Masuda explains why Black 2 and White 2 are on the DS

[P0kelegend]

GameFreak development head Junichi Masuda explained, via translation by Andriasang, that the need for two direct sequels resulted from the inclusion of a key gameplay mechanic, one that was cut from the release of the first Black and White games. Including that undefined feature required two distinct Pokemon products to work properly. The decision to once again release two versions of the game pre-dated the fact that the games would be direct sequels to Black and White, but the two ideas together meant it would be more logical to release the games on the DS versus the 3DS. The decision to stray from resorting to a 'Grey' naming convention seemed to almost happen independently, as the developers decided to consider using a numerical number in the title to surprise fans.

Source - IGN

What could this key game play mechanic be that was left out from B/W?

 

[Ivysaur]

Sounds like it's most likely the Fes Mission thing to me. Regardless, it probably isn't anything too exciting.

 

[Silktree]

The real source of the quote is an Iwata Asks interview with Junichi Masuda, Tsunekazu Ishihara and Takao Unno (the game director). Unfortunately, despite being long most of it is not very illuminating because they talk a lot about the players' experience in fairly general terms. I'm rather surprised that the decision to release two versions predates the idea of a sequel; I shudder at the thought of two third versions, but the important thing is they opted not to do that.

Sounds like it's most likely the Fes Mission thing to me. Regardless, it probably isn't anything too exciting.

That can't be it because Unno explicitly refers to the Fes Mission as a feature that he developed after Masuda asked him to direct the games. The "key gameplay mechanic" is something that Masuda initially worked on for Black and White.

Actually, this page has Iwata ask Masuda what he meant by his elusive statement, so I am not sure why IGN ignored that. From what I understand, the feature involves getting a key when you finish the game and passing it onto another game, which changes the gameplay experience (I am not sure if this applies just to the unfinished game or somehow to both of them). They give an example of a veteran player being able to assist an inexperienced one to complete their game. The world of Pokémon will spread, with the theme being "resonance".

I think I may be missing something due to relying on an online translator. It would be very nice if @bluesun and/or @Purrelian could provide an actual translation.

I will say that I don't really see what this has to do with the decision to release the games for the DS. Surely the real reason is that they want their first approach to the system to be a new generation, and they're still waiting for the 3DS user base to expand. They could have pulled off two sequel versions with any number of new features on the 3DS had they wanted to do so.

 

[Zexy]

GameFreak development head Junichi Masuda explained, via translation by Andriasang, that the need for two direct sequels resulted from the inclusion of a key gameplay mechanic, one that was cut from the release of the first Black and White games. Including that undefined feature required two distinct Pokemon products to work properly. The decision to once again release two versions of the game pre-dated the fact that the games would be direct sequels to Black and White, but the two ideas together meant it would be more logical to release the games on the DS versus the 3DS. The decision to stray from resorting to a 'Grey' naming convention seemed to almost happen independently, as the developers decided to consider using a numerical number in the title to surprise fans.

Source - IGN

What could this key game play mechanic be that was left out from B/W?

I think that this game mechanic may be forging/splitting pokemon and will involve the components of B/W Kyurem

 

[bluesun]

The real source of the quote is an Iwata Asks interview with Junichi Masuda, Tsunekazu Ishihara and Takao Unno (the game director). Unfortunately, despite being long most of it is not very illuminating because they talk a lot about the players' experience in fairly general terms. I'm rather surprised that the decision to release two versions predates the idea of a sequel; I shudder at the thought of two third versions, but the important thing is they opted not to do that.

Sounds like it's most likely the Fes Mission thing to me. Regardless, it probably isn't anything too exciting.

That can't be it because Unno explicitly refers to the Fes Mission as a feature that he developed after Masuda asked him to direct the games. The "key gameplay mechanic" is something that Masuda initially worked on for Black and White.

Actually, this page has Iwata ask Masuda what he meant by his elusive statement, so I am not sure why IGN ignored that. From what I understand, the feature involves getting a key when you finish the game and passing it onto another game, which changes the gameplay experience (I am not sure if this applies just to the unfinished game or somehow to both of them). They give an example of a veteran player being able to assist an inexperienced one to complete their game. The world of Pokémon will spread, with the theme being "resonance".

I think I may be missing something due to relying on an online translator. It would be very nice if @bluesun and/or @Purrelian could provide an actual translation.

I will say that I don't really see what this has to do with the decision to release the games for the DS. Surely the real reason is that they want their first approach to the system to be a new generation, and they're still waiting for the 3DS user base to expand. They could have pulled off two sequel versions with any number of new features on the 3DS had they wanted to do so.

Since that IGN column more or less is an overview of the relevant bits on the first page, and I think all the Iwata Asks columns get translated in the end anyway, just to try and dispel the thoughts that the feature wasn't mentioned, I'll translate the appropriate sections:

Iwata: By the way, Masuda-san, earlier you mentioned "a feature that wasn't included in 'Pokemon Black & White,'" what was that?
Masuda: A feature whereby when clearing the game, you obtain a "key", which can "unlock" another game.
From doing so, playing the game a second time round, you'll have a different impression of it.
Iwata: By obtaining a "key", your motive for playing and personal experience change.
Masuda: Right. I wanted to create a feature like "a key to make slightly stronger Pokemon appear", where after playing one game, you can play another with a different depth.
Un'no: For example, if there is a child who just can't clear a game, a nice person can say "Let me help you," and with their "key", can change their world.
From doing so, the worldview of "Pokemon" expands, in a way that surprisingly matches with the word, [resonance].
That feature itself was thought of before the word [resonance] came out.
Iwata: Basically, when thinking to make resonance the theme, looking over the idea from Masuda-san, you thought "Well isn't that [resonance] itself," right?

As for the DS instead of 3DS decision, that's mentioned separately too:

Iwata: For games to have sequels is not a rare approach, but until now, "Pokemon" hasn't had a development like that, so in that way it's new, right?
Masuda: Yes. And as for why this time, not the Nintendo 3DS, but the DS was used, it was because there was an image that >In a sequel, you want to create the same world."
From being a two-game-pair, the setting became "two years after" the previous work.

If anyone sees any mistakes in the translations, go ahead and point them out.

And one final quote...

Iwata: What? Romance in Pokemon?! (laughs)

 

[Zeb]

...
Masuda: A feature whereby when clearing the game, you obtain a "key", which can "unlock" another game.
From doing so, playing the game a second time round, you'll have a different impression of it.
...
Masuda: Right. I wanted to create a feature like "a key to make slightly stronger Pokemon appear", where after playing one game, you can play another with a different depth.
Un'no: For example, if there is a child who just can't clear a game, a nice person can say "Let me help you," and with their "key", can change their world.

So it's like a difficulty setting once you've completed the game or something?

 

[Silktree]

Since the feature is supposedly the reason for there being two versions, I assume that Game Freak are trying to encourage players to start a new game in the second version after finishing the first one.

The games should be harder rather than easier, though...

 

[bluesun]

I wonder if it has anything to with the medals system that's known about. 'A key to make slightly stronger Pokemon appear' is mentioned, which makes me think that if this feature is in B2W2 then there may be many 'key's for many purposes.

In a way, it seems like a development upon the usage of Pass Powers, which when active changed aspects of gameplay such as giving you more EXP -- and could be shared to people around you -- but never anything actually important in the main game, only effectively speeding up things that could be done other ways.

Notably, with Pass Powers, there were both up and down versions, which could fit with what's said in the interview, with the 'nice person' enabling some key to make slightly weaker Pokemon appear for the child.

 

[Silktree]

Notably, with Pass Powers, there were both up and down versions, which could fit with what's said in the interview, with the 'nice person' enabling some key to make slightly weaker Pokemon appear for the child.

That's a good point, but they probably don't expect nice people to make it harder for children to finish the games. Such an effect should be used by players who choose to play the games again and want to be challenged. I don't see them encouraging players to reset their games; either another save file (doubtful) or cartridge will be involved.

 

[Robo-Floatzel]

I'm just very surprised that the games aren't a complete rehash of the first two games like every third version before it, but it's nice to hear why they will be on the regular DS and not the 3DS, guess it wont be until Gen 6 that the first 3DS main series Pokemon games come out, making for TWO gens on the same gen handheld (being Gen 4 and 5)

 

[Joshawott]

That "resonance" feature (I know that's not it's name, but the word was used a lot in the bit about it so it's easier to just refer to it as that xD) sounds really, really interesting.

A part of me hopes that the feature comes from having already played Black or White as opposed to their sequels...but I doubt that would happen. The idea that just having played B2W2 once can help you make it easier for others sounds like a great idea - I often speed through games while my younger brother gets stuck at.every.damn.thing.

 

[H-con]

Masuda: Right. I wanted to create a feature like "a key to make slightly stronger Pokemon appear", where after playing one game, you can play another with a different depth.

Hmmm, if this is true, then perhaps I'll actually consider buying both versions for once. It would certainly be interesting to see if it got implemented on a wide scale throughout the game, and don't end up being just a little boost from time to time.

 

[Ghetsis-Dennis]

Why would Masuda want to encourage players to start a new game after completing the first time with the "key" unaware that they could lose the Pokemon they worked so hard on getting and the event items/Pokemon they've received from Wi-Fi?

 

[The Outrage]

While I think this is just a cash grab for people who want to play with higher difficulty, the notion of one game affecting the outcome of its paired counterpart is very similar to what I had been suggesting awhile back, in terms of two games, different focus, with one game affecting the other and vice-versa depending on what you play first.

Let's hope Game Freak develops this idea further. The time for Pokemon to stick to its traditional "two versions, one upgrade" formula is over. While not necessarily bad, I think BW2 shows that fans are willing to accept different set-ups then what we are used to. This also prevents Game Freak from being boxed into a corner with fans expecting all game releases to follow the same formula (i.e. remakes every generation)

 

[Joshawott]

Why would Masuda want to encourage players to start a new game after completing the first time with the "key" unaware that they could lose the Pokemon they worked so hard on getting and the event items/Pokemon they've received from Wi-Fi?

We don't know whether this new idea is a "Buy 1 game, beat it and unlock a harder mode when you restart" or if it's "Buy both versions, play through one, unlock a harder mode for when you play the other".

 

[Silktree]

We don't know whether this new idea is a "Buy 1 game, beat it and unlock a harder mode when you restart" or if it's "Buy both versions, play through one, unlock a harder mode for when you play the other".

The latter seems far more likely considering that Masuda mentioned this as the reason for the existence of two versions. He also made a point of using interaction between different players as an example.

 

[Jukain]

I wonder if this is the reason for the two separate guides, though I don't know too much how a simple difficulty change would warrant another guide. You know how people cry over there not being a compromise between the two stories? I think this is the bridge across that gap. For something from one game to affect the other, that could imply the two aspects crossing.

 

[Silktree]

I wonder if this is the reason for the two separate guides, though I don't know too much how a simple difficulty change would warrant another guide.

That can't be it because the second guide will revolve around the post-game story, whereas this feature (which not everyone will have accesss to) pertains to the gameplay of a new save file.

 

[Purellian]

I wonder if this is the reason for the two separate guides, though I don't know too much how a simple difficulty change would warrant another guide.

That can't be it because the second guide will revolve around the post-game story, whereas this feature (which not everyone will have accesss to) pertains to the gameplay of a new save file.

But, considering that in order to play that particular new save file, you would have had to have beaten the game already on a different cartridge, it could technically fall under the title of "post-game material". Just playing devil's advocate here, but it's something that struck me.

Also, I've always considered the term "post-game" to be a bit oxymoronic, since it's, what, game play that happens after the game? lol. Post-game is when you've finished everything there is to do in the cartridge and set it down and go outside or something.

 

[Proxima Centauri B]

Sounds like a way to get you to buy both versions to me. Im sure Masuda knows you dont want to just reset the game you've played through and lose all your Pokemon, items and events, so he probably made this mechanic work to encourage you to buy the other version too, clever.