Game Freak on pressure making Pokemon games, negative feedback, possibility of more Let’s Go games, no Pokemon GO connectivity
In a recent hands-on session for Pokemon Sword/Shield, Eurogamer was able to speak with director Shigeru Ohmori and producer Junichi Masuda. Between the two, they discussed pressure making Pokemon titles, the negative feedback they’ve recently received, and the possibility of more Let’s Go games. It’s also now confirmed that there’s no direct connectivity with Pokemon GO.
We’ve rounded up these particular responses below. For the full interview, head on over to Eurogamer.
On whether there will be Pokemon GO integration…
SO: In Pokémon Sword and Shield there’s no direct communication with Pokémon Go, but you’ll have seen the announcement for Pokémon Home, where there are plans to be able to send Pokémon from Pokémon Go, and take them around with you, so that’s something we do have.
On whether they feel it’s difficult to please everyone and is there a difficulty/pressure…
SO: Yeah there is definitely a level of pressure when you’re making the game, but it doesn’t make developing a game feel stressful or anything like that. At the end of the day it’s something that we love doing, and is really fun to do. But we definitely really want to answer all the wishes of our fans and live up to their expectations, which is something that’s quite challenging, so, in that sense yeah there’s definitely a pressure. But we also, within ourselves, always strive to make the best game, and really deliver something that we’re proud of and that we feel fans are going to enjoy. So yeah there’s a fun and a pressure in there.
On negative feedback…
JM: Of course, you know, you see these sort of negative comments and it does, as a developer, make you feel a bit down about certain things. But at the same time, you have to take criticism. For example with Pokémon Let’s Go, early on there were a lot of comments that it was too easy, or it was kind of a bit too “kid-focused” and that sort of thing. That sort of comment is something you see, and you take on board, and really try and base improvements in the next game on the feedback you received from the last one.
So, with regards to the Pokédex issue in particular that you’ve mentioned, that was something that was a really hard decision internally, there were a lot of discussions about which direction we should take that in, and ultimately we felt that, for the overall game, focusing on creating the richest experience we could within that game, leaving the Pokédex as we did was the best solution overall.
On the possibility of more Let’s Go-style games…
JM: So, at the moment there’s no particular plans, but if the fans really like it then definitely keep those voices coming out to the Pokémon Company and Nintendo, and make sure we hear them! [Laughs] We wanna hear those comments!
