Were we UNFAIR to Pokémon Legends: Arceus?

[@Marikyuun]

As always, this video is made in good fun for entertainment and a liiiittle bit of education if you're interested in a professional artist's POV!! Thank you for watching and let me know which game we should analyze next! 🎉❤ I really love PLA and that's why certain things frustrate me. I have almost 100 hours in the game, which I would never spend on a game I didn't like lmao

[@xAtlatus]

honestly design and art beside, i really love this game cuz of the farm and the old days, instead of in a pc or less digilized it's just with paper and such a heartwarming farm and its why its fun to me.

[@sleepyespurr2922]

The artist behind alot of the Let's Go artwork is very likely Megumi Mizutani, who has been both a Pokemon and Character Designer since Gen 5. I think she really captures the feel of Pokemon alot along with maybe Hitoshi Ariga. She also designed Hisuian Growlithe and Arcanine for PLA. You can see more of her style in the Pokemon cards she illustrates as well as the Mikus she designed for Project Voltage.

[@GabePlaysYT]

I LOVED this game and it actually got me back into Pokemon since I was a little kid in the 90s, but it could have had more time in the oven haha

[@Marikyuun]

It's a fantastic game and I wish it had more time and care put into it!

[@GabePlaysYT]

@@Marikyuun it really is and I already have such fond memories of it! the rough visuals didnt put me off at all and you can tell there was alot of passion behind it. The final battle with Volo was CRAZY and genuinely surprised me! but I wish the team had more time to really polish everything

[@aclonymous]

there's an alternate reality where PL:A came out november of 22 and SV came out in 23 and the games are actually playable

[@user-dh7sm9zh9e]

Bad tastes

[@joemomma6317]

I’ll take BDSP over this incomplete garbage any day lmfao. Palworld is better than this lazy shit. You can call bdsp lazy too but at least it captures everything great about diamond and pearl with some minor improvements

[@Dema_ObeyGlitchtrap-xc5gx]

The world building part was really interesting to me, I kinda like the way legends Arceus looks (but I like Scarlet and Violet so my opinions are invalid anyway-) but world building is really fun to think about and the way the Pearl settlement looked so much better with a few items outside the tent put a lot of that into perspective, really liked your video!

[@ShelbyLikesStuff]

For me design and art direction is something so important to me (I have sensory issues, my ones related to sight isn’t that bad but if art detection isn’t great despite it having a good story I just can’t), like if something has line art and the background doesn’t it gets rid of the immersion a bit, how it was with the Disney experimental era (Lilo and Stitch, stuff made around that time) is something great, but it just has to make sense. Like seriously art design is something I love so much which is why I am going to do it in a way that I like and makes sense to my little brain with issues

[@SpookyDeerArt]

YESSS THANK YOU. i hear a ton of people talk about the gameplay issues and the ilk with pokemon games, but aside from "trees ugly" with swsh, i don't see a ton of discussion about the art direction. legends arceus and now with sv, the solid art direction present in previous games and done so beautifully as recently as let's go is practically non-existent. like you said, the official art never misses. but the actual models in the game feel so disconnected from that official art in both execution and the actual feeling of the model, that they just tend to look bad. i saw geeta first in game and absolutely was NOT a fan of her design. i only more recently saw her official art and it looks fantastic! if i had seen the official art first, or rather, if she actually looked well executed in sv, i would probably have enjoyed her more. of course, the story in pokemon games, especially in modern pokemon games, can feel super disjointed with the execution of it. however, there is absolutely much to be said about how the game looks and how it, both legends AND sv, look isn't great. the lighting is absolutely wack, the textures are wack, and the model execution? also wack. i think there are some things that still look great in both games, in sv the crystal pool itself and the wisteria pond both in kitakami look amazing. that's because pokemon lends itself well to fantastical, beautiful scenery. a fair few places in the blueberry dome look great as well! but, those are all dlc places that still have plenty rough spots. i'm not asking for a gorgeously painted game, just for the games to spend more time in the oven and have dedicated release cycles instead of being split so wildly with surely insane crunch so the majority of the game doesn't look like the ugliest tiled textures imaginable. i'm still shocked legends was released with that cave lighting/texture issue being as obvious as it was, both i and everyone i've seen get to the cave portions are immediately taken out of the scenes because it's so bad.

[@themegameowster5717]

this is actually my fav video on youtube rn, its a nice bite sized video that is packed full of good content and advice plus a lil bit of comedy

[@yasmincamargo5080]

Omg I was thinking exactly the same I didnt even need to coment anymore

[@Hutchgold]

You know I’m shocked the village changed so much with a campfire lol

[@Marikyuun]

very small details like that make such a difference! it's all about making believable world building

[@pokeplazagamer]

I like the art direction, and wished they leaned in to the whole "painted" asthetic.

[@jvts8916]

By far the most frustrating and arguably damaging part of pokemon is its insistence of sticking to the business formula of gen 1. The game splitting means the team has to go back to the encounters and replace them, wasting time and resources. The tie-in games mean that not everyone in the team is working on the main games. While sometimes they can get away with Spike Chunsoft or a different third party, Legends Arceus and Scarlet and Violet clearly needed some time apart and more communication (the shoes inside the house are a japanese custom though). Last but not least, the simultaneous anime arcs. I heard the defense that SwSh was rushed because the anime had to air at the same time and all I could think of was "that sounds like a *bad* idea". They used Gen 2 getting delayed as an example and how Orange Islands had to be made as filler... except from what I've heard Johto Journeys was very padded out as well. Not to mention Gen 5's initially bad reputation was also influenced by how bad Best Wishes was and one of the biggest wasted opportunities was replacing Iris as the 8th gym leader for Roxie just to promote the sequels. Or how from Sun and Moon onwards Ash started going on quests that were wildly different than the game at the time so there's no reason not to have the anime studios wait until some time has passed like they do with most adaptations nowadays.

[@Marikyuun]

It's really unfortunate. A franchise with so much power, money and supporters could do so much better if it wasn't for weird people on the top positions

[@sleepyespurr2922]

While there are problems with Best Wishes, I think part of it came from issues stemming from the 2011 Tohaku Earthquake and Tsunami, an event that cause them to scrap their initial plans to introduce Team Plasma and their conflict with Team Rocket. It was a very unfortunate set of circumstances that I think damaged Best Wishes as a whole.

[@mjangelvortex]

​@@sleepyespurr2922 Correct. Both of the teams more or less had a Pokémon gang war and the end result had them damaging buildings with their Pokémon. We know this because they promoted that in video clips. But the episodes were pulled due to that sort of destruction looking way to similar to the recent events.

[@icanhazgoodgame3845]

PLA is my favorite pokemon game despite its flaws. I was blessed to grow up on early janky 3D games so Im not as moved by graphical fidelity as seemingly most( though my old eyes appreciate higher fps). I like the watercolor palette and find the skyboxes very pretty. There were areas that looked good but also lots of bland repeating textures and barren landscapes. But all can be forgiven if the game is fun and thankfully I feel it delivers on that front.

[@pokedude720]

One counterpoint I'd like to make is about the Pokedex images as the professor canonically takes photos of the Pokémon for it. He takes photos of the MC to show he has the camera, and there are little tabs to hold the photo in.

[@Rhyme_Time]

The more I watched the more I understood your stance on the visuals. I never thought about the light reflection like that and I'll keep an eye out on things I watch and play in the future!

[@pokiiren]

hearing artists talk about pokémon is my favorite thing in the world

[@SilentMeteorite]

I fully think this game's aesthetics suffered entirely from crunch/time constraints. The concept art had so much character and life that is not present in the final product. Legends Arceus is the best pre-build of a game I have ever played

[@ArcticFFox]

THANK YOU for finally putting my frustration into words. The pokemon games are improving gameplay wise but god damn it hurts so much to see the visuals. People also downplaying how bad things are doesn't help

[@JouJou-no9hy]

The graphics could've looked better if they kept it simmering a little instead of immediately removing it from the heat...

[@lunaeclipse458]

The environment is trying to be realistic, but the characters are super stylized and it's blatantly obvious that the two don't mix. If they had even just brightened the hue of the environment it would help, but really they should've just stylized the trees, rocks, etc. If a billion dollar company would just put in the effort, they could make everyone so much happier with the game. I know when I played Legends the gameplay was exciting and fun, but it was downplayed by the awful graphics. I want to enjoy every aspect of the games. But I can't, because they miss the mark so often...

[@kittendowhatever35]

9:43 HELP IM DYING OF LAUGHTER RIGHT AFTER THIS PART I GOT AN AD FOR SCARLET AND VIOLET 😭😭😭😭😭

[@Marikyuun]

NO SHOT LMFAOOOOOO

[@ZortaZert]

In the first part of the video where your talking about the shading of the pokemon in the starter selection scene. Your talking about the shading of a 3d artwork from the perspective of how shading works in 2d art. I am not an expert on shading as a noob 3d modeler but from my understanding if you want a shadow to be lighter (gray) you need to put a light underneath the models of the pokemon. It appears that there are multiple lighting sources in that cutscene but they can't just put a light everywhere it needs to be realistic to what's happening in game. The 3d renderer is generating the shadows, not the artist. It's accurate to the lighting placed in game. There is no lighting underneath the Pokemon. The lighting is hitting them form the top. Their shadows appear to be black, not purplish like in the cartoon/style you use full of bright colors and lighting everywhere. Also, they are standing on the ground not high up in the air closer to the lighting source. So that's why the shadows are so dark/black. On another note, I think that the style of legends arceus is trying to mishmash relatively realistic 3d models/textures/scenery however the pokemon themselves their models are very cartoony designed and have flat textures. I think that Scarlet and violete did a much better mix of this.

[@SeaOfPixels]

10:21 Definitely can't agree here, specifically as of late. WAY to many of the most recent official Pokemon art (of the Pokemon themselves) are just traces of their Pokemon Home "art", which itself is just their model viewed isometrically with no pose. I mean just compare Ursaluna Hisuian to Ursaluna Blood Moon, or Tyranitar to Iron Thorns. Iron Jugulis's render doesn't even show its LED face and is super discolored, and Sprigatito's art straight up has errors (its eye placement is derranged).

[@samehbadr8963]

Its becoming illegal how she entertains us

[@Janis_Arts]

„super duper special chief designer”.

[@AngelicMissMarie]

BOTW has more graphical and technologic improvements because it was in development for years, Pokemon is not given that luxury simply because the IP is a merchandise mill and being a high grossing intellectual property does not equal the money being used to fund the games. This issues of current pokemon games are more programming and tech related than art related.

[@artsiesteph]

This is a great discussion video, but I gotta say the little edits and memes just make it excellent. I like it

[@lucypie09]

Hi Mari! Was wondering if you ever played Drawn to Life on the DS before. Mainly the first game and The Next Chapter (the DS Version, the Wii one is different for some reason) But it’s a game where you draw a whole lot of stuff, including your main character. Also the art used in backdrops is incredible and so is the music. But it’s also a cute gimmick game disguised as a dark story and it gets depressing at the end. Yet I think you would like it because of the story and also because you get to draw stuff! Also Two Realms doesn’t count- xd

[@_larchiviste_]

Drawn to Life is an amazing hidden gem!!!!

[@lucypie09]

I’m in a Drawn to Life phase right now… so I gotta recommend it lol

[@Marikyuun]

I did! It's a childhood favorite and I actually restarted the first one recently on my 3DS since I still have the old DS cartridge

[@lucypie09]

Yeeeeah!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉 I’ve been in a phase that’s why I had to ask xd

[@Addy__624]

THE LAST ONE AND HATSUNE MIKU ONE- BFFJDJDJRHVTGDKVH

[@mysticblue108]

I think the idea was to make it reminiscent of the traditional ink calligraphy paintings Or just the old landscapes of early Japan. Like the 130 or was it 138 views of Mount Fuji. Based on the textures of the clouds and leaves on the trees but given the timeline between this and the previous game it may have been rushed so the looks of the pokemon weren’t like the background or even trailer

[@DogBat]

Legends Arceus probably has my favorite visuals of any Pokémon game😭😭😭

[@Zz-_-]

5:29 + the back shot jokes, chill 😂 I'm weak

[@douglewisamaanthro383]

this video resly helps me, cus like i'm trying to make a game myself and (despide it being vary flat like the 1st 3 paper mario games) this is vary applicable to my game, like with world building and some bits of shading and so on, thank you

[@recycledMilk]

as a digital artist myself, you really put it into words, what makes the game so crazy unappealing to me. and i really do believe, they had screenshots of BOTW as examples when they were developing the artstyle: you got a semi realistic looking overworld, with cartoony/stylized characters without any lineart&border effects. so the shadows are carrying the entire work to convey shapes/volume but since the cellshading is so rough and uses just one color (i like your multiply layer example) and also the textures are ... simply not very good, the entire artstyle is a mess... it took me some time to get used to the BotW artstyle but in the end i can say the artstyle is very well executed, polished and 100% enhances+supports the gameplay and art direction. while the pokemon game needed some more time in the oven. im sure it could have worked if there was a stronger focus on actually having appealing coloschemes rather than neutral/dirty cellshading no matter the surroundings

[@Shizune_124]

Lol the "kay thanks bye" ❤

[@FloofyShinyEevee]

i love pokemon based art content! as a combination between my 2 fav things, it makes my heart so happy watching this sort of content! I think your art style is great and i look forward to seeing more of this sort of content! :)

[@rinchuuxfroggex]

It's not arceus, it's ARCOOS

[@Starry_Lays]

I was at the last stage of the game but I didn’t have all the Pokémon in the game that’s what rlly Annoyed me

[@tessal6555]

I think they didn't add shading mainly because its with 3D models. Which may have been a part of the style for whatever reason. 15:40 I'm pretty sure the 3D shading you asked for here requires raytracing lol, and that's just asking for too much don't you think?

[@kaitogirldraws]

Got this video recommended and wow your art style is SO CUTE. I'm gonna eat it

[@crimsonnautilus3632]

Loved the video i love the edits 😂 i also made it in the video, just barely in the chat choosing Rowlett ✨️🤣

[@Hutchgold]

I honestly spent a lot of time on Pokemon arceus , I even did a shiny run , I just got the shiny started lol

[@Santoryu90]

Eh it obviously it could be better but I wouldn’t go as far as say it looks ugly.

[@HaruRanchi]

I was also thinking they could give the Pokémon a bit more detail with the lighting and colors.

[@alienseagull2780]

The biggest gripe I have with these graphics is that Pokémon is one of the most profitable franchises in the world, they have the money to make better graphics, sure they’re experimenting but Legend of Zelda experimented with BoTW and it looked gorgeous, this game would be a whole new level of amazing if the graphics just looked nicer

[@redpandaplush5980]

even though let's go stripped down the gameplay a lot, the visuals are probably the best in the whole series tbh

[@scratchcats88]

you never stop entertaining us,do you.

[@Coolbudgie20]

I have a shiny lvl 100 alpha garchomp 🙃

[@totallynotvaltorsdaughter]

Ah yes ARCEUS AND THE JEWEL OF LI-

[@Lunarstar57]

Truthfully, I never had an issue with Legends Arceus's looks and always trying to look at the positives when it comes to recent games, but now I see the arguments and ideas of how this game could've been better or more stylish. And for the most part it was done in a way that was constructive rather than merely criticizing for what is there. Nicely done.

[@Dangerous.Imp_Fxiry]

Oh shit, i just shortly realized that i subbed to you!! 🤯

[@Pudding404]

Pokemon, like many other franchises, are afraid to change too much from their original formula and that really hurts it. The first thing I noticed is how similar the backgrounds are to the backgrounds used in wii sports, lol.

[@frostare]

Oh man, thanks for covering this game, YES! I love it! But it could have used a little tinkering.

[@-itsme._.earthx-.]

omg girly i love ur vids :D

[@Omar_ZX]

Well... The graphics are, the art isn't tho

[@scratchcats88]

very true

[@lazyhinata]

I thought of the graphics as like Breath of the Wild style

[@blankcanvas3358]

“Legends: Arceus is the best Pokémon game and that’s the problem” is the most painful truth. They think us “liking” the games is enough, but they would benefit so much from extra time and polish. I just wanna play a game and have fun without always saying “but too bad about this, and this, and thi-“.

[@Azurepetalls]

looking at the rocks like "it's giving... n64"

[@vulpinitemplar5036]

Don't need to be a game developer to have tangible reasons and examples of jank style or lack there of, from trivial once offs to something you're stuck staring at the details no matter how small help sell the experience all the more.

[@keauis11]

YAAY MARI POKEMON CONTENT!!!!!

[@Ammiteur9]

Am I the only one who knows that Sugimori's artstyle doesn't look like his style in Gen 1 anymore and much more like the modern Pokémon Style •́⁠ ⁠ ⁠‿⁠ ⁠,⁠•̀

[@sallysoldbeans6847]

I was going to get the game and was so exited! But I play games solely for visuals bc it makes me brain happy :) so I saw it and I was like …..ok…….maybe not 😂

[@JohnSmithIlIlIlIl]

I just wanted to catch the 3 Gen 1 Starters. They could have EASILY replaced the Gen 4 starters with the Gen 1 starters! Who would EVER choose Chimchar over CHARMANDER!!?

[@kyperactive]

Mods, subject her to Modern Day Pokemon graphics, thank you.

[@blueredingreen]

The colour in the environment also just seems really faded out. They're going for a more realistic-looking environment, but that doesn't fit so well with the cartoony character models.

[@kaitlynmorgan8097]

I knew i wasn't the only one who didn't like the scarlet/violet designs in 3D. They look so good in official illustrations but i think they tried to go into too much detail with a pretty simplistic art style that focuses on shapes and ended up losing some charm as a result. Like i dont need to see the strands of hair on these characters

[@ninisdesk]

In my opinion the games lighting is too blown out, I get they are going for a more desaturated look but the lighting is almost blinding at some points.

[@GoGoSqueezeWorksToo]

Have you ever played Puyo Puyo Tetris? Huge fan of the game and your artstyle especially in your shorts remind me of it. I apologize in advance if making camparisons like that is rude!

[@Marikyuun]

I LOVE the modern puyo puyo style! Big inspiration

[@junsss]

i'm glad she enjoyed from the back :)

[@agr0nianTV]

Was it better or worse than S/V though that is the question

[@lexi-p4f]

yes im early!! anyway great video as always mari!

[@Yoruel]

Okeee I dont want to agree becouse I like the game but yea certain things could be better :,D sniff

[@lizboodude]

The art of a the game makes me think of some old Japanese art. They just made some parts too detailed is all. Other than that I enjoyed this game

[@AyoshisMochis]

1 minute ago…..1 MINUTE AGO!?

[@ChuuyaDrowningCutely]

EMU PFP!!!!

[@AyoshisMochis]

@@ChuuyaDrowningCutely wdym

[@ChuuyaDrowningCutely]

@@AyoshisMochis I love ur pfp

[@RSPSherman]

you know what sucks with legends arceus? the linkin cords the fact that there's an item that helps evolve trade pokemon exist only in this damn game frustrated me like wtf gamefreak? you gave us the best item that can let us alone, sure we still trade, but why the hell only limit in legends arceus?

[@Ann4nnnnaaa]

HIYA‼️

[@moana_skellington]

All they needed to do was copy okami's homework

[@I.Quit.Everything]

ITS COOLLLL :3

[@Cl0udystar]

You should try Pokemon scarlet or violet Hahah

[@bit0494]

Pokémon Hanafuda. Just Imagine

[@moana_skellington]

Trees should have been 2D

[@Andriak2]

imo scarlet and violet suffered from this as well

[@doubletheblack]

I think so...

[@RDrawzDragonz]

i hope she doesnt find out about pokemon scarlet/violet lmao

[@NaminaGacha]

Ar-KEE-us

[@Maria77688]

How can Genshin impact….GENSHIN IMPACT HAVE BETTER VISUALS THEN POKEMON?ARE THEY MAKING THE GAME IN POKEMON I CAN’T EVEN PLAY THE DAMN GAME WITH SAYING “God the visuals are awful” And Genshin Impact isn’t even a billionaire game,but pokemon has the worst visuals literally looks like bootleg.

[@Maria77688]

maybe the character you play as in pokemon needs glasses, its just a theory.

[@blumeli]

Hi

[@Bau_Bau]

Hii

[@lazzzyalien_]

hello

[@phirlsich1198]

love legends arceus but i gotta agree the game looks absolutely poopy

[@mhbarney8499]

I hate how people consume objective bullshit without a second thought. Nostalgia kills the brain and developers can get worse and worse without any problem. That being said: I bought the game second Hand so that gamefreak dont get my money. The 1 thing I can say that is really well done is the gameplay loop and the amount of endgame content after the credits. But I already give up with Pokemon. Its to big to fail...no matter how bad and lazy it is. Yet I agree: Legends Arceus is one of the "best" Pokemon games in the last couple of years.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

It's funny that the mainline Pokemon games on switch just get worse looking each time they release one. Least to me. Crazy let's go was the peak lol

[@svetaz0]

i like the visuals tho Also PLA haven't THE ORANGE LIZARD WITH WINGS, so this is my favourite pkmn game.

[@stardragon5849]

I don't know if you sounded like you hating the game but im just sick and tired of the whole Graphics Discourse all the time in Pokemon in general since SWSH. Why do you guys care so much about it!? It's just really annoying right now! Who play games for graphics/visuals!? I play games for fun gameplay and im tired of this. I love Pokemon Legends Arceus (probably my favorite game) and the whole switch pokemon era itself myself. Look, it's not you that im mad about Marikyuun, it's the Pokemon fanbase itself in general acting like this because as a pokemon fan since Gen 1, it infuriates me that i prefer the modern games than classic because i find it a lot more fun but i got flak and calling me bootlicker for liking the later games. It makes me mad I can't say anything nice about it.

[@Cl0udystar]

Well some people are actually complaining gameplay wise as well in the comments But she is a vtuber and she is good in digital arts right? And the colours are washed out though ,that is the only thing I see that is bad , just the washed colours

[@stardragon5849]

@@Cl0udystar What's wrong with washed colors!? I liked it. Why y'all so bother by it so much. I don't care if the colors are Saturated, Pastel, Washed, Solid, etc. washed out color is actually fitting for this game and I love it. Plus the gameplay itself for this game is really good and fun overall. I'm sick of the negativities in general of this game. Sheesh!

[@rainbowsubs2]

this game looks ugly asf one of the worst Pokemon games

[@jackasmile6517]

in my humble opinion they should return to pixel 2d because their 3d sucks and have not evolve I dunno why

[@stardragon5849]

Are you serious!? That's a bad move to going back 2D pixels now.

[@jeremiegaming3034]

For me it's not just that it looks bad... LEGEND ARCEUS IS BORRRINNNNNNNNNG!!!!

[@elisa48092]

Yeah it was. Pokemon used to be bright and colourful, now everything is washed out. It could help if they would introduce again some line art on Pokemon and Human characters to make them pop out against these... ugly background

[@MxMothra]

This was actually super interesting and insightful. It really helped me pin down my thoughts about how they could improve on this game. Nice work! 🩷

[@Addy__624]

THE LAST ONE AND HATSUNE MIKU ONE- BFFJDJDJRHVTGDKVH