Kou Shibusawa/Special Column

Translations of Kou Shibusawa's column at Gamecity are being written here. His column's full name is Shibusawa Kou Special Column Game Focus.

#1 Parents and Children Playing
April 12, 2012

Hello, everyone. I'm Kou Shibusawa. I decided to make a column to convey my thoughts and impressions directly to you. I hope you enjoy what I write.

Now, on to business. Today, I want to talk about Pokémon Conquest (Pokémon Plus Nobunaga's Ambition).

Nobunaga's Ambition is a historical simulation series which was first made in 1983. Next year will be the series' 30th anniversary. Nobunaga no Yabou: Tendou is the latest main installment and the thirteenth entry in the series, but there have been other genres and platforms incorporated with other titles as well. Nobunaga no Yabou Internet, Nobunaga no Yabou Online, and the ongoing social game Hyakuman-nin no Nobunaga no Yabou to name a few. But the series has never before been tied to another franchise, so Pokémon Conquest is its first ever collaboration title.

The goal while developing this game was to make it a "simulation title that parents and kids can play together". There was a fear that simulation games might be too high a hurdle for children to handle. So the first approach we devised was to make it a "children's first simulation game" and make it as easy as possible. Things were going well until we thought to have it simultaneously appeal to the adults who played Nobunaga's Ambition. These two contrasting ideas caused several hardships in the creative process, but I think we managed to find a good balance to satisfy both sides of the coin.

As you may well know, Pokémon is a tremendously popular game with children. Adults may overhear their children playing and they might recognize one of the historical figures' names. With this title, children can share their knowledge of Pokémon to their unknowing parents, and parents can enjoy teaching what they know about historical figures to their uninformed children. Both parent and child can mutually bounce back and share information with one another, which I think is a fun experience that this game can offer. Please, by all means, play this game as a family. It would be truly fortunate if everyone has a great time playing it.

I still have a lot of things I want to talk about. Next time I want to write my thoughts as a developer down, so please look forward to it.

#2 Thought Process While Creating a Game for 6 Years
April 24, 2012

Hello, everyone. Nice to see you all again, it's Kou Shibusawa. It has warmed up for the first time in awhile, so I'm feeling pretty good today. I wonder if all of our new recruits and employees feel comfortable yet. I'm always looking forward to facing problems everyday, so let's do out best together.

Last time I introduced Pokémon Conquest (Pokémon Plus Nobunaga's Ambition) and a bit of the historical simulation series, Nobunaga's Ambition. Next up for me is Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which first saw the light of publication in 1985. I wanted to make this series to depict the dramatic stories of the heroes, great men, and honorable individuals in the Three Kingdoms era.

I'm sure you all know where I'm going with this. I want to feature Sangokushi 12. It's been six years since the last installment Sangokushi XI. I hope fans who have been counting the days for this new installment thoroughly enjoy their experiences.

First topic that I should cover is the simplicity of availability. PC games nowadays give the impression that they need high-specs in order to play, as though they can only be played and installed into one specific machine and model. With this title, I wanted to make sure that it could be played comfortably for a larger, happier user base. Laptop users and even those using Ultrabooks –which doesn't even have a disk tray– can access the game.

Like the Battle of Guandu and the Battle of Chibi, the story of Romance of the Kingdoms is riddled with disastrous obstacles which are overturned through a series of complex circumstances. The game seeks to recreate these events in the form of "Strategies". Aspects of a character's personality act as the combined inspiration for assigned "Tactics" and "Specialties", which allows their traits to be reenacted numerous times.

The change to real-time combat already has the potential to cause stress, even if it may pull people in and be entertaining. I think there are people who consider real-time combat to be too difficult or too overwhelming for them to handle. To help ease these players into the new system, the handy "Delegation Command" was prepared. With this system, people can choose to watch over the situation and only order their characters when they think it is absolutely necessary. I believe the system can be adjusted to fit for everyone's needs.

Another series' first is the "Online Versus" addition. Players throughout Japan can form rivalries and fight against one another. The offline content was designed to appeal to players of varying levels of proficiency, so I believe a variety of players can easily adjust to the online mode. Everyone can create their own deck of "Character Cards" for battles and plot who to send in their decks individually. Since every character has a new portrait, I hope people feel thrilled as they earn and collect their cards. Each card can offer a new strategy to look forward to, and players can study and learn from their opponent's tactics. The online experience offers unique ways of enjoying this installment.

I really like Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms era. I really admire how he stayed true to his honor for Liu Bei. Even after his lord died, he tried his hardest to support his heir, Liu Shan. And then he wrote the Chu Shi Biao to convey his deep loyalties for the Liu family; I really feel for the honorable life he led. I'm sure everyone has their favorite figures as well. Please use them in Sangokushi 12.

It may be easy to play, but I will never forget all of the ordeals and hardships that went into this game during those six years. I have a lot of confidence in the end product, so please enjoy it. Whether it be alone or with a friend, I'm hoping you enjoy Sangokushi 12's world.

Please keep watching for the next time I write.

#3 To Create Enduring Entertainment
May 18, 2012

Long time no see everyone. It's Kou Shibusawa. The cherry blossoms have already come and gone, but I think the vivid green leaves of the trees is refreshing to look at.

This time I'm going to revisit Pokémon Plus Nobunaga's Ambition.

First off, I want to talk about how the game's title was made. Actually, I have always had a deep love for the Pocket Monster series. Ishihara (The Pokémon Company Representative President, Tsunekazu Ishihara) and I have met and talked to one another countless times in past video game meetings and conferences. Just as how I have loved the Pocket Monster series, Ishihara said to me his love for the Nobunaga's Ambition series. One time during our meetings, we chatted and agreed on something: "We should make a game together someday". While the game itself took about three years to develop, both me and Mr. Pokémon were thinking about this game long before its actual conception.

Once we finally started to visualize the game, the obvious genres were either action or simulation. As everyone well knows, the Warriors series is the company franchise known for performing collaborations. But Ishihara strongly requested, "If it's a Kou Shibusawa production, then it has to be a Nobunaga's Ambition one!" In that moment, the miraculous collaboration between the well-loved Pokémon and Nobunaga's Ambition series was born.

In a moment of serendipity, we realized the first Nobunaga's Ambition title had 17 provinces just as there are 17 Pokémon types. The theme of unifying 17 countries under one rule originated from this concept.

The "collection element" is a given with any Pokémon title. One of the thrills of a Pokémon title is completing the entries for its Pokédex. Since Pokémon Plus Nobunaga's Ambition is a collaboration we thought to place not only the Pokémon, but the characters themselves as a part of the dictionary. To reflect the change, Pokédex was renamed Collection in the title menu.

Since the characters themselves have their quirks and charms, episodes dedicated to each character can be unlocked after clearing the game's main story once. Actually, when the game was first sold, there was a rising cry from consumers who said, "There's still this much to do?" As a developer, I respond, "Yes, you betcha!"

In these extra episodes, I think it's a challenging change to fight against the other AI controlled characters and forming links with Pokémon. Even after the game is finished, people can still freely aim to complete their collection. I'm happy if everyone enjoys replaying whatever scenario they choose for countless hours.

Finally, I would like to chat about the secrets to winning battles in this game.

To cut to the chase, it's to target a Pokémon's respective type weaknesses for that "It's super effective!" message. Before characters take to the field, it's possible to check the opponent's Pokémon types and particular type affinities can be appropriately compensated. Type affinities can cover the differences of strength between Pokémon.

Another tip I have is timing a character's special ability, or their "Bushou Power", and using each stage's gimmicks wisely. Use them in every way possible to win battles.

I think creating one's own method of achieving victory is one of the appealing traits of simulation titles. I hope everyone personalizes their niche and tactics as they play Pokémon Plus Nobunaga's Ambition.

I'll be seeing you again in my next update.