Operation Backlog Completion 2026

New Details About Fantasy Life i’s Development

 Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Mar 032025
 

You know I’ve had some concerns about Fantasy Life i despite my initial excitement when it was announced, both due to the increased scope and its several delays.

Well, thanks to a new Level-5 blog post, we’ve gotten some insights into what happened during Fantasy Life i’s development.

The biggest revelation is that Keiji Inafune left Level-5 last year.

In case you’re unfamiliar with how things went, Inafune’s studio Comcept was acquired by Level-5 in 2017 and became Level-5 Comcept, and they were in charge of developing Fantasy Life i. According to this blog post, his departure meant they had to “reassess and restructure” the game.

This included “adding open-world exploration and parkour-style actions, restructuring the system’s progression flow, improving the core mechanics, and refining the scenario to be even more emotionally impactful.”

Knowing this makes me feel better about the game’s expanded scope. At the time, it had me worried they were making it bigger just for the sake of being bigger, but now that I know it happened as part of the project being overhauled after the producer left, it makes a lot more sense. Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino took over as producer, and since he was the producer of the first game, that makes me more confident too.

Meanwhile, the blog post goes on to mention that Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road might be delayed again due to all the trouble with Fantasy Life i. That poor game’s been delayed so many times it’s almost funny. More information about Inazuma Eleven will be coming in a showcase on April 11.

It’s funny to read a blog post about troubled development and delays and come out feeling more optimistic about the game, but this look at what was going on with Fantasy Life i did clear some things up. I’m looking forward to Fantasy Life i when it launches later this year – hopefully without any further delays.

What do you think about the latest Fantasy Life i news?

Let’s Talk About the Pokémon Legends: Z-A Trailer

 Video games  4 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Feb 282025
 

Yesterday was the Pokémon Presents, and it wasn’t especially thrilling.

It mostly focused on updates to the mobile games, a new battling game for Switch & mobile called Pokémon Champions, and finally a new trailer for Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Check out the full presentation if you want, since I’m going to focus on Z-A.

We didn’t get a release date after all, only an updated release window of “late 2025.”

I’m a little disappointed in that, but on the other hand, having a longer development cycle might be a good thing. I can’t really complain.

So let’s focus on the new details we’ve learned about the game.

In addition to the trailer, they also released a second video that shows off more of Lumiose City and gives a closer look at how gameplay will work.

The three starters are Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile, which is an unusual selection since Chikorita and Totodile were Gen 2 starters while Tepig was a Gen 5 starter. Since it takes place within Lumiose City, it’s not entirely clear how exploration will go, but the trailer shows things like climbing onto rooftops. In the extended look, we see that parts of the city are designated as Wild Zones, where you can find and catch Pokémon.

It also seems to be set after Pokémon X/Y after all, instead of in the past like I had theorized. AZ is running a hotel. Zygarde is also shown, although its role in the story hasn’t been revealed.

Catching mechanics look like those from Legends: Arceus, but the combat system is completely new. Instead of turn-based combat, it’s now a real-time system where you’ll need to pay attention to positioning and timing. Your Pokémon’s moves are on a cooldown, which makes the new combat system remind me more of Xenoblade than anything else (albeit with more action).

I have mixed feelings about these new details. The time setting doesn’t bother me; even though I theorized it was set in the past, being a sequel is still fine. The extended look also shows what appears to be Looker’s office, so I’d love if he has a new story here. And even though I’ve seen a lot of criticism about how the graphics look, I think it looks fine.

On the other hand, the city setting doesn’t quite look like it will capture the same sense of exploration that the zones in Arceus did, which is disappointing. I hope there’s more to it than what they’ve shown, because the Wild Zones aren’t impressing me so far. Games set within a city can be great (for example, Yakuza), so I hope they make the most of this setting to keep it interesting.

Finally, I’m a huge fan of turn-based combat. I was so happy that Arceus still had turn-based combat. I don’t have anything against Z-A’s new system, but I can’t help but feel a little disappointed in it.

We’re still a long way off from Legends: Z-A’s release, and I’m sure we’ll learn more about it in the meantime. That could help sway me in one direction or another. After all, I had mixed feelings about Legends: Arceus when it was first announced, too, and I ended up loving it!

What are your thoughts on Pokémon Legends: Z-A?

Top 5 Ports or Remasters I Still Want to See

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Feb 262025
 

In less than a month, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition will be out for the Switch, which for a while seemed like it would never happen.

It’s only one of many unlikely remasters we’ve gotten over the past few years, with Ghost Trick and Baten Kaitos being among other notable ones.

There are still many games out there that I’d love to see ported or remastered to make them more readily available, so here are five that stand out to me the most. (I’ll ignore unlocalized games for the sake of this list to avoid overlap with the games I’d most like to see translated.)

5. Skies of Arcadia

I played Skies of Arcadia back in 2019 on the GameCube and found it to be a fun JRPG that I’d love to see a sequel for. Of course, a sequel to a game that’s nearly inaccessible now is even less likely, so getting a remaster would be the best first step. Sega filed a trademark for Skies of Arcadia about a month ago, along with a trademark for Eternal Arcadia, its Japanese title, so it seems like we might actually have a chance.

4. Flower, Sun, and Rain

Flower, Sun, and Rain is a PS2 and DS game from Grasshopper Manufacture, set in the same universe as The Silver Case. I’ve wanted to play it ever since I finished The Silver Case and The 25th Ward, and I keep hoping for a remaster.

We last discussed Flower, Sun, and Rain back in 2021, when Suda51 said he already has a partner picked out for remastering it. There hasn’t been any news since then, but I still have my fingers crossed.

3. Rhythm Thief

By now you’re probably tired of me asking for a Rhythm Thief remaster, as it’s been just over a month since my last lament about the lack of a Rhythm Thief sequel or remaster. I won’t go over everything again, but Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure is definitely one of the top games I want to see remastered or ported… to pave the way for an eventual sequel.

2. .hack//IMOQ

When the .hack//G.U. trilogy was remastered in 2017 as the Last Recode collection, I had a great time playing them and finished the collection with the hope that someday the original tetralogy might return as well.

.hack//Infection, .hack//Mutation, .hack//Outbreak, and .hack//Quarantine have reportedly not held up as well as their successors, but that’s all the more reason why a remaster with quality-of-life improvements would be great!

(An all-new game would be good too, just saying.)

Back in 2023, we learned that the developer wanted fans to let Bandai Namco know there’s interest, in the hopes that such a remaster could be made. The initial fervor has died down a little since then, but I’m still hoping we’ll see these four games remastered someday!

And speaking of Bandai Namco…

1. Xenosaga

I really want a remastered Xenosaga trilogy. I watched playthroughs of all three games so I’d at least know the story, but that just made me want to play them someday even more. The last we heard about Xenosaga was in 2019, when we learned the possibility of a Xenosaga remaster had failed the market analysis. That’s pretty discouraging… but on the other hand, never say never. I remember when a Xenoblade Chronicles X remaster was ruled out as unfeasible, and here we are only a few weeks away from playing it! Maybe a few years from now, we’ll be talking about a Xenosaga remaster in the same way.

Conclusion

These are five of the games/series I’d most like to see remastered. Of course, I might have forgotten something obvious that I’ll regret leaving off the list later, but for now, these are my top 5! Which ports or remasters are you still hoping for the most?

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