All I was doing was trying to explain why I don't particularly like Level 5. I've played five of their games and they just didn't do it for me. I do have a copy of Jeanne D'Arc (Level 5's Strategy RPG), just not played it yet, so it's not like I hate the developers, just not liked what I've played from them, so far. I actually hoped we would get Guild01 and Time Travelers. And I didn't go in to their games wanting to dislike them, in fact, on the contrary, I wanted to like White Knight Chronicles, since despite all the flack it got, I thought it looked decent enough and might be underrated. But the game is a drag. Trust me on that. Don't waste your time with it.
Orange, I don't just like dark games, I don't think to myself: "I like this because it is dark" or that I dislike things because they aren't "dark enough", I just like those things without putting much thought into it in that way. Thinking about it a bit, sure, I guess I do like these darker games, but I do like my fair share of lighter stuff too (Rocket Knight series, Sonic series, Time Crisis, Treasure's games), just as long as it isn't stupid or
too kiddy, I guess. And if the game has a lot of heart and soul put into it, you can sorta tell, since the design will shine through and keep you playing. There's been many games I've played that I greatly dislike the art for, Gungnir, for instance, has some
horrible art in it (chibi, deformed art mixed with gritty art, which is sort of grating and bad art direction), still love that game though since the game design and writing are both top notch. Likewise, some of Treasure's games have pretty bad art, but again, brilliant gameplay.
I do think Level 5 have talent, just they're missing somebody with great direction/writing/designs skills. They're great in the art department, most of the time.
I still think they are
way overrated though. Especially when people say they are what Square used to be. They're not. Sorry.