Recently, Game Freak uploaded a behind-the-scenes interview on their YouTube channel that featured both Shigeki Morimoto, the series’ battle director, and Kazumasa Iwao, the director of Pokemon Champions. This video gave fans a nice bit of insight as to how Game Freak wants to experiment with the classic battle system they’ve used in their games over time, yet preserve its long standing traditions.
I Choose YOU!!
Morimoto and Iwao revealed that the classic battle system we’ve all grown accustomed to may start to change with future entries. They also explained how Pokemon Champions was specifically made to preserve the classic battle system for many years to come.
“I think one of the biggest reasons behind it was that the battle system, the rules for competitive Pokémon battles that we’ve been using throughout the Pokémon series for so long, may gradually start changing as the Pokémon series moves forward.”
“And when that happens, there are people who have been enjoying the existing style of Pokemon battles for decades, going all the way back to Red and Green, Gold and Silver, and so on. So simply saying, “The battles have changed, so now please play the new version,” didn’t really feel right either. That was something that had been bothering us at Game Freak for quite a while,” they stated.
They continued, “At the same time, we obviously want the series to continue taking on new challenges. But we also didn’t want to neglect the battle system we’ve had up until now. So we thought: maybe it would be good to make one game that carries forward the existing battle system and lets people continue playing it indefinitely. I think that was really the starting point for the development of Pokémon Champions.”
A New Battle Awaits
It is very interesting to get a look into the minds of Game Freak when it comes to Pokemon. The franchise, over recent entries, remains one of the strongest gaming properties to date but has come with its fair share of criticisms from the fanbase. With Pokemon Winds and Waves marking the tenth generation of this beloved franchise, fans are surely expecting something big. Pair that with the full power of the Switch 2 being at their disposal, Game Freak and the Pokemon Company have no excuse to deliver the goods in this Switch 2 exclusive title.
