At the Computer Entertainment Developers Conference (CEDEC 2023), a presentation on the sound design of the Pokemon games appeared. Game Freak Sound Designer Go Ichinose, Connect+Echo Audio Director Kazuki Kitamura, and freelance Sound Programmer Sho Iwamoto went over the process of creating the environmental sounds and Pokemon cries, the history of environmental sounds in the series, and how they have evolved over time was discussed. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]
In other games, it would be acceptable to include the sounds of creatures based in reality, such as birds and insects. In the Pokemon games, this is not allowed by Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda, who worked on audio for the games in the past. Ichinose explained that the reason for this is “because there are no animals in the Pokemon world – only Pokemon.”
Image via Game Freak
Environmental sounds and Pokemon cries were first introduced in the series in 2002 with Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire. At the time, there was only one call per type of Pokémon. Now in the latest mainline entries Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet on the Nintendo Switch, Kitamura claimed the goal was to “realistically express the sounds of a natural environment where the only living creatures are Pokemon.”
Kitamura conducted an experiment in which he randomly placed small speakers in the forest, played Pokemon sounds, and recorded them. This experiment allowed him to examine how Pokemon cries sounded in a natural environment. Kitamura also noticed during his time in the wilderness that insect sounds are similar to the electronic sounds of synthesizers, which are used to make Pokemon sounds. He came to the conclusion that if the audio team at Game Freak could simulate the way sound echoes in a space, and simulate the diffraction of sound waves caused by plants and trees, Pokémon would begin to sound more realistic.
Image via Game Freak
However, due to the sheer amount of Pokémon (now there are over 1,000), the sound team could not reasonably create very many variations of Pokemon cries. There are only a few variations based on the Pokemon’s mood, including calls of joy, anger, and sadness.
When Kitamura consulted Masuda and Ichinose on how to confront this challenge, they gave him three key suggestions, which he called the “word of the gods:”
- Creativity is key.
- Pokémon are “mysterious creatures,” not animals.
- Will the player be pleased with the sound?
With these words in mind, development of Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet could commence.
When conducting research for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Kitamura visited mountains and zoos to take note of various animal habitats to achieve the goal of realistically representing the ecology of Pokémon. He also found that body size creates an effect on how an animal sounds, and worked to make Pokémon reflect that quality as well.
Image via Pokemon Sound Design CEDEC 2023 Presentation
During the production of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, a specialized program called PokeSynth was used. PokeSynth’s main function is to add nuance to Pokémon sounds and generate many sounds based on those nuances. Thanks to the program, a large number of Pokemon cries were successfully created and manipulated to allow variants for battle cries, happy cries, and more. Furthermore, PokeSynth now makes it possible for Game Freak to create a multitude of Pokemon cry variants, allowing Pokemon to express their emotions in accordance with the events of each cut scene.
Image via Pokemon Sound Design CEDEC 2023 Presentation
Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are available worldwide on the Nintendo Switch.
