Tactics Ogre Creator Yasumi Matsuno Joins Level-5

Yasumi Matsuno, creator of high-profile RPGs such as Tactics Ogre, Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII, has been hired by Professor Layton developer Level-5. Talking to Japanese games magazine Famitsu, and as translated by Andriasang, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino said that both himself and Matsuno shared a common vision, and have been in talks about working together for around a year. Matsuno joined the company after finishing work on Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together for PSP, and said he wanted to learn from Hino and be a part of the appeal of Level-5's games. Discussing his first game currently under development at Level-5, Matsuno said that he will be working on making compact games with shorter developer cycles, rather than long epics like his past work. He revealed that he is looking to make games that will appeal to younger children, as well as his usual fans. When questioned regarding whether he will be making a new Tactics Ogre or Vagrant Story anytime soon, he said that he would rather be challenged with new ideas that he is yet to implement. Hino explained that Matsuno is free to create whatever he feels at Level-5, at which Matsuno remarked that he was very happy, and had the same feeling he had felt when working on Ogre Battle on the Super Famicom. Earlier this month, Level-5 announced a partnership with major Japanese mobile social game network DeNA to bring a Professor Layton social game to the Japanese Mobage mobile portal.