Cognition Dissemination: Two Level 5 Games that Never Released
Level 5’s history as an independent publisher hasn’t been long, but it’s publically been more eventful than many that emerged in the 00s. Throughout the years, they’ve had hits like the Professor Layton series (their first self-published venture, in fact), Inazuma Eleven, and the recent Yo-Kai Watch, all of which were successful with the wider Japanese base. But they also resemble other companies in how they’ve had a line of titles that clearly performed below expectations, like The Little Battlers and especially adventure game Time Travelers.
Keep in mind I’m only discussing games they’ve published themselves, which excludes those handled by other publishers like the Dark Cloud and White Knight Chronicles games.
But Level 5 is also no different from other developers in how some intriguing projects either transformed into entirely different beasts during development, or were completely scrapped. And throughout the developer’s short history, they’ve had two that we know of.
A slew of Level 5 games were revealed in a Famitsu magazine issue mere days before the start of their “Vision” conference in 2008. Among them was Ushiro, a horror-themed RPG for PSP that would have put players in the body of a Shinigami spirit named Reiichiro Ushiro. He had the power to possess people and experience their lives, take over their actions, and fulfill their wishes, an effect visually relayed to the player in how his spirit hovered over them. There weren’t many details regarding how the game played, but the few screenshots released showed how it would contain turn-based battles typical for the RPG genre. One screen showed the player fighting an embodiment of a person’s malice, one of numerous abominations the game would have contained.
It looked and sounded intriguing not only because it would have been a new genre for Level 5, but due to how few horror RPGs there are overall — especially from Japan. Concern for the title arose when months and subsequently years passed without a word of its whereabouts, which led to suspicions that the project was put on hold. The inevitable was confirmed when its teaser website was silently taken down in late-2010. Level 5 didn’t officially confirm its cancellation until April 2014, and considering the PSP’s successor had been on the market for over two years by that point, it was a foregone conclusion. Level 5’s staff has said little about what the project would have been as a game.
While Ushiro’s story was eventually given manga and novel adaptations, naturally released only in Japan, two projects took inspiration from its concept. The designs for the characters shown in the screens and art assets were used as inspiration for the protagonists of Time Travelers. There’s also a rumor that some of the planned gameplay concepts were used for the Yo-Kai Watch games, albeit in a more family friendly form.
Level 5 also had a game that changed drastically during development called Mystery Room. In it, players assumed the roles of Poccho and Sly, who would investigate crime scenes to assemble and analyze clues to help solve cases for the police. In addition to the intriguing concept (which is always the case), I adored the retro-styled promotional artwork and character designs. They wouldn’t have been out of place in an old detective cartoon, comic, or maybe anime. They nailed the retro feel even more than the artwork and aesthetics from the Layton games, even though they’re from the same artist.
So it’s a shame we lost that when it was cancelled in its original form, and repurposed into Layton Brothers: Mystery Room, a spinoff of the Professor Layton series. This new game starred Alfendi Layton, the son of Hershel Layton, and Lucy Baker, both of which worked in the “Mystery Room” investigation unit of Scotland Yard. It also sadly lost that aforementioned charming art style, though it still contained slight similarities to the Layton games. The title was also moved to mobile platforms, since the DS software sales started falling by this point, and Level 5 apparently felt the main Layton series was enough for 3DS. And their lack of support for Vita outside of two early ports should show you what they think of that platform. It’s nice that Mystery Room still released, but I still miss its original incarnation.
Whenever cancelled or repurposed games from a specific company are discussed, it’s always worthwhile to consider how many we don’t know about, and I’m betting it’s a laundry list with Level 5 here. Considering the feeling of disappointment some are still experiencing with the two games mentioned in this post, people may not want to know of the others. That will especially apply if one of them involved Final Fantasy Tactics and Ogre Battle creator and director Yasumi Matsuno, who might have had something in the planning stages between Crimson Shroud’s completion and his departure in 2012. It’s best that projects that could have existed like that remain shrouded in mystery (no pun intended), because curiosity can sometimes get the best of us — as seen with the end of this post.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
