Hey there! I'm Yoshinori Ono, CEO at Lasengle.
Welcome to my blog and thanks for dropping by!
This month, I headed over to Aniplex's big 20th birthday celebration--another company in the Sony group.
It was such an amazing event. I kept seeing titles and going "Oh! I totally forgot about this classic!", or "Huh, didn't know this was an Aniplex title." A day full of great memories and cool surprises.
The highlight was the concert, which featured artists from Aniplex titles. What really set it apart for me was the voice actors, whose killer lines between the music made it a totally unique experience.
You know, it's been three years since I set sail with Lasengle, ten if you count the time at Delightworks. When you're a CEO, every year brings new challenges, and I have to admit that seeing Aniplex reach this 20 year milestone was pretty awe-inspiring.
I'm excited to see where Lasengle is headed, and keep gripping that wheel as I steer the Lasengle ship on to our own legendary milestones, three, five, ten and twenty years into the future.
Of course, I can't do this alone and we're always on the lookout for new talent to come join the team. If you're graduating university in April 2025, check out Sony Group Career Forum 2025 (in Japanese only).
It's a great event to take part in if you want to know more about the company culture at the Sony Group, or about working in game creation, development or ops. We'll be there again this year, bringing our own flavor of "doki doki," excitement and gaming energy to the event.
Sign up using one of the following:
■Sony Group Career Forum 2025: Lasengle Page
https://www.sony.com/ja/SonyInfo/Jobs/recruit/event/sonygroupcareerforum2025/division/#company17
Visit here to see last year's event.
■Careers at Lasengle
https://www.lasengle.co.jp/en/careers/
Visit here to see all our latest openings.
■Careers at Lasengle for 2025 University Graduates
https: //recruit.lasengle.co.jp/fresh2025/
Even if you're only a little bit curious, we'd love to hear from you!
Now, to assure you all that I'm working hard, playing (and, er, developing) all the games I can, I'm finally back with my latest indie game play. Which, for blog #37 is NeverAwake.
NeverAwake is an auto-scrolling twin-stick shooter.
The controls are super easy so anyone can jump right in, and the game has beautifully hand-drawn graphics and a boss character with a dark, unnerving vibe that really draws you into the game.
To clear each stage, you have to collect a certain number of Souls. The quicker you collect the quota, the sooner you finish the stage. But if you're struggling to gather enough Souls, you'll end up repeating the stage over and over.
It got me thinking about old-school shooters.. In most of these games, there was a clear beginning and end to each stage. And once you started the game, it was tough to find a good stopping point until you either got a game over or cleared the final stage. I mean, I get it. They were probably designed that way on purpose to keep you hooked.
NeverAwake is like that in a way, but because of the Soul rule, each stage is short and sweet. You can easily jump in for a quick session and then walk away after one stage. A kind of modern twist on the classic formula.
Of course, just because you can put it down, doesn't mean you'll want to. The game is designed to make you want to keep pushing forward, with options to power up and customize your character, and elements to keep you curious about the unique world and story.
The character in NeverAwake is a girl named Rem who's trapped in a never-ending nightmare, trying to fight her way through. In the real world, Rem's body is lying in a coma in a hospital bed. In the dream world, Rem is chained and unable to wake from her nightmare.
The things keeping Rem chained are her deepest fears--dentists, vegetables, her classmates--and these all manifest as bosses in each stage to battle it out with warrior Rem.
One of my favorite bits about this game is how it does an amazing job in making these images of a dentist or vegetable into something nightmarishly creepy, bringing us closer to how these must appear to Rem.
And I get that. When we were kids, stuff like getting injections, eating broccoli, dealing with that one dog that always barked on the way to school, or seeing a cat staring you down in the evening--it all had an out-of-this-world, nightmare sense to it. This game took me back to that feeling.
I also really like the story in NeverAwake, and how it works with the world. As you repeat the stages, you get more entries in the album and diary. This gives you more insight into Rem and makes you want to go further.
With each little piece of Rem's memories and feelings that I unraveled, my heart ached just a little bit more. Rem's story really sticks with you so even though it's supposed to be a game that you can pick up and put down easily, I ended up completely absorbed and it was impossible to put down. And, if that wasn't enough, it has multiple endings.
It's labeled as an action game, but the world-building, artwork, and story also stand alone as amazing elements. If you're not great at shooters, I'd recommend using the Auto Aim option to fully appreciate the whole experience.
NeverAwake is a quick and easy shooting game with a well thought out story. Playing it reminded me of how, as we grow up, our ability to see that weird and wonderful world inside us starts to fade away. A fun, beautiful, but kinda bittersweet experience.
That's my take on NeverAwake.
Thanks for reading.
The next game is calling my name so gotta go--till next time!
Yoshinori X（Twitter）