Ryan Dinsdale
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The boss of Level-5, the developer behind family friendly titles such as Professor Layton, Ni No Kuni, and Yokai Watch, wants to create a violent and erotic video game one day.
Speaking to Denfaminico Gamer, translated by Automaton, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino said it's his responsibility to keep making friendlier games for the studio, but he also has a "dark abnormal world" inside of him.
"If I were to put it in extreme terms, I would go as far as to say that I want to make things like erotic games and 18+ games with violence," Hino laughed. "There’s an abnormal world inside of me, but I’m trying not to go there, only making things from the righteous part of my mind instead. However, deep down, I really want to visit that abnormal world."
"There’s an abnormal world inside of me, but I’m trying not to go there, only making things from the righteous part.
That's not to say Level-5 games lack darker elements, as the yokai in Yokai Watch are ghosts and demons from Japanese mythology, and Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch reaches some fairly dark story beats.
But Hino seemingly wants to bring these elements to the surface, and despite Level-5's current approach to game development, he thinks he'll do so one day. "I want to go to that dark, abnormal world, and I think I will definitely end up doing so," Hino said. "Once I feel that Level-5 is stable, and I have the room to make what I want, I will do it."
Level-5 is also responsible for the Inazuma Eleven and Fantasy Life franchises and has a game in each due out in 2024. It's also working on two new IPs, DecaPolice and Ushiro, alongside Professor Layton and The New World of Steam, the series' first on Nintendo Switch.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Speaking to Denfaminico Gamer, translated by Automaton, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino said it's his responsibility to keep making friendlier games for the studio, but he also has a "dark abnormal world" inside of him.
"If I were to put it in extreme terms, I would go as far as to say that I want to make things like erotic games and 18+ games with violence," Hino laughed. "There’s an abnormal world inside of me, but I’m trying not to go there, only making things from the righteous part of my mind instead. However, deep down, I really want to visit that abnormal world."
"There’s an abnormal world inside of me, but I’m trying not to go there, only making things from the righteous part.
That's not to say Level-5 games lack darker elements, as the yokai in Yokai Watch are ghosts and demons from Japanese mythology, and Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch reaches some fairly dark story beats.
But Hino seemingly wants to bring these elements to the surface, and despite Level-5's current approach to game development, he thinks he'll do so one day. "I want to go to that dark, abnormal world, and I think I will definitely end up doing so," Hino said. "Once I feel that Level-5 is stable, and I have the room to make what I want, I will do it."
Level-5 is also responsible for the Inazuma Eleven and Fantasy Life franchises and has a game in each due out in 2024. It's also working on two new IPs, DecaPolice and Ushiro, alongside Professor Layton and The New World of Steam, the series' first on Nintendo Switch.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.