Pokemon X and Y Geared for People to Create Bonds and Relationships in the Game
A Pokemon X and Y director recently spoke about the themes of the new game being centered around bonds and working with other people rather than the classic solo quest of the past.
While in previous games the player also had to accept his mission from a professor and head off into the world on his own; now, the character is equipped with everything he needs from the start. The character then meets with a few neighborhood kids who are also embarking out on their own Pokemon quest, creating rivals and companionship.
"One of the central themes of Pokemon X and Y are bonds – The bonds between people, and the bonds between and Pokemon," director Junichi Masuda told Polygon.
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"This time we really wanted to make it a journey about you and your friends. When you first meet the kids at the beginning of the game, you don't actually know them, so you're meeting them for the first time. When focusing on this theme, we wanted to make [the game] a journey about meeting these friends and then getting to know them over the course of the adventure," he continued.
Masuda said they decided to change things up in X and Y to try and make the most complete Pokemon game ever.
"We really wanted to design it so people could find their own play style - for example, with Pokemon Amie, we designed it for people who just really want to interact and play with their Pokemon and pet them, and they'll probably keep the bottom [screen] on the Pokemon Amie screen [at all times]," he said. "For others that like to play online, they'll just leave it at the Player Search System screen. I do think that people stick to a specific play style at specific times. "
The biggest change concerning the game is the new mega evolutions. In all the other games Pokemon evolve as they level up. While that concept is still the same, there is now a special evolution that some Pokemon can have, and only if they have a mega stone. They will then evolve just for that specific battle.
"Mega Evolution works the way it does is for a variety of reasons," Masuda explained. "When we were developing X and Y, we were thinking about what new things we could do with this - I talked with the graphic designers and the battle designers to come up with a good idea. What we came up with was a form of evolution that would only last during battle but would also require the Pokemon to hold the Mega Stone."
Pokemon X and Y launches Oct. 12.
