History Creator / Level5

* CastOfSnowflakes

* SceneryPorn

** ''Ni no Kuni II''

* The ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' series

A few years later the company would get its two next big-titles, the first being unexpectedly ordered by Creator/SquareEnix: ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'', which also sold like crazy, and solidified their relationship (Level 5 would be later hired to produce ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX''). The other title was an action-RPG ordered by Sony again, ''VideoGame/RogueGalaxy''. In just four short years, Level-5 went from small startup studio to one of the premier RPG developers in Japan, and have enjoyed immense critical and commercial success. Soon it started publishing its own titles in Japan (like ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' series), while still being chums with Sony (''VideoGame/JeanneDArc'', ''VideoGame/WhiteKnightChronicles''), and working with Nintendo too (''Franchise/ProfessorLayton''). In Mid-2017 Level-5 acquired Comcept, the developer formed by Creator/KeijiInafune for the purpose of creating ''VideoGame/MightyNo9''.

A few years later the company would get its two next big-titles, the first being unexpectedly ordered by Creator/SquareEnix: ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'', which also sold like crazy, and solidified their relationship (Level 5 would be later hired to produce ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX''). The other title was an action-RPG ordered by Sony again, ''VideoGame/RogueGalaxy''. In just four short years, Level-5 went from small startup studio to one of the premier RPG developers in Japan, and have enjoyed immense critical and commercial success. Soon it started publishing its own titles in Japan (like ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' series), while still being chums with Sony (''VideoGame/JeanneDArc'', ''VideoGame/WhiteKnightChronicles''), and working with Nintendo too (''Franchise/ProfessorLayton'').

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Back in 2008 they announced a game for the PSP called Ushiro, it was going to be a Horror RPG of all things which had quite a creepy atmosphere and an interesting Premise (Trailer for it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrpsg2KDGh4 ). And it was, like NiNoKuni, a Collaboration with Studio Ghibli, a game very different than what either company has worked on. Sadly it was canceled though. A Light Novel for it is/or has been (not certain if it's been released yet or not, need confirmation.) in production back in 2014, though this troper couldn't find much more about it than that.

Once there was this game developing company called Riverhillsoft, who began with the AdventureGame ''J.B. Harold Murder Club'' and went on to produce such timeless classics like... uh... ''VideoGame/OverBlood''...? Anyway, in 1998, two years before Riverhillsoft disbanded, one of its members, Akihiro Hino, left to produce his own game developing company, being particularly supported by Creator/SonyComputerEntertainment, and went to produce some respectably good sellers for the then-newborn UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, especially the ''VideoGame/DarkCloud'' series. That company's name is '''Level-5 Inc.''' 『株式会社レベルファイブ』 , and they only got bigger.

!!Level-5 produced the following games:

* ''VideoGame/DarkCloud'', soon followed by a sequel called ''VideoGame/DarkChronicle'' ([[MarketBasedTitle or]] ''[[MarketBasedTitle Dark Cloud 2]]'' [[MarketBasedTitle if you live in America]]).

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX''

* The ''Franchise/ProfessorLayton'' series.
* ''VideoGame/WhiteKnightChronicles'' (plus sequel)
* ''VideoGame/NiNoKuni'' (one version for the DS which was released only in Japan, one for the [=PS3=]).
* ''VideoGame/TimeTravelers''
* ''VideoGame/FantasyLife''

* ''Guild01''

* Guild02

* Two titles were planned but cancelled: ''Ushiro,'' for the PSP; and ''True Fantasy Live Online,'' for the Xbox. Work on the former may or may not be resumed.

!!Level-5 is also responsible for the following "cross-media" projects (large-scale multimedia franchises with video games at their core):
[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven''
* ''VideoGame/DanballSenki'' (''LBX: Little Battlers eXperience'' outside Japan)
* ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch''
* ''VideoGame/TheSnackWorld''
* ''Megaton Musashi''
[[/index]]

* Megaton Musashi

* A bunch of cellphone games [[NoExportForYou that never saw the light of day in the West]].

* BreakthroughHit: ''Dark Cloud'' was where the company started making a name for themselves, but the ''Professor Layton'' series was what really put them on the map.

* ScheduleSlip: Their recent games are getting pretty bad about this, in regards to Western releasing. ''VideoGame/WhiteKnightChronicles'' took 14 months to be released in the US, while ''VideoGame/FantasyLife'' took 21 and ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture'' took 22. ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' takes the cake, though - it was released in Europe in January 2011, two and a half years after its Japanese release, and the US ''three more'' years after that.
** There's also ''VideoGame/DanballSenki'', which wouldn't be released in America or Europe for four years, after which the game had already gotten an UpdatedRerelease and a port to another console.
** Generally speaking, their European department has now become more prolific than their North American department; ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVSPhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' had a six month gap between Europe and North America, with the latter receiving nothing but a barely modified version of the European build complete with its alternate voice actors -- thus making the schedule slip look almost entirely unnecessary. The ''Inazuma Eleven'' series, despite having five games released (with the sixth and last seemingly in the works) in Europe, had its first game released in America when Europe was on its fourth, and the North American branch has been giving infamously mixed signals about whether the others are on a very ''long'' schedule slip or if it [[NoExportForYou has no chance]] because its Twitter and Facebook keeps reporting on its release...in Europe only.
** Despite being Level-5's most successful franchise to date and having been constantly promoted by the company with the intent to expand internationally, the first ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' game wouldn't leave its home country for over two years, by which time in Japan the game had already gotten a sequel, the sequel's UpdatedRerelease, the announcement for a third game, and a spinoff game.

* CrossOver: Level-5 seems to be getting rather fond of this these days. First there was ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVSAceAttorney'', then ''[[VideoGame/InazumaEleven Inazuma Eleven GO]] vs VideoGame/DanballSenki'' and the many TV commercials featuring the protagonists from those two series. ''Franchise/ProfessorLayton'', ''VideoGame/DanballSenki'', and ''VideoGame/YoukaiWatch characters have featured as secret characters in the ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' series, and a puzzle from ''[[Franchise/ProfessorLayton Professor Layton and the Azran Legacies]]'' features the characters of ''[[VideoGame/InazumaEleven Inazuma Eleven GO]]''.

Once there was this game developing company called Riverhillsoft, who began with the AdventureGame ''J.B. Harold Murder Club'' and went on to produce such timeless classics like... uh... ''VideoGame/OverBlood''...? Anyway, in 1998, two years before Riverhillsoft disbanded, one of its members, Akihiro Hino, left to produce his own game developing company, being particularly supported by Creator/SonyComputerEntertainment, and went to produce some respectably good sellers for the then-newborn PlayStation2, especially the ''VideoGame/DarkCloud'' series. That company's name is '''Level-5 Inc.''' 『株式会社レベルファイブ』 , and they only got bigger.

* ''VideoGame/NiNoKuni'' (one version for the DS which was released only in Japan, one for the PS3).

* Two titles were planned but cancelled: ''Ushiro,'' for the PSP; and ''True Fantasy Live Online,'' for the XBox. Work on the former may or may not be resumed.

* CelShading: ''VideoGame/DarkChronicle'' is considered one of the pioneers in the use of cel-shading in video games, and ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'' was widely praised for being one of the most gorgeous cel-shaded titles on the PlayStation2. The trailer for the PS3 version of ''VideoGame/NiNoKuni'' shows that they haven't lost their touch when it comes to this.

* CrossOver: Level-5 seems to be getting rather fond of this these days. First there was ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVSAceAttorney'', then ''[[VideoGame/InazumaEleven Inazuma Eleven GO]] vs VideoGame/DanballSenki'' and the many TV commercials featuring the protagonists from those two series. Both ''Franchise/ProfessorLayton'', ''VideoGame/DanballSenki'', and ''VideoGame/YoukaiWatch characters have featured as secret characters in the ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' series, and a puzzle from ''[[Franchise/ProfessorLayton Professor Layton and the Azran Legacies]]'' features the characters of ''[[VideoGame/InazumaEleven Inazuma Eleven GO]]''.

* CrossOver: Level-5 seems to be getting rather fond of this these days. First there was ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVSAceAttorney'', then ''[[VideoGame/InazumaEleven Inazuma Eleven GO]] vs VideoGame/DanballSenki'' and the many TV commercials featuring the protagonists from those two series. Both ''Franchise/ProfessorLayton'' and ''VideoGame/DanballSenki'' characters have featured as secret characters in the ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' series, and a puzzle from ''[[Franchise/ProfessorLayton Professor Layton and the Azran Legacies]]'' features the characters of ''[[VideoGame/InazumaEleven Inazuma Eleven GO]]''.

The company seems to have a working relationship with Creator/OLMIncorporated, as they're responsible for the cutscenes and anime adaptations of their recent works (''ProfessorLayton'', ''InazumaEleven'', ''DanballSenki'', ''YokaiWatch'').

** Generally speaking, their European department has now become more prolific than their North American department; ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVSPhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' had a six month gap between Europe and North America, with the latter receiving nothing but a barely modified version of the European build complete with its alternate voice actors -- thus making the schedule slip look almost entirely unnecessary. The ''Inazuma Eleven'' series, despite having five games released (with the sixth and last seemingly in the works) in Europe, had its first game released in America when Europe was on its fourth, and the North American branch has been giving infamously mixed signals about whether it's just a very ''long'' schedule slip or if it [[NoExportForYou has no chance]] because its Twitter and Facebook keeps reporting on its release...in Europe only.

* BreakthroughHit: The ''Professor Layton'' series was what put the company on the map.

!!Non-sequel future projects include:
* A PSP horror-RPG called ''Ushiro'', which, after months of silence and removal from the official website, may or may not be canceled.

The company will also be opening an American publisher branch soon. Maybe this means their titles will start avoiding ScheduleSlip. Only time will tell.

** Despite being Level-5's most successful franchise to date and having been constantly promoted by the company with the intent to expand internationally, the first ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' game wouldn't leave the country for over two years, by which time in Japan the game had already gotten a sequel, the sequel's UpdatedRerelease, the announcement for a third game, and a spinoff game.

* ScheduleSlip: Their recent games are getting pretty bad about this, in regards to Western releasing. ''VideoGame/WhiteKnightChronicles'' took 14 months to be released in the US, while ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture'' took ''22''. ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' takes the cake, though - it was released in Europe in January 2011, two and a half years after its Japanese release, and the US ''three more'' years after that.

** Generally speaking, their European department has now become more prolific than their North American department; ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVSPhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' had a six month gap between Europe and North America, with the latter receiving nothing but a barely modified version of the European build complete with its alternate voice actors -- thus making the schedule slip look almost entirely unnecessary. The ''Inazuma Eleven'' series, despite having five games released (with the sixth and last seemingly in the works) in Europe, only ever had one in America when Europe was on its fourth, and the North American branch has been giving infamously mixed signals about whether it's just a very ''long'' schedule slip or if it [[NoExportForYou has no chance]] because its Twitter and Facebook keeps reporting on its release...in Europe only.

* ScheduleSlip: Their recent games are getting pretty bad about this, in regards to Western releasing. ''VideoGame/WhiteKnightChronicles'' took 14 months to be released in the US, while ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture'' took ''22''. ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' takes the cake, though - it was released in Europe in January 2011, two and a half years after its Japanese release. And North America had to wait until February 2014, '''5 and a half years''' after Japan.
** There's also ''VideoGame/DanballSenki'', which wouldn't be released in America or Europe for four years.

* The ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' series.

* The ''VideoGame/DanballSenki'' aka ''LBX: Little Battlers eXperience'' series

* ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch''
* ''VideoGame/TheSnackWorld''