The Pokémon World Championships 2023 are in full swing in Yokohama, Japan, and fans are already buzzing with excitement. As part of the Worlds coverage, FilmmakerFocus had the opportunity to sit down with Creatures Director Atsushi Nagashima, a seasoned game designer and expert in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
While Nagashima didn’t spill all the secrets behind the Pokémon TCG’s enduring success, he did provide some insight into Creatures’ design philosophies and strategies for keeping the game accessible to its diverse player base. And he’s not short on confidence – when asked about the competitive meta, Nagashima boldly claimed that he often knows where it’s headed before a new set is even released.
First, could you explain what a director does? – IGN
Atsushi Nagashima: As the executive director of the card development team, my role involves overseeing mechanics, game development, as well as art and illustrations – essentially everything that goes into creating and developing a card.
What is the process like for creating a powerful card, and how do you handle its impact on the game? Do you design specific counters for these strong cards? – IGN
Atsushi Nagashima: When it comes to creating a strong card, there are intentional design choices aimed at making it powerful. However, when a certain deck becomes dominant and persists for a long time, we consider how to balance it out with other decks. So there are multiple approaches to creating a strong card.
For example, with Mew VMAX, we did create some cards specifically as counters, but there were also other cards that were part of the natural design process. So it’s not solely focused on one aspect.
I’m curious about your team’s involvement in the introduction of new Pokémon. How early in the process do you get involved, and do you have any influence over their design or other aspects? – TheGamer
Atsushi Nagashima: In general, it takes about a year to develop a set. So I usually become aware of new Pokémon during the middle of the development phase and learn more details about them.
The challenging part is that even during that process, the details of these new Pokémon can change. This poses a challenge when it comes to game development. Sometimes, I question if I remember things correctly because the details of certain Pokémon can change rapidly.
When introducing new Pokemon, our top priority is to ensure that their unique characteristics are accurately represented on the card. We strive to stay true to how the Pokemon are depicted in the game and on the card. So when it comes to new Pokemon, we make sure to follow the rules and stay faithful to their original design.
FilmmakerFocus asks: I was wondering if there were ever any designs that the team really loved that just didn’t quite fit into a set. What is the process when that happens? Have you ever taken a discarded design from a previous set and included it in a new set later on?
Atsushi Nagashima: We come up with a variety of ideas, logics, attacks, and data at the beginning. From there, we piece together which ideas should be included in the first set of the season and which should come later. We generate numerous different ideas during this initial phase.
Interestingly, the tag team mechanic and data were actually conceptualized during the BW era.
Meristation asks: Every time you release a new expansion, do you know where the meta is going to go, or is it solely the responsibility of the players?
Atsushi Nagashima: In basic terms, I do have an idea of where the meta is going to go. I make predictions and it usually follows that path. However, with so many players these days, there may be some aspects that I haven’t considered. The meta can vary based on the players as well. But overall, I do foresee the meta.
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