As part of its 2024 Vision Showcase, LEVEL-5 has released the first teaser trailer for the next Yokai Watch! concept, Holy Horror Mansion. The game is described as a ‘Ghost Craft RPGâ€? and everything we c??urrently know comes direct the trailer itself. 

The game is set to center around Ten Lordland, a boy who?? lives in a mansion atop an apartment block that is owned by his Grandmother. The apartment block, which is also a portal to the underworld, is filled with spirits that are discovered by Ten after he uses a mysterious camera and one of his nose hairs turns into a green ghost. 

Yes, you read that correctly. 

This green ghost is capable of possessing objects and turning them into Yokai-esque monsters, and he doesn’t come into the world alone. His friends, blue and pink ghost, will help to craft unique monsters and create worlds to explore respect?ively. 

Interestingly,? as part of the teaser trailer, a familiar face made a rat??her unexpected appearance:

I’m not sure if you’ll remember pen-pineapple-apple-pen, but I sure do; and I definitely wasn’t expecting to see PIKOTARO to show up in a video game trailer, but I’m glad he did. Although having said that, I’ve now got his song stuck in my head and it's not ?likely ??to leave for the next week.

Little is known about a potential release date for Holy Horror Mansion just yet, and even less is known about which platforms it will be coming to. If previous Yokai Watch! titles are anything to go by, it’s likely that Holy Horror Mansion will make its home on Nintendo Switch. Depending on the release date, it may even be an early release for the Switch's successor console.&nbs?p;

More information will be coming in the Spring of 2025, according to LEVEL-5 CEO Akihiro Hino, so we only have a few months to wait until we get more details about this bizarrely adorable follow-up to Yokai Watch!

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During today's Level 5 Vision 2024 online event, developer Level 5 announced that the latest entry into the Fantasy Life series, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time has been delayed ??until April 2025. Prior to this announcement, the social life sim RPG was expected to be released in just over ??two weeks on October 10.

In traditional Fantasy Life fashion, The Girl Who Steals Time tasks players with creating their own character and then leveling a variety of combat, gathering, and crafting jobs in a massive open-world RPG. In total, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time features 14 jobs in total, including the brand new Art??ist and Farmer jobs.

As of now, the only platform that has been confirmed for The Girl Who Steals Time is the Nintendo Switch, which is honestly the perfect platform for a Fantasy Life game. The original RPG on DS felt like the perfect handheld life sim RPG, and I'm sure The Girl Who Steals Time will utilize the Switch functionality to do the??? same.

Also, for the first time in the series, players will be able to play online and locally with up to four friends, inviting them to their own personal crafted island and then work together on resource-gathering quests. It sounds very Animal Crossing-esque in that regard. ?There is also 2 player "couc?h co-op" if you have a second controller, allowing one to join as a travel companion.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is?? now set to launch on Nintendo Switch in April 2025.

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Level-5 has quite the lineup of games in store, but it's taking some extra time for at least one of them. The studio has confirmed that Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is being pushed into 2024.

The team says it's pushing the Switch game back to ensure Fantasy Life i is released "in better quality to everyone." No firm release date for next year's been set, but we'll be hearing about it soon. Level-5 is holding another Vision 2023 event later this month on November 29, where it plans to announce the new release date for Fantasy Life i.

What's ahead for Level-5

Considering a number of Level-5's other projects are all still labeled 2023—and we're running out of 2023 with each day that passes—I wouldn't be surprised to see some other windows shift. If anything's? left to launch this year, there's not a lot of time left.

That said, this reinvigorated Level-5 is exciting to see come together. While the studio's been largely working on properties like Ni no Kuni and Yo-Kai Watch for the last few years, they've now got a hefty lineup of both familiar and fresh games. One in particular, Decapolice, has really caught my eye, and reportedly looked good at Tokyo Game Show 2023.

My hope is that Level-5 gets the time to comfortably make what they want to. This studio produces some wild, wonderful worlds that are a blast to explore, and both Fantasy Life i and its other games look really intrig?uing. We'll hopefully learn more about Level-5's docket moving forward at the end of the month.

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Level-5 will be hosting the second Vision 2023 event this year on No?vember 29 at 21:00 JST. You'll be able to wat??ch the show live on YouTube.

As Gematsu reports, the event will run for half an hour, and English subtitles will be available. You can expect to receive plenty of information and release dates for upcoming Level-5 games including Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road, DECAPOLICE, FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time, Megaton Musashi Wired, and Professor Layton and The New World of Steam.

The last Vision 2023 event was held in March and it featured trailers for several titles, including Megaton Musashi Wired. During this month's event, I'll be looking out for the latest entry in the Professor Layton series wh??ich will hopefully receive a release date. It appeared at the previous event, giving us a look into what we can ??expect from the story.

The latest Inazuma Eleven game will also be worth taking a peek at. It was originally slated for a 2018 release, but several delays have pushed it back for years. Hope??fully, the long wait is almost over.

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Layton journeys to a new world

After a strong showing at a recent Nintendo Direct, Level-5 hosted a livestream today spotlighting some of it?s upcoming titles. Though every title was already known, we ?did get some details on what looks like a packed line-up for Level-5.

Today's stream featured the reveal of a new Megaton Musashi, dubbed Megaton Musashi: Wired. Alongside the mech action title, we also got some details on the new Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road, the cop RPG Decapolice, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and the new Professor Layton game.

Here's the full run-down of everything shown:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiskq5t73P0

Decapolice

Today's trailer dives a bit deeper into Level-5's cop RPG Decapolice. The battle system makes it look like a party-based RPG, but I really dig the investigation parts where it looks like the player links clues together using red string and suspicions. The setting seems pretty unique, and I'm interested to see what Level-5 does with such a unique set-up. Plus, just listen to that soundtrack. Decapolice is coming to PlayStation and?? Switch sometime this year.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EVgTrFkCoU

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time

A new life starts in the new Fantasy Life game, and that means a character creator. Level-5 showed off some of the avatar creation potential, as well as general gameplay and different Lives (a.k.a. jobs) to undertake. There's really just something cozy and chill about this particular take on the life sim genre. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is targeting Nintendo Switch for?? sometime this year.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mEq_N0oWbQ

Megaton Musashi: Wired

Level-5 officially unveiled its new Megaton Musashi project. Wired is an international version of the original Megaton Musashi. Build robots and pilot them against absolutely massive robots. What more could you really want? Level-5 is advertising cross-play for PC, PlayStation, and Switch, with co-op and competitive options too. Some legendary robots are also getting involved, ranging from Mazinger Z to Combattler V. According to the teaser site, Megaton Musashi: Wired is aiming to launch this year.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1IxYs46wg0

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam

After the new Layton entry was revealed at the Nintendo Direct, Level-5 shared more about what's in store for the puzzle-solving detective in this new trailer. The story picks up after Luke's departure for America in The Unwound Future. Luke has become a bit of a detective in his own right on the new continent, and Layton will team up with him to solve mysteries and quick puzzles in this new world of steam and machines. No release date's been set yet, but Professor Layton and the New World of Steam will be headed to Switch.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkRQsURQjH4

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road

The sports-RPG crossover Inazuma Eleven has a stylish new entry on the way in Victory Road, which looks to be an all-star mash-up of the series' history. Over 4500 characters from the Inazuma Eleven series will appear, as two players attempt to revive a soccer club and topple the reigning champions. Who doesn't love a good underdog story? Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is set for 2023 for Switch, PS4, iOS, and Android.

The post Recap: Everything shown in today’s Level-5 livestream appeared first on Destructoid.

Studio presentation set for March 9

Level-5 will hold a live stream presentation next month, offering updates on a selection of titles currently in development at the Japanese studio. The "Level-5 Vision 2023 Tsuzumi" will take place on March 9.

The stream will include new news and details pertaining to upcoming Level-5 releases such as Decapolice, Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road, Megaton Musushi Wired, Fantasy Life I: The Girl Who Steals Time, and the recently revealed Professor Layton and The New World of Steam.

As noted by Gematsu, this live stream announcement is not only the first revelation of a new Megaton Musashi title, along with the debut of a localized title for the Inazuma Eleven release. The live stream will feature English subtitles, which suggests that the studio has global plans for some of its upcoming wares �with the new Professor Layton title being perhaps of the highest intere???st for puzzle fans.

The Level-5 Vision 2023 Tsuzumi stream will kick off March 9 at 20:00 JST / 03:00 PT / 12:00 BST. We'll be sure t??o bring you all of the hot gossip from the stream right here on Destructoid, so you d?on't have to sweat staying up for the wee small hours.

??LEVEL-5 Vision 2023 Tsuzumi live stream set for March 9 [Gematsu]

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Everybody loves Layton

It's been a rough couple of years for Level-5. Considered one of the stronger development houses in Japan, it's struggled recently to reach the worldwide audience it once did. It also bought Comcept for some reason. Anyway, the studio has seen just a few titles make it over the Pacific in the past couple of years, including Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl �Gold and Fantasy Life Online. Others, like new entries in its once-popular Yo-kai Watch series or its Megaton Musashi games, have stayed put in Japan. Add in the fact that Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road of Heroes has been terminally delayed over? th?e years, and it very well seemed like the company was slowly wilting from this world. But after yesterday's Nintendo Direct, I think Level-5 is on the mend.

The developer had three games revealed during the presentation, including the return of perhaps its most popular original creation. After many years of reports and rumors, it was confirmed during the Direct that Professor Layton will return in a new game titled Professor Layton and the New World of steam. We've posted the teaser trailer below, which re??ally is nothing more than animated key art. Information, unfortunately, is pretty sparse at the moment, and it is currently unknown if the game will launch i?n 2023.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr50WwktW6E

One game that is scheduled for this year is the next entry in the Fantasy Life series. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time will see players exploring a new island in two different time periods. If you missed out on Fantasy Life on the Nintendo 3DS and avoided the recently shuttered mobile version, the series lets players explore the world around them through different jobs known as Lifes. In the original, you could engage in comb??at with your sword in hand or take a pacifist route by playing as one of the gatherer classes. It was the first time a non-MMO game really let me go through it at my own pace, and I can't wait to do it again on Switch.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is planned for release in 2023.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmbC_dS-FjY

Also planned for release this year is DECAPOLICE. In this "crime-suspense RPG," players will take control of a junior detective named Harvard as ??he explores a virtual recreation of the real world to solve crimes. Judging by the trailer below, players will visit crime scenes, collect evidence, make accusations...and then engage in some turn-based battles. It looks neat, and I can't wait to see more.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1eTR1jfWUA

The post Professor Layton and Level-5 are ready?? to make their comeback appeared first on Destructoid.

Get me away from this real life

One of my favorite video games on the Nintendo 3DS is Fantasy Life from Level-5. Originally an offshoot of Professor Layton’s London Life from Professor Layton and the Last Specter, the RPG life-sim?? offered players an open-ended ap?proach to saving the world of Reveria from the fallen meteors known as Doomstones. It was a very relaxing game where you could spend an afternoon killing monsters or just working as a craftsperson, building your wealth.

It was such a great experience on the handheld that the news its sequel would be coming exclusively to mobile was a bit of a gut punch. Even more dis??appointing was the fact that there didn’t seem to be any indication the game would release outside of Japan. The sequel, now called Fantasy Life Online, released in the country back in 2018. But now, ??it looks like people in our half of the world will finally get to try the game?? out for themselves.

Today, Fantasy Life Online started its official English closed beta in a small selection of countries, including Australia and Canada. The game is up for pre-registration on Google Play and it’s coming to us from Bolt??rend Games, which also brought western audiences the su?rprisingly good Atelier Online: Alchemist of Bressisle over the summer.

Like its predecessor, Fantasy Life Online will let players find their own way through the game with 12 different classes to choose from, including tailor, miner, paladin, and alchemist. If you want to kill monsters, you can do that. If you’d rather start a business, that’s an option as well. Players will be able to build up their o?wn villag?e, and they can play solo or with up to three other friends.

I’m excited to see what this is all about, but I’m keeping expectations in check as microtransactions can greatly alter what I know can be a wonderful experience. At least I still have my 3DS copy to fall back on should Fantasy Life Online not meet expectations.

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I hope Yo-Kai Watch lives on in some form

Yo-Kai Watch Smarpho (smartphone) is coming very soon, as Level-5 continues to mine the well of former Yo-Kai Watch popularity. The mobile edition will be released on July 10 in Japan, which is basically right now in JST. It's 1,220 yen if you grab it before August 16: at which point it'll revert?? to the permanent price of 1,960 yen. That's basically six bucks off if you get it early.

So what is it? Well it's actually just a re-release of the original game; the game that started the craze in Japan, and the atte??mpt at domination in the w??est.

If y?ou're somehow in the unique position to play this, do it! There's a reason the first title (and subsequent games) caught on, as the main series is actually a pretty fun JRPG romp, with several unique mechanics and a very vibrant cute world. For 10 bucks you can't really go wrong, though the original has dropped to around that much on 3DS, so you have options.

There's a lot more Yo-Kai Watch in Level-5's future too, with several spinoffs in the works. Sadly, Yo-Kai Watch 4 still hasn't been localized, and Nintendo (who has been handling it in the west) has seemingly given up on this series. Level-5's western HQ is also shuttered, so the chances of the fourth entry actually seeing the light of day outside of Jap??an are very slim.

You can't say that Level-5 didn't try. I saw a ton of merch flood many US stores around the release of the first game overseas, and the team completely reworked a new anime series to appeal to an older crowd. It just didn't work out. You can read up on the whole history of Yo-Kai Watch here!

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHuxYhlTyC4

The post The original Yo-?Kai ??Watch is coming to mobile in Japan this weekend appeared first on Destructoid.

Level-5 bounces back

Level-5 hasn't really been in great shape these past few years, and?? it's a shame.

The company that was built on Dark Cloud has been pumping out banger JRPGs for nearly two decades, but fell upon some tough times after a few projects didn't really pan out as well as they'd hoped. Yokai Watch fizzled in the west, the Professor Layton well mostly dried up (with a few cancellations to boot), and L?evel-5 Abby, their North American arm, was shuttered last year. There were even rumors that Level-5 was allegedly having issues paying their staff. Company head Akihiro? Hino even addre??ssed some of the concerns vaguely earlier this year.

The good news is that the publisher has seemingly recovered, and is planning a "completely new project" that is being bill??ed right now as a "Level-5 RPG" on their care??er site. Nearly every major role from game director to producer is looking to be filled for the project, with some roles working completely from home remotely as a contractor. Part of the recovery is no doubt chalked up to Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, which made $100 millio?n in revenue in just 11 days.

Now, who knows if this new pro?ject will ever be localized, or see a series of delays, as?? is customary with Level-5. But for now, I'm mainly just happy that they still exist.

The post Level-5 is still alive: pl??anning a new RPG project appeared first on Destructoid.

Build a new kingdom on the go

Switch RPG fans are getting another grand adventure. The very stylish Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom - Prince's Edition is coming to Nintendo Switch on Sept. 17, 2021.

Confirming an ESRB rating picked up on last month, the Prince's Edition will have all the DLC content that's been released f??or the original 2018 game, wit??h both a digital and physical retail version at $59.99.

Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom follows the adventures of Evan Pettywhisker Tildrum, the dethroned ruler of Ding Dong Dell, as he works to build a new kingdom. It also stars Roland, a president from an unnamed Earth nation who is transported into the fantasy realm of Ni No Kuni. It's kind of a wild setup, but the art style and writing is ??very charming, and the "Higgledies" mechanic was pretty i??nteresting. 

It's a pretty solid RPG, if you're looking for something to fill the hours with this summer. And really, it's hard not to be ha??ppy about more RPGs on the Switch.

The post Ni No Kuni II is coming to Switch this September appeared first on Destructoid.

Also they have 'unannounced new titles in the works'

Like NIS and a few other typically niche Japanese studios, Level-5 has ups and downs. The absolute explosion of the Yo-Kai Watch franchise roughly five years ago was a definitive "up!" I was there in Japan to see its influence on location: and in some ways, at the time, it was bigger than Pokemon.

But that fame and fortune never really translated well outside of that region, and over time, it too faded in Japan. That shift was bad news for Level-5, as they struggled to manage their other cross-media franchises, most of which did not reach the same level of success as Yo-Kai Watch at its peak (if you want a quick read on the rise and fall of Yo-Kai Watch, check this out!). Their financial issues came to a head this year after it was reported that Level-5 s?huttere??d their US base of operations.

Level-5 head Akihiro Hino certainly isn't shy though, and in a recent end??-of-year interview series over at 4Ga?mer, gives us a frank update. Hino says that they are not giving up their cross-media strategy, but there are "a lot of areas [they] need to do better in." Hino specifically mentions delays and bugs as part of their 2020 shortcomings, vow??ing to "roll up [their] sleeves and focus [their] efforts."

That said, Level-5 is still actively developing games, and has multiple unannounced titles ready to go, behind the curtain. Hopefully they can turn things around, and eventually, localize Yo-Kai Watch 4. I still want it!

End of Year Creator Interviews [4Gamer via Gematsu]

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Time to start importing

Level-5 has been a beloved institution in my household since the year 2000.

Dark Cloud absolutely mesmerized me in a ?way that many games before it never could. Ever since then the company ha??s been on my radar, and I've truly kept up with them. Professor Layton was a marvel back in the unstoppable era of the DS, and even their oddball spinoffs and niche titles thrilled me on occasion.

Once Ni No Kuni came into the spotlight though Level-5 expanded their dominion even further outside of Japan. But recent years haven't been so kind. Level-5 really pushed hard for Yo-Kai Watch to take off in the west and become the next Pokémon, but it never really happened: and its success in Japan dwindled in recent years. Inheriting Comcept, the troubled developer of Mighty No. 9, also hasn't done them any favors.

A lot of that is coming back to roost, according to a report from VGC. The report alleges that Level-5's North American operations, which were already operating as a skeleton crew since August of 2019, are basically dead. That includes both offices, with the US head Yukari Hayakawa potentially departing the company. This? all lines up with prior rumors that Level-5 was in some sort of financial trouble.

This cold potentially impact future Inazuma Eleven game localizations, as well as the western version of Yo-Kai Watch 4, all of the planned Yo-Kai Watch spinoffs, the Ni No Kuni mobile game and Megaton Musashi. VGC states that one source concluded that, potentially, there are "currently no concrete plans for any m?ore Level-5 games to be released outside of Japan." Naturally, they?? could also find ways to bring their more marquee games west, while keeping other titles Japan-only.

We've reached out to Level-5 for more information on the matter, but given their history with not commenting, we don't expect a reply.? Hopefully everyone impacted lands on their feet: they've ?done amazing work bringing so many Level-5 classics to a broader audience. If this is the last we see of Level-5 in the west, it will be sorely missed.

Level-5 has virtually halted operations ??in North America [VGC]

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Years in the making

Megaton Musashi was announced so long ago, it was originally only revealed to be coming to Nintendo 3DS. F?or reasons only developer Level-5 knows, it kept getting pushed back and now is set to arrive on Switch and PlayStation 4. Since it was announced four years ago, we really haven't got a good look at what the game is, but that changed today when Level-5 dropped an extensive trailer for it at Tokyo Game Show 2020.

Well that certainly got my attention. The trailer showcases the story mode, which features high school students and if the reaction to my review of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is any indication, that'll be a huge turnoff for much of our audience. We also got a look at the customization opti??ons in the game and its battle system.

Megaton Musashi is still without a release date, and if Level-5's road to release for Inazuma Eleven: Great Road of Heroes is any indication, it may be a while.

Megaton Musashi [Level-5]

The post Megaton Musashi’s Tokyo Game Show trailer gives us our best look at the game yet appeared first on Destructoid.

Introducing Cross Worlds

There's a brand new Ni no Kuni game in the works, and it puts an interesting spin on the acclaimed anime RPG series. Titled Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, this is an MMORPG. And it's ?releasing on mobile devices. And it's only in Japan.

Hey, where are you going?!

Despite all those caveats -- caveats that ensure the vast majority of you will never play this -- Cross Worlds has an intriguing approach. According to this translation from Gematsu, this Ni no Kuni puts you in the role of a beta tester on a VR game. You discover that the real world and Ni no Kuni's world are ??connected, and you have to travel between the two to rebuild the kingdom. If you're successful, you'll save both re??alms from ruin.

None of that really speaks to how Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds is an MMO though. It also doesn't really offer any explanation as to how?? the game works. It sure looks nice, though.

Ni no Kuni's mobile efforts actually outpace the PC/console games now. This will be the third Ni no Kuni title for smartphones in Japan. However, it's the first to try something as ambitio?us as an MMORPG bent.

Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds is being developed by Netmarble and published by Level-5. It'll launch on iOS and Android devices in Japan sometime in 2020. If that goes successfully enough, maybe it'll find its way west at some p??oint.

Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds official website opened [Gematsu]

The post Here’s a look at the new Ni no Kuni game appeared first on Destructoid.

From Jump Festa

I've  been covering Megaton Musashi (which is definitely not a Brave Fencer Musashi sequel) for around...four years now.

In typical bombastic Level-5 fashion the IP was originally supposed to be this huge toy and media line spearheaded by the game, but plans changed. Not only did Level-5 have less trucks of money coming in from Yo-kai Watch to toss around, but the 3DS slowly started meeting its f??ate at the hand of the Switch. From there, it morphed from a big 3DS exclusive to a Switch and mobile game.

The thing is, it still hasn't launched yet. Every so often Level-5?? will parade it around and remind us it exists (usually twice a ?year), and thanks to a new trailer from the recent Jump Festa event, we're getting one of those this week. Like most Level-5 projects I'm just ready to give it a shot once the thing is actually finished.

For now, "coming soon" is all we have to go by.

The post Megaton Musashi still?? exists, this trailer proves it appeared first on Destructoid.

'A different type of system'

Level-5 CEO AkihiroHino has announced that there's going to be yet another Yo-Kai Watch game, and bas??ed on the current slow timetable, it might be Japan-only for quite some time (or forever).

The title is Yo-Kai Academy Y, and is based on the new Academy spinoff series that focuses on more out-there comedy in contrast to their tepidly received Shadowside focus. Hino's tweet says that he has his work cut out for him given that he's juggling more Yo-Kai films and games, but t??his one will feature "a different type of system" compared to the mainline games.

In true Level-5? fashion (they hop around, platform-wise) we don't have confirmation of what systems it's going t?o land on. Switch is likely, but you never know! Level-5 has also been jumping into bed with the PS4 after franchise sales have been slumping in recent years.

Like all Yo-Kai Watch related media (and I may be t??he?? only one in the US), I hope it comes west. I'm still kind of miffed that the films were never localized outside of the first.

AkihiroHino [Twitter]

The post There’s a new Yo-Kai Watch game coming, if anyone cares appeared first on Destructoid.

February 14, 2020

For years we've heard about Level-5's ambitious new cross-media project Snack World, which spans an anime, toy line, and video game series. But unlike Yo-Kai Watch it kind of just stayed over in Japan, until this fateful week when Nintendo has officially announced the localization of Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl - Gold for Switch.

It'll hit the west on February 14, 2020 (for $60) in physical form as well as on the eShop, and will task the player's party with taking down the evil Sultan Vinegar. This iteration is a "dungeon crawling rougelike adventure," with an emphasis on shopping, gear optimization, and procedurally generated dungeons. The titular "snack" mechanic will summon allies, but there's co-op support?? for up to four players.

Nintendo and Level-5 promise a hearty comedic story that frequently breaks the fourth wall, which would either be amazing or terrible depending on how the localization goes. Having followed Snack World&n??bsp;for a while ??it's easy to point out some of the more regional jokes that are native to Japan, so this one is going to be tough to bring over.

The post After several years of waiting, Level-5’s Snack World series finally comes west to Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

And the award for longest title of 2019 goes too...

Professor Layton has solved hundreds of riddles and dozens of mysteries since he first debuted on the Nintendo DS back in 2007. From a curious village in the English countryside to the mythical town of Labyrinthia, t??here wasn't a case he couldn't close, no conundrum he couldn't construe. But there is one mystery that's? been a shadow over the franchise for the past few years. With the popularity of two-screen devices dying off, how would it continue in a one-screen world?

Well, it took a while, but we can now consider that mys??t??ery solved.

Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy Deluxe Edition (Switch)
Developer: Level-5, h.a.n.d.
Publisher: Level-5
Released: November 8, 2019
MSRP: $39.99

Layton's Mystery Journey tells the story of Katrielle Layton, daughter of the world-famous professor, who's opened her detective agenc??y in the heart of London. Ready to make a name for herself, though already well known in Scotland Yard, she teams up with talking dog Sherl and assistant Ernest -- the Duckie to her Andie, the Ricky Lipman to her Janey Briggs -- to solve a series of cases surrounding the Seven Dragons. The Dragons are the seven wealthiest peopl?e in London who each find need for Katrielle's services.

I first wrote about Layton's Mystery Journey when it first released stateside on iOS. Two years later the core of the experience is still the same. Katrielle is still endlessly upbeat and unevenly written. The dialogue is wonderful, the world is beautiful, but the overall story doesn't go anywhere. I'm almost done with a full run-through of the Deluxe Edition and my disappointment about the structure and ??plot remains the sam?e.

Ditto on the puzzles. Layton's Mystery Journey has arguably the weakest puzzle collection in the series, though it has the most a single game has ever seen. The Deluxe Edition on Switch has even more puzzles than before, with more than 40 added to the package. Because I don't have an eidetic memory, I've forgotten most of the puzzles from my original time with Layton's Mystery Journey -- except the b?ad ones, I remember those vividly.

Anyway, despite being more-or-less the same game I didn't like all that much two years ago, I'm very excited about this port. First of all, it has more than 50 new outfits to unlock and dress Katrielle up in and I am 100% here for that. I would buy this game if it was nothing but playing dress-up with Katrielle and then taking her around London to eat pastries and squid ink spaghetti. But there's more. Beyond the cute outfits, the new puzzles, and spectacular HD artwork, the biggest addition to this edition of Layton's Mystery Journey is its pr??esentation. Namely, Level-5 figured out how to make a one-screen game out ??of a two-screen experience.

And really, it wasn't that hard. Using the real estate afforded to them by widescreen on the Switch, Level-5 simply combined two screen's worth of information into one. It arguably did that on iOS as well, but really it just split the screen in half, treating it as if it were a straight port from the 3DS. Here, the combination is organic, as though it has always been that way. Whether on my television screen or the Switch screen, the text is always easy to read and the spacing of the puzzle image with the instructions for it never comes off as cramped. This is a flawless conversion of the Professor Layton formula to the Switch format.

To make full use of its new hardware, Layton's Mystery Journey Deluxe Edition includes several different control options. You can play with the thumbsticks of the Joy-Con controllers, moving the cursor across the screen, but using motion controls when playing in docked mode is far superior. Joy-Con movement is tracked exceedingly well and the fickle nature of the thumbsticks -- they tend to go from 0 to 100 with a slight change in tilt -- makes it easy to miss those spots that house hint coins and secret puzzles. Touch controls work elegantly in handheld mode, though I do long f??or the days of pulling a stylus out of the bottom of my unit to write my notes.

With a few adjustments, like tying the notes feature to one of the several, unused Joy-Con buttons rather than making players go into the menu to bust it out, these would be the perfect controls to carry the franchise forward on Switch. And really, that's what is so important about this port. It paves the way forward for more Professor Layton games, something that seemed unlikely not long ago given the dwindl??ing popularity of their original hardware and ??the fact that Level-5 seems to be having issues getting its titles out the door.

So don't come into Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy Deluxe Edition&n?bsp;thinking it's going to be a wallop of an adventure. It's not. But, do look at it as providing the blueprints for one of two-screen gaming's most c??elebrated franchises to continue in a one-screen world.

Now when the hell is someone going to localize that anime series? Surely one of the nine million streaming services we have now could toss a loonie or two i??ts way.

_{[This port report is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Let's do it

Level-5 revealed Megaton Musashi several years ago, and it just kind of sat since. The publisher is busy putting out games every few months, sure, but it would be nice to know what happened to this promisi?ng new franchise. As it turns out, we're getting more info on December 21-22 at Jump Festa 20 in Tokyo.

I'll just say what everyone is thinking. Originally Megaton Musashi was? supposed to be a 3DS game that kicked off one of Level-5's famous "cross-media" projects, but with the 3DS on the way out and practically no new games in development f?or it, the probably pulled the old Switcheroo.

We can fully expect Level-5 to re-introduce Megaton to the world as a Switch game, and/or possibly for release on other non-Nintendo platforms given their move to the PS4 for Yo-Kai Watch 4: for the first time in series history. Diversifying their strategy might be required at this point after riding the golden ticket of the ??3DS? for so many years.

Megaton Musashi [Ryokutya via Japanese Nintendo]

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December 5

Level-5 has shared what's next for Yo-Kai Watch: an expansion for the fourth game!

Due out on December 5, the content is called Yo-Kai Watch 4++, and will include "Fun elements such as new areas and new monsters in multiplayer." The expansion will be bundled in physical form for 6,480 yen (roughly $60) or as an upgrade for existing owners for 1650 yen (about $15). In a blink and you'll miss it moment, Level-5 also says that the DLC will arrive on PS4 at the same time as the Switch version, which all but confirms that the PS4 port is coming on or before that d??ate.

Note that Yo-Kai Watch 4 still isn't out in the west. Hel??l, it still doesn't even have a release date in the wes?t! Once the "++" expansion is out though, we can likely expect a compilation with that included. Though, the whole PS4 thing might throw a wrench in Nintendo's localization plans, who have handled the entire series thus far in the west (on 3DS).

Yo-Kai Watch [Twitter]

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Will support cloud saves and two players locally/online

In case you haven't heard, Level-5 isn't giving up on Yo-Kai Watch. The fourth game arrived on Switch in Japan earlier this year, and the publisher is re-releas?ing the original on the same platform very soon.

A new Switch landing page for the game gives us t??he rundown on what to expect, with the file size clocking in at 4.1GB, with support for both online and local play. Similarly, an updated trailer not only explains the gist of what Yo-Kai are (mischievous beings that often inhabit everyday objects), but also provides a look at the updated visual style.

Re-releasing Yo-Kai Watch 1 is a weird prospect indeed, as the sequels do drastically improve upon pretty much everything the foundation of the original game laid down (the second game even retreads upon a lot of the same story beats, so you can jump right in). But if you really want to get in on the ground floor, it's not a bad place to start: its charm trumps a ton of other current JRPGs, and logic would dictate that Level-5 will eventually give us Yo-Kai Watch 2 and 3 on Switch.

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Is there an audience for this with Sony?

The Yo-kai Watch series has been Level-5's bread and butter for the past few years, securing solid releases on mobile and the Nintendo 3DS. While it was huge in Japan for quite some time, it never caught on in the west, even if Yo-kai Watch 3 i??s one of the most charming titles of the year. Maybe it'll have be??tter luck on PlayStation 4.

Just in time for Tokyo Game Show, Level-5 uploaded a new trailer to its YouTube page announcing a PlayStation 4 port of Yo-Kai Watch 4. The game, which was confirmed for a western release earlier this year, laun??ched over the summer in Japan on Nintendo Switch. It's currently unknown if both or only one version wi??ll make it stateside, but the more people who get to try it out, the better.

Hopefully, we'll find out more on the western release before the year is over. With the recent ESRB rating of Snack World, a rumored new Layton, and Inazuma Eleven: Ares ?;still on the horizon, it looks like Level-5 might be gearing itself?? up for a big comeback.

Yo-Kai Watch 4 [Level-5]

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Look I just want my snack attack

Level-5 has been biding its time with Snack World. Announced all the way back in 2015, the publisher envisioned the series like a Yo-Kai Watch of sorts, spanning media from toys, to games, to TV, to manga. It's done fairly well over in Japan but unlike Yo-Kai Watch, Level-5 hasn't tes??ted the waters internationally...??yet.

It seems like every year we might have gotten a Snack World western release, and the time is nearly here thanks to an ESRB rating. Level-5 decided to just skip the 3DS era entirely (where the series was born) and smartly jump right into the new hotness of the Switch. The title is Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl Gold, which, although not officially announced, is expected to be an enhanced port of The Snack World: Trejarers Gold, which itself as an enhanced version of the 3D????S iteration.

Some of the details for this seemingly kid-based but still "Teen" rated game are hilarious: "The game contains some suggestive material: a handful of female crea?tures depicted topless—though with no discernable details (i.e., no nipples); a character with hearts over his head telling a creature to whip him some more; dialogue containing frequent double entendre about tentacles (e.g?., “I'm sure the kraken will be deeper inside. Much deeper inside…”; “I just want a really massive one!...You know to…satisfy me”; “It's, it's almost too much to take in!"; "What exactly did you think we wanted that tentacle for...?"). The word “a*s” appears in the game."

Isn't it amazing that all the other stuff appears as-is, but "ass" was censored???

Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl - Gold [ESRB via Gematsu]

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'Nooooooooo wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy'

Just a few weeks ago the original Yo-Kai Watch was announced for Switch by way of a strange YouTube cartoon promotion; but now everything is officially official, complete with a website and release date and everything. Level-5 is bringing 2013's 3DS phenomenon to the Swit??ch on October 10 in ?Japan for 4,980 yen, which is roughly $45 USD.

It seems to be a straight remaster with touched-up visuals and toy compatibility, as there isn't a lot of fanfare about new content and the like on the landing page. While thi?s is great news ??for Switch owners, if you own a 3DS you may as well just enjoy the series in its portable form — especially given that the second game retreads on a lot of what made the first one great with mechanical enhancements in tow.

If you haven't pulled the trigger on the series at all yet and the idea of experiencing it on Switch is enticing you, picking up the remaster isn't a bad option ??(assuming it comes west, which it should as all the major games have so far compliments of Nin??tendo). There's still plenty of charm there and the first game really gives you an idea of how this series caught on out of the gate.

Or you could say "noooooooo wayyyyyyyyyy" and hold out for Yo-Kai Watch 2 on Switch.

Yo-Kai Watch Switch [Level-5]

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Yo-Kai Watch 4 just arrived on Switch in Japan

Amid less-than-stellar sales (compared to their past conquests), Level-5 is looking to re-invent the Yo-Kai Watch series. The 3DS, which the franchise has predominantly hitched its wagon to, is on its way out, and the Switch is the new hotness. Naturally Level-5 saw this trend and swapped with their latest entry, Yo-Kai Watch 4, but now they're doublin?g, and possibl??y tripling or quadrupling down.

As revealed by way of the Dennoji Reto YouTube channel, Level-5 is bringing the first Yo-Kai Watch game to the Nintendo Switch. This is a pretty big moment for the series, as a new generation of pot?ential fans are now privy to entry, which will apparently arrive in September in Japan. Of course, the Switch Lite is featured heavily in the video, and the series has come full circle, highlighting it??s relevance on a portable-only device once again.

Hopefully this leads to the aforementioned extra-dipping with the release of Yo-Kai Watch 2 and 3 on the Switch. You can pretty much jump right into 2 immediately without missing much, and 3 is exceedingly hard to find in the west, with physical copies going for upwards of $70 or more when stock?? is out.

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Yooooo, yoooooooo, yo-kai are everywhere

[Update: Oh, Level-5 confirmed it's actually coming west today at Anime Expo! Literally no info is available on timing or much at all really, outside of the fact that it will have an English dub, and bits and pieces will require?? context from films that have not been localized (no films outside of the first have made it outside of Japan officially, though that may change).]

Yo-Kai Watch 4 has arrived on Switch in Japan after several delays, and now it's the only mainline Yo-Kai Watch game that hasn't been rel??eased in the west. Given the waning popularity of the 3DS and the insane reach of the Switch the timing couldn't be more perfect, as an eventual localization will make a much bigger splas?h on the latter system.

Of course we still don't know when that's happening, but Level-5 has already announced their post-launch DLC plans for Japan. Yo-Kai Watch 4 is getting several DLC updates, and a??s detailed on the official site some is free and some is paid: the latter of which is a rarity for the series? (and creature capture games in general).

In early July the first free patch will arrive??, followed by a free patch in August with a new map, a superboss, a?nd more Yo-Kai. Later this year paid DLC comes, including multiplayer that allows you to "fight alongside friends and family," as well as more Yo-Kai and "other various updates."

Note that the localization of Yo-Kai Watch 4 is not a gimme like it was in the past when the series was printing money, as the Switch iteration only pushed roughly 150,000 copies when it debuted in Japan: the lowest number yet for the franchise. Righ??t now Level-5 is sort of getting back to basics with the series, trying to recapture the magic it once had when it peddled sold out watch toys and the advertising power eclipsed Pokemon's reach.

Yo-Kai Watch 4 DLC [Level-5 via Gematsu]

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That reminds me of a puzzle...

Late last year, Level-5 announced that it would be porting the second Layton game, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, to mobile phones in Japan. Much like how the first title made its way west, Diabolical Box is now available in the US on the Google Play and App Stores. Going for $9.99, th??is version includes HD renders of all the sprites and upscaled FMVs for the story segments.

While not including any new additions, this is still a worthy game to add to your collection. Pretty much all of the Layton titles are good with only the final entry being a little lackluster. I'm not sure why these aren't also getting ported to Switch, but using your phone in portrait mode would perfectly?? replicate the DS's screen layout. That has to be worth something.

Professor Layton And The Diabolical Box HD Gets A Worldwide Release [Siliconera]

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Once more, with feeling

Rounding out the trio of Bandai Namco E3 2019 leaks, we have Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered – coming to PC and PS4 – and a separate Nintendo Swi?tch version, all due out this fal?l.

Level-5's whimsical action-RPG looked amazing in its original release, and for the remaster, we can look forward to "improved graphics and performance." The Nintendo Switch port won't have those same exact benefits, but based on the leaked screenshots posted to ResetEra, it's no slouch, either.

_{A screenshot from the Switch edition of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch}

"Join Oliver as he embarks on an adventure through a world inhabited by new friends and ferocious foes alike in the hopes of ?bringing back his mother after a tragic accident," reads the summary on a leaked Bandai Namco landing page. "With a copy of the Wizard's Companion in his hand and his trusty friend Drippy by his side, he will travel across this rich fantasy world to tame familiars, take on enemies, and overcome the countless challenges that stand between him?? and his mother's salvation."

I wish I had stuck with Ni No Kuni all the?? way through on PS3, but maybe second time's the charm?

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I actually dig it

The gaming industry is no stranger to acquisitions and mergers. Whether it's Activision and Blizzard joining forces to become the biggest company in the industry or Microsoft buying up the very best AA developers, ownership of companies changes hands all the time. One of the strangest acquisitions in recent memory was Level-5 acquiring Comcept. Keiji Inafune's studio had struggled since Mighty No. 9 launched to disastrous reviews and ReCore tripped over itself right out of the gate.

I was sure after the one-two punch of those titles, as well as the millions lost on the never-released Kaio: King of Pirates, the industry would be done with Inafune and his studio of disappointment. And yet, Level-5 threw it a lifeline, acquiring the company and renaming it Level-5 Comcept. Two years ago it was announced its first game would be a mobile game called Dragon & Colonies. Now,?? we finally have a trailer for it, and it doesn't look ha??????????????????????????lf bad. 

Dragon & Colonies will be a free-to-play gacha RPG -- so don't expect it to release in Belgium -- that has players building their own little kingdoms on a rotating cube. Players can take their little square kingdoms into battle against other cubes. The game is expected to launch this summer in Japan. No w??ord yet on a western release.

Dragon & Colonies [Level-5]

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