Matsuno joins Level-5

[Slothy]

Gamasutra - News - Tactics Ogre Creator Yasumi Matsuno Joins Level-5

Basically just what the title says. I'm happy to see he'll be back at making new games again and has free reign to do whatever he wants. Can't wait for new on any new titles from him.

[NeoCracker]

Hino explained that Matsuno is free to create whatever he feels at Level-5, at which Matsuno remarked that he was very happy, and had the same feeling he had felt when working on Ogre Battle on the Super Famicom.

That quote is what has me excited the most, as I smurfing love Ogre Battle. WHile I'm sad he said he's not going to focus on more epic style games like he previously has, I do have high hopes for this team up.

[Slothy]

After the toll that development of FFXII obviously took on him I can't blame him for wanting to move away from epic's, at least for a little while. And given how long he's been making that style of game he may just want to do something different anyway. I'm still just as eager to see what other ideas he has though.

[Wolf Kanno]

Wonder if he'll make a Mad World 2?

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Part of me was really hoping he would join Mistwalker Studios or stay freelance. The other issue here is that I'm not in love with Level 5 like the rest of the world. They're not a bad company but I don't feel their games are as good as their reputation. DQVIII was an okay entry in the DQ franchise and WKC1 feels like a chore after awhile. I guess it will mostly depend on what they do.

I'm just hoping his return to game design and his recent remake of Tactics Ogre, may eventually lead to a joint team up between the companies to finally make a Vagrant Story 2, or a Vagrant Story remake. Seeing how his old team at SE has been wanting to make it since they worked on War of the Lions.

[Bolivar]

I'm so happy for him that he gets to join a juggernaut company like Level 5, which is still growing. I'm really looking forward to these "compact" games, but I'm personally hoping he gets bored after a while and makes an epic again, especially considering he's with a company that knows how to pull them off.

I was hoping he'd rejoin Square or keep freelancing with them after the excellent PSP Tactics Ogre remake to make more games in either that or the Ivalice series, but maybe that's why Hiroshi Minagawa was elevated to Director on that game, so that he can carry on the torch?

Either way, great news, I can't wait to see what he works on next.