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The Pokemon series debuts on Nintendo Switch next month with the release of Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee. Based largely on the classic version of Pokemon Yellow, Let's Go games return the franchise to its roots in many ways. As in the original, the story takes place again in the Kanto region and you will only encounter the first 151 Pokémon (plus the new Meltan) during your adventure.
Let's Go games also diverge dramatically from the tradition, especially with regard to Pokemon Go. Not only can you transfer some monsters that you catch in the mobile game to the Switch titles, but they also use the Pokemon Go capture mechanisms, which means you will not be able to fight wild Pokémon anymore.
GameSpot recently had the opportunity to sit down with the Pokemon director: Let's Go, Junichi Masuda, and the main designer of the game environment, Kensaku Nabana. Through an interpreter, we discussed what was the reinvention of the traditional world of Kanto in 3D, in 8 bits, changes made by the development team by bringing the games to Switch and the birth of the new Mythical Pokemon Meltan.
Although inspired by the Yellow Pokémon, Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee seem to introduce a lot of new items not found in previous Pokémon games. What new things should we expect?
Junichi Masuda: The main flow of the story runs in the same way as Pokemon Yellow Version. One of the reasons we wanted to do this is that we imagined that a lot of fans of the original game would play through. There are different parts, but I think they will recognize the main beats of the story and feel some nostalgia.
At the same time, we added a decent amount of sub-events that were not in the originals. This gives somehow a different feeling because there are many coaches alongside their Pokémon in the real world, which would give an impression different from that of the original game, while covering the same story.
Team Rocket seems to play a bigger role in Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee. Does this mean we will see more of Jessie, James and Meowth during the story?
Masuda: Yes, they certainly appear more in the game than in the original yellow version of Pokemon. With these two games, we really started at the very beginning with one main target, namely the young kids who might not have their own smartphone and could not really participate in the craze for Pokemon Go that s & # 39; 39 is passed. They were not able to participate in this fun game, so give them a really fun experience, also with some of this Pokemon Go game. But at the same time, we wanted to introduce these new players, for whom this could be their first Pokémon game, through the original story, allowing them to become familiar with the Pokémon experience this way.
In addition, I thought it would be fun if the players who enjoyed the original game – they are now much older, probably in their thirties – could interact with perhaps their own children or other children whom they know they have. They are playing the game. They would actually know the general storyline and might be able to give advice as to where to go next and things like that. With Team Rocket, because the animated series is popular – in more than 85 countries – I imagine that many of these young children will have seen the animated series, even if they did not play the game. so add items like this to help them get into the world easier and recognize the configuration.
In the original games, your rival was a huge con, but that Let's Go seems much more friendly. Why this change?
Masuda: I think the main reason the rivals were rather a fool at first was that we were just limited with what we could express with pixel graphics. You can not do much with this kind of sprite on the screen. So we worked harder to characterize them through dialogue and give them certain personalities. Moreover, as it is only dialogue and there is not much on the screen, it does not give such a severe impression, even if they are fools , I think. We now have HD graphics and the visuals are much more impressive. If you also make him a fool, the impression will be much stronger for the players. Another thing, just my own personal opinion, is that I think players with this kind of personalities are no longer as accepted as by the players at the time.
In the original games, there was a text or some kind of setting where "Pidgey eats Caterpie", for example. It was fine at the time, I think everyone liked it. But, I think Pokemon has evolved, fans have somehow their idea of what Pokemon should be. If we did that now, I think a lot of people would not really like it, that would give them a bad reaction.
And the old man on the outside of Celadon Gym who says he likes to look at pretty girls? Did you have to mitigate that too?
Masuda: Yes, we have definitely reassessed all these types of things. But at the same time, the fact that you remembered it meant that it was something memorable. We had to be very careful about things to change and keep as they are. Check it yourself and see if it's still there.
How was it to have to reinvent the Kanto area in 3D? Has it been difficult to recreate the world for an HD console?
Kensaku Nabana: I was in elementary school when Pokemon Yellow Version came out, and I remember playing these games as well as a fan. So when we started in the development of this game, we all went back to play Pokemon Yellow Version again, and I just tried to remind myself of the Pokemon world that was in my imagination when I was playing at these games because you had to fill in the gaps a lot at the time. Truly try to take what was in my imagination at the time and redefine the areas so that they look like the picture I had in my head.
Also, keep in mind that we are focusing on having a lot of Pokémon in the environment, walking around the world this time, so [we focused on] make the visuals look like something that does not seem strange. We had initially considered a more photorealistic direction, but we opted for this more animated style approach, these more cute visuals.
Pokemon: let's go, Pikachu! And let's go, Eevee! – Legendary Pokémon Trailer
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This clearly leaves a strong impression, seeing how much some famous scenes from the ancient game of Let's Go are different, like the first time you come on the SS Anne and see how much that looks more majestic. For some areas like Lavender Town, which was very scary in the original games, how did you decide to express it in Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee?
Nabana: Lavender Town is certainly a city I do not want to talk about too much and you have to discover for yourself, but I certainly have the same impression as you. It's a bit scary and disturbing place. So I first approached the question thinking that it would give that impression. But that was not enough for Masuda. It was like, "You have to make it even more scary." He has given me a lot of specific instructions to do it. So, I think it will be fun to see what it looks like.
It does not appear that pending items and abilities are present in these games. What is the reason for this?
Masuda: Yes, it was actually a conscious decision. We do not have any objects or abilities or eggs, nor many features that were not in the original build but were added later. We had to be very careful in choosing which items to update from the original games and which ones we would keep the same. I liked the appeal of the simplicity of Generation 1's original games, because it's a title that allows new players to join the franchise to live an experience very similar to that of children 20 years ago, but [we also wanted people to] Enjoy some of these new gaming gadgets, such as Poke Ball Plus and connectivity with Pokemon Go.
But, of course, we had to update other things. For example, we added more types later and Pokemon was recopied, so that these exist in the game. And, of course, you have not been able to play in the original game. We were only able to create a four-way movement, so we decided that we probably could not do it today and that it was a lot easier to move, I think.
Even though the pending objects are not in, we have seen that Mega Evolutions are. Can you tell us how that will work? Traditionally, your Pokemon must contain the right item for Mega Evolve.
Masuda: No real details, but I can guarantee you that it is very simple. We did not really think about it and just made mega evolutions.
Please tell us more about the new Pokemon, Meltan. Was it still planned to debut first in Pokemon Go? And was it conceived in collaboration with Niantic or internally at Game Freak?
Masuda: We had definitely planned to launch it in Pokemon Go from the beginning. At the beginning of the development of Go, we had already indicated that we wanted to make a Pokemon, and we collaborated with Niantic to define this feature. I've been working on Go's development since the beginning, so I always had it in mind. But the design was done internally at Game Freak. I gave specific tuning instructions to one of our designers, who was also a fan of the original games and who played them as a kid, so he had a very good idea of what I was looking for, based on this type of metal nut very simple. design. He undoubtedly had the original ideas of Kanto Pokemon in mind and tried to keep them as simple as possible. You know, they were more basic at the time than some more modern models. He worked on it, and once it was all over, we gave all the assets and all the material to Niantic, we planned the event and carried it out, and it worked.
As a follow-up to Meltan's drawing, here in the United States, he received the nickname "Nut Boy" for joking / liking. I am curious to know how you feel about this nickname and if, perhaps, it has a similar nickname in Japan?
Nabana: I have not seen many nicknames in Japan yet, but as far as design is concerned, we really tried to make it look like a more realistic object, like something you could maybe see in real life. It would look weird, but it would not stand out too much. Initially, I thought it would be a very controversial design, as some people might like it but others would not. This sounds really strange, but if you look at it more closely, it's a bit cute at the same time. But it seems that the reaction has been generally very positive and very amusing. There has already been a lot of fan art and this has been revealed just recently so it is exciting for us.
In the DS and 3DS games, many events in the stores have given free Pokemon via download codes. Is something similar planned for Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee?
Masuda: The functionality of the previous games is there, it is called Mystery Gift. It's in the game and I'm sure that there will probably be something, but I think with the limited selection of Pokémon, they are all pretty easy to capture in others. games. I do not know how often or how often it will be with these games in particular.
We talked about transfer between Pokemon Go and Let's Go. Will there also be transfer possibilities between Let's Go and this title?
Masuda: We are still thinking about this type of feature, especially since we introduced the Pokemon Bank. Now, up to Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, you can store your Pokemon. We know that they are very important to everyone. I mean, obviously, people would be very sad if they could not use their Pokémon in a future game. So it becomes complicated when you talk about details and we're still solving the problem, but we're planning to find ways to let players use their Pokémon in the next match.
What are your favorite Pokemon games?
Masuda: For me, red and green are the most memorable. It has been six years since we were nine, so we have many memories of that time, good and bad. One of the other things was that we did not think much that the game would be played by millions of people at the time. We were developing it. At any time, the company could have gone bankrupt and may not have been released. But yes, many memories of that time.
Nabana: Red and green, that's where I started too. I have played these games and I have fond memories, but over the last 20 years, I think these memories have become even more glorious. It's just starting to become this legend in my mind. Of course, we have tried to make Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee, the new conception of this, to be worthy of these. It gets more and more beautiful in your mind as time goes on, which is what we tried to do. So, these are probably my favorite games, just in my memory.
But as a developer, I think I'm able to work on these games and try to update them for the modern era and to work as a team leader on these games, it was probably my favorite experience until now.
Let's go back to Red and Green and the harshness of the development process. Is there anything at the time that you specifically want to address or implement when updating the adventure for Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee?
Masuda: With Red and Green and even games after that, at Game Freak, we have always wanted Pokemon to appear in the outside world, on the field itself. But, specifically with the original games, it was not possible to do that with Game Boy hardware. He just could not cope with it. We really wanted to make them feel like living creatures who are in the world with you. So you'll see in Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee, they will all have their own unique motion characteristics. Some of them will run and stop. They are a little curious. It will be fun to discover how they all react to you.
One last question: do you have a chance to see the evolution of Pikachu, Gorochu, one day?
Masuda: You probably will not see it. None of the Pokémon we worked on reached a point, then rejected them, they have never appeared before, so I would say the odds are low. One of the reasons for this is that Game Freak always has as a fundamental criterion to be able to explain why a certain Pokémon is in the world or why it exists in this world, trying to make it credible within fantasy. And usually, those who are rejected are Pokemon that we could not justify, I think. Generally, they are not implemented for a reason and as long as they exist, they will probably not be integrated into the game.
We always say that Pokemon is not a "character game". This is not a game where there are only characters, but it's a game that shows this world where these living creatures exist in a space. It's a bit of a slight nuance, but that's what we always try to do at Game Freak. It's not enough that they're just cute. (Laughs) They must have something more.
Nabana: I myself have worked on Pokemon designs and the process is very arduous and time consuming. You have to talk to a lot of people, a lot of back and forth and really be able to justify it before we get to the final design.
