Gaming Let's talk about Level 5's Guild 01 and 02, and the games found within them

YukidaruPunch

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2017
Messages
269
Trophies
0
Age
34
XP
743
Country
Brazil
I'm at a bit of a throwback moment, please bear with me.

pa.213088.11.jpg

For those unaware, the Guild series was a compilation of smaller games made by different developers and published by Level 5. There are only two titles available, Guild 01 (released in Japan in 2012) and Guild 02 (released in 2013, no physical release). The titles actually contained four and three different games in them respectively, and all of those games have been released in English seperately at the eShop a little time later. I'll talk a little about them, but most of this info might come from Wikipedia. (I'll put them on quotes)

maxresdefault.jpg


Arguably the most well-known game in the collection. Crimson Shroud is a dungeon-crawler based on a tabletop RPG where you roll the die for most of the odds of your moves. The game was made by Yasumi Matsuno, of Ogre Battle, Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII fame.

Crimson Shroud (クリムゾンシュラウド Kurimuzon Shuraudo) is a traditional adventure RPG created by Yasumi Matsuno, developed internally at Level-5[13] alongside Nex Entertainment.[8] The player is a "Chaser", someone who is an expert at searching for people. The game is set 1,000 years in the past in a world without magic, and the story details how magic became commonplace in its world.
(Wikipedia)

liberation-maiden-cover.cover_large.jpg



Liberation Maiden is a shooting game made by Goichi Suda (Suda51), of Killer7 and No More Heroes fame.

An invading country is stealing all of Japan's energy. The player controls Shoko (voiced by Kana Hanazawa), a high school girl who became President of New Japan after her father's assassination, as she enters the mecha Kamui to fight back.
(Wikipedia)

PS_3DSDS_AeroPorter.png


Aero Porter (エアロポーター Earo Pōtā) is a simulation game directed by Yoot Saito. The player is in charge of an airport, and their goal is to manage baggage quickly and ensure that the airplanes are able to depart on time. If the player is successful, their airport's rating will grow, gaining them more money and passengers as well as allowing them to purchase new airplanes and expand their airport.

Made by Yoot Saito, creator of Dreamcast's Seaman and the Nintendo GameCube microphone-controlled pinball game Odama.

jaquette-weapon-shop-de-omasse-nintendo-3ds-cover-avant-g-1392932381.jpg


large.jpg


Weapon Shop de Omasse (レンタル武器屋 de オマッセ Rentaru Bukiya de Omasse, lit. Omasse's Rental Weapon Shop) is a fantasy rhythm RPG written by Yoshiyuki Hirai, in which the main characters are a father and son pair who craft weapons for heroes. The player uses rhythmic gameplay to forge weapons which are rented by heroes for their quests; the weapon chosen will affect whether or not the hero is successful.

And the Guild 02 games:

450_1000.jpg


3DSDS_AttackOfTheFridayMonstersATT_02.png


Attack of the Friday Monsters! (怪獣が出る金曜日 Kaijū ga Deru Kinyōbi, lit. The Friday When Monsters Appear) is a life simulation game designed by Kaz Ayabe, who is known in Japan for the popular Boku no Natsuyasumi series. The game follows a boy named Sohta who lives in a town where monsters and superheroes from 1970s tokusatsu shows appear every Friday. The game was released in Japan on March 13, 2013 and in North America, Europe and Australasia on July 18, 2013.


1_thumb.jpg


Bugs vs. Tanks (虫けら戦車 Mushikera Sensha) is a tank action game designed by Keiji Inafune.[citation needed] The game sees players take the role of various World War II tanks piloted by Nazi soldiers that have been shrunk down to miniature size in order to fight against various bugs and insects. The game was released in Japan on March 19, 2013 and in North America, Europe and Australasia on June 20, 2013.


large.jpg


The Starship Damrey (宇宙船ダムレイ号 Uchūsen Damurei-gō) is a first-person perspective survival horror game designed by Kazuya Asano and Takemaru Abiko. The game throws players into a suspenseful environment with no tutorials or hints to guide them. The game was released in Japan on March 27, 2013 and in North America, Europe and Australasia on May 16, 2013.


All of these games either are or seem very different from each other; and I'll be honest, up until now I had no idea a Guild 02 even existed, perhaps because it hadn't received a standalone release as a physical game, with the titles being put up on eShop instead. Crimson Shoud, in all honesty, is one of the reasons I've bought a 3DS, and the only one of the list I've played so far (it's sublime; I love Matsuno's style alongside Sakimoto's music).

What do you guys think about those games? Have you ever played, or even heard about most or some of them? Are there any opinions? Other than Crimson Shroud, Liberation Maiden and Attack of the Friday Monsters (which I've heard very, very little, but I've seen a few recommendations) most of these games remain a mystery to me.
 
Last edited by YukidaruPunch,

GeekyGuy

Professional loafer
Former Staff
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
5,261
Trophies
2
XP
3,008
Country
United States
I've played Crimson Shroud, Liberation Maiden and Attack of the Friday Monsters, and thought they were all uniquely great. Friday Monsters was just such a breezy breath of fresh air, a nice bit of time to take a break from everything else I was doing at the time. Maiden, I don't think I ever actually finished, though I really did enjoy what I played of it. It's still on my 3DS, and I eventually plan to go back to it at some point. But Crimson Shroud -- man, that game is great! It is such a fantastic example of how writing and gameplay design trump fancy presentation. It was really enjoyable, especially for someone who grew up as a kid when actual book-and-paper games (D&D) were the only form of RPG.

I don't love every game Level-5 puts out, but I sure do love them as a company. There's a lot of creativity that comes out of that place. And these series -- putting smaller developers in the spotlight -- was just a really great thing for them to do, I thought.
 
  • Like
Reactions: YukidaruPunch

YukidaruPunch

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2017
Messages
269
Trophies
0
Age
34
XP
743
Country
Brazil
I've played Crimson Shroud, Liberation Maiden and Attack of the Friday Monsters, and thought they were all uniquely great. Friday Monsters was just such a breezy breath of fresh air, a nice bit of time to take a break from everything else I was doing at the time. Maiden, I don't think I ever actually finished, though I really did enjoy what I played of it. It's still on my 3DS, and I eventually plan to go back to it at some point. But Crimson Shroud -- man, that game is great! It is such a fantastic example of how writing and gameplay design trump fancy presentation. It was really enjoyable, especially for someone who grew up as a kid when actual book-and-paper games (D&D) were the only form of RPG.

I don't love every game Level-5 puts out, but I sure do love them as a company. There's a lot of creativity that comes out of that place. And these series -- putting smaller developers in the spotlight -- was just a really great thing for them to do, I thought.
Are you me? This almost reads like something I'd write!

I'm not particularly fond of Level-5 either - which is funny, since it makes these Guild games probably the most interesting output I think they've had. The fact every game seems so unique and not all of them were internally developed is something rather unusual.

Out of all the games listed Crimson Shroud was the only one I played some and I agree with you, the atmosphere in that game is great - so much so that I even forgot it was supposed to be part of a compilation in first place. Liberation Maiden and specially Attack of the Friday Monsters are the other games I'm most interested in out of all those, so it's great to have some impressions and opinions. Thank you!
 
  • Like
Reactions: GeekyGuy

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2: Sorry for accidentally bending over