With Pokémon Conquest being released tomorrow, it’s a good time to get some of you readers informed about what is likely going to be a smash-hit game. So what exactly is Pokémon Conquest? It’s the latest spin-off of the Pokémon franchise, set in the fictional Ransei Region. Pokémon and Warlords named after actual historical figures during Japan’s warring states era (Sengoku Era) have teamed up to conquer and unite the land.
The gameplay is really simple. There are Pokémon, and there are warriors. There are also Warlords who lead the warriors. You play as a resident of the Aurora, the land of the Normal-type Pokémon. And then you get to battling, which is quite simple. You choose a Pokémon, you choose a place to move the Pokémon that’s within its Speed Range, and then you choose whether to Wait or Fight. If you want, you can use an item or a Warrior Skill, which can be used once per battle. The Pokémon themselves have skills as well that activate automatically in battle.
Unlike the classic games, Pokémon don’t learn any new attacks as they grow stronger. Each species comes with a set attack. For example, Charmander can only attack a square two spots away, while the main character’s starter Eevee can only attack the square next to it. There are quite a few more attacks with complex move ranges, which makes choosing which Pokémon to use much more important than other games. Why? Well you’re not picking Pokemon solely based on type alone.
Choosing which Warrior to fight with is also very important. There are a set number of types of Warriors, and they generally come with the same Warrior Skill. However, they come paired with different Pokémon, so choosing the right combination is crucial.
However, you can’t swap Pokémon partners around. So what do you do? Recruit more Warriors and hope you find the right combination or have a Warrior Link with another Pokémon. To recruit Warriors, you have to fulfill one of several conditions, such as defeating an enemy in a certain number of turns.
But how do you link with Pokémon? To link, you just have your unit stand next to another Pokémon and choose to link with it. You’ll be brought to a rhythm minigame that, upon completion, automatically grants you the Pokémon. This means you can now have this Warrior swap between Pokémon from the world map screen. Be careful though as Warriors aren’t always compatible with every Pokémon; their compatibility is shown in a medal above the Pokémon’s head.
One crazy thing about Conquest is that the Warlords (not warriors) themselves can also evolve once they’ve reached a certain Link with their most compatible Pokémon. This is almost always the Pokémon they come partnered with. In the main character’s case, that would be Eevee. When Warlords evolve, their skills change, and their ability to Link with their Pokémon is heightened.
Whew. So that’s a nice rundown of the gameplay of Pokémon Conqest. But you still might be asking yourself why Nintendo decided to create such an odd (but awesome) strategy game. In a recent interview with Joystiq, Hisashi Koinuma, the director of Pokémon Conqest, spent little time explaining why they decided to mix Pokémon and Warlords, two very random things.
“It would be nice if players would become interested in Nobunaga’s Ambition [what Pokémon Conqest is called in Japan],” Koinuma said. “But as Tecmo Koei has created a lot of simulation titles, we wanted to introduce the genre of simulation games to children. It’s not so much that we want them to start playing Nobunaga’s Ambition as an entry point, but just as an entry point to the genre of simulation games.”
“Especially in Japan,” he continued, “the number of users of simulation games has really dropped over the years, so in order to keep people interested in that genre, we hope that kids would play this game and would take it as a suggestion of ‘oh, simulation games are like this.’ Then in the future they’d continue playing simulation games.”
There you have it. Nintendo is looking to capture both Pokémon fans and strategy game fans alike. Good thing I’m a fan of both, so this game is definitely one I’ll enjoy. Even if you’re not a fan of either, give this game a try. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up wanting to unite Ransei more than you realize.