Can Level 5 De-Throne Square Enix? Good Read

The answer is probably not in terms of the numbers of games, the answer is quite simple when you look at the two companies' size and structure. Level 5 has a total employee of 150 developers as of Oct. 2007, the team maybe bigger now as they ramp up their production on White Knight Chronicles. But it is not as big as Square Enix's 3,275 employees.

But does quantity = quality? In the gaming world, the answer is a no. Team Ico, Polyphony Digital, and even Kojima Productions hovers around 150-250 employees depending on the time frame in their development, and they have produced some of the truly genre defining games up-to-date. Media Molecule with only 25 people is already getting so much attention from LittleBigPlanet.

Level 5 has been making RPGs for the past 10 years, if anyone in Japan knows how to make a good RPG it would be Level 5, as a matter of fact, they were hand picked by the former Enix to produce Dragon Quest.

Level 5's chance to become the single most renown RPG maker, the one that will replace Square Enix as the prime RPG maker this decade lies in the upcoming White Knight Chronicles (Shirokishi Monogatari - Inishie no Kodou). This will be the first massive, grand production, for the PlayStation3. Many people do not realize, but this is what Final Fantasy 7 was to the Playstation 1. For both systems it is the first grand production RPG to hit Japan, and hopefully for Sony it will have as big of an impact as FF7 in terms of sales numbers. Some people would argue that it was not a proven franchise, but most Japanese people have also gotten tire of the FF series since the release of 11 and 12 and X2 (judging by the sales numbers). SE's effort to put out a quality Final Fantasy game really ended with Final Fantasy 10, with 12 being only subpar and downright boring to gamers who mastered the art of the "macro" system early. That's right! I was able to get max level by leaving my PS2 on for 24 hrs with the party doing auto-battle with auto-cure.

If WKC is successful commercially, I will have no doubt Sony will try to acquire Level 5 or make them a 2nd party developer like Insomniac. After acquiring Evolution and BigBig Studio last year, it is about time Sony flexes some of their financial muscle in their hometown.
The general prediction is for Sony to buy Media Molecule and Level 5 next. In this generation of gaming, third party exclusive is almost non-existing, first party is now more important than ever!

Source

Well this is where Sony still has the upper hand on Microsoft Level 5! They make AMAZING titles and their biggest one yet is about to come EXCLUSIVELY to PS3 this year! Well I for one can't wait to play it. It's Like Phantasy Star Online on a much grander scale.

Sony needs to change up its game a bit. Stop with all the RPGs. Maybe next time try to make a real time strat game that isnt related to Final Fantasy. Or maybe an action game with more mature and darker themes. Dont get me wrong, I luv Final Fantasy as a series, but Squenix is starting to come off as a 1 trick pony :(II_Seraphim_II

you mean Square Enix.

It doesnt take too much to dethrone Square Enix this gen, smaller houses like Marvelous are already making them look like fools.

Unless SE pull their **** together, we can pretty much wave their former selves goodbye.

Also, good to see Level 5 growing

Well, depsite that saying that "WKS is for the PS3 what FFVII was for the PS1" is a little to extreme now, I kinda agree.

First, because SE has been doing some serious bad moves (exception, the DS games. They rock). and because Level 5 has been creating really good games.

An example is The Another World for the DS. Looking good.

Maybe, i like what i see in thier psp games

Level 5 and Atlus de-throned,raped and kicked the crap out of SE last gen.

Unless you count handhelds the only thing SE had last gen was FFX-2,FFXI,FFX2

Level 5- DC,DC2,RG,DQ8

Atlus- SMT,Persona 3,P3FES,P4

Other than Dark Cloud the other games are easily superior to the SE games.

I'm probably missing some Atlus games but those are their biggest titles.

It is a very good read I was just reading it before I came to SW :).

I think SE is still a powerhouse, but Level 5 would be a very smart acquisition for Sony.

The few AAA JRPGs this gen are developed by SE. (Crisis Core, TWEWY)

Most of the anticipated JRPGs this gen are developed by SE. (FFXIII, FFXIII Versus, KH series, DQ, Star Ocean Series)

So in short: no. SE is still holding mightily the throne in the forseeable future. :p

LOL and im guessing if Level 5 decides to go multiplat, theyre not so great anymore? Dark Cloud 2 was brilliant, but Rogue Galaxy was meh. Not sure what to think of WKC yet, i hope its good because the PS3 sure needs a good JRPG.-DrRobotnik-

They have already decided to go mutltiplat and PS3 fans still love their games. Dragon Quest 9 is one Wii.

LOL and im guessing if Level 5 decides to go multiplat, theyre not so great anymore? Dark Cloud 2 was brilliant, but Rogue Galaxy was meh. Not sure what to think of WKC yet, i hope its good because the PS3 sure needs a good JRPG.-DrRobotnik-

They are multiplat. DS games FTW.

[QUOTE="-DrRobotnik-"]LOL and im guessing if Level 5 decides to go multiplat, theyre not so great anymore? Dark Cloud 2 was brilliant, but Rogue Galaxy was meh. Not sure what to think of WKC yet, i hope its good because the PS3 sure needs a good JRPG.TREAL_Since

They have already decided to go mutltiplat and PS3 fans still love their games. Dragon Quest 9 is one Wii.

I was thinking more along the lines of a 360 release.

[QUOTE="TREAL_Since"]

[QUOTE="-DrRobotnik-"]LOL and im guessing if Level 5 decides to go multiplat, theyre not so great anymore? Dark Cloud 2 was brilliant, but Rogue Galaxy was meh. Not sure what to think of WKC yet, i hope its good because the PS3 sure needs a good JRPG.-DrRobotnik-

They have already decided to go mutltiplat and PS3 fans still love their games. Dragon Quest 9 is one Wii.

I was thinking more along the lines of a 360 release.

I'm not sure, I could definitely see some cows act like Level 5 aren't that great if that were to happen.

But if WKC turns out to be a success I can see Sony do one of two things:
1.) Buy Level 5
2.) Publish many of their future games for exclusivity

[QUOTE="TREAL_Since"]

[QUOTE="-DrRobotnik-"]LOL and im guessing if Level 5 decides to go multiplat, theyre not so great anymore? Dark Cloud 2 was brilliant, but Rogue Galaxy was meh. Not sure what to think of WKC yet, i hope its good because the PS3 sure needs a good JRPG.-DrRobotnik-

They have already decided to go mutltiplat and PS3 fans still love their games. Dragon Quest 9 is one Wii.

I was thinking more along the lines of a 360 release.

[QUOTE="-DrRobotnik-"]

I was thinking more along the lines of a 360 release.

OutlawStarXIII

That's right, I forgot about Sony owning rights to those IPs.

What exactly happened between Level 5 and Microsoft BTW? I know it has something to do with the original XBOX right?

[QUOTE="OutlawStarXIII"][QUOTE="-DrRobotnik-"]

I was thinking more along the lines of a 360 release.

TREAL_Since

That's right, I forgot about Sony owning rights to those IPs.

What exactly happened between Level 5 and Microsoft BTW? I know it has something to do with the original XBOX right?

Gotcha covered: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Fantasy_Live_Online

Looks like MS were slavedrivers, going by that publicly editable quasi-blog.

Eh, maybe. Rogue Galaxy was one of my favorite games last gen.

I think them being able to pull of a really ambitious RPG like WKC will answer this question.

[QUOTE="TREAL_Since"]

That's right, I forgot about Sony owning rights to those IPs.

What exactly happened between Level 5 and Microsoft BTW? I know it has something to do with the original XBOX right?

mbrockway

Gotcha covered: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Fantasy_Live_Online

Looks like MS were slavedrivers, going by that publicly editable quasi-blog.

Thanks.

After reading that I'm about 100% positive that Level 5 took alot of the aspects from True Fantasy Online and implemented them into White Knight Chronicles.That explains why Level 5 is ahead of the curb as far as the MMO sty|e co-op.

That bad business deal with Microsoft turned into something very positive for Sony IMO.

You did the FF12 leveling trick and you want to complaina bout the game?Vandalvideo

Sounds like something valid to complain over. A broken gameplay mechanic like that...

Level 5 and Atlus de-throned,raped and kicked the crap out of SE last gen.

Unless you count handhelds the only thing SE had last gen was FFX-2,FFXI,FFX2

Level 5- DC,DC2,RG,DQ8

Atlus- SMT,Persona 3,P3FES,P4

Other than Dark Cloud the other games are easily superior to the SE games.

I'm probably missing some Atlus games but those are their biggest titles.

Mongo-Boss

i wish Atlus would come to next gen though i want an hd Persona baby!!!

[QUOTE="Vandalvideo"]You did the FF12 leveling trick and you want to complaina bout the game?mbrockway

Sounds like something valid to complain over. A broken gameplay mechanic like that...

SE has the money, but Level 5 has the talent :)

It would be awesome if Level 5 make a Final Fantasy Killer.

Im liking the look of Mistwalker ... they have SE sweatingukillwegrill

I'm pretty sure Square Enix is the only company that has released AAA JRPGs this generation, and there's A LOT: Final Fantasy IV DS, The World Ends With You, Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, and if you count it, you could say Final Fantasy XII.

I'm sure Level 5 is great, but their games are few and far in between. Also, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII are MUCH MORE anticipated than White Knight Chronicles.

Atlus definitely will if Squeenix doesn't release anything good and original.foxhound_fox

[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]Atlus definitely will if Squeenix doesn't release anything good and original.naruto7777

Alot of Atlus games are original and amazing too. They take chances that SE will not, and thats where we get awesome original games like the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series.

Sony would have to be a fool to not acquire Level-5 as a 1st party company ( but then again... Sony have been doing some pretty dumb stuff here lately ).

Well this is where Sony still has the upper hand on Microsoft Level 5! They make AMAZING titles and their biggest one yet is about to come EXCLUSIVELY to PS3 this year! Well I for one can't wait to play it. It's Like Phantasy Star Online on a much grander scale.

-Renegade

you lied when you said "good read" in the topic title. seriously, Renegade, do you really enjoy being such a fanboy?

Sony would have to be a fool to not acquire Level-5 as a 1st company ( but then again... Sony have been doing some pretty dumb stuff here lately ).sakura_Ex

[QUOTE="naruto7777"][QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]Atlus definitely will if Squeenix doesn't release anything good and original.mbrockway

Alot of Atlus games are original and amazing too. They take chances that SE will not, and thats where we get awesome original games like the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series.

[QUOTE="sakura_Ex"]Sony would have to be a fool to not acquire Level-5 as a 1st company ( but then again... Sony have been doing some pretty dumb stuff here lately ).HuusAsking

Well, with the way things ended in their last relationship, I can't help but think that Level-5 isn't planning on working with MS again any time in the future.

Then again, money is a pretty powerful motivator.

[QUOTE="HuusAsking"][QUOTE="sakura_Ex"]Sony would have to be a fool to not acquire Level-5 as a 1st company ( but then again... Sony have been doing some pretty dumb stuff here lately ).gamefreakomega

Well, with the way things ended in their last relationship, I can't help but think that Level-5 isn't planning on working with MS again any time in the future.

Then again, money is a pretty powerful motivator.

[QUOTE="sakura_Ex"]Sony would have to be a fool to not acquire Level-5 as a 1st company ( but then again... Sony have been doing some pretty dumb stuff here lately ).HuusAsking

I know MS has more money to throw around than Sony does, but if Sony can drop 40 million on the development process of KZ2,then I'm pretty sure they can offer Level-5 a nice chunk of change.

All I know is Sony better start cutting some checks.