A New Level-5 Post Has Fans Mad. Here's My Thoughts.

Just when I think this publisher had hit the bottom, they make a decision that takes them to the bedrock. While far from the only game company making unpopular and often controversial decisions; this one stands out more as it’s a textbook example of going from sacred calf to lame duck in just 10 years time (just like other individuals who shall remain unnamed). So, let’s get to it.

Here’s a quick summary of the story so far- earlier this year; a fan remake of Yo-Kai Watch 2 was in the works for the Switch and smart devices, following in the steps of similar projects. Though the exact way Level-5 found out about it is still a developing part of this story; they ended up issuing a cease and desist order to the project head, who has since set their social feeds to private. This might have been just another day at the patent office usually- it’s what happened next that really upset people. One would think that given the recent success of their games finally seeing release after years in development; this grassroots fan effort would be a sign to help their brand grow again. Instead, they took an approach to salt the earth.

On their official website and X/Twitter account, they posted this statement; which I shall go over as follows: “We want to address a serious issue we have recently observed: the unauthorized reproduction and distribution of our game software across certain online communities.
Except where specifically permitted under copyright law or other applicable regulations, reproducing, modifying, or editing our game software without our authorization, as well as distributing or selling such materials to third parties, constitutes copyright infringement regardless of the purpose or intended use. We want to make it clear that we will continue to pay close attention to these activities. To protect our work, we will take necessary legal action against any such copyright infringement, including content removals and account suspensions.
We would also like to ask our community to refrain from downloading or using pirated copies of our games. Thank you for respecting our work. We are working hard to ensure that everyone can enjoy our games safely and fairly.”

Courtesy: Level-5

While far from the only company to take an approach to file-sharing that would make Lars Ulrich do a double-take; this statement generated considerable backlash from their own fanbase. Coming off a series of widely-disliked business moves (including embracing live-service games, cryptocurrency and now generative AI); the response was particularly sharp from Western fans especially. One would hope that such a response would make them reconsider this approach. Instead, they doubled down by retweeting the statement on the official account for Yo-Kai Watch. This only infuriated their audience more, and was the catalyst for addressing the situation. Even as someone who never put them on the same pedestal as others, I think the “scorched earth” stance is a mistake. 

As I get into more of my thoughts on the matter; I would like to offer counterpoints to the arguments Level-5 and their evangelists made. For what it's worth, their tweet has since been community noted with the realities of buying the games secondhand. Yo-Kai Watch 3 in particular has often gone for hundreds of dollars at resale, ranging from $600-$800 for a sealed copy as of this writing (just over list price for a PS5 or Switch 2, almost in the ballpark of the Xbox Series X).

First, the “just learn Japanese” argument is the simplest to counter, as the translation patches for games that never got official releases would not exist if the people responsible weren’t multilingual. Next, the whole “just get the games officially” argument is not especially convincing as there is no official EN option on the current generation of systems. On that same subject, the “people will just pirate them anyway” argument is demonstrably false- not just because of the backlash suggesting otherwise (including a petition online that has gained thousands of signatures as of this writing), but data has proven time after time that when an easy and legal option to content is available; people will pursue that option. Lastly, one particularly egregious statement is likening Western fans seeking unofficial options are comparable to criminals. To borrow a line from Inigo Montoya- “You keep using that word- I do not think it means what you think it means.”

However, the biggest fatal irony with this stance against fans filling the void left by official options is that it’s once again damaged the once-sterling reputation of Level-5 and its most notable figure; Akihiro Hino. It’s once again disheartening that a company once seen as an antidote to the likes of EA, Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard has been poisoned by many of their same lines of thinking. In particular, the goal shifting from long-term community building to short-term profits has been utterly devastating across the board.

Seeing as this move comes just over a month from their AI-generated Level-5 Land April Fools’ trailer; it’s another misguided attempt to pivot their company into a way of doing business that it was never intended to. I’m not saying it’s impossible for a company to return to its prime after a rough patch (Capcom in particular has managed to reach a new golden age after the mixed results of trying too hard to appease Westerners in the late 2000s and early 2010s); but it’s certainly going to remain an uphill battle that Hino seems to continually impose on himself. 

That said, given the success of both the newest Fantasy Life and Inazuma Eleven games has proven the creative spirit that got them noticed is still in there. Hopefully, their upcoming DECA Police and Holy Horror Mansion can gain followings of their own as well. I still think Hino should cool it with the AI obsession; and to take a step back from this hostile approach to emulation and fan translations. I will continue to observe this story, and once again; any followup will depend on what Level-5 does and says next. That is all for now, take care.

Pokémon Horizons: Three Years Later

Hey everyone- I know I wanted to do more than just talk about this anime; but my illness late last month cost me a lot of progress I’m trying to make up for. Rest assured, you’ll see my other projects the moment they’re done. In the meantime, I thought I would do my followup with it anyway now that the most recent arc (and by proxy, the main storyline of HZ) concluded. Here is a look at Pokémon Horizons- three years later.

I deliberately waited until the entire second half of Rise Again was available to even watch it; let alone address it. In hindsight, it was the right decision. I was honestly expecting the multi-part finale to be worse than it actually was- there were admittedly moments of off-model animation and decisions in the story I personally would have handled differently;  but on the whole, it did conclude the arc in a satisfactory manner (Spinel’s fate excepted). Overall, I found Rise Again to be a much better arc than Mega Voltage; and a decent conclusion to the main storyline of HZ.

With that established, there’s a lot to unpack surrounding the next story arc. The discourse has been all over the place, so I’m going to focus on what’s directly in front of me and form my thoughts on that. So, let’s briefly address the next arc of HZ, known as “Wonder Voyage.” As the Rising Volt Tacklers befriend an enigmatic youngster named Navi and her partner Ditto; a new series of challenges await our heroes.

Likewise, the promotional images contain story elements from the games on both mobile and the Switch family. Admittedly, using the recent hit Pokémon Pokopia as the base for a 1-hour special is a good idea. I am less sure about how they’ll adapt the box legendaries for Generation IX, let alone Ogerpon; the Loyal Three or the Ancient Titans (regarding the former, whether they’ll stick to the “incident” they’ve been hemming and hawing about or retcon it). I am particularly puzzled about the inclusion of aspects from Pokémon Go, Pokémon Sleep and Pokémon UNITE. I personally would prefer that got its own OVA; along with aspects of Z-A that they’re hinting at as opposed to being crowbarred into HZ.

At this point I don’t know who HZ is even aimed at- on one hand, you have story threads about how the private sector will do anything to sell products that are overhyped at best and dangerous at worst. On the other, you have a character cooing at Mega Evolutions while dressed as a Nidorina. That’s not a particularly huge amount of overlap, and actually embodies the problems this anime was intended to solve.

On that note, I am open to the 1-hour special focused on Pokopia (having logged over 150 hours into the game so far). I am far less certain about plans to prolong this anime’s run a whole calendar year to compensate for the Generation X delay, let alone do the elements they’re hinting at justice. Even the Pokopia special comes with much more pressure than was likely imagined- I’m willing to at least speculate (something I do much more rarely than others) that the creatives were likely expecting the game would be a modest success like most people did before launch. They were obviously not expecting it to be the breakout Switch 2 system seller that would normally be reserved for mainline entries.

Though I am trying to maintain a sense of cautious optimism by way of healthy skepticism, I have no plans to formally cover Wonder Voyage until its first few episodes have debuted. If I had to say right now- I think it should move towards wrapping things up before Winds and Waves debuts. While I cannot say who will be leading the next anime (whether it’s an existing character or whole new ones), my gut tells me it won’t be the HZ cast. Either way, we’re in uncharted waters. 

Likewise, I am still aiming to have my review of “Terastal Debut” out in summer at the earliest. I have other projects in the wings as well that I will post as they’re ready. That will be all for now, take care.