Players didn't have the Ring Con, and instead held two Joy-Cons in each hand. Players would move across a field, and in order to fit enemies have to punch them. Battling was still turn based.
Then they decided to add one of the Joy-Cons to the leg, and one to the wrist in order to allow for different kinds of movements like yoga.
Suddenly the game was running in the courses, and battles with training and running.
More stuff was added to the field in as new ideas were incorporated. They started adding more rythmn based mechanics, Stealth mechanics, and mini games. That's when it really became Ring Fit Adventure as we know it.
Here are some more pictures of what I mentioned above. The second enemy has to be fought with rythmn.
In addition, a companion character was added (yellow character in third picture) at this point.
The game started running into an issue where it wasn't as straight forward as Wii Fit.
That's when the hardware development team came up with the Ring Con controller which helped tie everything together.
They started getting closer to what would become the final product.
There was one major difference - - when battling players would need to squat 3 times to build up energy. Then players would shoot out energy from the Ring Con by pushing in.
They added Tanren Village where players could train at any time and added even more mini games. They felt like they finally had all the pieces together to make the game.
But there was a problem...
Kawamoto tried the game and enjoyed it. But he felt like something was off. He told the game's director, Matsunaga, "I was you to include more squats". Squats are good for using a lot of muscles.
Squats were in the game, but only done 3 at a time which wasn't too difficult...
The purpose was to mix fitness and gaming, and the team wasn't fully successful on it.
So they needed to work more difficult movements to the mix (picture gives example of Wide Squats, Planking, Mountain Climber, and Overhead Push)
In order to truly mix fitness and gaming the team decided to rework their ideas. Tanren Village was the place where players could do intense training while in the story, attacks were still mainly focused on getting the player to move. Steps and more difficult courses were added.
They decided to adjust the game flow. The world map and Tanren Village would be combined and tough training dojos were all mixed in the world map. The map also showed the course time how tough it would be so players could know.
The team decided that it wasnt a combination of games and fitness but it was becoming a fitness tool!
(the slide shows images of the map and title screen)
Since it was becoming a fitness tool, the title screen and the game started to change to reflect that. The menu changed into a real life gym, and information was added to help guide the players.
The clothing was adjusted to show sweat on the character in order to bring it more in line with what the player is experiencing.
Also they gave players more control over the intensity of the workout. It could be adjusted manually in game, or by a survey the player does at the start of the session.
OK this is pretty funny.
When they were testing it, it was quite unique as the floor would sometimes shake like it's an earthquake. Also since there was only one shower, the testing team would have to wait sometimes.
That's about all the important points I could find. If you use this translation please tell people to follow me on Twitter for more news and translations! Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed learning about Ring Fit Adventure's development!
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1. Sakurai is really happy with the positive response to his videos. His videos are averaging over 99% like/dislike ratio.
(This means almost everyone is leaving a like)
His ratio is just slightly higher outside of Japan.
2. He reads through all the comments and again is pleased to see it is generally positive.
3. It's important for Sakurai to speak from his own experience for his channel. He does consult with other companies (like Nintendo) but in the end, Sakurai has the final say.
The Famitsu containing the last Sakurai Column is now out! As expected, the feature is quite in-depth but @KodyNOKOLO and I will be tackling it!
First up, is an interview focused on Smash Ultimate's DLC. This will take time, so stay tuned to this thread for updates.
@KodyNOKOLO Sakurai starts off by stating that the time in between projects is the most peaceful. He can do what he likes and mentions that he wants to go on a trip.
@KodyNOKOLO The first question is about Sora’s position in the Smash Ballot.
Sakurai: There were a ton of votes from all over the world. However, Sora quickly became the most requested character.
There is a potential leak of Sakurai's upcoming interview/the last column. It's unknown the exact context of the quote and where it exactly it came from. More information might come to light soon.
Reportedly, Sakurai will state that he will be lurking in the shadows for some time. It might even be best to not think about him for the time being.
However, he will be careful not to disappear completely.
[2/3]
My interpretation:
Sakurai will begin his next project sometime in the future or he may have already started it. It will take some time before it is actually announced/we get some sort of update. Don't worry.
This is the summary of Sakurai's Column 639, “The Final One”. Sakurai discusses Sora’s inclusion in Smash Ultimate. @KodyNOKOLO is joining me with this translation and will be posting the second half. Please make sure to follow both of us for the full details!
Sakurai starts off by saying that Sora’s reveal had an amazing reaction! For more details, fans can watch Mr. Sakurai Presents Sora to learn more about the last fighter. He mentions it in the presentation, but Sora was the #1 most requested new character in the Fighter Ballot.
Banjo and Kazooie also ranked very high in the Fighter Ballot results as well. From a Japanese perspective, it was quite surprising.
The barriers to Sora’s inclusion in Smash weren’t as surprising, though. It wasn’t the same as getting other fighters.
Sakurai Column Leak About Sora
NOTE: this isn't the full column but a translation of a summary of the column.
Stay tuned for the full translation when the column becomes available. The wording may change. I'll link that tweet thread in this one when it's available. 1/4
The barrier for Sora joining the battle was quite high. In fact the negotiation team might have thought it would be impossible.
Sora joining Smash is actually the result of a lucky meeting between Sakurai and one of the heads of Disney at an award show. 2/4
Sakurai told that manager that he wished to see Sora in Smash and somehow they were able to make it work.
It took a lot of talks between Square Enix, Nintendo and Disney to get Sora into Smash. 3/4