Well, it’s almost here, folks. Sun and Moon’s full release is around two weeks away. Having said that, we still have a lot of questions that need to be answered. And hopefully this GameInformer interview will answer some of yours.GameInformer sat down with Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori to talk about the fast-approaching Generation VII, with topics including the series’ next move regarding the Switch, the state of Mega Evolution vs. Z Moves, and more.
With the NX looming next year and whatever that could mean for handheld Nintendo consoles, will Sun and Moon be the last Pokémon games for 3DS?
Junichi Masuda: When it comes to the main series, thinking of Pokémon RPGs that we develop at Game Freak, we always really considered the timing of when we released them. There has to be a certain point where we’re able to release the games and get them into the hands of enough people, to make sure the audience is big enough. This year, with Pokémon Sun and Moon, obviously we’re going to be starting to think about the next title, and then depending on what that timing is, I think that will determine which we platform we would release it on.
What are your thoughts on the state of stereoscopic 3D? None of the 3DS Pokémon games have been in full stereoscopic 3D, and Nintendo seems less focused on the feature overall?
Junichi Masuda: Definitely, it’s a cool feature of the 3DS, we think, but at the same time, we really want to kind of focus on making these really rich graphics and visual expressions, and sometimes you have to make certain sacrifices to achieve that. At the same time, being an RPG, they’re going to play for probably dozens of hours, we always thought that with Pokémon, that it’s important for the player to see that 3D effect in really effective locations as we see it instead of keeping it on the entire time.
What is the current state of Mega-Evolutions in Pokémon?
Shigeru Ohmori: With Pokémon Sun and Moon, we wanted to focus on a new addition to the battles, and that’s what we put in as the Z moves. The basic concept is that each Pokémon in the game will be able to use one of these Z moves once per battle to unleash a really powerful move. We felt that really increases the range of Pokémon that can be viable in a battle from a strategy perspective. That really allows people to use a lot of different Pokémon. We really wanted to have people kind of get used to this new idea, this new strategic element. So over the course of the main scenario of the main game, Mega Evolutions don’t appear. But once you finish the story, you unlock the access to Mega Evolve Pokémon. You run through the main game learning about these new Z moves, and after the game you unlock more strategic depth by combining Z move with mega-evolve Pokémon.
The interview provides some interesting insights, and you can read the full thing here.
Source: GameInformer
