The second collaboration project between Konami Digital Entertainment's mobile game " JIKKYOU PAWAFURU PUROYAKYU " ("Power Pro App") and the "Power Pro Kun Pocket " ("Power Poke") series, which boasts strong popularity, is now underway! The collaboration will feature the "PowerPoke 7" series. In the collaboration, "Hanamaru High School" from " Power Poke 7" has been added as a new scenario, and the well-known mine game " Uki Uki Uki Mine Panic " in "Power Poke" started on March 3! It was added as a limited-time event! We interviewed the production team that has been involved in the "Power Poke" series for many years!
Remote interview!
-First of all, please introduce yourselves!
Mr. Nishikawa: I'm Nishikawa, the scenario director.
I've worked on the "Power Pro" series from 1 to 5, the "Power Poke" series from 1 to 14, "Power Pro 20", "Power Pro 13", and now "Power Pro 20". 13", and now I'm also in charge of some scenarios and characters in "Power Pro Apps". If not a Pawapoke character, then recently Yuhi Morimoto.
Miura: I am the director of "Power Pro Apps".
I have been involved in the series from Power Pokemon 3 to 14. At that time, I was in charge of some scenarios, backstage successes, and mini-games. In the "Pawapuro App", I also planned and implemented some of the success-only systems. Of these, "Fleet High School" is my favorite.
Hagiwara : I'm Hagiwara, the designer of the "Power Pro App".
I have been involved in the series from "Powerpoke 3" to "14". At that time, I was in charge of character illustrations and UI as a designer. Currently, I am the design leader of "Pawapuro Appli" and mainly in charge of quality control of the overall design.
Kimura-san: I'm Kimura, a planner of "Power Pro Apps".
I joined KONAMI because I have loved Pawapuro and Pawapoke since I was a child, and I am the youngest of the three. This time, I was in charge of the "Uki Uki Uki Mine Panic" event, one of the collaboration projects, as a planner.
-How long have you all been with KONAMI?
Mr. Nishikawa: I've been with KONAMI my whole life (laughs).
Hagiwara: More than half of my life has been with KONAMI (laughs).
Everyone: Laughs
Ms. Miura: I am the same age as Mr. Hagiwara, so... so am I (laughs).
All: Laughter
Mr. Kimura: I have been with KONAMI for 4 years, but I have more than 10 years of experience in Power Pro (laughs).
(laughs) - Tell us about the background of the collaboration between the "Power Pro App" and "Pawapoke" this time.
Miura: Last April, when the first Pawapoke collaboration was held, we asked in a questionnaire in the app what kind of collaborations we would like to see in the future. We received many requests to collaborate with "Pawapoke," and that was the trigger. When we tried it, the response was even greater than we had expected. We received many requests for the addition of new scenarios and the appearance of Pawapoke characters that did not appear in the first collaboration, which led to this second collaboration.
-The scenario added to the collaboration takes place at Hanamaru High School, which appeared in "Power Poke 7". Why did you choose "Hanamaru High School" out of all the other schools?
Nishikawa: There are 14 "Power Poke" games, but only 5 of them are set in high schools. The "Pawapuro Appli" Success uses a deck system, so it is difficult to use a special school, and the training period is only one year. With these considerations in mind, we decided on Hanamaru High School.
-What are your memories of "Powerpoke 7"?
Hagiwara: There are two original songs in the game, which were even made into a CD, and one of the songs, "Hanamaru High School," was sung by the production team. At the time, I was puzzled that I would join a game company as a designer and end up singing a song. But now it's a good memory (laughs).
Nishikawa：Was it raining heavily? I remember we went out to record.
Miura: At that time, there was no place to record either in the company or in the neighborhood. Besides, we had a deadline and a budget, so we couldn't change our schedule. However, I don't think the situation was bad enough to stop traffic...it was raining heavily, though.
-Are there any characters in the collaboration that you would like people to pay special attention to?
Nishikawa: I would like people to pay attention to Reisen Amamoto. She was originally not in "Powerpoke 7," but we added her specifically for this collaboration because she is a very good character to drive the storyline. On the other hand, when she appeared in "Power Poke," she was so tightly involved in the storyline of the scenario that we were unable to fully depict what kind of girl she was. But I think we were able to interpolate that part of the character through this collaboration.
-I heard that you joined KONAMI because you liked Pawa Poke so much. Please tell us about your first encounter with Power Poke.
Kimura: It all started when the TV at home was occupied. That's when I got hooked on "Pawapoke," which can be played on a portable game console.
-How was it working with Mr. Nishikawa, Mr. Hagiwara, and Mr. Miura, who created "Power Poke," a game that influenced your life?
Kimura: I have been working on the "Pawapoke" application ever since I joined the company, and I am very honored to be able to work on a collaboration with the "Pawapoke" game, which I have always dreamed of, surrounded by kind senior staff.
-Kimura: You were involved in the production of "Uki Uki Uki Mine Panic" this time, weren't you?
Kimura : Yes. The creator of this mine game is Mr. Miura.
Miura: This "Uki Uki Uki Mine Panic" is a reprinted version of a mini-game I created when I was in charge of Power Poke. Kimura took over the project from planning to production and did a great job.
Kimura: Mr. Miura gave me a lot of advice...
-Kimura: I got a lot of advice from Mr. Miura... What were some of the things you tried to improve?
Kimura : The operability. Since the game was ported to smartphones, it was no longer possible to press the A button to dig and the B button to brush.
We had to be very creative to bring out the tempo of the original game system.
Another difficulty we had was that if we made the tempo too fast, it would now be easier to make a misfire.
We solved this problem by changing the operations for digging and marking.
We made many adjustments to the UI to make it easier to play, even for beginners!
-What were some of the difficulties and challenges in the scenario?
Nishikawa: I think it was the simplification of the story. In Hanamaru High School, the process of conflict between the heroes and the baseball players is important, so it was difficult to compress the story.
Miura-san: At the time, games on handheld consoles were built in such a way that they were difficult to clear.
It was also difficult to lower the difficulty level to suit today's smartphone users.
Mr. Kimura: I played the game as a user myself, and it was difficult....
After the adjustment, the game is easier to play than before, and the story is more enjoyable, so I hope that even the light users will be able to enjoy "Power Poke"!
-What did you think of the design?
Hagiwara: The "Pawapoke" artwork is unique, so it was difficult to recreate the Pawapoke characters in the style of the "Pawapuro Apps". The jawline and eyebrows of the characters are different, and I wondered what the Pawapoke characters would look like if they wandered into the world of the Pawapuro App. I drew them while imagining what they would look like if they were lost in the world of the Powerpoke app.
The designer in charge of the UI also asked me, "What is the world view of Powerpoke? I remember that I answered irresponsibly, "It looks kind of weird. I think there are many different kinds of "weirdness," but what is a "weird design that is typical of Powerpoke"? What is a "strange design that is typical of Powerpoke"? I racked my brains like a "philosophy (universe)" that could not be answered even if I tried.
I was pondering over the question like a "philosophy (universe)" that I could never find the answer to.
Thank you very much for your valuable behind-the-scenes stories! Finally, do you have a message for your fans?
Miura: "Pawapoke" is a long-loved title, and I would be happy if fans of "Pawapoke" would take this opportunity to play "Pawapuro Apps" as well.
For more details, check out the official Twitter account and the official website.
If you haven't downloaded it yet, get it from the App Store or Google Play Store!