Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire are the dominant arrival on the Holiday horizon for 3DS, making this the second year running — after X & Y in the same period during 2013 — that the franchise has led the way for Nintendo's portable. Pre-order numbers have been impressive, which Nintendo is linking to a mix of current day fans and those that enjoyed the GBA originals 12 years ago and are now keen to return — these are games that should have little trouble succeeding.
Of course, as remakes these are titles that are delivering a great deal of change over their originals — they're utilising the X & Y 3D engine, which was a first last year, which has required more than a generic spit-and-polish upscale, while a host of new features are included. As a result these could be particularly fresh experiences over their Game Boy Advance predecessors; Shigeru Ohmori, director of these new games, has reiterated just that in an interview with gamesTM magazine — much has changed in 12 years.
When I started at Game Freak, Ruby and Sapphire were my first project, so obviously there are a lot of ideas I had at the time that didn't get into the final game — a lot of things for the story, for example, that I hoped to explore more in depth. Finally taking all those ideas, I get the chance to implement them and to go more in depth on them, 12 years after it began.
The Hoenn region is a favourite for some 'mon fans, so it's a re-imagining will set some pulses racing. There's still a desire to maintain the vibe of the originals, naturally, while series head honcho Junichi Masuda also explained the origins of the region and its rural focus.
Ohmori — One of the main goals, one of the main themes that I had in mind when I first started working on the Pokémon games with Ruby and Sapphire, and the impression I had at the time, was that that was really the first time Pokémon had entered full colour. The way the colours were used to create this feeling of nature left an impression on me, so I really wanted Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire to translate that to the new systems, and pay attention to how we used colour, and create that same feeling.
Masuda — Kanto and Johto were based more on the motif of Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka — big cities in Japan, with people living in a more metropolitan feel. With the Hoenn region I wanted to go for a feel of abundant nature, so a lot of mountains and forests. When I was younger, my grandparents lived in Kyushu and I would visit them, and whenever I was there I'd always be catching bugs, playing in the river, catching fish and stuff like that, so I wanted to bring that feeling of nature to the games.
Utilising the 3DS hardware, these entries will aim for more immersion in the world — the feeling of nature will be stronger, as you'll be able to spot Pokémon in their natural habitat.
One of the things with Ruby and Sapphire is that you'll actually hear Pokémon cries as you're walking around the environment, but we wanted to go more in depth with that, even at the time, and actually have Pokémon appear in the game world. For example, you can see their silhouette or see a Pokémon flying overhead — these are elements and ideas we've been able to flesh out properly in the remakes.
As a final wrap-up, gamesTM quizzed both men on their favourite Pokémon, a tricky subject. Their answers are below.
Masuda — I have a lot of favourites, it's hard to choose! Most recently, after direct X and Y my current favourite is still Sylveon, the evolution of Eevee. I really like a lot of the more cute Pokémon too, though. My favourite from Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire is one of the new Pokemon, Primal Kyogre. It's very cool-looking.
Ohmori — My favourite would be one of the new ones from X & Y — I do have a lot of Pokémon that I like and lot and it's hard to choose a favourite, but from Pokémon X & Y it's Inkay. I actually came up with the idea for how it evolves, where you have to turn the 3DS upside down. That ideas was able to be implemented and was reflected in the design of the Pokémon, too, so it's a really memorable one for me.
Let us know what you think of these comments from Masuda-san and Ohmori-san, as well as how excited you are for these releases.
[source gamestm.co.uk]
Comments 29
So now I know who came up with the stupid way of evolving Inkay!
ok it's not that stupid but seriously, without the internet or a guide how would you ever guess that?
im getting so excited. x and y were my first pokemon games and i didnt think it was for me until i played one and now i'm so into pokemon its crazy. i cant wait for these new ones.
There's so much wrong with the idea behind OR/AS... good thing I'm skipping them.
@Kaze_Memaryu Why skip a game so superior to X and Y?
Looking forward to exploring that added depth when they come out. Thats the cool thing about remakes like this, they can do the things they couldn't before or wish they had done but didn't. I loved the rural setting in these games so I'm also looking forward to seeing how they flesh that out and "create the feeling of nature".
@Kaze_Memaryu
Care to elaborate?
Can't wait for these games. I get to share them with my kids and discover them for myself. I love all the new ideas that they are bringing into these remakes. It is almost like they are a whole new game.
@Zombie_Barioth @BlatantlyHeroic I'm not saying it's a bad game (but "superior" is absolutely wrong, it's the same level), but in the case of Pokémon, the idea behind remakes is pointless.
They could've easily done something similar to BW2 by giving us good old Hoenn, but new characters. Instead, they recycle ideas left and right like it's nothing, just like the other remake editions. And while I can get behind the appeal for many others, I find it a waste of resources. Would it have been so hard to get new main characters, a new storyline, and some cool encounters with the Hoopa legendary events? No, we get May/Brendan again, the Magma/Aqua ploy is exactly the same (just with slightly better designs), and non-native legendaries pop out of a freaking gate.
In addition to that, they flat-out drop support for X/Y by keeping the new Megas incompatible with those, despite not only being laughably easy to patch in, but also still being part of Gen VI. If it wasn't for that, I might've reconsidered getting one of the editions, but I'm not supporting them just leaving X/Y without using anything they prepared beforehand.
@Kaze_Memaryu Sorry, erased my comment because it was sentido after your big one.
I disagree with you. I undertand your point I'm wanting something like B2W2, which were so good in comparison with BW.. But...
First, although the storyline is the same in its core (they are remakes after all), so much has been added to it. They've added a lot of new stuff to the story. The whole mega evolution thing, primal reversion, Contests have a role in the story too. And there's so much more. The legends and myths of Hoenn will be much more explained now. Take what was done to HG/SS. They've fixed the blank spots in the story of the originals, and I strongly believe there will be much more to it in ORAS. I have some guesses based on the leaks of the hacked demo, but I shouldn't comment that here.
tl;Dr version : the story is "the same", but it's been improved a lot, and that's a huge load of entirely new content. Take what the director just sad in this news.
I was also mad at the absence of a patch for XY, but that's got nothing to do with ORAS itself. XY players will suffer from this decision, but that's not a thing to put on your list of "things wrong with ORAS"
And also,have you played the demo? There are minor visual improvements in comparison with XY. Nothing to go crazy about, but sure is better. It's been always like this. Emerald in comparison to RS, Platinum to DP and specially B2W2 with BW.
I guess that's it xP
Edit: There's so much more... Cosplay Pikachu, all the Pokénav Plus functions, the awesome 'Soar' ability with Latias andar Latios, super secret bases... It's just so much more content than the originals... Saying it is 'just a remake' feels really wrong to me.
"Finally taking all those ideas, I get the chance to implement them and to go more in depth on them, 12 years after it began."
Pikachu shoots first?
Not into Pokemon at all - movie17 was ok - but this seems like it would be a great game to start with. You get to go back to the Hoenn region if you missed it - I'm betting a lot of young Pokemon fans haven't played those - but you also get a more modern 3D game than you would get if they just released them as VC. A bit of a letdown for those who wanted "Z", but I don't think those people will hamper sales much.
I'm so sad that I won't be able to buy this game day one. Why SSB? Why?!
I hope the contests play out similarly to how they were in the original Ruby/Sapphire games because they were fun to play, it was a great side game to play when not raising/catching pokémon.
I've not really been a fan of this dressing up pokémon contest format, preferred the strategic use of moves to impress the judges format.
Only problem with that is they will have to reintroduce the extra pages on the Pokémon stats showing condition and how the move perform in contests, and Feebas initially evolved via maxed out Beauty condition before it had to be changed when Pokémon condition was removed.
Also hope the Trick House remains on Route 110 because that was a fun gimmick.
@rjejr 'Z' will eventually come. Probably at the end of next year.
R/S/E are my all time favorite games. Can't wait for it!
Is it the 21st yet....? My hype has built so much I've been struggling to keep myself occupied (and I have plent of 3DS and Vita games to do so) but my mind is on the games so much it's impossible. I guess my excitement comes from the fact that I never did finish Ruby or Sapphire back in the day nor did I play Emerald (lost my GBA) so the chance to partake in that which I never completed has me very happy. Also waiting to get my hands on the Corocoro Comic magazine for the Eon Ticket code since I will not only buy the NA versions of both games but both JP region games as well for my language studies.....
Ugh,... Time needs to move faster!!!!
@Kaze_Memaryu "No Hoopa encounter"
The game isn't even released, how do you know for sure? You seem to always assume things before the full details are known.
After all, ORAS is set to have an alternate form of Hoopa that don't appears in X and Y. That might be something
@Kaze_Memaryu The story of ORAS will follow the same theme & share the same characters, but there will be a lot of changes for the better, not just because of how technology has changed, but because they know the people who played the original RSE are 12 years older now.... Gamefreak will pack in all sorts of surprises and twists. They added a BIG chunk of new map just for Emerald, imagine what they could do now?
Secondly, I don't know why you're so desperate for new protagonists... yes, you could play as "Joe or Tina", but then you STILL go on a quest to collect all the badges, win through teamwork & face an evil team looking to upset people (through stealing pokémon/destroying the world/flooding or drying the world). I personally think a new twist on the original RSE would be more intelligent than running through the same old story with different names... in fact new protagonists would allow Gamefreak to be MORE lazy.
Finally, if you're not going to buy ORAS until Gamefreak patch XY... it's a shame, but we'll all just have fun without you. While it may be "laughably easy" to patch in the new mega evolutions, developers always have reasons why they can't do something. They obviously haven't dropped support for XY as we recently received patch 1.3.... my guess is they haven't left enough space for all of the new pokémon forms (which could be cause by the large patch they had to release to fix the save-deleting glitch). Yes, it could be saved to your SD card... but it also needs gamecard space too.
@Tulio517 I'm not talking about details, I'm talking about the general outline. Choose Brendan or May, fight against Team Aqua/Magma, Kyogre and Groudon are the central point. That's the same structure as before, regardless of stuff in between. And that, quite frankly, is not an improvement to me, just an expansion. It doesn't feel like a new adventure, but more like a more long-winded version of the same.
The new features are extremely subjective, as well. Cosplay Pikachu looks just dumb (and not everybody likes Pikachu to begin with), Super Secret Base is the same as before, just with a bit more furniture and Streetpass, and Soar is a glorified Fly with some Hoopa events thrown in that could've taken place anywhere, but serve as the (currently) only justification.
@Gridatttack I checked my comment twice, and I never said anything about "no Hoopa encounter". Hm...
@DanteSolablood Technological advance has nothing to do with creative writing. As for additions: that's not what I mean. I mean that the adventure still is the same path as before.
New protagonists simply mean not recycling old ones. We had Brendan and May already, why them again? HG/SS took the liberty of at least presenting a new female MC, and that at least was a good step, though the rest was the same, just prettier. But simply reusing MC's is lazy, but providing new characters doesn't stop with different names - different relations, different reactions, callbacks to the original adventure (just like B/W2).
And as for the third point: no. The game code already has the necessities for implementing additional content covered, all that is left is the actual content, which can easily be stored on the SD Card without a single bit of space on the game cart needed - the previous patches prove this easily. But they simply cut down X/Y to force people into buying the new editions. It's a business decision in favor of the business, but not the players, and I won't support that.
Finally, if you're not going to buy ORAS until Gamefreak patch XY... it's a shame, but we'll all just have fun without you.
Am I supposed to care? I'll have more than enough fun getting a better game for that money, no worries.
@Kaze_Memaryu "some cool encounters with the Hoopa legendary events?"
Hmm, I wonder, what do you mean exactly by this?
Like, ecounters with the unreleased XY events?
@Gridatttack Pretty much. OR/AS will have gates that you can find while using Soar. These gates were created by Hoopa to drag specific legendaries from their original destination to Hoenn. But it's kind of a waste to just use the principle all the time, just with the gate floating elsewhere in the sky.
Hoopa is described in the Pokédex as a mischievous troublemaker with dimensional powers, and serves an explanation for immigrated legendaries. But if he likes to play pranks on Pokés and people, why doesn't he drag the legendaries to different locations? I think GameFreak missed a great opportunity to make area revisits more interesting by opening new parts where legendaries were dropped by Hoopa.
WAIT. You evolve... an Inkay... BY TURNING THE FREAKING 3DS UPSIDE DOWN?!?!
WHAT THE CRAP?!?!
I know it's supposed to be along to lines of the transfer-map puzzle The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass or the final puzzle in Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box where you interact with the system but, how were we supposed to think of flipping the 3DS upside down? Pokemon doesn't out me in that mindframe to think that way...
@Kaze_Memaryu
I don't see how remakes are pointless simply because its Pokemon. The main series is the only thing Game Freak makes, and they only took them just over a year. There was a 4-year gap between gens 4 and 5, and X&Y came 3 years after, so all the games in-between had to have been in development along side them at some point. They probably could still make "X2/Y2" or "Z" no problem if they wanted.
Beside, the fact that they're putting so much effort into these remakes is a good thing, they the only ones not just making an up-scaled port. We don't know to what extent they're changing the story or anything either.
I think your focusing too much on the general outline, you could boil down every game like that, and I find the 'meat 'n potatoes' more important, but to each their own I suppose.
As long as this has more things to do post-game, it will be better than X/Y.
@Kaze_Memaryu Nope, you're not meant to care, though I genuinely hope you come around at some point & join in. Other than huge amounts of money, pokémon is also about getting people together.
That's quite an assumption that the game path will be the same as before, just because the characters are the same doesn't mean they'll do the same things or have the same experiences. The exact game path wasn't the same between Ruby & Emerald, so it's a pretty pessimistic point of view that Gamefreak are going to keep the path identical.
Also, your point about HG/SS "taking the liberty" of adding a female trainer is pretty weak, this was only done because the female trainer had become standard at this point & would have elicited complaints had she not been added. Plus considering that pokémon protagonists are universally mute with the exception of a 'yes' or 'no', I doubt adding new trainers would make that vast a difference. Judging by the ORAS demo, the story could be quite different anyway. Plus there is the added dimension that some of us who played RSE the first time round may actually want the original trainer back for the nostalgia.
As for the code issue, would Gamefreak really be stupid enough to put actual pokémon data onto the players SD Card where it can be manipulated externally? Yes, bug fixes and level data can exist outside of the cart... but as soon as they allow the actual full pokémon data including models outside the cart storage itself, they pretty much give up on preventing people freely manipulating pokémon as much as they want.
I can see where you're coming from, you're upset that X&Y won't be getting an update to include all the pokémon and that's why you're throwing your toys at Gamefreak. Are they supposed to care? They'll have more than enough money from better fans.
@DanteSolablood ...I can see where you're coming from...
Oh?
...you're upset that X&Y won't be getting an update to include all the pokémon...
Gotta give it to you, I disagree wholeheartedly.
You're argumenting as if this was a personal agenda against GameFreak for abandoning X/Y.
Well, Newsflash! I was against the idea of OR/AS ever since the very games were announced and I had to realize they're remakes instead of sequels. The "exclusive" Pokés idiocy is just another terrible decision. And I always find cheap cash-in methods like unneccessarily restricted content disgusting.
As for the code issue, would Gamefreak really be stupid enough to put actual pokémon data onto the players SD Card where it can be manipulated externally?
That is the worst justification you gave me for a terrible decision. They distribute the WHOLE GAMES via eShop! Did anyone use this to manipulate game data? Of course not, that's not how it works! You can't just open a file and write or edit the code.
@Klobb @Zelda64L Well, it's not like it's that much easier to figure out that you need a Dark type in your party to evolve Pancham or that Sliggoo needs to be in the rain. At this point, I think they're assuming that practically everyone uses the Internet to find out the evolution methods these days.
@Kaze_Memaryu Well, I'm glad your motivation is a lot simpler than I thought, you can facepalm all you like but divining intent via text chat isn't easy. Now I know you're simply against the game in it's entirety... good. Don't buy them, other people will. And no, you shouldn't care, but again Gamefreak feel the same way about you.
As for people manipulating data on the digital download... yes they are. Not only have people been duping pokémon using simple methods such as backing up their save files, trading & restoring them, but of COURSE people can access and edit the code. How do you think people are finding out about the event pokémon that haven't be released/announced? Psychic powers?
So yes, people have used the digital downloads to manipulate the data & yes, it is possible to open & amend files if you have the right tools. I look forward to another colourful reply.
@DanteSolablood What you describe is obviously there, but has no bearing on the security of a possible update for X/Y. No actual data has been altered or manipulated in a way that it could be executed, otherwise, we'd have a Cloning Blues going on everywhere. So, it's still just a matter of profit that decided to kick them out of relevance, instead of supporting the fanbase.
@Kaze_Memaryu
While I agree with you in that they won't just hand over new Mega Evolutions in XY, I don't think you're thinking about ORAS the same as I.
I think ORAS is a way to connect the entire fanbase, new and old, to the original Hoenn games. To bring a sequel to a 3rd Generation game that can stand on its own (without knowledge of the original) would be tricky. Some may not care if they don't know what's going on story-wise, but others do. Sure, they could add a few text lines to bring people up to speed, but I don't believe people would have an attachment to a continuing plot if they hadn't experienced the original themselves. Appreciation would only be shared among those who were around for RS, and you're talking about a decade gap (XY was some people's first Pokemon game, others DPPt, SSHG, BW/BW2 was their first). At this point, a re-imagining of RS is necessary and entirely relevant. A 3rd Gen sequel is too much fan service in my eyes. It would be nice, but it's implausible and a pipe dream.
I also think canonically it would be implausible, at least from a fan's perspective (ie my perspective). I assume that all events that can happen in any given game, DO happen in that game. If Brendan/May caught the legendaries in RS, they should be impossible to capture, canonically, in a sequel. Mewtwo is said to not be the only one in existence, but Kyogre and Groudon are likely one of a kind unless you believe Hoopa opens a dimensional portal for them, too.
Now if you suggest they NOT make a sequel and just change the characters around and plot for the remake, that would be silly and just trivial. And they're certainly not going to change their formula. They don't need to fix what isn't broken, and frankly RSE worked very well. It's been quite a while since I've played a GBA game and I'm excited to dive into it an enhanced version. I understand your desire for fresh material, but I also think most won't be disappointed by ORAS as a whole. If you don't want to give them the profit, just buy it preowned =P but if the game's just going to make you miserable, skip it
The rest of the points are subjective, you're correct. They could be looked at either way, and are considered fodder in an argument. That includes your view that it's a waste of resources, as I'm unsure what you're attempting with that one.
@BulbasaurusRex
And I didn't know that EITHER!
Jeez... I prefer to play as much of the game as possible without going online to look things up... feels like I tried more that way...
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