There were positive reactions when it emerged that there is a new Fantasy Life game in development at Level-5, as the original on the Nintendo 3DS was a thoroughly charming game. Now it has emerged that Keiji Inafune, who is best known for the Mega Man franchise and Mighty No.9, is serving as a producer on the forthcoming game. Level-5 CEO, Akihiro Hino, spoke to Famitsu about Inafune’s role.
This game was developed with Inafune as the producer right? The thought of living in a Fantasy Life world with the Inafune stamp on it is really something!
Hino: The main body of the development was focused on by the Osaka-based Level-5 Comcept studio, but staff in Fukuoka, Tokyo, and other places too worked together with Inafune. Inafune has the ability to bring people together and I knew with a strong and dedicated creative team at his disposal, I could entrust him to make a completely new Fantasy Life title. And that game became something truly special. Inafune created not only a new crafting system for us to play with, but even went as far as to create a whole new life, too!
This time the island itself can be crafted, which makes the screen feel much wider than before. I suppose this is actually the first time the series has been playable on a large screen, right?
Hino: The game was carefully adjusted for the Nintendo Switch to make sure the action and movement felt smooth and enjoyable. And yeah now that you mention it, I guess it will be the first time for a Fantasy Life title to be on a big screen.
Especially with being able to craft the island, I imagine that now more than ever we can feel completely immersed in the game.
Hino: Simply put, I think in this Fantasy Life you will be able to do all the things that were fundamental to the sandbox nature of the previous games. At the beginning at least we will start out with a certain scale, but I think moving forward we can create something with ‘crafts that have appeal to the game worldview’. And if in the future if we gradually add things like furniture and such with updates, we can perhaps eventually hope to become the best furniture game ever (laughs)!
I really hope that this game does well. Fantasy Life on 3DS really was a wonderful game, and I think the series has a lot of potential. Inafune doesn’t really add any confidence for me given how Mighty No. 9 turned out, but let’s see.
Absolutely agree. We still play the 3DS games and would love Switch sequels, but Inafune isn’t a name I trust anymore.
Oh no…
Agreed
Cool. Let’s get the Balam Wonderworld guy to produce the next Donkey Kong game too.
It’s better than nothing?
Is this good news or bad news? I’m confused