2019 Game Informer
打造终极宝可梦
Game Informer走访Game Freak东京总部，了解《宝可梦 剑·盾》诸多新增内容与进步背后的灵感。
Introduction
引言
Since Pokémon’s debut, the mainline series has existed solely on handheld devices. Being able to adventure in the world of Pokémon while being anywhere in the real world is enticing, but fans have long clamored to see the series deliver a mainline console RPG. However, developer Game Freak was reluctant to create a game that players couldn’t take with them. The release of the hybrid Nintendo Switch changed everything.
自宝可梦首次亮相以来，主线系列一直只存在于掌机平台。能够在现实世界中随时随地进入宝可梦的世界冒险固然诱人，但粉丝们长期以来一直呼吁该系列推出一款主机平台的主线RPG。然而，开发商Game Freak不愿制作一款玩家无法随身携带的游戏。混合型主机Nintendo Switch的发布改变了一切。
Now, unrestrained by the traditional limitations of dedicated handheld devices, Game Freak sets out to make what it considers to be the ultimate version of Pokémon. We traveled to the team’s Tokyo headquarters to learn the inspirations behind the various additions and advancements of Pokémon Sword and Shield.
如今，不再受限于专用掌机的传统局限，Game Freak着手打造它心目中宝可梦的终极版本。我们前往该团队位于东京的总部，了解《宝可梦 剑·盾》诸多新增内容与进步背后的灵感。
Walking into the unassuming Carrot Tower in Tokyo, you would never guess the creators of the highest-grossing entertainment franchise in the world were just a couple hundred feet above you. After a short elevator ride and a stroll through a plain, twisting hallway, a door opens to a conference room and you’re suddenly presented with the rich history that has been made here. Lining the walls of the conference room is every game, every soundtrack, and hundreds of figures from the world’s largest entertainment juggernaut.
走进东京那栋不起眼的胡萝卜塔，你绝不会想到全球最赚钱的娱乐品牌的创造者就在你头顶几百英尺处。乘电梯片刻，穿过一条朴素而蜿蜒的走廊，一扇门打开，通向一间会议室，你突然就被呈现在这里所创造出的丰厚历史面前。会议室墙上排列着这个全球最大娱乐巨头出品的每一款游戏、每一张原声带，以及数百个手办。
While the shelves housing the mainline entries of the Pokémon series read like a history book for Nintendo’s handheld devices, when you get to the end, Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Let’s Go, Eevee immediately stick out as the sole console entries. The games, which released last year on Nintendo’s current flagship platform, effectively transitioned the series to the hybrid format. But while those reimaginings of the first-generation games served as a crowd-pleasing bridge to the next evolution of the franchise, they did more for the development teams at Game Freak.
陈列宝可梦系列主线作品的架子读起来就像一部任天堂掌机史，但当你走到尽头时，《宝可梦 Let’s Go！皮卡丘·Let’s Go！伊布》立刻显得格外突出，因为它们是仅有的主机作品。这两款游戏去年在任天堂当前旗舰平台上发售，有效地将该系列过渡到了混合形态。不过，尽管这些对第一世代游戏的重制版充当了通往系列下一次进化的、迎合大众的桥梁，它们对Game Freak的开发团队来说意义更大。
The Pokémon Let’s Go games served as a way for the studio to get down the development basics for Nintendo’s new console – introducing new features, like wild Pokémon appearing in the environments and a giant leap forward in terms of visuals. Fans enjoyed these games and loved having a modern remake as a starting point for the franchise on Switch, but Game Freak had greater ambitions with the new technology than simply recreating past glories.
《宝可梦 Let’s Go》系列游戏让该工作室得以掌握任天堂新主机的开发基础——引入了新特性，比如野生宝可梦出现在环境中，以及在视觉表现上的巨大飞跃。粉丝们喜欢这些游戏，也乐于看到一部现代重制版作为该系列在Switch上的起点，但Game Freak借助新技术有着比单纯重现昔日荣光更大的野心。
During the development of the Let’s Go games, the team realized creating games on Switch was no small task when compared to developing on lower-resolution handheld devices. “I think the biggest takeaway was how the graphics and rendering work is so different from the 3DS,” says Pokémon Sword and Shield director Shigeru Ohmori. “Needing to staff up and figure out how we’re able to get that to work really well on Switch takes more time, and we needed more resources.”
在《Let’s Go》系列游戏的开发过程中，团队意识到，与在低分辨率掌机设备上开发相比，在Switch上制作游戏绝非易事。“我认为最大的收获是，图形和渲染的工作方式与3DS如此不同，”《宝可梦 剑·盾》总监大森滋说。“需要扩充人员，并弄清楚如何让它在Switch上良好运行，这需要更多时间，我们也需要更多资源。”
The studio grew in size, nearly doubling the core team since the development of Sun and Moon. With 180 to 200 core members, hundreds of outsourced and external partners, and a large marketing department, the full team is massive. When you factor in the localization teams across the nine languages the game is launching in, Ohmori estimates that around 1,000 names will appear in the credits of Pokémon Sword and Shield.
工作室规模扩大了，自《太阳／月亮》开发以来核心团队几乎翻倍。拥有180到200名核心成员、数百家外包和外部合作伙伴，以及一个庞大的营销部门，整个团队规模巨大。如果把游戏发售所支持的九种语言的本地化团队也算进去，大森估计《宝可梦 剑·盾》的制作人员名单中会出现大约1000个名字。
Using key takeaways from the Let’s Go games, the rapidly growing team at Game Freak forged ahead with its vision for the next generation of Pokémon games. “We set out with the idea of making the ultimate, strongest, the best Pokémon game yet, being on Nintendo Switch, the first time an all-new generation is coming to a console,” Ohmori says. “It was really just kind of applying this idea of ‘ultimate’ to every facet of the game: gameplay, visuals, everything. That was really the theme for when I set out making the game: the greatest Pokémon game.”
利用从《Let’s Go》系列游戏中获得的关键经验，Game Freak迅速壮大的团队推进了其对下一代宝可梦游戏的构想。“我们出发时的想法是，在Nintendo Switch上打造迄今为止最终极、最强大、最好的宝可梦游戏，这是全新世代首次登陆主机，”大森说。“真的就是把这种‘终极’的理念应用到游戏的每一个方面：玩法、视觉、一切。这确实是我着手制作这款游戏时的主题：最伟大的宝可梦游戏。”
Battling the Status Quo
打破现状
挑战现状
To craft the “ultimate” Pokémon game, Game Freak put everything under a microscope. Across seven generations and five video game systems to this point, familiar battle mechanics that have stood the test of time always carry over in the series. Since the beginning, players have taken part in turn-based battles with Pokémon that can learn up to four moves. Despite that basic formula remaining firmly in place over the years, Game Freak has explored ways to change it up.
为了打造“终极”宝可梦游戏，Game Freak 把一切都放在显微镜下审视。到那时为止，历经七个世代和五款游戏主机，系列中那些经受住时间考验的熟悉战斗机制始终被继承下来。从一开始，玩家就参与回合制战斗，宝可梦最多可以学会四个招式。尽管这些基本规则多年来一直稳固不变，Game Freak 还是探索了改变它的方式。
“I think with the Pokémon games, you’re taking the elements that existed before and add onto them with every game, but we don’t just take the elements for granted,” says planning director Kazumasa Iwao. “Each time we make a new game, we review what’s there and make sure they make sense for the project and that we’re confident we can make them fun for the next game.”
“我认为在宝可梦游戏中，你会把之前存在的元素拿来，并在每一款游戏中加以添加，但我们不会把这些元素视为理所当然，”企划总监岩尾和昌说。“每次制作新游戏时，我们都会审视现有的内容，确保它们对项目有意义，并且确信我们能在下一款游戏中让它们变得有趣。”
According to Ohmori, the team even thought about changing up the very core of the battle system from the traditional turn-based experience, but reconsidered when thinking of the initial themes for this next entry. “With Sword and Shield, we felt like expressing the turn-based battles in their ultimate form,” he says.
据大森说，团队甚至考虑过改变回合制战斗系统的核心，但在思考这部新作的初始主题时重新考虑了这个想法。“在《剑/盾》中，我们觉得要以终极形式来表达回合制战斗，”他说。
With that level of willingness to re-examine the core tenets of the series, the team looked toward other ways to experiment without completely disrupting the beloved balance. Even mainstays like Pokémon being able to learn four moves was looked at. The studio considered bumping the number of moves up to five, or even down to three, but nothing felt right.
带着这种愿意重新审视系列核心原则的态度，团队寻找其他方式进行实验，同时又不完全破坏深受喜爱的平衡。甚至连宝可梦能学会四个招式这样的固定设定也被审视过。工作室考虑过把招式数量增加到五个，甚至减少到三个，但都觉得不对劲。
“If you make it five or even more than five, that makes it so a lot of the Pokémon can really do anything, and it becomes a lot harder to read what your opponent might do because there are just that many more possibilities of moves they could use,” Iwao says. “I think that hurts the balance of the gameplay quite a bit. At the same time, even if you reduce it by one to three, you really start seeing there are haves and have nots in the Pokémon world. Like, these Pokémon are obviously way stronger than the rest of these Pokémon. We keep coming back and finding that four is the right number for the current battle system, but it is something we revisit.”
“如果改成五个甚至更多，那很多宝可梦就真的什么都能做了，而且因为对手可能使用的招式可能性变得更多，你就更难预读对手会做什么，”岩尾说。“我认为那会相当程度地损害游戏平衡。同时，即使减少到三个，你真的会开始看到宝可梦世界里有‘有’和‘没有’的差距。比如，这些宝可梦明显比其他的强得多。我们反复回来，发现四个是当前战斗系统的正确数字，但这是我们不断重新审视的事情。”
One recent example of Game Freak changing things up with the series prior to this generation is how Pokémon Sun and Moon did away with Hidden Machines (HMs). This convention, which was in place since Pokémon Red and Blue, allowed players to teach moves that Pokémon can use both in and out of battle. They acted as keys of sorts, allowing players to access new areas once they obtain the right HM and corresponding gym badge to allow them to use the ability outside of battle. In Pokémon Sun and Moon, those HMs were replaced by Ride Pokémon. The team wanted to give players a higher degree of freedom in Pokémon Sword and Shield, and as such, didn’t feel the concept of HMs fit into the themes of the new game.
在本世代之前，Game Freak 对系列进行改变的一个近期例子是《宝可梦 太阳·月亮》取消了秘传机器（HM）。这个自《宝可梦 红·蓝》以来就存在的惯例，允许玩家教宝可梦学会既能在战斗中使用、也能在战斗外使用的招式。它们有点像钥匙，让玩家在获得正确的秘传机器和相应的道馆徽章后，就能在战斗外使用该能力，从而进入新区域。在《宝可梦 太阳·月亮》中，这些秘传机器被骑行宝可梦取代。团队想在《宝可梦 剑·盾》中给玩家更高程度的自由，因此觉得秘传机器的概念不符合新游戏的主题。
While that modernization is carried over from Sun and Moon, several new elements are being introduced into Sword and Shield that differentiate it from past games. The Exp. Share item, which spreads experience points learned to all Pokémon in your party is no more. Instead, Sword and Shield automatically spreads out the experience without an item.
虽然这种现代化是从《太阳／月亮》继承下来的，但《剑／盾》还引入了几个新元素，使其与过去的游戏不同。学习装置这个能把获得的经验值分给队伍中所有宝可梦的道具不再存在。取而代之的是，《剑／盾》无需道具就会自动分配经验值。
In perhaps the biggest modernization to the core elements of the Pokémon franchise, the game now autosaves. In past mainline Pokémon games, you had to remember to stop and save occasionally or run the risk of losing substantial progress if you turned off the system or your batteries died. With Sword and Shield, players benefit from an autosave functionality that seamlessly records your progress in the background as you go. However, for those who want a more traditional Pokémon experience of stopping the action to manually save, you can turn this feature off; I imagine that will be a popular option when it comes to facing off against Legendary Pokémon.
或许是对宝可梦系列核心元素最大的现代化改动，游戏现在会自动保存。在以往的主线宝可梦游戏中，你必须记得偶尔停下来保存，否则如果关闭系统或电池没电，就可能失去大量进度。在《剑／盾》中，玩家受益于自动保存功能，它会在后台无缝记录你的进度。不过，对于那些想要更传统的宝可梦体验、停下来手动保存的玩家，你可以关闭这个功能；我想在面对传说宝可梦时，这会是一个受欢迎的选择。
Competitive players also have a new way to fill their parties, as a new backend parameter helps players use the Pokémon they catch from the outset of play in competitive battles. “Traditionally in the series, you start with your starter Pokémon and then you catch a lot of Pokémon in the beginning, and those are with you throughout your whole adventure, and the player gets attached to them,” Iwao says. “But a lot of times, they get into the competitive battles and they find they can’t actually use those Pokémon or they’re not competitive, so they have to go out and find the exact right Pokémon or breed them in a certain way to make sure they’re viable in competitive battle.”
对战玩家也有新的方式来组建队伍，因为一个新的后台参数帮助玩家从游戏一开始就能把捕获的宝可梦用于对战。“传统上，在系列中，你从初始宝可梦开始，然后在初期捕获很多宝可梦，这些宝可梦会陪伴你整个冒险，玩家会对它们产生感情，”岩尾说。“但很多时候，他们进入对战后，发现实际上不能用这些宝可梦，或者它们没有竞争力，所以他们必须出去找到完全正确的宝可梦，或者以某种方式培育它们，以确保它们在对战中可用。”
To address that issue, Pokémon Sword and Shield introduces new systems that allow your favorite Pokémon to become useable in competitive matches. While Game Freak won’t elaborate too much, Iwao says players will know it when they see it. In previous games, you could have a Pokémon with all the right stats, but a personality that makes it a bad choice for competitive, meaning it wasn’t the best choice in high-level matches. With Pokémon Sword and Shield, players can still breed to try and obtain the perfect specimen, but they also have ways to circumvent that problem. “We’re doing a lot of stuff in the back end introducing systems that allow players to make sure that Pokémon they want to use in competitive battles are viable,” Iwao says.
为了解决这个问题，《宝可梦 剑·盾》引入了新系统，让你最喜欢的宝可梦能够在竞技对战中派上用场。虽然Game Freak不愿详细说明，但岩尾表示玩家看到就会明白。在之前的游戏中，你可能拥有一只各项数值都正确的宝可梦，但性格却让它不适合竞技，这意味着它不是高水平对战中的最佳选择。在《宝可梦 剑·盾》中，玩家仍然可以通过培育来尝试获得完美的个体，但他们也有办法绕过这个问题。“我们在后台做了很多工作，引入了一些系统，让玩家能够确保他们想在竞技对战中使用的宝可梦是可行的，”岩尾说。
These changes are just the start of what sets Pokémon Sword and Shield apart from prior Pokémon games, but before the team could really fit the pieces together, it needed to decide on where it would take place.
这些变化只是《宝可梦 剑·盾》区别于以往宝可梦游戏的开端，但在团队真正把这些拼图拼合起来之前，它需要决定游戏将在哪里发生。
Going To Galar
前往伽勒尔
前往伽勒尔
Concepts for what is now known as Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield began floating around during the development of Pokémon Sun and Moon, but it wasn’t until the media tour for those games that things started to click into place. While touring the world in the lead up to the release of 2016’s Sun and Moon, Game Freak co-founder and Sword and Shield producer Junichi Masuda became fascinated by London and the U.K. “I remember being there with the feeling of the country and I was also looking at the history and the strength the country has; that inspired me to base the region off that,” he says.
如今被称为《宝可梦 剑》和《宝可梦 盾》的概念，在《宝可梦 太阳·月亮》开发期间就开始流传，但直到这些游戏的媒体巡展时，事情才开始成形。在2016年《太阳/月亮》发售前的全球巡展中，Game Freak联合创始人、《剑/盾》制作人增田顺一被伦敦和英国深深吸引。“我记得在那里感受到了这个国家的氛围，我也在了解这个国家的历史和实力；这启发我以那里为原型来设计地区，”他说。
Masuda and Ohmori began kicking around ideas for a region inspired by the U.K. To brainstorm, the team turned internally to an invaluable asset: James Turner, who has been designing Pokémon since the fifth generation of the series. While he now resides in Tokyo to work at the Game Freak headquarters, he grew up on the British countryside.
增田和大森开始酝酿一个受英国启发的地区构想。为了集思广益，团队在内部转向了一项宝贵的资源：James Turner，他自系列第五世代以来一直设计宝可梦。虽然他现在住在东京，在Game Freak总部工作，但他是在英国乡村长大的。
This concept art showing the player’s home was used as reference when creating the game’s 3D model
这张展示玩家家乡的概念图，在制作游戏的3D模型时被用作参考
Throughout his time at Game Freak, the team spoke highly of the U.K., but it was never in serious consideration to be a region for a game. However, at a certain point, Turner began picking up on some hints that his home country might be in the running. “I was working on a different project and they were beginning development on what would become Sword and Shield, and I would hear from people working on it, ‘We have some things we want to ask you about. We need your opinion on something,’ and I’d be pulled away from what I was doing” he says. “It became pretty clear they were thinking about England and they wanted my opinion about the English countryside or the culture and stuff like that.”
在Game Freak工作期间，团队对英国评价很高，但从未认真考虑过将其作为游戏的地区。然而，在某个时候，特纳开始察觉到一些暗示，他的祖国可能正在考虑之中。“我当时在做另一个项目，他们开始开发后来的《剑/盾》，我会听到参与其中的人说，‘我们有些事想问你。我们需要你对某件事的看法，’然后我就被从手头的工作中拉走了，”他说。“很明显他们在考虑英格兰，他们想听听我对英国乡村、文化之类的看法。”
Eventually, the quick questions about England became inquiries about him joining the team for the next Pokémon game. When it was revealed the studio was planning a region called Galar based on the U.K., Turner’s brain kicked into overdrive thinking about what in the U.K. could translate into a Pokémon game and what should be highlighted.
最终，关于英格兰的快速提问变成了邀请他加入下一款宝可梦游戏团队的询问。当工作室透露计划以英国为原型设计一个名为伽勒尔的地区时，特纳的大脑开始飞速运转，思考英国有哪些元素可以转化为宝可梦游戏，以及应该突出什么。
Turner was named art director for the project and he began making a list of what he hoped to accomplish with the design of the new region. Having grown up away from the major cities, he knew the importance of making the countryside just right. “The greenery of the countryside, the patchwork farmlands – that’s a really beautiful aspect – the pretty small towns, and the big cities as well – they can be really impressive; I wanted to get that across in the game.”
特纳被任命为该项目的艺术总监，他开始列出一份他希望在新地区设计中实现的目标清单。由于在远离大城市的地方长大，他知道把乡村做对的重要性。“乡村的绿意、拼布般的农田——那是非常美丽的一面——还有漂亮的小镇，以及大城市——它们可以非常令人印象深刻；我想在游戏中传达这一点。”
In addition to getting the beauty of the rolling hills and the impressive nature of the cities across, Turner wanted to bring a level of authenticity to the region beyond just the landmarks everyone knows from postcards. “I also wanted to convey the small details that people who come from the U.K. or people who visit the U.K. a lot, they can look at them and feel familiar, and it doesn’t feel like a rough interpretation, but something that is really true to the details,” he says.
除了展现起伏山丘的美景和各个城市令人赞叹的自然风貌外，特纳还希望为这个地区带来一种超越明信片上人人皆知的标志性景点的真实感。“我还想传达一些细微之处，让来自英国或经常造访英国的人看到后能感到熟悉，不会觉得这是粗糙的诠释，而是真正忠实于细节的东西，”他说。
One example of Turner helping the studio accomplish this came with the signboards scattered across the region. Initially, the designer of the signboards used a medieval fantasy style for the signs. Turner rejected the design in favor of pursuing something more authentic to the real-life region. He pushed the team to create something more familiar to people who have been to the U.K., recreating the kinds of fonts and color schemes used in the actual signs in Britain.
特纳帮助工作室实现这一目标的一个例子，是遍布该地区的标牌。起初，标牌设计师为中世纪奇幻风格的标志。特纳否决了这一设计，转而追求更忠实于现实地区的风格。他推动团队创作出对去过英国的人来说更熟悉的东西，重现英国实际标牌中使用的字体和配色方案。
Despite this push for authenticity in the Galar region paying homage to the U.K., Turner understands players want variety and exaggerations in the world. “It is based on the U.K., but there are more colorful locations as well within the game to create a sense of adventure,” he says.
尽管伽勒尔地区为致敬英国而追求真实感，特纳明白玩家希望世界中存在多样性和夸张元素。“它基于英国，但游戏中也有更多色彩丰富的地点，以营造冒险感，”他说。
What’s In A Name?
名字里有什么？
名字里有什么？
Pokémon Sword and Shield’s name draws inspiration from the setting of the Galar region, but a lot more goes into naming than just picking something related to the area. Traditionally, the names of mainline Pokémon games have some relationship to the themes of the game or other games in the series.
《宝可梦 剑·盾》的名字灵感来自伽勒尔地区的设定，但命名远不止挑选与地区相关的东西那么简单。传统上，宝可梦主线游戏的名字与游戏主题或系列中其他游戏有所关联。
After two generations of color-based games in Red and Blue followed by Gold and Silver, Masuda thought of Ruby and Sapphire as the start of the “jewel” series, which concluded with the following generation’s Diamond and Pearl. For Black and White, while it was technically a return to color-based naming conventions the series started with, he more wanted to represent two opposing colors. However, starting with X and Y, Masuda was presented with a unique challenge as it was the first time the games were launching worldwide simultaneously.
在《红／蓝》和《金／银》两代以颜色为基础的游戏之后，增田将《红宝石／蓝宝石》视为“宝石”系列的开端，该系列以次世代的《钻石／珍珠》告终。对于《黑／白》，虽然从技术上讲是回归系列最初以颜色命名的惯例，但他更想代表两种对立的颜色。然而，从《X／Y》开始，增田面临一个独特的挑战，因为这是游戏首次在全球同步发售。
“We wanted to make sure we had a title that would be shared across all the different countries, so we wouldn’t have to localize the titles,” Masuda says of Pokémon X and Y. “Up until then, all the titles had been localized; Red was Rouge in French. I wanted to make sure for the first title to be released worldwide at the same time, it would be a name that could be the same everywhere.”
“我们希望确保有一个在所有不同国家共享的标题，这样就不必对标题进行本地化，”增田在谈到《宝可梦 X·Y》时说。“在那之前，所有标题都经过本地化；Red在法语中是Rouge。我想确保作为首款全球同步发售的作品，它的名字能在各地保持一致。”
For Sword and Shield, Masuda wanted to look toward the themes of creating the strongest, ultimate version of Pokémon. The names Sword and Shield weren’t decided until the last minute. However, the team had art for the two Legendary Pokémon. One was a dog holding a sword in its mouth, while the other was a dog with a head shaped like a shield.
对于《剑／盾》，增田希望着眼于创造最强、终极版宝可梦的主题。《剑》和《盾》的名字直到最后一刻才确定。然而，团队已经为两只传说宝可梦设计了美术图。一只狗嘴里叼着剑，另一只狗的头呈盾牌形状。
The name derived from the Legendary Pokémon fit in with both the themes Masuda wanted to pursue, as well as the region, but it also took on new meaning for the team. “When a person goes to choose which version they want, maybe in the back of their mind, if they had power or strength, would they use it to fight or use it to protect? Maybe deciding what they would do with power when they choose which version to get,” he says.
源自传说宝可梦的名字既符合增田想要追求的主题，也契合地区设定，但它对团队而言还承载了新的意义。“当一个人去选择想要哪个版本时，也许在潜意识里，如果他们拥有力量或实力，会用它来战斗还是用来保护？也许在选择版本时，就决定了他们会如何运用力量，”他说。
The final order of business when it came to naming was to decide what those Legendary dogs that inspired the names of the games should be called. “Those were the last things we were able to determine. We thought it would be interesting to go back to colors with the Legendary Pokémon,” Ohmori says. “One of the things I had in my head was that in the Galar region, these were just kind of rumors; no one has actually seen them in the story. ‘I saw this red knight or this blue knight-looking creature.’ That’s the myth in the region, and I had this initial idea of ‘The Cyan’ or ‘The Magenta.’ Rather than going 100-percent straight like that, we played a little bit on the sound, like ‘Zacian’ and ‘Zamazenta,’ ‘The Cyan’ and ‘The Magenta’ to make it more like a name. The actual idea is that people would be like, ‘That Cyan!’ or ‘That Magenta!’ They’re describing it.”
命名工作的最后一项，是决定那些启发了游戏名称的传说狗宝可梦该叫什么。“那是我们最后才确定下来的东西。我们觉得，让传说宝可梦回归颜色会很有意思，”大森说。“我脑子里一直有个想法：在伽勒尔地区，这些只是传闻；故事里没有人真正见过它们。‘我看到了这个红色骑士，或者这个看起来像蓝色骑士的生物。’这就是这个地区的传说，而我最初的想法是‘The Cyan’或‘The Magenta’。我们没有完全照直那么叫，而是在读音上玩了一点花样，比如‘Zacian’和‘Zamazenta’，‘The Cyan’和‘The Magenta’，让它更像一个名字。实际的想法是，人们会说，‘那个Cyan！’或者‘那个Magenta！’他们是在描述它。”
Turning Trainers Into Stars
把训练家变成明星
把训练家变成明星
In addition to getting the visual design to feel authentic, Game Freak wanted to embrace the sports-centric culture of the U.K. Trainers are treated like star athletes, complete with collectible League Cards. While filling your albums with League Cards from A.I. and human trainers can be a fun goal (each card even has trivia or information about the trainer’s personality on the back), I enjoyed creating my own League Card, even with an extremely limited selection available in the build.
除了让视觉设计显得真实，Game Freak还想拥抱英国以体育为中心的文化。训练家被当作明星运动员对待，还有可收集的联盟卡。用来自AI和人类训练家的联盟卡填满你的卡册可以是个有趣的目标（每张卡背面甚至有关于该训练家的冷知识或性格信息），而我很享受制作自己的联盟卡，即使试玩版里可选的选项极其有限。
Even before customizing my character’s appearance on the card, I can choose from different backgrounds, effects, and frames. From there, I reposition my trainer on the card, and adjust their pose and facial expression before slapping a laminate coat of my choosing over the entire card.
甚至在自定义卡片上角色的外观之前，我就可以从不同的背景、效果和边框中选择。接着，我在卡片上重新摆放我的训练家，调整他们的姿势和面部表情，最后在整张卡片上覆上一层我选定的覆膜。
You can also equip your trainer with a jersey and give them a number. However, if you’d rather go for a more casual look, Pokémon Sword and Shield gives you more customization options than has ever been seen in the series.
你还可以给你的训练家穿上球衣并给他们一个号码。不过，如果你更想要休闲一点的造型，《宝可梦 剑·盾》提供的自定义选项比系列以往任何时候都多。
Past entries let you customize your outfit by selecting a top and a bottom, but now you can take it down to a granular level. Sword and Shield’s trainer customization options allow you to choose shirts, jackets, pants, dresses, socks, shoes, backpacks, hats, glasses, and gloves. You can also choose from several hairstyles to complete the look.
过去的作品让你通过选择上衣和下装来自定义服装，但现在你可以细化到更精细的层面。《剑／盾》的训练家自定义选项允许你选择衬衫、夹克、裤子、连衣裙、袜子、鞋子、背包、帽子、眼镜和手套。你还可以从几种发型中选择，来完成整体造型。
The team wanted shopping in the Galar region to remind you of shopping in a fashionable street in England. “That can feel very familiar for people who live in the U.K.,” Turner says. “There were a lot of bits here and there that I pulled from my own experience.”
团队希望伽勒尔地区的购物能让你想起在英国时尚街道上购物。“对住在英国的人来说，那会感觉很熟悉，”特纳说。“我从自己的经历里零零碎碎地取了不少东西。”
Much like shopping in real life, you’re going to want to scour all the stores possible to find the right piece to complete your outfit; you can’t just go to one store and expect to see the entire collection of clothes. “There’s actually different clothing brands that serve different genres of clothing, and you’ll find that different towns specialize in some genres over the others,” Ohmori says.
和现实生活中的购物很像，你会想尽可能搜遍所有商店，找到合适的那件来配齐你的整套装扮；你不能只去一家店就指望看到全部服装系列。“实际上有不同的服装品牌，对应不同风格的服装，你会发现不同城镇专精于某些风格，而不是其他风格，”大森说。
Fashion even changes from town to town, encouraging players to bounce around to find the perfect look. “Big-city fashion is different from small-city fashion, and then there are more kind of punkish towns you can visit too,” Turner says.
时尚甚至因城镇而异，鼓励玩家四处奔走寻找完美的造型。“大城市的时尚和小城市的时尚不同，然后还有更多有点朋克风格的城镇可以去逛，”特纳说。
The tribute to British sports culture continues with stadiums full of people during big battles. This setting delivers a new kind of atmosphere not seen in mainline Pokémon games to this point. The crowd reacts as action unfolds in the arena, including uproars, cheers, chants, and songs. The stadium itself also changes with the action, with certain things displayed on the screens around the arena, as well as music that plays.
对英国体育文化的致敬还体现在大型对战中座无虚席的体育场。这一设定带来了此前宝可梦正传游戏中未曾有过的新氛围。随着竞技场内战斗的展开，观众会做出反应，包括喧哗、欢呼、口号和歌声。体育场本身也会随战斗而变化，竞技场周围的屏幕上会显示某些内容，同时还有音乐播放。
All of these elements brought by the Galar region felt like a natural fit for the Pokémon series, but where it proved most valuable was in helping Game Freak begin to pull together disparate elements it wanted to implement into one cohesive vision.
伽勒尔地区带来的所有这些元素，感觉与宝可梦系列天然契合，但最有价值之处在于，它帮助Game Freak开始将想要实现的那些零散元素整合为一个连贯的愿景。
Giant Ambitions
巨大的野心
An early piece of concept art conveys the team’s desire of portraying Pokémon battles in the Galar region to look and feel like a sports broadcast
一张早期概念图传达了团队的愿望：让伽勒尔地区的宝可梦对战在观感和体验上像体育转播。
巨大的野心
The team had various ideas in mind for new features that could appear across the adventure, but they were nebulous and unattached. Several of the ideas they had in mind suddenly started snapping into place thanks to the idea of basing a game in a region inspired by the U.K.
团队对可能出现在整个冒险中的新功能有各种想法，但这些想法模糊且互不关联。由于以受英国启发的地区为背景来制作游戏这一想法，他们心中的若干想法突然开始各就各位。
“Just in general for a Pokémon game’s development and where the ideas come from, usually in our heads we have all these different ideas, existing as individual parts,” Masuda says. “For example, maybe we’ll have an idea for a connectivity feature, or a battle feature, or a Pokémon, then they’re kind of all existing in your head, then you’ll have these moments where, for example, you’re traveling or you’re going to a media interview session and you’ll feel the atmosphere of that location and all of it will come together like, ‘This is a good location to feature all of these other ideas I already had in my mind.’”
“一般来说，在宝可梦游戏的开发中，以及想法的来源方面，我们脑中通常有各种不同的想法，作为独立的部件存在，”增田说。“例如，也许我们会有一个关于连接功能的想法，或者一个战斗功能的想法，或者一只宝可梦，然后它们都存在于你的脑海中，接着你会遇到这样的时刻，比如你在旅行，或者你去参加媒体采访活动，你会感受到那个地方的氛围，然后所有东西就会汇聚在一起，就像‘这是个好地方，可以把我脑中已有的所有这些其他想法都放进去。’”
“There were definitely a lot of ideas,” Ohmori says. “There were a lot of ideas we explored for this game that we ended up not using. It all goes back to us having these individual parts swimming in our heads and finding the right one that makes sense for the game.”
“肯定有很多想法，”大森说。“我们为这款游戏探索了很多最终没有采用的想法。这一切都归结于我们脑中游动着这些独立的部件，然后找到适合这款游戏的那一个。”
Art director James Turner wanted to capture the colors and mood of the UK (including the patchwork farmland) in this concept art focusing on the homes of the player and rival
艺术总监James Turner希望在这张聚焦玩家和劲敌住宅的概念图中捕捉英国的颜色和氛围（包括拼布般的农田）。
One of those ideas that seemingly snapped into place with a U.K.-inspired region was the new Max Raid Battles. For the first all-new console game in the series, Ohmori wanted to include a feature that reminded him of his younger days playing Nintendo 64 in the same room with his friends. He began brainstorming for ways to recreate that feeling, but didn’t have any great ideas. He eventually found inspiration in the mythologies of giants involved in the founding of ancient Britain.
在受英国启发的地区中似乎顺理成章的想法之一，就是新的极巨团体战。作为系列中首款全新的主机游戏，大森想加入一个让他想起年轻时和朋友们在同一房间玩任天堂64的功能。他开始头脑风暴，想重现那种感觉，但没有什么好主意。他最终在古代英国建国神话中的巨人身上找到了灵感。
The result is Max Raid Battles, where players can gather together with other trainers to take on massive Pokémon together. If the team of players can take down the giant creature, the trainers are rewarded with the opportunity to catch the defeated Pokémon. While that may sound familiar to anyone who has played Pokémon Go, the idea actually predates the implementation of raids in the mobile smash hit.
其成果就是极巨团体战，玩家可以与其他训练家聚集在一起，共同挑战巨大的宝可梦。如果玩家队伍能够击败这个庞然大物，训练家就有机会捕捉被击败的宝可梦。虽然玩过《Pokémon Go》的人对此可能感到熟悉，但这个想法实际上早于这款手机热门游戏中团体战的实装。
“The initial concept of having cooperative battles against a Pokémon – the raid idea – came before raids were even implemented in Pokémon Go, but we saw Pokémon Go implement this raid feature and how popular it was for people to get together in the same space and enjoy these cooperative experiences,” Ohmori says. “I think there was some influence, like how in Pokémon Go, you don’t need to be a hardcore battler to enjoy the raid battles; it’s really easy to invite a friend. We wanted to have that element in Sword and Shield’s raid encounters as well.”
“合作对战宝可梦的最初概念——也就是团体战的想法——早在《Pokémon Go》实装团体战之前就已经存在了，但我们看到《Pokémon Go》实装了团体战功能，以及人们聚在同一个空间享受这种合作体验有多么受欢迎，”大森说。“我觉得确实有一些影响，比如在《Pokémon Go》中，你不需要是一个硬核对战玩家也能享受团体战；邀请朋友非常容易。我们也希望在《剑/盾》的团体战遭遇中加入这种元素。”
However, before raids were introduced in Pokémon Go, this mechanic in Pokémon Sword and Shield was simply referred to as “cooperative battles.” With the term “raid” now cemented in the lexicon of millions of Pokémon fans across the world, Game Freak decided to play off that word to make the feature instantly recognizable for a large chunk of its fan base.
然而，在《Pokémon Go》引入团体战之前，《宝可梦 剑·盾》中的这个机制只是被称为“合作对战”。如今“团体战”这个词已经深深扎根于全世界数百万宝可梦粉丝的词汇中，Game Freak决定借用这个词，让这个功能对大部分粉丝群体来说能够立刻被识别。
Much like Pokémon Go’s raids, the battles are ranked using a star system; the more stars a raid has, the more difficult it will be for players. According to Iwao, players might be in for a rude awakening if they think they can just coast through the higher-ranked Max Raid Battles.
和《Pokémon Go》的团体战很像，这些对战用星级系统来分级；团体战的星级越高，对玩家来说难度就越大。据岩尾说，如果玩家以为自己能轻松通过高星级的极巨团体战，可能会被狠狠地上一课。
“I think it’s going to have a kind of difficulty we haven’t seen in a lot of main series Pokémon games up until now,” Iwao says. “Even for me, a seasoned Pokémon player, even if I go with one of the five-star Max Raid Battles, I can definitely run into situations where I’m not able to win.”
“我觉得这会有一种迄今为止在很多宝可梦主系列游戏中未曾见过的难度，”岩尾说。“即使对我来说，一个经验丰富的宝可梦玩家，即使我去打五星极巨团体战，也肯定会遇到无法获胜的情况。”
Thankfully, you can alleviate headaches by joining up with friends or choosing raid levels appropriate for your team of Pokémon. Even if you go into a Max Raid Battle alone, A.I. teammates will join to fight alongside you. In addition, you can also even the odds by temporarily growing your own Pokémon to massive scales using one of Sword and Shield’s centerpiece new features: Dynamax.
好在你可以通过与朋友组队或选择适合自己宝可梦队伍的团体战等级来减轻烦恼。即使你独自进入极巨团体战，AI队友也会加入与你并肩作战。此外，你还可以利用《剑/盾》的核心新功能之一——极巨化——暂时将自己的宝可梦巨大化来平衡局势。
Taking It To The Max
发挥到极致
发挥到极致
While Dynamax’s inspiration was a direct result of Ohmori’s understanding of U.K. myths, the inclusion of Pokémon on this scale simply wasn’t possible in a satisfactory way on handheld devices. Game Freak wanted to use the higher resolution of the Switch and the larger screens of televisions to demonstrate a strong sense of scale. Not only do the enormous Pokémon look bigger than ever before, but the small Pokémon on the roster also look appropriately small.
极巨化的灵感直接来源于大森对英国神话的理解，而在掌机设备上以令人满意的方式实现这种尺度的宝可梦根本不可能。Game Freak希望利用Switch更高的分辨率和电视更大的屏幕来展现强烈的尺度感。巨大的宝可梦看起来比以往任何时候都更大，而阵容中的小体型宝可梦看起来也相应地小。
This is further on display when players use Dynamax to make their Pokémon grow to unprecedented sizes. Seeing a Dynamaxed Pokémon next to a trainer on a big screen shows off the scale Game Freak hoped for. Ohmori says this display would only be possible on a high-resolution platform like the Switch. “On the 3DS, if you showed some of the huge Pokémon, the limited resolution would probably make the player character be like a single pixel or something,” he says with a chuckle.
当玩家使用极巨化让自己的宝可梦增长到前所未有的尺寸时，这一点会更加明显。在大屏幕上看到极巨化的宝可梦站在训练家旁边，展现了Game Freak所期望的尺度感。大森说这种展示只有在像Switch这样的高分辨率平台上才有可能。“在3DS上，如果你展示一些巨大的宝可梦，有限的分辨率可能会让玩家角色变成一个像素点左右，”他笑着说。
The concept of having Pokémon grow to become giants satisfied another goal of the team going into its first all-new console Pokémon game. “If you’re playing on the TV, there’s probably going to be other people in the house like family or your parents,” Ohmori says. “We wanted to make what you were doing on the screen look impressive or something that makes it look like, if the kid is playing it and the mom comes by like, ‘Wow, you’re really doing something cool there!’ Kind of like the idea of it being a sport, for example. It’s impressive to watch as a sport, and maybe the kid is like a really powerful sports player.”
让宝可梦巨大化的概念满足了团队在开发首款全新主机宝可梦游戏时的另一个目标。“如果你在电视上玩，家里可能还有其他人，比如家人或父母，”大森说。“我们想让屏幕上发生的事情看起来令人印象深刻，或者让正在玩的孩子看起来像是在做很酷的事情，比如妈妈经过时说：‘哇，你正在做一件很酷的事！’有点像把它当作一项运动。作为运动，观看它令人印象深刻，也许孩子就像一位非常强大的运动员。”
Outside of impressive visual sequences showcasing larger creatures and a colorful aura, Dynamaxed Pokémon also feature much more powerful attacks. Even the most useless Pokémon like Magikarp can suddenly become formidable through Dynamax. This mechanic replaces systems from past games like X and Y’s Mega Evolutions, and Sun and Moon’s Z-Moves as the powerful equalizer in battle.
除了展示巨大生物和彩色光环的令人印象深刻的视觉序列外，极巨化宝可梦还拥有更强大的攻击。即使是最没用的宝可梦，如鲤鱼王，也能通过极巨化突然变得强大。这一机制取代了过去游戏中的系统，如X和Y的超级进化，以及太阳和月亮的Z招式，作为战斗中的强大平衡器。
To take the new feature for a test drive, Game Freak held an internal tournament. The team came away confident that not only will competitive play embrace the Dynamax ability, but it will add an extra layer of strategy for players of all skill levels.
为了测试新功能，Game Freak举行了一场内部锦标赛。团队确信，不仅竞技对战会接受极巨化能力，而且它将为所有技能水平的玩家增加一层额外的策略。
“You don’t have to give the Pokémon an item, so you can trigger it whenever and create this element of suspense or keeping people on their toes since they don’t know when you’re going to trigger it or what Pokémon you’re going to use for it,” Ohmori says. “In Sun and Moon, with the Z-Moves, you had to give the Pokémon the Z-Crystal to trigger it, so if the effect of any item goes off, you know that Pokémon isn’t holding a Z-Crystal and you can feel at ease and then plan your strategy around that. With Dynamax, since it doesn’t require an item, you’re never going to have that feeling of being at ease since you don’t know that this Pokémon isn’t going to unleash this Dynamax power. But at the same time, it doesn’t feel cheap.”
“你不必给宝可梦携带道具，所以你可以随时触发它，制造这种悬念或让人保持警惕，因为他们不知道你何时会触发它或你会用哪只宝可梦来触发，”大森说。“在太阳和月亮中，使用Z招式时，你必须给宝可梦携带Z纯晶才能触发，所以如果任何道具的效果触发，你就知道那只宝可梦没有携带Z纯晶，你可以放心，然后围绕这一点制定策略。对于极巨化，由于它不需要道具，你永远不会感到放心，因为你不知道这只宝可梦是否会使出极巨化力量。但与此同时，它并不让人觉得廉价。”
While some fans have expressed concern that the Dynamax mechanic might be overpowered in its ability to change the course of matches, by installing a three-turn limit for the transformation, Game Freak thinks it has struck the right balance. “For a long time, we were going back and forth between three turns and two turns,” Ohmori says. “It sounds like a small difference, but it’s a huge thing we had to work with the balance. Also, tweaking the strength of the moves. Just working with the battle design staff to get that balance right. It took a very long time.”
虽然一些粉丝担心极巨化机制可能因其改变比赛进程的能力而过于强大，但通过为变身设置三回合限制，Game Freak认为它已经找到了正确的平衡。“很长一段时间，我们在三回合和两回合之间来回调整，”大森说。“这听起来差别很小，但我们在平衡方面必须处理的大事。此外，调整招式的强度。只是与战斗设计人员合作，以正确平衡。这花了很长时间。”
In addition, if a trainer Dynamaxes a Pokémon, it tips off their opponent as to what’s coming, allowing them to prepare for the approaching storm. “Technically you can switch out your Pokémon after you’ve Dynamaxed or just defend, but since that’s a waste of the Dynamax, the expectation is that you’re going to attack to take advantage of that power,” Ohmori says. “That allows your opponent to read what you’re going to do, so that gives a little bit of balance there.”
此外，如果训练师让一只宝可梦极巨化，就会向对手透露即将发生的事情，让他们为即将到来的风暴做好准备。“从技术上讲，你可以在极巨化后换下宝可梦或只是防御，但既然那样会浪费极巨化，预期是你会攻击以利用那种力量，”大森说。“这让你的对手能读懂你要做什么，所以那里有一点平衡。”
Dynamax is sure to play a massive role in Pokémon Sword and Shield, but it’s not the only way Pokémon can grow exponentially during battle. Every Pokémon can use Dynamax to power up, but a certain subset can take the concept further through a special variation called Gigantamax. Much like Dynamax, this causes the Pokémon to rapidly grow in size. However, it’s not simply a power boost. In addition to visually changing the Gigantamaxed Pokémon beyond what Dynamax does, this new form grants different attributes. This means that for some Pokémon that have the ability to use both Gigantamax and Dynamax, the trainer must have the awareness to correctly determine which transformation to use for their current battle situation.
极巨化肯定会在宝可梦剑/盾中扮演重要角色，但这并不是宝可梦在战斗中指数级增长的唯一方式。每只宝可梦都可以使用极巨化来增强力量，但某些子集可以通过一种称为超极巨化的特殊变体将概念进一步推进。与极巨化非常相似，这会导致宝可梦迅速变大。然而，这不仅仅是力量提升。除了在视觉上改变超极巨化宝可梦超出极巨化的效果外，这种新形态还赋予不同的属性。这意味着对于某些既能使用超极巨化又能使用极巨化的宝可梦，训练师必须有意识地正确判断在当前战斗情况下使用哪种变身。
These transformations are more than just gameplay mechanics in Sword and Shield. In fact, Professor Magnolia is specialized in researching the Dynamax phenomenon in the Galar region. These transformations are sure to be centerpieces of not just the gameplay, but the narrative as well.
这些变身不仅仅是剑/盾中的游戏机制。事实上，木兰博士专门研究伽勒尔地区的极巨化现象。这些变身肯定不仅是游戏玩法的中心，也是叙事的中心。
“The lore of the land is that the Galar region has this sort of mysterious energy that can power up things and make them massive, and we express that through the battle system; when they get bigger, they become stronger,” Iwao says.
“这片土地的传说中，伽勒尔地区有这种神秘能量，可以增强事物并使它们巨大化，我们通过战斗系统来表达这一点；当它们变大时，它们变得更强，”岩尾说。
Going Wild
走向野外
走向野外
While Dynamax is something Game Freak says wouldn’t be possible on older hardware, the new Wild Area brings several technological advancements together into a vast expanse within the Galar region – a wide-open space where players can roam freely and catch Pokémon. However, it combines both synchronous and asynchronous connections to other players to populate the area with trainers from both online and local sessions.
Game Freak表示，极巨化在旧硬件上无法实现，而新的旷野地带则将多项技术进步汇聚成伽勒尔地区内的一片广阔区域——一个玩家可以自由漫游并捕捉宝可梦的开阔空间。不过，它结合了与其他玩家的同步和异步连接，让来自在线和本地会话的训练家都能出现在这片区域中。
In addition, players can meet up to trade, battle, or cooperate in the aforementioned Max Raid Battles, all of which is seamlessly autosaved as you play. “We’re only able to do this because we’ve figured out all these technologies and figured out how to make it work, making sure we can have this kind of online matchmaking happen in the background while you’re walking around and not interrupt the player,” Masuda says. “Traditionally when the trade would happen, you’d have a hard save screen where you’d stop right there and save the game, but we’ve finally made a way to make saving happen in the background seamlessly without data being corrupted. Even though it looks like a super simple feature, it’s actually been a lot of work behind getting it to actually work in the game.”
此外，玩家还可以碰面进行交换、对战，或在前述的极巨团体战中合作，而这一切都会在你游玩时无缝自动保存。增田说：“我们能这么做，只是因为我们已经弄清了所有这些技术，并找到了让它运作的方法，确保在你四处走动时，这种在线匹配能在后台进行，而不会打断玩家。过去发生交换时，你会看到一个硬保存画面，必须停在那里保存游戏，但我们终于找到了一种方法，让保存能在后台无缝进行，而不会导致数据损坏。虽然这看起来像是个超级简单的功能，但要让它在游戏里真正运作起来，背后其实做了很多工作。”
The Wild Area also plays host to Pokémon Camps, another new feature in Pokémon Sword and Shield. As players roam the expanse of the Wild Area, they can set up camps for them and their Pokémon. Once in a camp, you can let your party of six Pokémon out to play. In addition to interacting with the Pokémon directly through throwing balls for them to fetch or brushing them, you can also watch them interact with each other.
旷野地带还设有宝可梦露营，这是《宝可梦 剑·盾》的另一项新功能。当玩家在旷野地带漫游时，可以为自己和宝可梦搭起露营。进入营地后，你可以让队伍中的六只宝可梦出来玩耍。除了通过扔球让它们捡回来或给它们梳毛来直接互动外，你还可以观察它们彼此互动。
You can also cook for yourself and your Pokémon. Based on the ingredients you use and how good you are at the cooking minigame, you can make different versions of curry with rice. Other players can join you in camp to help you cook and eat with you. Game Freak teases that eating with other trainers can have definite benefits.
你还可以为自己和宝可梦做饭。根据你使用的食材以及你在烹饪小游戏中的表现，你可以做出不同版本的咖喱饭。其他玩家可以加入你的营地，帮你做饭并和你一起吃。Game Freak暗示，和其他训练家一起吃饭可能会有明确的好处。
进步的代价
The myriad advancements of Pokémon Sword and Shield are exciting, but a few months ago, the games made headlines for what’s not going to be in them. During E3 in June, Masuda stated that not every Pokémon from the past will be able to be imported into Sword and Shield. This caused many members of the community to express their disappointment that their favorite Pokémon might be left out from the first all-new generation to appear on consoles.
《宝可梦 剑·盾》的种种进步令人兴奋，但几个月前，这两款游戏却因为不会包含的内容而登上头条。在6月的E3上，增田表示并非过去所有宝可梦都能被传入《剑／盾》。这导致社区中许多成员表达失望，因为他们最喜欢的宝可梦可能会缺席这个首个登陆主机平台的全新世代。
When I ask Masuda about the Pokémon not making the journey to the Galar region for Pokémon Sword and Shield, he says having so many Pokémon with each passing generation has become nearly unmanageable if the team wants to continue implementing new features.
当我向增田询问那些无法前往伽勒尔地区的宝可梦时，他说，如果团队想继续加入新功能，随着每一代过去，拥有这么多宝可梦已经变得几乎难以管理。
“Up until now, we’ve been proud we’ve been able to include so many Pokémon in the games, but as a result of that, there’s actually been quite a few features or gameplay ideas that we’ve had to abandon in the past,” he says. “Going forward, thinking about the future of Pokémon, we want to prioritize all those new gameplay ideas, and want to challenge ourselves at Game Freak to create new ways to enjoy the game. That’s really what drove the decision for this new direction.”
他说：“到目前为止，我们一直为能在游戏中包含这么多宝可梦而感到自豪，但正因如此，过去其实有不少功能或玩法想法是我们不得不放弃的。展望未来，考虑到宝可梦的未来，我们想优先考虑所有那些新的玩法想法，并想在Game Freak挑战自己，创造新的游戏享受方式。这才是推动我们做出这个新方向决定的原因。”
While he won’t elaborate on how many or which ones didn’t make the cut, Masuda says the decision was a result of collaborative talks with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. According to the producer, the decisions surrounding this move weren’t easy. “A wide variety of discussions happened; it’s not just one kind of criteria for deciding the Pokémon are going to appear in the games, but a lot of different reasons, a lot of different directions, a lot of debate over which ones would be the best in the game,” Masuda says. “I think one example of that is figuring out the Pokémon that would make sense for the setting of the game the most; these Pokémon look like they could live in the Galar region. We really spent a lot of effort deciding which would best fit the setting of the adventure and the features that we wanted to implement. I think players will be satisfied. There’s quite a few Pokémon that you’ll encounter in the Galar region Pokédex, so I think players will have fun seeing all the Pokémon.”
虽然他不愿详细说明有多少只或哪些宝可梦没能入选，但增田表示，这一决定是与任天堂和宝可梦公司共同商讨的结果。据这位制作人所说，围绕这一举措的决定并不容易。增田说：“我们进行了各种各样的讨论；决定宝可梦是否出现在游戏中并不是只有一种标准，而是有许多不同的原因、许多不同的方向，以及大量关于哪些宝可梦最适合游戏的争论。我认为其中一个例子就是找出最适合游戏设定的宝可梦；这些宝可梦看起来像是能生活在伽勒尔地区。我们确实花了很多精力来决定哪些最适合冒险的设定以及我们想要实现的功能。我认为玩家会满意的。你会在伽勒尔地区的宝可梦图鉴 App中遇到相当多的宝可梦，所以我认为玩家会乐于见到所有这些宝可梦。”
While it’s disappointing to be potentially unable to import your favorite Pokémon from a past game, there is an additional silver lining outside of the new features this enables Game Freak to implement going forward.
虽然可能无法将你过去游戏中的心爱宝可梦传送过来令人失望，但除了这让Game Freak今后能够实现的新功能之外，还有另一个好消息。
When I ask Masuda if the cut Pokémon will return in the future, he leaves little doubt. “Definitely,” he says. “You can look forward to seeing Pokémon that don’t appear in these games appearing in different regions in future games. I think Pokémon Home, for a lot of players, will serve as a launching pad to gather them all there and then embark on future adventures.”
当我问增田被删减的宝可梦未来是否会回归时，他几乎没有留下疑问。“当然会，”他说。“你可以期待在这些游戏中没有出现的宝可梦，在未来的游戏里出现在不同的地区。我认为对很多玩家来说，宝可梦Home将作为一个发射台，在那里把它们全部收集起来，然后踏上未来的冒险。”
终极宝可梦游戏
On the surface, Pokémon Sword and Shield may look like just an upgraded version of the mainline Pokémon games to this point, but several changes and upgrades have helped Game Freak come closer to realizing its mission of creating the best Pokémon game to date. With improved hardware, a fully realized region to explore, and exciting new mechanics and ways to battle – not to mention an entire new generation of Pokémon to encounter, catch, and battle – Pokémon Sword and Shield certainly has the potential to deliver on Game Freak’s lofty ambitions. Now, players don’t have long before they’ll know if the long-requested leap to consoles was worth the wait.
从表面上看，《宝可梦 剑·盾》可能看起来只是迄今为止主线宝可梦游戏的升级版，但一些改变和升级帮助Game Freak更接近于实现其打造迄今为止最佳宝可梦游戏的使命。凭借改进的硬件、一个完整实现可供探索的地区，以及激动人心的新机制和战斗方式——更不用说还有全新一代的宝可梦可供遭遇、捕捉和战斗——《宝可梦 剑·盾》无疑有潜力实现Game Freak的宏大抱负。现在，玩家们不用等太久就能知道，期待已久的向主机平台的跨越是否值得等待。