minnmax
patreon
MinnMax Interview - Pokémon’s Art Director On Leaving Game Freak For The Plucky Squire
🕑 Added 2023-10-30 16:15:00 +0000 UTC
In this MinnMax Interview, Ben Hanson talks with James Turner about his new studio All Possible Futures (that he founded with Jonathan Biddle) and their debut game The Plucky Squire published by Devolver Digital. The game takes cues from Nintendo titles like Zelda and has players controlling Jot on a journey through a 2D picture book but then also popping out into 3D and exploring a bedroom. James also talks about his full journey as a developer, starting out at Genius Sonority on games Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness before working at Game Freak on Pokémon Black and White and eventually becoming the art director for Pokémon Sword & Shield.
Watch and share the video version of this interview here - https://youtu.be/whw9U32iZMU
To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps below...
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:36 - James Turner and his great doodles on social media
00:04:05 - The role of feedback on his projects
00:05:21 - Shipping Pokémon Sword and Shield
00:08:16 - Why he left Game Freak
00:12:32 - Game Freak's independent spirit and projects
00:14:30 - The transition back to England
00:16:06 - Forming All Possible Futures
00:20:22 - The team behind The Plucky Squire
00:22:55 - The Plucky Squire's biggest challenges
00:26:25 - Thoughts on playing through The Plucky Squire
00:27:17 - The origins of The Plucky Squire
00:34:17 - The biggest surprise of the game's development
00:37:33 - Comparisons to The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
00:39:00 - Meeting Satoru Iwata at Nintendo
00:42:21 - Playing a Wii prototype with Shigeru Miyamoto
00:44:39 - The Pokémon he designed
00:48:29 - Misconceptions about Game Freak
00:49:57 - Finding the right size for a development studio
00:53:49 - All Possible Futures and its independence
Follow us on Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/minnmaxshow
Subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/minnmax
Subscribe to our solo stream channel - https://www.youtube.com/@minnmaxstreamarchives
Support us on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/minnmax
Buy MinnMax merch here - https://minnmax.com/merch
Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/minnmaxshow
Follow us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/minnmaxshow
Go behind the scenes on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/minnmaxshow
Become a Game Champion by supporting MinnMax at the $50 tier on Patreon and lock in the game of your choice! https://www.patreon.com/minnmax
An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs - RabidLime
Final Fantasy Tactics - Vincent Baker
Ghost of Tsushima - ProcyonNumber6
Mortal Kombat 1 - Malcolm Holliday
Total War: Warhammer 3 - Maniac
Luck Be A Landlord - TrampolineTales
Beautiful Katamari - Clemens Zobel
Brain Dead 13 - Jawarhello
Neo: The World Ends With You - Joshua Ayers
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo - Patrick Polk
Comments
Zae
Oh dude this is so exciting! Minnmax with the banger interviews. I can’t wait to hear it.
