Iwata Asks: Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

Satoru Iwata spoke to Junichi Masuda, Takao Unno and Tsunekazu Ishihara from GameFreak on developing Pokémon Black 2 and White 2.

The group discuss the benefits on developing a true sequel to Pokémon games for the first time, rather than a new colour and why Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 is far better than a hypothetical "Pokémon Grey".

The English version has been translated and can be read in full here.

• Playing with the ideas of resonance - where aspects from the first Pokémom Black and White would flow into the sequel.
• If you had a "key" by completing  the first game, it would shape Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 differently.
• The original games "left a lot of mysteries" so the team wanted to tie things up by continuing the story.
• The team wanted to create scenarios that wouldn't normally be possible in Pokémon by creating Pokéstar Studios where players make their own movies - a space fantasy, or romance for example.
• Pokéstar Studios was also developed to help newer trainers learn battle mechanics, like which Poké-types work better against others, as the team felt "the Pokémon series was becoming more and more for hardcore players only".
• The team wanted to create a completely different viewpoint of the same world - new characters, story and a future time period. There still needed to be a balance for those new to the series, however.

You start in a new city, so I hope people who have played Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version will look forward to that. The way that a different route makes the game world look new is the same as the way that the same trip will look different when you're traveling but take a different route.

• The team feel that "when simple games stick around for a long time, they are actually deep."
• Implemented Pokémon Dream Radar in collaboration with developer Creatures Inc. The team hope that with Pokédex 3D Pro, players will "treat them like the Three Sacred Treasures".
• The team also discuss Pokémon distribution at cinemas and how it took some time to approve the idea across Japan.