Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee has a very clearly defined visual approach. It's simplistic yet pleasing, which is something the dev team was aiming for. They want the player to feel welcomed by the visuals, rather than bombarded by them. In an interview with IGN, lead game environment designer Kensaku Nabana discusses how the game almost took a very different approach to visuals.

“Usually, when you would have much more power with the Switch and taking it into HD, I think the natural tendency is to go for a more photorealistic approach. In the earliest days of development, we actually explored that direction quite a bit. But we got the direction from Masuda, just like he just mentioned a moment ago, to go for this more kind and soothing and inviting experience with the visuals. After some experimentation, we just realized the more realistic, more photorealistic direction just wasn't really working for what we were trying to do.”

Mega Man 11 may have been a big deal for Mega Man fans, but it wasn't a game that took up major resources for Capcom. That includes manpower as well. In an internal interview from Capcom, producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya talked about dev team side.

Around 40 people. A rather small number compared to recent development teams. There are certainly benefits to a larger development team, but with so many people it means that some are unable to affect development across the game as a whole. With around 30 people it feels like you've got just enough staff for the project. It's very clear what aspects of the game each person is in charge of, so they can be completely sure of their goals and keenly feel responsibility towards them. I feel like the development team was the perfect size for a project of this sort.

You're probably going to make some strong bonds with select Pokemon in Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee, and will want to bring them with you on other adventures. The good news is that Pokemon Co. is planning to make that happen with the core Pokemon Switch RPG coming out in 2019. Here's what Pokemon Co.'s Junichi Masuda has to say.

We're definitely always thinking of that kind of forward-moving functionality, especially since we've introduced the Pokemon Bank. Now, up to Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, you're able to store your Pokemon. We know they're very important to everyone. I mean, obviously, people would be very sad if they couldn't use their Pokemon in a future game. So, it does get complicated when you talk about the details and we're still figuring it out, but we do have plans to find ways to let players use their Pokemon in the next game.

The Nov. 15th terrorist attacks in France are something developer Christophe Galati will never forget. He happened to be living in Paris during the attack, which is right where the major activity happened. It obviously was one of the scariest things Galati had ever experienced, and those intense moments later influenced his work on Save me Mr Tako!.

“I lived in Paris during the attacks, and Tako-San absorbed a lot of my fears and concerns about the world we live in. I was designing the human city Sarona when it happened, so the tone of the game shifted at this point, it started to reference ideas like obscurantism and it became even more personal for me. The game is not only about the war between octopus and humans, but also the concept that humans are divided into kingdoms that are at war with each other, too. It’s not about finding out who the bad guy is, but more about how uniting and accepting people’s differences can make the world a better place. My goal was to create a universe and characters that will resonate with players, and perhaps help them overcome their struggles so they can live their own great adventure.”

Level-5 recently announced a delay for both Inazuma Eleven Ares and Yo-Kai Watch 4. Some were wondering why the delay cropped up out of nowhere, especially after both games just had some time in the spotlight at TGS 2018. Thanks to an interview with Level-5's CEO Akihiro Hino, we may have gotten some insight.

4Gamer talked to Hino about showing off both games at TGS, and it seems Mr. Hino would rather neither game was shown off. In his opinion, they weren't quite up-to-snuff for gameplay demos.

If possible, I’d prefer it if they weren’t being shown now at all. (Laughs) No, I’m joking. Obviously in both cases we are trying our best to make good games, but bringing them to the show was definitely a case of ‘even though they are not perfect, we have to show them’. It was very much a time demand. For various reasons, I’d prefer people not to see them as they are now.

Monolith Soft is looking to bring in some new employees, which is a bit of news we've already covered. What we didn't know is that Tetsuya Takahashi shared a special recruitment message to go along with these listings. In that message, Takahashi shares a special invite to programmers, map modelers, and level designers. In particular, Takahashi discusses the importance of well-made maps in RPGs. Check out a snippet of the recruitment message below.

I’d like to extend a particularly big invitation to applicants interested in becoming programmers, map modelers, and level designers. Naturally, programmers are the cornerstone of a game’s development – to that end, we want to strengthen the relationship between them and the game maps that are Monolith Soft’s strong suit. It’s my belief that this is all so that we can create worlds that are more enjoyable for the customer to experience.

You can make games. You can create worlds. You can become a cornerstone of Monolith Soft.

Cat Quest II: The Lupus Empire has gotten a bit of a delay. While a rock-solid release date was never set, the dev team was hoping to get it out early 2019. In an interview with NintendoSoup, the dev team reveals that's no longer the case.

We’re aiming to launch around Q2 or Q3 2019. We’re hoping to finish the game by early 2019 but after that, there is still a lot to be done. There’s localisation, QA and log checks, and stuff like that. We want to try to do a simultaneous release for all consoles and PC. We’re not too sure about mobile yet, if we can do a simultaneous release, we want to space out our battles a bit more.

I'll never get tired of sharing Switch success stories, no matter how many there have been. The latest comes from the Wandersong dev team, who has found great success with their title. According to Wandersong creator Greg Lobanov, the game has, "exceeded expectations, and definitely is enough to support our tiny team." Adding to that, Lobanov has said that the Switch version is outselling Steam 3 to 1, but did not give specific figures.

A few weeks back, Windjammers 1 and 2 were revealed for Switch in a one-two punch. The original title retains the classic look and feel, while the sequel is looking to one-up the original. Just what kind of new content can we expect in Windjammers 2? Arnaud De Sousa, Head of Marketing at Dotemu, explained in a ComicsInkCorporated interview.

Windjammers 2 is not a remake but truly a new game in the series, which means of course: new mechanics, new graphics (fully hand drawn with traditional animation), new characters, new game modes, and so on. Because it’s a sequel, we want of course to keep that unique Windjammers feeling, but we also want to bring something new. We have tons of ideas and we’re still experimenting, so I can’t say what will be in the final game, but to give you an example, I can talk to you about the EX Move, a new mechanic that we showed at PAX West. The EX Move works basically like a super in a fighting game: you have an EX bar that fills up during the match, and when it’s full, you can press a button and release a super move unique to each character.

From the creators of Bastion, Transistor is a sci-fi themed action RPG that invites you to wield an extraordinary weapon of unknown origin as you fight through a stunning futuristic city. Transistor seamlessly integrates thoughtful strategic planning into a fast-paced action experience, melding responsive gameplay and rich atmospheric storytelling. During the course of the adventure, you will piece together the Transistor's mysteries as you pursue its former owners.