Pokemon Champions producer says we “tried to do our best”

Pokemon Champions was not ready for launch that much is apparent for the amount of discourse online regarding the game when it launched on the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on 8th April. Players were quick to point out the poor animation, the bugs and the missing content. While Pokemon Champions seems to be a work in progress, Eurogamer sat down with the game’s producer Masaaki Hoshino. Here’s a snippet of what he said and you can read the full interview here.

Eurogamer.de: Many fans are currently scrutinizing Pokémon video games primarily in terms of graphics: With Pokémon Champions, did you make it your mission to get the best possible graphics from the game, or do your priorities lie elsewhere?

Hoshino: Yes, as a Pokémon fan, I naturally understand the various discussions currently taking place within the fan community. I can totally relate to all of it. Regarding the graphics and gameplay, we’ve truly tried to do our best in both areas. The battle system is a huge focus. And what we’re really concentrating on is ensuring fairness—since it’s such a competitive battle game—and that the traditional game system works, and that we have that firmly under control. But as far as the visual side, the graphics, is concerned, I have experience from working on Pokkén Tournament, and one of my goals for that game was actually to make the Pokémon game with the best graphics at the time.

And I think we did a good job with that back then. But only two Pokémon were ever visible on screen at the same time. With Pokémon Champions, we have more limitations. Nevertheless, there are some things I really wanted to tackle – as a kind of new challenge. One of the things you could see in the demo, for example, was that all the Pokémon have their own shadows. These shadows and the spatial depth they create are one of the things that was particularly important to me. I really wanted to incorporate that kind of visual reality into the game. And another thing I want to mention is the battle effects: we developed them from scratch in this game. I was very thorough in reviewing them and personally went through every single one. Phew, that was a lot of moves.

Eurogamer.de: Can you tell us what stage of development you are currently in?

Hoshino: All I can say is that we’re doing our best. I feel sorry for the team I left behind in Japan. And I know I need to get back as soon as possible to help with development. I’m flying back tomorrow.