Pokkén Tournament: an action game for Pokémon fans, Blaziken to be added next month
Pokkén Tournament is coming out tomorrow in Japanese Arcades, and it will get a special livestream as celebration. But that’s not all: Famitsu also has a 4-page article dedicated to the game, with an interview of Katsuiro Harada (Producer). In this very article, we get a confirmation that Blaziken (and logically Mega-Blaziken) will indeed be in the game.
In the interview, Katsuiro Harada is quite straightforward about Pokkén Tournament: the game is not a Tekken game with a Pokémon skin; it’s an action game for Pokémon fans first and foremost. One might thing that it was made for “established fighting game players”, but this is totally not the case. Here’s what he had to say about that:
“People might think that because we’ve worked on games like Tekken and Soul Calibur or because of the name ‘Pokkén,’ that this game is made for established fighting game players, but I’d like to come straight out and say ‘no, it isn’t.’”
Of course, the developers used all the tech and known-how accumulated through years of developing fighting games for Pokkén Tournament, and more precisely the massive amount of animations for example. But gameplay-wise, the developers targeted Pokémon fans first and foremest, and one of the first changes they made is about the UI.
For Pokkén Tournament, the developers chose to get rid of the traditional UI that fighting game players are quite accustomed to (and understand instinctively).
Obviously, he’s referring to the two fighters facing each other on each side, with the stamina bars at the top left and top right of the screen. According to Harada, this may give Pokémon fans the impression the game is harder than it actually is, so the developers deliberately got rid of the traditional fighting game UI.
Later in the interview, Katsuiro Harada gives some tips to newcomers: blocking is simply crucial. Of course, combos and techniques are important too, but the actual divider between beginners and experienced players lie in blocking.
Here’s the scans from Famitsu magazine:
Pokkén Tournament (Arcade) launches tomorrow in Japan.
Source: Famitsu
Via: Kotaku
Scans: Japanese3DS
