Famitsu Interview with Masuda and Ohmori

[PinkIceFox]

I'd be disappointed if pokemon appearing at different times of day did not return. I mean, the games are called Sun and Moon! I can't think of a better time to bring that feature back.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

@Lion-Cub This is the full quote, Mitchman is just fear mongering and the context of that line has nothing to do with total new Pokemon number and everything to do with the designs



Basically less design lines = less detailed designs, NOT less design lines = less new Pokemon

Oh. So it just refers to less detail, or as they originally said "returning to simplicity". Alright, so there may still be more Pokemon than Kalos had and we might not get about 80% of the Alola dex revealed to us before the games release.

 

[GiraFragMich]

Well THANK YOU! I was worried there for a moment! I think 100 is a must.

 

[Esserise]

Well I think the Zygarde Formes look great.

I do worry a bit about the 3D models for the older Pokémon. I don't think they are very likely to go back and edit them for as long as they can still use them, which means we may be stuck with Tropius and Xatu hovering for quite some time... Thanks, bloody useless Sky Battles

Alright, so there may still be more Pokemon than Kalos had and we might not get about 80% of the Alola dex revealed to us before the games release.

Could be; however, XY did set a precedent for exactly that if it happens so I wouldn't be too surprised if, yeah, we get 80 new Pokémon and 56 of them are revealed during the prerelease.

 

[Zeb]

We could still get a lower amount of new Pokemon, it's just that specific part in the interview has no relation to it.

 

[Enzap]

I am so pleased by the details they're talking about adding to this game. It sounds like they're trying to correct almost every major complaint I had about XY. I was bothered by the boring, kind of lifeless models, and they talked about adding more life to both the Pokémon and the world. I hated how the story felt tacked on like an afterthought, and now they're really trying to give us a compelling story that is actually integrated into the game as a whole. Everything I've seen from this game so far just feels more complete, thought out, and cohesive than all of XY.

 

[Karamazov]

And for those who have never played a Pokemon title before, and for those who used to play Pokemon but haven’t played recent games, he’s confident that the contents of Sun/Moon can be recommended to them.

PRE-ORDER CANCELLED.

 

[ZxCv]

-RotomDex was a Masuda bred idea and was hectic for Ohmori to implement. Basis for including it was the idea of"it would be cool for us to have a Pokedex talking and guiding us through the game".

Great, now I know who to blame! Not going to lie, the RotomDex thing is rather silly and is a negative for me. It's so silly and brings me out of my immersion (yes, yes, lap it up!)

 

[Desdar300]

Great, now I know who to blame! Not going to lie, the RotomDex thing is rather silly and is a negative for me. It's so silly and brings me out of my immersion (yes, yes, lap it up!)

to be fair they have been trying to find ways to make Pokemon talk for years now and what better way to do it then with a Mon based on GF's baby Pulsenan

 

[Johtohfiller]

The comment about game tempo is the most interesting to me, I wish they'd gone into more detail about it. It could be relevant to difficulty, I'm really hoping the game is harder than Gen 6.

 

[Mitchman]

The comment about game tempo is the most interesting to me, I wish they'd gone into more detail about it. It could be relevant to difficulty, I'm really hoping the game is harder than Gen 6.

I think it has to also do with the inclusoon of the RotomDex. The islands are very organic and dense with traversable areas. The ocean is more or less this regions forests that the older regions had. If tjey jave you zigzag at a normal and steady pace across the islands it could get confusing for new or returning players. I have high hopes in regards to the story, so if game tempo being fine tuned means keeping us on our feet the entire time then there are no qualms from me.

 

[Lufenium]

Game tempo could mean so many things, my curiosity is piqued.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

My prediction is that SM is going to be one of the best game in the series, but not the best. I can't see SM reaching BW2 or Emerald, for instance. Not even close. Especially content wise (since it is a beginning of a generation).

This could change if they show us some really awesome new content (features), although for now, all we are seeing is Pokemon and more Pokemon. Which doesn't bother me, but with 700+ Pokemon already, new Pokemon is not something I look forward to so much. It is only new CONTENT what could make me hyped up, but for now, we are not seeing much (battle royal is ok, but not big enough imo).

Also, differently to th==most fans, I dont quite like the graphics and art style of SM. I think the DS era graphics had a lot more soul and appeal.

They are only the first pair of games in gen 7. For all we know, the next games after SM would be even better with a lot more content and that.

 

[The Outrage]

to be fair they have been trying to find ways to make Pokemon talk for years now and what better way to do it then with a Mon based on GF's baby Pulsenan

It makes sense too. Rotom takes on the properties of the devices it possesses. If Kukui (I assume he's the one who developed it) managed to make a motor that Rotom can possess fit in the Pokedex, and the Pokedex has speech capabilities, then Rotom should be able to talk.

 

[Lanstar]

I wouldn't say GenI pokemons looks "simple". In fact by illustration perspective, GenI pokemons were the ones having the most design line aka most detailed designs. Many of the pokemons looks more akin to its Real-Life origins, and if one need to draw only the line art, GenI pokemons were in fact the most time-consuming ones (Speak from experience).

I do see now what it means by "simplicity" for GenVII pokemon's design. Not that it is bad or anything, rather I see it is certainly a favourable design to kiddies and young children. But personally speaking, I rather prefers that kind of "simplicity" in GenI pokemon's design. Not exactly simple in the line art, but unsophisticated in the design itself.

I don't know what exactly you mean by "Unsophisticated" and "Most Detailed." Can you provide a Gen. 1 Pokemon design as an example that fits these standards of yours that Pokemon from other Generations, such as this one, can't really match for you?

I mean, I could see how it took them quite a while to design the first generation, given how they were literally pioneering the game and the art style of Pokemon from scratch. But I don't see how any other generation would have their designs any more inferior in details and unsophistication - even this upcoming one, of which not all designs have been released yet.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I like that they're really going to try to make these games feel more lively. I hope we see all sorts of activity in the cities and towns to go along with this.

 

[Garren]

There's one picture on the Japanese site in relation to the Bottlecap dude that shows a shot of a town---and we've barely seen any town life so far, no key city has been shown like Castelia and Lumiose---and the scene looked very "lived in", varied NPC designs, a poster on the wall, etc. I really liked how it looked, seemed to be going for a Level 5-style of world-building (I'm not so defensive of Pokemon to be upset with Game Freak taking notes from Yokai Watch) that makes me happy.

 

[CrystaI]

I don't know what exactly you mean by "Unsophisticated" and "Most Detailed." Can you provide a Gen. 1 Pokemon design as an example that fits these standards of yours that Pokemon from other Generations, such as this one, can't really match for you?

I mean, I could see how it took them quite a while to design the first generation, given how they were literally pioneering the game and the art style of Pokemon from scratch. But I don't see how any other generation would have their designs any more inferior in details and unsophistication - even this upcoming one, of which not all designs have been released yet.

I don't understand where do you get the idea of "later gens is inferior in details and unsophistication". IMO they are indeed lacking some fine details and seems more unnatural for a natural creature, but nonetheless I'll never use the word inferior to compare them, as there is no superiority nor inferiority, either it just matches one's taste, or it doesn't suit one's taste. And I'm allowed to voice out my opinion why it doesn't suit my taste.

And if you wanted an example of some pokemons that happens to "fit my understanding of the GenI design standard", I may gladly provide some examples:

Spoiler: Original Pokemon I found on web

オリポケ　序盤鳥ポケ　ラフ　色付き
オリポケ　中盤　ラフ　色付き
オリジナル御三家　炎②　[オリポケ　イラスト]
オリ御三家
プロットモンとラブラモン
(Ignore the last one if you know what it is ^^)

It is the point that their designs are more or less remaining true to its origin source animals, if it is large ones it possess that "kaijuu" monstrous atmosphere of the 90's era. They are not plushie dolls, the GenI pokemons were intended to be "kaijuus". (From Ken Sugimori and/or Satoshi Tajiri in some very early design concept statements, Pocket Monster = Monster (JPN: Kaijuu) in your pocket)

 

[Garren]

I think it's fair to say, really starting with Generation II (and I defend the assumption that Gen II is closer to Gen III in design than Gen I) the Pokemon designs did indeed move to being cuter and more marketable as a whole, especially among the original Generation II Pokemon unrelated to the previous ones. Some exceptions are Steelix, Scizor, and Tyranitar, the latter as we've seen from that one magazine cover was a design that had been around for quite awhile, but the Starters are noticeably a tad rounder and "less realistic" than the Gen I Starters and you have all the Baby Pokemon, Miltank, etc. Even comparing the cute Pokemon from Gen I you'll notice they still had an edge to them, none of them feeling like they were necessarily aiming for the female audience---or, I could say, the "moe" audience as the case may be---like some of the newer designs.

In my opinion there's very few Pokemon I despise, but I do agree from an objective viewpoint the Generation I Pokemon do have the most solid designs overall and it doesn't surprise me they ended up becoming as popular as they did and are still held up highly among fans both casual and long-term alike, though I do think many of the newer Pokemon would've also been well received had they been introduced back during the initial Pokemon hype and fans could associate the huge phenomenon with them as well. I imagine if GO adds newer Pokemon, and GO is still popular, the newer Pokemon being in the context of such a widespread phenomenon with people getting to talk about them in public and associate them with positive feelings will earn them a lot of new fans, as right now most onlookers only see the basic Sugimori art of the new Pokemon and are quick to judge.

But in fairness Game Freak has stated that the designs have changed to accommodate changing tastes, as perhaps the 90's Toriyama-esque style (oddly enough you'll sometimes see New Pokemon insulted as resembling "Dragon Quest" monsters despite the irony of that statement) isn't quite enjoyed as it once was and Yokai Watch has demonstrated that more offbeat, mascot-ready designs---I've seen it pointed out the majority of Yokai are bipedal in design to be easier to market, and likewise many modern Pokemon are moving towards that more and more---are what people do enjoy. One could see that as selling out, but even if the visual design has changed I still think Game Freak does a commendable effort in giving Pokemon a nice, sometimes surprising amount of biological flavor based on their real-life basis. That being said I see the appeal of kaiju-inspired Pokemon and I still like to see a decent amount of them, which is why Barbaracle is one of my favorite Gen VI Pokemon because it looks like such a creature. Likewise I think the Mega Evolutions fit really well when given to the kaiju-style Pokemon, such as Mega Aggron, Mega Tyranitar, and Mega Metagross, since that's a mechanic that doesn't seem out-of-place when given to Pokemon who clearly look like stuff from Japanese fiction where form changes have been a staple.

The sad truth is Pokemon is 20 years old, and it's possible that the designs may one day not appeal to you and there's not much you can do about that---it hasn't happened to me yet, and to be honest Gen VII is more appealing to Gen VI so far for me since I like the quirkier designs like Gen V had, but it will one day I imagine. I don't see the point in fighting it though and trying to save the franchise based on my vision, I had plenty of time to enjoy it and sometimes it's good to let a new generation take over as there's plenty of other media aimed at my age group specifically to digest. Some people perhaps can't do that as easily which is why you see rather heated arguments about when the franchise "ended", or people criticizing Masuda for his mobile comments back with ORAS when the success of GO, and the amount of people I've seen who specifically cite enjoying it because it's simple and not as time consuming as the main games, proves that he was right even if we didn't want to listen and it negatively affected long-time fans. In a perfect world we'd see a balance in appealing to both groups, but that's difficult to do for anyone really especially with such a massive franchise.

 

[Esserise]

It's so silly and brings me out of my immersion (yes, yes, lap it up!)

But Rotom possessing an electronic appliance, which is literally Rotom's whole schtick, is what breaks your immersion in Pokémon?