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Shigeru Ohmori

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield aren’t completely open world, but they do finally allow players to explore a big environment in full 3D. That’s thanks to the inclusion of the Wild Area. In the Wild Area, one of the main draws is being able to see and approach any Pokemon that shows up on screen. However, including the feature wasn’t originally planned.

That’s according to director Shigeru Ohmori, who shared the news in a recent interview with German website Heute. Ohmori explained that Game Freak wasn’t originally sure how many Pokemon it could show on screen at once, which could have prevented the feature from happening. But thanks to the positive feedback from the Pokemon: Let’s Go games, it was something the studio wanted to include.

Pokemon Sword/Shield

As previously reported, Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield do not have an Exp. Share item. The way the system works now is that all members in your party automatically receive experience in battle, and there’s no immediate option to disable it.

While we touched on this subject previously, in an interview with Jeuxvideo, director Shigeru Ohmori explained the decision to not have an Exp. Share item and instead have the functionality turned on. He told the site:

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield

The Pokemon Company has published a bi, official interview with Pokemon Sword/Shield director Shigeru Ohmori and producer Junichi Masuda. The two developers had plenty to say about new features that are included, the decision to return to Gyms following Pokemon Sun/Moon, going about making new Pokemon, and how it was decided to give certain Pokemon Galar variants and new evolutions. Of course, there are some other topics as well.

We’ve rounded up the full interview with Ohmori and Masuda. You can read the discussion in full below.

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield

As the name implies, past Pokemon games included the Exp. Share item so that members in the party not currently used in battle can earn experience. However, in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, Game Freak has done away with it entirely. All party members are now automatically given experience equally. Some fans were surprised by this since there’s no way of turning it off.

In an interview with Dutch site InsideGamer, director Shigeru Ohmori explained the move. He noted that most players had Exp. Share turned on, and those who want to train one Pokemon at a time can remove everyone else from the party.

Ohmori’s full words:

For the first time in the series, Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield will feature auto-saves. That may not seem like a big deal since it’s relatively simple, but it’s nice to see Game Freak finally implementing the feature.

Auto-save will regularly be running in the background while you play. If you happen to forget about saving manually or your system runs out of battery life before charging, you’ll be able to rest easy knowing that your important progress won’t be erased.

Speaking about the decision to include auto-saves this time around with Eurogamer Portugal, producer Junichi Masuda and director Shigeru Ohmori explained:

Like previous entries in the series, Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield won’t have voice acting. The characters have lines of text to read while the Pokemon themselves maintain their tradition sound effects.

In an interview with Metro, director Shigeru Ohmori was asked why voice acting wasn’t included this time around. He pointed to the amount of work that would be needed for recordings due to the amount of languages supported as well as maintaining the idea players have in mind for the different characters.

Polygon is one of a few outlets to have published an interview today with Game Freak about Pokemon Sword/Shield. There were a few highlights, with director Shigeru Ohmori commenting on how quickly a Pokemon could be created, why Farfetch’d is getting an evolution, and version-specific gym leaders.

You can read up on the responses from Ohmori below. Polygon has the full interview here.

Pokemon Sword and Shield

Game Informer is one of a few outlets to have published an interview with Pokemon Sword/Shield director Shigeru Ohmori and producer Junichi Masuda. As part of their discussion, they spoke about how big these games are compared to other entries, teased more content after players finish the main story, and spoke about the Pokemon timeline.

We’ve rounded up the answers to these topics below. If you’re interested in reading the full interview, hit up Game Informer’s full piece here.

Pokemon Sword/Shield

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.

Game Freak has high ambitions with its next Pokemon game. According to director Shigeru Ohmori, the theme this time around was making “the greatest Pokemon game.”

Ohmori told Game Informer in this month’s issue:


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