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IGN - Pokemon X/Y details, worldwide release, French influence, 3D, movement, Pokemon creation and more
The following info comes from a hands-on session and an interview with director Junichi Masuda and designer Hironobu Yoshida...
- hold down B to run from the very beginning of the game
- take a letter from Professor Sequoia back to my mom at the start of the game
“Throughout the development of previous Pokémon titles, we’ve had the philosophy that when you have something that increases convenience, you kind of want to make the player feel a little bit inconvenienced before that. When you do get that new feature, it feels even more convenient as a result! But this time, we have a new item – the roller skates – that yet you zip around quite a bit faster. So that’s why we gave you the running shoes right from the beginning. Of course, new players might not know that, but we didn’t really spell it out in an explanation… you find it out, along with other gameplay hints, by talking with NPCs – or talking to real-life friends.” - Mssuda
On the worldwide release
“We had a much higher number of staff just on the localization side as a result. We also had a specialized team of the Pokémon Company based in London focused on working on the FIGS (French, Italian, German, Spanish) language localizations. We brought on more staff there to translate the Japanese directly into those languages, rather than basing those localizations off the English script. It’s really exciting for players around the world to have the opportunity to finally experience the discoveries of a Pokémon game together.”
On the influence from France
“One of the themes of Pokémon X and Y is ‘beauty’ – Kalos is actually the ancient Greek word for beauty – and I thought France fit that ideal. I’ve travelled in my own time to places for inspiration, and France really stuck out in my mind. One of the reasons we base Pokémon settings on real-world places is that we think it’d be fun for players to discover real-world similarities. It’s less about finding famous places and more about finding locales that would work well in-game.”
On shifting to a 3D world
“The biggest hurdle was translating the established 2D art style of (longtime Pokémon artist) Ken Sugimori into a 3D world. He has a distinct style of linework and shading that we wanted to faithfully translate into 3D. We didn’t want to go for a completely realistic style; instead, we wanted to convey the softness and warmth of these designs. I think it helps accentuate the aspects of the Pokémon.” - Yoshida
- control your trainer on the map using the 3DS Circle Pad
- character still moves on a square-based grid a
“We always reconsider the movement for each game. The grid-based movement is to allow players to better understand positioning in the world. That way players know exactly where they need to step to, say, begin a battle, or enter a house.” - Masuda
On the lack of 3D support in the full game
“We chose not to use 3D in areas where we wanted to put more focus on the game’s beauty. We also felt that using 3D sparingly would make it have more impact when it did show up.” - Masuda
- Bunnelby (a Normal-type rabbit Pokémon)
- Fletchling (your typical early-game Flying bird pokemon)
- buck-toothed insect called Scatterbug
- over 600 distinct Pokémon species
On Pokemon creation
“It’s extremely difficult to come up with fresh Pokémon designs each time. Usually we start out by focusing on the game’s setting – this time, it’s inspired by France, so we looked at things you could find in that area. We’ll also come up with ideas for new skills, and imagine the types of Pokémon that would use them. We might even have a new evolution method – like this game’s Mega Evolutions – and then come up with a design that would fit that evolution method. We’ve even had cases where we’ve thought of footprints first, and then brainstormed what kind of Pokémon would create it!” - Yoshida
On the game names
“The names of X and Y represent the philosophy we had behind the two games. We’ve taken the idea of X and Y from the geometric X- and Y-axes. They represent two different ways of thought. At the same time, we want to convey a message encouraging people to find a common ground, where X and Y converge.” - Yoshida
“Xerneas is meant to evoke imagery of eternity, while Yveltal is destruction. Perhaps you could see some ties between feminine and masculine qualities there!” - Masuda
Link
- hold down B to run from the very beginning of the game
- take a letter from Professor Sequoia back to my mom at the start of the game
“Throughout the development of previous Pokémon titles, we’ve had the philosophy that when you have something that increases convenience, you kind of want to make the player feel a little bit inconvenienced before that. When you do get that new feature, it feels even more convenient as a result! But this time, we have a new item – the roller skates – that yet you zip around quite a bit faster. So that’s why we gave you the running shoes right from the beginning. Of course, new players might not know that, but we didn’t really spell it out in an explanation… you find it out, along with other gameplay hints, by talking with NPCs – or talking to real-life friends.” - Mssuda
On the worldwide release
“We had a much higher number of staff just on the localization side as a result. We also had a specialized team of the Pokémon Company based in London focused on working on the FIGS (French, Italian, German, Spanish) language localizations. We brought on more staff there to translate the Japanese directly into those languages, rather than basing those localizations off the English script. It’s really exciting for players around the world to have the opportunity to finally experience the discoveries of a Pokémon game together.”
On the influence from France
“One of the themes of Pokémon X and Y is ‘beauty’ – Kalos is actually the ancient Greek word for beauty – and I thought France fit that ideal. I’ve travelled in my own time to places for inspiration, and France really stuck out in my mind. One of the reasons we base Pokémon settings on real-world places is that we think it’d be fun for players to discover real-world similarities. It’s less about finding famous places and more about finding locales that would work well in-game.”
On shifting to a 3D world
“The biggest hurdle was translating the established 2D art style of (longtime Pokémon artist) Ken Sugimori into a 3D world. He has a distinct style of linework and shading that we wanted to faithfully translate into 3D. We didn’t want to go for a completely realistic style; instead, we wanted to convey the softness and warmth of these designs. I think it helps accentuate the aspects of the Pokémon.” - Yoshida
- control your trainer on the map using the 3DS Circle Pad
- character still moves on a square-based grid a
“We always reconsider the movement for each game. The grid-based movement is to allow players to better understand positioning in the world. That way players know exactly where they need to step to, say, begin a battle, or enter a house.” - Masuda
On the lack of 3D support in the full game
“We chose not to use 3D in areas where we wanted to put more focus on the game’s beauty. We also felt that using 3D sparingly would make it have more impact when it did show up.” - Masuda
- Bunnelby (a Normal-type rabbit Pokémon)
- Fletchling (your typical early-game Flying bird pokemon)
- buck-toothed insect called Scatterbug
- over 600 distinct Pokémon species
On Pokemon creation
“It’s extremely difficult to come up with fresh Pokémon designs each time. Usually we start out by focusing on the game’s setting – this time, it’s inspired by France, so we looked at things you could find in that area. We’ll also come up with ideas for new skills, and imagine the types of Pokémon that would use them. We might even have a new evolution method – like this game’s Mega Evolutions – and then come up with a design that would fit that evolution method. We’ve even had cases where we’ve thought of footprints first, and then brainstormed what kind of Pokémon would create it!” - Yoshida
On the game names
“The names of X and Y represent the philosophy we had behind the two games. We’ve taken the idea of X and Y from the geometric X- and Y-axes. They represent two different ways of thought. At the same time, we want to convey a message encouraging people to find a common ground, where X and Y converge.” - Yoshida
“Xerneas is meant to evoke imagery of eternity, while Yveltal is destruction. Perhaps you could see some ties between feminine and masculine qualities there!” - Masuda
Link