Man, Ape Escape 3 is so fantastic. I can't believe it went under peoples radar.
-Top tier platforming
-Stellar soundtrack
-Great character designs & cool transformations
-A lengthy Metal Gear Solid inspired minigame
-A short movie maker that you can use any monkey with?!
Aquaplus in 2011:
>Announces Utawarerumono 2 with one teaser image
>Refuses to elaborate
>Leaves
>Resurfaces 4 years later with actual details and plans for a third game
Yamazaki Masaharu joined MonolithSoft in 2018. While they haven't really designed "sci-fi" characters in the past (to my knowledge), I could see their style being a sort of successor to Masatsugu Saito's work on Xenoblade 2.