Level-5 Vision 2009

Level-5 held their annual conference, dubbed Vision 2009, earlier today. Did it turn out to be the major event I was hoping it would be? It’s a bit hard to say. I was hoping for an announcement concerning a new Dark Cloud title, or for more info about their upcoming RPG, Ushiro. Sadly, both titles were a no show, but Akihiro Hino (CEO of Level-5), stated that we should be expecting new details on Ushiro soon. Disappointment in my expectations aside, two particular announcements made during Vision 2009 reminded me why I love Level-5 so damn much.

The first big announcement was for a Professor Layton RPG, entitled London Life, which is actually unlocked after finishing the fourth game in the Layton puzzle series, Professor Layton and the Devil’s Flute. With this RPG just being unlockable, how substantial can the experience for it really be? Well, Hino touts that the game lasts for over 100 hours. Try and wrap your head around that — an RPG that lasts over 100 hours, and it’s just an unlockable for a different game. If that doesn’t blow your mind, then I don’t know what will. Maybe that it’s been developed by Brownie Brown, the same folks who developed the absolutely stellar Mother 3? That’s right, this game is starting to look better and better.

As for the gameplay, not much was revealed yet. As the title suggests, you get a chance to experience life in London as you try and make everyone’s lives better by completing quests with your own uniquely created character. The graphics are also adorable and very reminiscent of old-school RPGs.

Now, London Life looks like it will be a lot of fun, but Hino states that it will only be a taste for something new that they have in store for us, which leads me to the second big announcement of Vision 2009. Level-5 will be teaming up with Brownie Brown for a second game, this time it’s an original IP titled Fantasy Life. Hino described this game as a “slow life RPG.” What he means by this isn’t made clear yet, but he did offer up some other details.

For starters, Fantasy Life takes place in Fantazeal, which is a world where its moon is Mars. An ancient prophecy foretells of Fantazeal’s destruction when a shadow passes over Mars. The prophecy is starting to show its first signs of fruition, but the people of Fantazeal ignore its warnings and continue to live their peaceful lives.

To start your life in Fantazeal, you have to create your own character, which lets you choose all your basic features (name, gender, appearance), but it also let’s you select a “Life”. A Life is what your character does for a living in Fantasy Life, and there are 20 different “lives” to choose from. Each life also determines how your character’s story plays out, each with its own ending. With your specific Life chosen, it’s up to you and your character to complete the quests that are made specific for your job. Hino stated that these quests must be completed daily, whether he means that literally or if the quests must be completed within the game’s own time cycle isn’t clear. You also have to keep an eye on your “Rich” and “Happy” levels. The rich level would be how much wealth you have in your world, and your happy levels indicate your characters current happiness. Who you are able to talk to in Fantazeal is determined on your happy levels. Your rich level might also have an effect on your popularity within the world.

Fantazeal is also split up into two continents, Tripochi and Minnade. Tripochi is where your character resides in, and Minnade is the place where you can meet up with other players through WiFi, and from there they can visit your Tripochi world.

It was also revealed that legendary music composer Nobuo Uematsu will be behind the helm for Fantasy Life’s soundtrack. You can’t get much better than that. Uematsu for 20 “Life Songs,” with each one serving as a particular ending theme for whichever Life you’ve chosen for your character. The soundtrack will also feature 21 vocal tracks.

The rest of the announcement made at Vision 2009 weren’t as exciting as the two that were mentioned above. Here are the highlights:

• Soccer legend Hidetoshi Nakata will be in Inazuma Eleven 2
• Danbol Senki will be getting the anime and merchandising treatment
• Berryz Koubou performing the opening themes for Inazuma Eleven 2
• New game for their casual puzzle brand Atamania announced titled Mystery Room
• Ni No Kuni’s release date pushed back to Spring 2010
• They want Layton to become the big Winter movie, much like how Pokémon is the big summer movie

Well, that’s pretty much everything revealed during Vision 2009. As a huge Professor Layton fan, London Life is something I really want to play. But the second game was just released stateside, so I’m fairly disappointed that we won’t see the fourth game for a few years. The fact that it is a joint project with Brownie Brown makes the game just that much more tantalizing.

Hopefully their second project together, Fantasy Life, won’t take as much time to make it here. Anyone else get a major Animal Crossing vibe from that game? It seems like it’s Level-5’s version of that series, which I’m not complaining about at all since I really love the Animal Crossing games. I really do think the quests will have to be done daily in real world time since the two games share so many qualities, but for now we’ll just have to wait for more details to surface! I’m really loving everything that was revealed so far, from the Earthbound-esque graphics to the Uematsu orchestrated soundtrack. It really looks like a great expansion to the Animal Crossing formula.

As Vision 2009 came to a close, Hino stated that more info about their upcoming games will be revealed during the Tokyo Game Show, which is set to take place next month. He didn’t state specifically what will be shown there, but Ni no Kuni demo stalls will be set-up at the Level-5 booth, along with demo cartridges being given out to TGS event goers. I’m sure we will see more info about London Life and Fantasy Life given at the event and hopefully something about Ushiro will be present there. Tokyo Game Show is going to be huge this year, with many different companies in attendance to show off their upcoming titles. Be sure not to miss any coverage of that event!

Related Entries:
Level-5 To Announce 3 New Projects At Level 5 VISION 2009

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