Interest

Pokémon Conquest Game Gets North American Release

Nintendo announced on Wednesday that it will release Tecmo KOEI's Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition game under the title Pokémon Conquest in North America on June 18. The Nintendo DS game is a crossover between the Pokémon franchise and the Nobunaga's Ambition strategy role-playing game series.

The story is set in Ranse, a wartorn hegemony split into 17 states. The player assumes the role of a military leader of the Hajime state and devises strategies against Nobunaga and other warriors inspired by real-life historical figures. Each commander is linked to a partner Pokémon during battles.

Pokémon President Tsunekazu Ishihara and Tecmo KOEI President Yoichi Erikawa explained the genesis of the game by first noting that Ishihara is a big Nobunaga's Ambition fan; he has been playing the games since the first one came out for the NEC PC-8801 Mk II computer in 1983. Likewise, Erikawa is a big Pokémon fan, and they talked about how their two companies could collaborate. They discussed different franchises, including Tecmo KOEI's Musou, for the crossover before settling on Nobunaga's Ambition. The project began in earnest three years ago.

Producer Hisashi Koinuma said that the main story episode takes about 20 hours to complete, but then there are many freeform scenarios for about 200 hours of gameplay. The game features almost 200 Pokémon, including monsters from the recent Pokémon Black and Pokémon White titles.

Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition shipped in Japan on March 17 for 5,800 yen (about US$76). The game's six-part manga adaptation launched on the Nico Nico Manga service on March 16.

[Via Kotaku]

Image © 2012 Pokémon/Nintendo