people's money he feels more responsible towards being budget-conscious.