Pokémon studio Game Freak has posted an article on its recruitment website which goes into detail on the creation of Pokémon Sword & Shield, with director Shigeru Omori and planning director Kazumasa Iwao going into detail on how the company operates and how it approaches the development of new entries in the massively popular franchise.
The article has been kindly translated by Nintendo Everything and makes for interesting reading. For exampe, Iwao highlights the fact that there was a 'generational shift' in the team:
[Iwao] gave higher positions to the younger staff members who had the ability and motivation to take on the responsibility, which gave them opportunities to grow and learn. The staff should not only have the ability to carry out the tasks placed in front of them, but communicate and build rapport with other team members in the process – a project like Pokemon cannot be made by an individual.
When asked how the younger staff performed, Iwao felt the lack of knowledge and experience sometimes showed through the project. Young staff got stuck on numerous occasions and received lots of advice from the more experienced staff members. They struggled, but eventually made it through with the help of more experienced staff.
It has always been a tradition at Game Freak to give opportunities to the youth. Even for Omori, he was chosen as the planning leader for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl when he was 25, while all other staff were more experienced members. The organization often changes with every game title, which is another thing that makes Game Freak so unique.
Omori states that he wants to "create Pokemon games that gamers desire, and give the feeling that Pokémon exists and lives with us," and the article concludes that, at Game Freak, there are always "new opportunities and positions, and being able to join in projects means it never gets repetitive and never gets boring."
With the vast amount of experience spanning over 20 years, a unique system that allows youths to experience failure and success and a company continuing to change generations, Pokemon will continue to evolve.
Pokémon Sword & Shield was a commercial success but came under fire from certain sections of fandom for various reasons – the most obvious of which was the fact that the game didn't include a complete Pokédex. The Pokémon Company's director of consumer marketing, J.C. Smith, later admitted that the team behind the game had "been through a lot".
[source nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 29
Hiring youth is a great idea but also filling more essential positions should be at the top of their list. The lack of technical artists is glaring, both in cut scenes and how Pokemon live and move (or rather don't) in the overworld. They're just not cut out for modern gaming and the lack of polish is going to catch up with them sooner or later. Or not. People don't seem to care as much as I'd have expected. I just never thought I'd be as unexcited for Arceus, a game that on paper seems like everything I'd hoped the future of Pokemon would look like as a kid, but knowing how they handled Sw/Sh (the lack of a complete Dex was the least of my issues) means I'll have to not only see a lot of positive reviews but also a lot of positive talk in comment sections over several weeks before I let myself sink even one more hour into the series.
I love Pokémon, but the completely soulless characters is an issue.
"To make games players desire", not just ones fans desire. Between this and the drive to nurture the growth of younger staffers, it's an approach to appreciate.
@The_BAAD_man "problems with fan feedback", exhibit A. We rabid pseudocritics sure like hyperboles devoid of substance, but in reality, it takes a lot of conscious effort to create a "soulless" character, let alone a completely soulless one.
I would love to see a tour of the offices where the people involved in Pokemon work (games, anime, TCG, etc.). I remember there was a video like that a few years ago for the TCG and it was so interesting, I would love to see something like that but for the main series or other fields.
@The_BAAD_Man I wouldn't call them 'soulless' myself personally, but what I like to do is give all of them unique voices when I play, since it makes me feel more attached and connected to them than I would've if I just read them out in my normal voice. Also, there are A LOT of characters with life to them in the series (to me at least), like N, Opal, Cyrus, Gladion, and so many more.
More care in general in the graphical department is a necessity. When I play a Pokémon game, I didn’t come for the story, and the core gameplay has always been fun. The only thing that really needs to be changed is the graphics. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl simply do not look up to the series standard, even taking away the “style” of the game. Sword and Shield had weird pop-in and N64 trees. Legends Arceus looks like it will struggle to run fluidly. I enjoy battling a lot, so all I need is a reason to keep doing it. It’s not rocket science GameFreak, there’s no reason this gigantic media conglomerate should look this poorly.
Very cool insight into their inner workings, and considering how dev work can so easily go sideways with no direction (capcom seems to be the poster child for this...even if they usually make it work in the end) it sounds like they have a good support structure.
While I don't always agree with the decisions that the Pokemon studio makes, I do appreciate the staff being open about the difficulties and complications of what's going on behind the scenes.
Really interesting read. Gives a bit of a clearer picture of some of the decision-making that goes into the games.
@Fizza @nhSnork I definitely came across too strongly in my comment upon reading it back. What actually irks me is the same animations being used in every game since Pokémon X, so a lot of scenarios and characters feel familiar as a result.
@The_BAAD_Man That's fair, honestly. It doesn't really bother me personally since I don't notice it when I'm playing but I understand if that irks you. They really did up the ante though when it comes to the gym leaders in SwSh and BDSP in my opinion, they are so vibrant in battle, especially characters like Gordie, Raihan, Gardenia and Fantina just to name a few.
I want to see a drastic change of storyline plot scheme.
No more 10 years old kid leave from Mom's house, meet the professor, meet the rival, get challenged by the folks around the street, meet team villain, meet and catch the legendaries all over again.
I want to see completely different storyline.
@The_BAAD_Man Define "souless". Edit: Nevermind.
@Fizza I enjoyed the gym battles in Sword, yeah! I still haven't got a copy of BD or SP yet, so can't comment on that.
I wish if nothing else, they'd at least wait for a single year after the last big pokémon release when they release a new generation. That should help I would imagine, everything else after that can still be a yearly release until the next generation rolls around.
I mean, it may be a commendable mindset to give younger peeps the opportunity to gain experience, but like they said themselves, I can't help but feel this studio is lagging behind in almost every aspect.
Even Legends still looks pretty rough. Could you imagine if GameFreak would have the level of experience and tech of, let's say, Platinum games?
"The lack of knowledge and experience sometimes showed through".
It's still what shows the most.
@JakedaArbok
Even as someone who generally doesn't care too much about graphics, I have to agree with you that most of the mainstream Pokémon games on the Switch look like garbage for a game running on hardware that's very capable of bringing good-looking games. It's even more ironic considering Bandai Namco did a much better job than them.
I doubt younger people can't make a tree with proper textures.
We desire a decent playable framerate.
"We decided to give the kids a chance, and, OMG... yeah... it's totally their fault."
Im harsh with Gamefreak but at the end of the day I can’t not understand them. They are just a small indie studio who made the biggest franchise and never expended/ invested in their studio to reach the level of their franchise.
If GameFreak and 343i merged, we'd have half a functional studio.
"Even for Omori, he was chosen as the planning leader for Pokémon Diamond and Pearl when he was 25, while all other staff were more experienced members."
This is... not the example I'd go with if they were trying to show how good an idea this is. As unless he also directed Platinum, vanilla DP are really not okay games. The ideas are there, but everything gameplay-wise is a terrible execution... which makes it all the more baffling BDSP sought to stick so closely to them.
Blame the kouhai!
@NEStalgia Thank you for that, that gave me a good chuckle. Then a reminder that schadenfreude is based on favorited series neglecting their potential over profits. Ah well.
You know, it's funny bringing up that comparison because it is likewise hard to remain upset with 343 over individual stumbles because they too keep swapping around their staff per title. Some new blood shows up with a grand plan going off in some new sharp turn direction and each new head has to course correct going forward. It's easier to be upset with their stumbling over literally every endeavor since their inception as a whole, but it's not exactly fair when it's not the same people directing each game.
I do wonder sometimes how Pokemon would have turned out if it just....accepted its monumental popularity growth spurt, and stuck to being like they wanted originally and put in their manga? Or hell, conceptually even before that, and it's more akin to bug capturing but Jurassic Park. You don't see much of Nidokings trying to gore humans or straight-up murdering the opponent's monsters to get their trainer to stop since gen 1, huh? I think there's a T.V. Tropes page on series losing their edges quickly as popularity spikes.
I'm all for giving people opportunities and I think it works in favor of a more balanced work environment, however I think experience and seniority must be earned. I guess that what I am trying to say is, I don't know if I would give the keys tho the biggest franchise on entreteinment media to a bunch of 25's
Sword & Shield shows that their method really isn't working. Heck, many mistakes were made with gen 6 & 7 too (gen 6 megakang meta and no customization in ORAS, gen 7 designs and z-moves).
I think they need to put experienced people at the helm of projects. It's true that you learn a lot by being thrust into the situation you're meant to handle, but simply letting you direct the project? That's high stakes russian roulette...
Sounds Great. You can start by making a new game will the Johto, Kanto, Hoenn, & Alola regions in it.
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