Was Pokemon Really Better in 2D?

[@lerdog]

Yes, but that's not because 2D is inherently better. It's because GF put way more care into the 2D sprites than they do the 3D models.

[@DrsJacksonn]

Afaik the production of 3D models wasn't even done by Game Freak, I think they outsourced it.

[@bluesherbet1866]

@@DrsJacksonnSo they didn’t put effort in it

[@jamiewalkerdine3705]

I think dynamic 3d models are also just harder to produce and animate probably. Pixel art is pretty easy

[@Ichigo1987]

​@@jamiewalkerdine3705pixel art is technically easier, but making it look good is as hard as with any other media. Care and solid art direction is always key.

[@WolfyCrow]

Controversially I liked BDSP I think the balance was great but I do miss sprites.

[@SmolStall]

nah 3d sprites can work, Colosseum and XD proved that. they just cant be lazy about it.

[@strider0122]

Colloseum and XD had really good 3d, theyre just lazy and the world graphics in the nintendo switch games are just so mediocre...

[@DemifireFirestorm]

Sprites are 2d and can also be 2.5d but never 3d. Models on the other hand are 3d. I know this due to being a 3d artist myself. Fact check your information before posting.

[@orangemonks894]

@@DemifireFirestormI think they just accidentally said sprite instead of model…

[@unreal_idk.]

​@@DemifireFirestorm please be satire please be satire

[@taibasarovadil]

>3d >sprites

[@xRaymond9250]

It’s not just hardware, Game Freak themselves are not as good as they used to be

[@phizen1]

Definitely

[@MustacheDLuffy]

Game freak specializes in 2D animation. Creatures inc is handling 3D duties

[@uhhhidk2238]

Recent leaks say otherwise imo, they just didn’t have enough time for anything. They can’t produce 3D games at the same rate that they did for the 2D games, but they’re trying to do just that.

[@phizen1]

@@uhhhidk2238 Yea, that def the main reason. I think since the mess that was releasing Gen 4 remakes with Legends Arceus they’ve slowed down, as we haven’t seen a release in a while now. Hoping they really take their time with PLZA and Gen 10, I’d rather wait an extra year of 2 for an excellent game then get faster worse quality games

[@uhhhidk2238]

@@phizen1 the wait is long but I don’t mind playing Emerald, HGSS, or BW2 for the 100th time if it means we get that level of gameplay again.

[@ryzeVA]

I also love the 2.5 sprites, for me that's the peak of Pokemon! While I love the idea of 3D being implemented in these games, it lost its charm since the 3D style tends to be bland.

[@phizen1]

Definitely!

[@Sab5524]

I don’t know what you mean, Scarlet and Violet at least I think I fixed most or all of the 3-D Pokémon in that game

[@ryzeVA]

@@Sab5524 Haven't played S/V before but i guess yeah it has improved, but for me i just don't appreciate as much as the 2.5 sprite.

[@Sab5524]

@@ryzeVA ok

[@Chillin-jg8vg]

Agreed 2d sprites had personality to them now in 3d their just generic looking.

[@Otherface]

Personally, the problem is not the fact that they went 3d, but rather how it was handled. 3D games have *WAAAY* too many issues. That's undeniable. However, most of, if not, none of these issues come from being 3d. Rushed development, bugs and glitched, etc, all may also apply to 2d. But the 3d era has been handled so badly that it makes 2d look great. Because if you think about it: 1) If you switch 3d with 2d but keep the same issues, the games will be the same. Scarlet and Violet will still be one of, if not the worst, game on the franchise even if it was 2d. 2) If you think about it, the franchise could benefit from 3d. Take Legends Arceus, for example. Stuff like hiding, throwing pokeballs, etc, wouldn't feel as great as in 2d. TL.DR: The problem is not the fact that Pokemon doesn't work on 3D. The true problem lies on the fact that Pokemon had/has a rough transition to 3D (very ironic, because people said the same to Sonic. And yet, some of his best games are 3d)

[@Miguel92398]

3D is fine. The problem is the art direction and the fact that they were doing yearly releases pretty much have a ton of missed opportunities. As a Gen 3 player who grew up playing the GBA and the Gen 3 titles, a 3D Pokemon is what I like and while 2D sprites have more charm than 3D, having it as a static image (or in BW, skewed and deformed images in multiple layers) is pretty bland imo. I know that animated sprites in BW are revolutionary. But my only complaint is that animating different sections of the sprite and trying not to cut off is very time consuming, considering back then, there were 649 mons with 1 minute and 30 seconds of idle animation and multiple animations for certain moves and damages. Let's hope that Game Freak made the animations more lively and mostly using Pokemon Amie/Refresh/Camp idle animations than standard battle animation. There were some in SV already using those animations in battle, mostly those who are flying.

[@MostAttractiveDudeInTown]

I don't think it's a 2D versus 3D issue. It's a high versus low effort issue. A large portion of the pokémon in 3D just stand there statically, just breathing slowly with their arms to their side, hovering in place or flapping their wings at a constant rythm. With only a few select pokémon getting idle animations that show their personality like Mr.Mime, Hitmontop, Ludicolo and Spinda. Very few pokémon get actual lively animations or poses that show their unique personalities. The 2D sprites were also static (with the exception of gen 5), but they had unique poses to show of special things about their design or character, making them feel like creatures with actual personalities. Another thing is that sprites changed with every gen. Since the transition to 3D, all that changes is the textures, with a few old pokémon here and there getting minor tweaks. In gen 1-5 nearly every pokémon got completely new artwork every time. Even some game pairs and trios had different sprites between versions. And then there is the weird decision to wash out all pokémon colors as if their soul was sucked straight out of them by some sort of ghoul. Seriously so many pokémon look so much worse because they are so much less vibrant now, making them even more lifeless. This even ruined some shinies like Lanturn, now barely looking purple anymore. They fixed this in the Let's Go games... only for them to just undo it in Sword and Shield. I think it is the reuse of 95% of their models for the past 5 gens, the lack of interesting animations and the washed out colors that makes 3D pokémon so much less appealing to me and many others. Not to mention just the low quality of the 3D assets outside of the pokémon in recent games. Especially the landscapes.

[@timon844]

in your opinion, in which game do the pokémon look best and which game looks like there was put most love and effort in? :)

[@mkgibertjr]

The Let's Go! duo was actually the perfect visual formula for the main series games to me. Seemed sustainable and appropriately scalable with an increasing roster and, in my experience, gameplay was smooth. I also liked X and Y, while SwSh, SV, and SM/USUM have been much more controversial with me. The 3D models could be updated with every system update, so they'd get kept for almost a decade before having to be redone. And I'm fine with old mons being drip-fed back to the roster in newer games. In short, 3D is fine, but the open world stuff should be left to spinoff games like Colosseum and Legends if they insist on making a new generation every 3 years with 100s of new Pokemon.

[@phizen1]

I definitely agree that Let’s Go! Is the best 3D Pokemon has ever looked

[@Only_Some]

I completely agree with the way that the art direction was for the go games it was perfect. it was just that chibi weird looking art where every character no matter the age looked exactly the same, like please remove it. I just don't want the go mechanics they need to get rid of that crap and keep it in the mobile version where it belongs.

[@lightblade14]

THISSS!!!

[@thenapoleonlover113]

Simple question, simple answer: Yes.

[@woollyrhino6258]

I’m playing White 2 right now, the sprites look so much better than 3D balloon bois

[@AR-io8fv]

Pokémon Coliseum and XD showed that you could still have magic in 3D

[@jankrnac3535]

One of the 3D problems that is also discused in movies/series is how brain see the space on the screen. In 2D human brain "filling empty space" when for example some lines making fur or edge of the object, brain just add it to how see the object. But in 3D you have to add everything there which need also good shading and details that Pokémons on Switch do not have.

[@zackivanov9461]

If Gamefreak and Nintendo went back to the 2D pixel art design for Pokemon moving forward, I think it would unironically make the series games much better again. A lot of their efforts and resources were just smoother those times and if you look at Final Fintasy I-VI remaster, you can really see the potential in a how a pixel art game can operate in the current modern space of gaming. I think many people agree GF/Nintendo would receive massive support for this, especially knowing how difficult the 3D era of design has been for them. They shouldn’t feel pressured because going into 3D is not for everyone. I mean just look at how long it took for the devs of Kirby to finally release a fully functional 3D open space game NOW when Kirby’s been mainly 2D and 2.5 for the longest time.

[@aganbraganca4156]

tbh people will hate it we are at a time where games are high qualit AAA but pokemon being most popular media franchise still lagging behind that aspect because of gamefreak

[@DenizDivine]

i wish they'd choose an artstyle like octopath traveler after gen 5 instead of 3D

[@PapierDeutscher]

This so much.

[@linguaLatinae]

I have the exact same wish 👍

[@1992zorro]

Great video, it's also a lot of Nostalgia and also the lost love of actually making beautiful art. Everything has to be cost efficient nowadays which doesn't offer a lot of space for Art

[@conmanay4563]

Shiny Zekrom had the absolute best sprite, and it was never available legitimately. That occasional blue or green glow was incredible

[@phizen1]

Gen 5 legendaries' sprites are awesome

[@puppies3330]

when game freak does something for gen 5 (bw3 or remake) I hope they don’t shiny lock

[@ssjkillluah5935]

Zekrom is my favorite legendary because of these games

[@ssjkillluah5935]

@@puppies3330 hope they do remake. then id probably buy another pokemon game since x and y lol

[@prod.soulz1]

ur incredibly underrated, u deserve more subs

[@phizen1]

Thank you I appreciate it!

[@prod.soulz1]

@@phizen1 np i subbed btw!

[@Mirawaru]

The problem wasn't 3d but X and Y The colors are too muted in that game. Just play sun and moon and it is so noticeable, the Alolan pokemon look so pretty and vibrant because they don't use the X and Y models.

[@leonardopuzzolo4216]

horrible take, xy were so much better than sun and moon in every single way

[@unhappyrefrain2924]

@@leonardopuzzolo4216retard they’re talking about the gen 6 models not the whole gen 6 games being better please read

[@sliferx0]

@@leonardopuzzolo4216 its the same model, they've been using them since 2011, maybe they upped the saturation a bit and thats it

[@pedromonteiro2248]

Sun and Moon uses the EXACT same 3d models of XY. You are insane…

[@Mirawaru]

@pedromonteiro2248 That is the exactly the issue Just look at a pokemon added in alola and comapre it to one that was created before and so reuses the X and Y model it looks putrid in comparison

[@morbid9142]

Great video! Ya did a good job of presenting game analysis and personal opinion

[@phizen1]

Much appreciated!

[@UltimateMustacheX]

I still hold firm that they should make the next switch game as sprites (2.5D, as you call it). With so much less power needed to run it, the sprites can be the best damn sprites we've ever seen. They don't even need to be sprite sized. The switch screen is bigger than the old handhelds, and you could use dock mode, so there's plenty of space to scale up the sprites to better display the details. Sprites used to be simplified out of necessity, but now they can just be the stylistic choice and be just as detailed as 3D models. The upgraded system should allow scenes like that bridge, but without the glitchy/blurry edges.

[@DarkwingDann]

Pokemon never needed 3d. It's a simple, timeless concept. Catch pokemon, raise pokemon, battle pokemon, trade pokemon

[@anticlaws4105]

Just playing devils advocate but I think if gamefreak still hadn’t made a 3D Pokemon game, I think there’d be a lot of people asking for some

[@originalElctric]

Mario never needed 3d. It's a simple timeless concept. Jump, grab coins, run.

[@Mateozz19]

@@anticlaws4105 which would be a good thing imo. Players demanding more and more would make GF do their best effort to make the best 3D pokemon game and not just lazy half assed forced 3d pokemon games nowadays we get. I think their 2.5D and 3D chibi era was too short because they haven't even perfected that and yet they already jumped ship to the full 3D. Those 3D chibi has so much potential and easier to make... with a good writing im sure we would've gotten a much better pokemon games and probably we could've gotten the BEST out of all.

[@dimisart]

​@@originalElctric yea but the mario games have way more care put into plus they still make 2d games for mario

[@Kaleki935]

​@originalElctric show me the pokemon equivalent of mario 64, sunshine, and galaxy. Each iteration drastically changing the formula with new ecstatic heights that the same youthful audience can comprehend and fall in love with while intriguing fans of old. Because the experiences of Sinnoh and Kanto are roughly the same, just giving new pokemon to use in the same battle system across new routes and towns. When the only conversation of pokemon becomes copying and pasting the "meta" for a "competitive build", or disliking the art direction, I think it's fair to say they made massive missteps with the series as a whole. It's the same formula each and every time, now even MORE catered to kids with all the handholding and things like EXP share to all in your party. There's nothing to it anymore, unlike season 1 of the pokemon anime where team rocket wielded actual firearms for robberies and references to death were rife. Or how about the mystery dungeon of old where people loved it to pieces despite being a copy of the studio's previous game's story? Today's Mystery Dungeon games are... literal elementary school instead of a handcrafted team of friends braving the wilderness and facing the concept of death. GF isn't good at what they do, bottom line. Their pretending that kids can't understand more "mature" (realistic) concepts WHILE they're saying their pokemon "died" instead of "fainted" on the schoolground, is where it all began to spiral. And that's not related to the game corner's rightful censorship, that's about literally everything else within the series being padded with 17,000 layers of bubble wrap to avoid any potential drama. Mario Sunshine said "have a jetpack" and we ate it up. Mario galaxy gave us literal orbits for our platforming, introduced the power ups and other 2d Mario aspects to blend the directions, and there's zero people complaining about the direction it went. Meanwhile; are you ready for another anime-influenced art direction for your pokemon game as the peak innovation, forgetting exactly what I said above which made the first season so captivating? CHIBI TIME

[@DIAZRICKY42]

Great video! Keep up the great work dude!

[@phizen1]

Thank you! I appreciate it

[@macginni]

great vid brotha

[@phizen1]

Thank you!

[@jephteesesa6180]

Ok, great vid man.😊 I can understand not liking the 3D in the most recent game since the people and environment can look weard but the pokemon to me look strictly better in scavi than the other 3D games. The new textures look amazing with reptilian pokemon actually having scales or mammalian pokemon having furr. Even though the in battle animations look the same, outside of battle some look pretty good and are definitely a step in the right direction for me.

[@phizen1]

After looking some more I agree S/V stepped up in actual model quality. Hopefully all around visual and technical improvements can follow

[@darkspine133]

3D can work. The main issue is that GF stil pumps out games like they're 2D handheld games instead of AAA 3D games. Their games are just undercooked.

[@1NTEN7ION]

I love the Nimbassa music in the background ❤️ (The video as well lol but the music is a very nice touch)

[@phizen1]

Thank you! I love generation 5 music

[@1NTEN7ION]

@@phizen1 yeah in a few of the routes the music actually changes when you are walking and the drums kick in

[@CherrySodaPoppp]

Great video man! I love Gen 5 and platinum's sprite art but I also love 3D Chibi! Those are my two favorites while everything after looks fine just nothing I'm too keen on

[@phizen1]

Thank you! Those are definitely my favorites as well

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

2D anime graphics make the characters expressive, and save memory size for extra gameplay content.

[@C.ShortsYT]

The thing here is that the models are almost 10 years old and have been used since Go if not before. If they really cared they could upgrade it to look so much cooler, but that goes against the super family friendly and neutral approach of Pokemon Company

[@J3erto_YT]

Black & White's idle animation was absolut peak

[@Mat383]

Pokemon SV's art style had huge potential as the series' most deliberate leap towards realism, it just can't be taken seriously because of the lack of polish and fidelity. I hope they try it again on the Switch 2, SV is my favourite mainline Pokemon game (and I've already played gen 4-7).

[@Stepbystep-m6w]

Dam bro your video came out of nowhere on my page, keep it up bro. Honestly you inspired me to make something around the series because of this, quite the opposite of what i make tho on my channel😅.

[@phizen1]

Appreciate that

[@chicopatata33]

you need more subs man, hopin to see you at the top

[@phizen1]

Thank you!

[@anishedits79]

pokemon hg /ss , diamond and pearl , black and white were the best gamesss

[@Jaywoox3]

Love all the 2D styles. I feel like they are so well done partly because they improved incrementally over like 15 years in a time where development periods weren't insanely long. 3D requires so much more time and care that pokemon has sadly not had. My personal preference for graphical style going forward would be like HD-2D, or at the very least use it for remakes

[@phizen1]

Definitely, seems like now they are going in the opposite direction with 3D and 2D they seemed to build up and improve on each game with realistic expectations for a 2 or so year development period.

[@karmagreif]

I really like the 2D Pokemon sprites, the 3D sprites are okay but especially many of the older ones look a bit stiff and not very dynamic if that makes sense. 3D worlds allowed for much more exciting world building and immersion. However we went from very good pixel art to pretty bad 3d graphics. The graphics barely improved since XY (which is over 10 years old at this point), it's only the resolution that got increased because of the nintendo switch. I get it that noone plays Pokemon for the graphics but it really bothers me that for over 10 years they have made very little effort to make their games look better.

[@NoName-du4iu]

I honestly believe that 2.5d is enough. Black and White is very very beautiful as a game. But it’s understandable for Nintendo to try and push for 3d since it provides more opportunity in the design of the overworld.

[@Catohat52]

I’m your 80th subscriber yay

[@phizen1]

Thank you!!!

[@sampseth5887]

To be honest I think both have their place. In stuff like PLA and SM/USUM I think 3d looks really good and I think it should be mainly in the open world style, but I like 2d a lot more in the locked route based style gameplay such as what Pokemon has been for most of it's time.

[@sampseth5887]

Also, I know SM/USUM is route based, but I still think it's one of the prettier 3d titles we've had.

[@NebulaComments]

Excellent video man. Personally, I grew up playing Platinum around 2011. Recently I came across the cartridge after essentially 13 years of not playing it, as well as my old Heartgold cartridge I never got into. Since then I have not been able to stop playing them, and have been heavily feeling the nostalgia, as I have been watching this video. I really agree with your option on the Gen 4 and around its artstyles. It is by far the best. There was so much care put into absolutely everything. Every part of the world was done intentionally from landscape designing to Pokemon colouring. While nostalgia bias likely does play a part for me, I do believe that these games were the pinnacle. My primary issue with the new artstyles is a very fundamental one, and it's that the games are starting to feel like hypothetically 'playing the anime'. What I mean by that is, in previous generations, the anime, cards, and games felt extremely separate. All different artstyles. For the anime and games, this was an is extremely important as their vibes are completely different and cater to different audiences. The anime for me is very much stylised for children, whereas the games always had a universal appeal. The new games now look like the anime, and I think it's creating a weird vibes that takes you out of the immersion that was once created by a very specific artstyle. The uniqueness of the games is kind of dissapearing. It's kind of comparable to how logos of companies are becoming really simplified versions of what were very complex and beautiful logos. It's like modern architecture vs old. It's just making things look bland. This is of course just my opinion though. Anyway, I think you summarised everything so well in this video. You were balanced and really got into depth. I was really surprised when I saw you had only just over 100 subs. I will watch the rest of your videos after this and hopefully more as they come out!

[@phizen1]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed and I appriciate the support

[@chicopatata33]

i miss the dynamic poses sprites had like in the earlier gens. now just looks like they gettin a 2x2 id pic

[@SimaShangde]

One day I would like to see a main series pokemon game with the graphic identical to the anime, where you feel like watching the anime and interact with it while playing.

[@_brutalista]

I grew up with Gen 3 so I'm biased about it. But what I really like about 2D is how timeless it is. 3D can be a hit or miss on whether it will hold up its style or not.

[@NiallByrne]

I like the 2D designs and 3D designs. The problem with the 3D designs is the models need more detail and dynamic posing for each pokemon and more vibrant colour palettes (like the had in the Let’s go Pikachu and Eevee games). It’s a really small change, but It can give the newer games more life and personality.

[@phizen1]

Model animations is something they should improve upon, like you said, would add a lot more life to the world instead of spammin a characters signiture animation the whole game

[@beech5950]

Short answer: Yes Long answer: 3D Pokémon can work, but the models need to be proportioned right (take a look at haxorus to see what I mean) and the animations expressive like in the pre-sword and shield era console games.

[@blortorglethegreat3868]

The stupidest part of the shift to 3D was that they had excellent models in pokedex 3D Pro and then just didn't use them.

[@alexjoseph330]

Great content! Keep it up. I also agree with 2d sprites being the best. While the move to 3d models was inevitable, a lot of pokemon lost their personality and charm. Typhlosion got the shit end of the stick lol. Also, the color pallet of a lot of the 3d models look desaturated compared to their 2d counterparts

[@phizen1]

Thank you!

[@bremalerage5935]

Some of the 3d models have gotten better with the teal mask

[@MofoMan2000]

I'd be interested to hear where you feel Colosseum and XD fall in these categories.

[@ssjkillluah5935]

The Black and White were definitely my favorite games of the whoel franchise, the art style and the whole game was just amazing

[@dilli5854]

Dragon Quest XI had a 2d AND a 3d mode i would love pokemon to do something similar

[@sdzxpa]

my fav art style is gen 4, but the gen 6 is quite nice as well

[@red-fy8si]

Extremely underrated channel remember I was here before 20 wubs when you have 2 million lol

[@phizen1]

Thank you I appreciate it!

[@johnsimpsen5]

They should bring back 2D to see how they could do now, would love to see hand drawn Pokémon instead of pixel art. Would be super cool.

[@GameMageVideos]

I'd like the main series to resemble something like Octopath Traveler or the Dragon Quest 2DHD remakes. If people want the national dex, it's clear that pixel art is a lot more manageable for the devs

[@gonzalodiaz9326]

Nintendo has probably the biggest IP in the world in Pokemon, they could pour as many resources as they'd like to make a great, polished and good looking game, they just choose not to because people are satisfied with the lazy ass games they make.

[@GameMageVideos]

@@gonzalodiaz9326 Well I just don't think 3D pokemon works conceptually, it's not even just a budget thing. Like, if you want a Pokemon to follow you, that works in Heartgold where all the pokemon's sprites are magically the size of a single tile. But in a 3D game, you'd have to disable the giant pokemon or else the game would have to manage having a giant Gyrados splashing around behind you. Same with battles, imagine you're in a cramped attic and you challenge someone, and you both choose Wailord. This works in 2D, but in 3D, wtf happens? It's just never been something that's actually concerned with 3D space. It's a 2D rpg.

The thing is, Pokemon are missing dynamic poses. With 2D sprites, you could make any Pokemon have a cool pose that resembles some movement or action and reflect some of the Pokemon's personality; but in 3D, that would need some more effort to not make Pokemon look weird. They could make one "idle" animation for things like Trainer interactions and wild encounters, and then change to their "battle" animation where they take a certain pose (like lifting their arms, showing their teeth, pointing with their tail, flapping their wings, etc.), as well as going full stylized with Pokemon running towards the opponent when connecting an attack (like how Stadium, Colosseum/XD and Battle Revolution did), and even go a bit further and add animations for dodging/attack misses to make things feel way more dynamic and "realistic" for the 3D standards. And all of that also applies for trainers and overall NPCs with a better dialogue-action composition. NPC just standing still, moving their hands while speaking, and not interacting with their environment just feels off for 3D models; they could be "running away" from wild Pokemon, getting scared if you reach with a big Pokemon or looking happily a smaller one, or they could do things like heal their Pokemon when not doing anything at a Pokemon Center or speak with other NPCs and then leave, things like that to make the world feel way more alive (and also make wild Pokemon have some other interactions between them, like play with others from the same species, eat while standing still, get in battle pose against "opponents" or even some species-exclusive things, like Clefairy dancing when finding a Moon Stone or Kecleon changing its colors to mesh with the environment). The 3D style can work, but they seriously need to step up their game for that.

[@phizen1]

I've been seeing this a lot recently, I think adding more animations to both pokemon and NPC's in the overworld would do numbers to the immersion of the game and make the world feel way more alive

[@KChaos005]

They just need; better backgrounds, better lighting rendering, bump mapping, quality texture maps and better animations full of character.

[@Trapezius_God]

As someone who just got into 3D Pokemon 2 months ango after playing Gen 4 for the last 15 or so years, I prefer 3D. The only downside is the music not being as good for 3D as it was 2D.

[@Trapezius_God]

If there was a fix, it would be in the camera work and music. Colosseum got it down right with the camera work.

[@Puggernuts]

2.5 was hands down.the best thing ever for Pokemon games

[@CloneTrooper-yz2ov]

The biggest problem I have with the newer is the lack of voice acting. Because you will have really life like animation, but the mouth movement with out dialogue ruins most scene for me.

[@phizen1]

Voice acting is definetly something I've seen an argument for more and more on the internet. I get that the original style of pokemon is dialouge boxes but it would be awesome if a mainline game had voice acting to at least see how it is, would definetly make the emersion a lot better

[@justyuriforever]

If I look just at the thumbnail: Definitely!

[@nader66x]

i prefer the 2D Art Style of Pokémon

[@phizen1]

Same here

[@ac1dfoxdie716]

Honestly yes it had a charm to it graphically and a for of imagination that came with it

[@iuxbaesuzystan]

I loved the way gen 1-4 had Stadium / ColisseumXD / PBR as a way of showing them in 3D.

[@mfsmarineop693]

Latest games I have are my two Heartgolds.

[@champcee7]

Yes, yes it was.

[@shadowmarauder6033]

Love this discussion on this controversial subject. Me personally I prefer the older sprites compared to most 3d models from XY onward(not counting spinoffs). It does have its downsides and quirkyness but for me it actually makes it more fun to watch as well as demonstrate the limits the animators tried to break when doing the sprite models. I think the 3d models from XY would be better acceptep if each gen some small improvements to the model. Even minor changes like in the poses or slight color saturation could’ve helped. At least SV did a big overhaul in that department.

[@phizen1]

Same here, I definitely prefer the sprites in Generation 4 & 5 compared to newer generation’s 3D models. However I am excited to see if games like Pokemon Legends Z-A and Generation 10 on a new console can make improvements on 3D models and animations with a presumably a more powerful console.

[@zasdyxd]

Looking at 3D charmander is like looking at first pikachu 2D sprite, I think that putting more effort and redesigning the models could give us a evolution just like pikachu over the years

[@thomascolter9053]

If they made a Pokémon game with the octopath traveller/ dragon quest 3 HD 2d remake graphics it would be perfect

[@reptilemark7346]

should have stayed with colosseum art style for 3d. would have been perfect and age better. the mature anime style of that game would have been peak today with how popular anime is now

[@isaiahperez5719]

The new pokemon models look nice

[@bajanyaoikaizer6902]

The same way there is a "Poke-verse" , the series should have split. Set A can go on to all the newer consoles and be all 3D, glitz, glamour, bubblegum girly pop, super flashy, have all the new flashy gimmicks, be super open world, and experiment to the Nth degree with "gym challenges" etc. Set B can stay on the 3DS/DS, be 2D and have version exclusive sprites, keep Mega Evolution as the only recurring gimmick, have a more traditional gym format [but have more than 8 gyms sometimes], have higher difficulty, have PSS and free wi-fi connectivity. And be more willing to adjust types to bring more balance [like making fairy weak to Dark and Bug] and fiddle with the idea of new types [Sound, Crystal] or have union types [Rock + Ground = Earth, Grass + Bug = Nature, Psychic + Fairy = Mythic] on occasion. Set C can focus on the side games like Ranger, TCG, Colosseum/Gale of Darkness and Stadium/Battle Revolution, Mystery Dungeon.

[@phizen1]

I’ve never thought of something like that but definitely interesting

[@GameMageVideos]

Well seeing as how Nintendo only has one console now, this wouldn't work, but I do believe in something similar. I think the core series games should be 2.5D and have an artstyle like Octopath Traveler or something. And then you could also have the "Legends" games, and that's where you'd do the 3D open world adventure stuff

[@shareosu7048]

Honestly I think ORAS peaked at 3d because they kept the same feeling when playing the gbas version while providing new features and a shit ton of extra events I think they should do more for the newer games where the models are similar style to ORAS

[@1creeperbomb]

My greatest issue with 3D is the lack of surface texturing. Everything looks like a soft plastic model from autodesk. The original DS could have actually used full 3D, but not in great detail. The 3DS didn't need it that much either because of the low resolution screen. Then they lazy ported the models onto the switch with very little changes, so it ended up looking very unpolished.

[@MegaDrain]

Colosseum, Gale of Darkness, XY, ORAS, and Legends Arceus all prove 3D can work as long as it's art style and music is there. I don't mind if the 3d models look the same throughout multiple games, as long as the art style shines through, my mind can do the rest with the pokemon models. As others have mentioned how the gamecube games just used the Stadium games for Gen 1 and 2, but I don't really notice it because the battle arenas are just gorgeous to look at that it hides some of the N64 'mons imperfections(although Battle Revolution makes them incredibly obvious lol).

[@trailersforfun2669]

Pokémon in the 3D style could work if Nintendo finally broke away from game freak

[@MatthiusNiandra]

> opens video > "Yes" > closes video

[@evedoingthingsaaaaa]

Currently I'm remaking Pokemon from scratch in Unity 3D, and it was just a few days ago that I got battles fully up and running. In my opinion, the gen 5 sprites were peak, I love the pixel art aesthetic of them. Maybe it's because Black 2 was my first Pokemon game, but I feel like that was one of my favorite art styles ever. With my goal for my fan game though, I think 2.5D had a strong limitation in the possibility of a truly open world Pokemon game. A 3D game, with the unlocked camera and freedom of movement, allows for so many more options, like awesome vistas, seeing into the distance, etc., where 2.5D you were locked into a specific camera position, seeing only a specific grid of tiles (unless in specific locations like Skyarrow Bridge.) Making the world map would be much, much more difficult in 2.5D considering the limited camera view. Another consideration is I feel 2.5D, with that limited camera view, almost forces a linearity to route design. So far in my design of the Kanto region you can just go completely off the road if you want, dive into the wilderness and just explore everything. The only downside is needing to add in some new anime-exclusive locations as filler content until I can add side quests to them.

[@phizen1]

Wow, your project sounds awesome and I really hope you keep on working on that really seems like a unique and different Kanto adventure. I also agree that the limitations of anything in the realm of 2D definitely is its main setback. In todays gaming atmosphere, I completely see the need for all Pokemon games to be 3D and I think many can agree that a 3D game that is polished and complete has infinite more potential than the 2D Pokemon games of the past. It’s just gamefreak being able to execute this and having proper development time to get this vision done because anyone can see the lack of this emotion and care in recent games

[@evedoingthingsaaaaa]

@@phizen1 Yeah it's certainly an undertaking lol, it started because of Dexit and my beloved Serperior being so utterly unavailable. Handcrafting the animations is super fun and super rewarding, trying to make every Pokemon feel unique is fun. Also using really cool VFX scripting for moves is super fun I just wish the 3D Pokemon games would have gotten as much love as B2W2, because those were so fleshed out

[@thiefedpvp]

criminally underated

[@vojtech_ledvinka]

I personally like the 3D style in SV the most

[@cmbaz1140]

The new zelda game where you play as princess zelda has in my opinion the perfect style for a 3d pokemon game i can also see animal crossings style work well...

[@ernestt5703]

Id like to see Pokémon with the art style of borderlands where it’s more of a comic book style 3D so they can bring back the color saturation of the 2d sprites.

[@thirtysums]

been playing pokemon from the beginning, 3d looks good in the lets go games but they need to give pokemon a few candid poses/actions and they to animate unique attack/hurt animations for all the moves for every pokemon, and this is especially tru if they followt he legends formula

[@The_NJG]

Short answer: yes Long answer: absolutely

[@bmxgu2361]

I've personally never cared all that much about the 2d sprites because I found the movement and gameplay itself a lot more limiting in the 2d games, so most of my enjoyment comes from the 3D ones or remasters because I feel like I have better control over the character and understand the sense of depth in the objects around me. I do agree that pokemon has been slacking off in terms of graphics and filling their worlds recently but I feel like it's not all bad because games like Legends Arceus or Scarlet and Violet have really fun gameplay mechanics, S&V has in incredible story, and Arceus has crazy animations. My favourite games are the Pokepark ones for the Wii though so 3d is my cup of tea

[@itsyoboiasu1441]

Black and white was the coolest Pokémon game ever I love those games so much they were so aesthetic the map, the sprites the dragon legendary trio the story the rival(I mean N although he was quite edgy ) everything was pefect for me….😊

[@Josuke8Man]

That's why Stardew valley Minecraft Roblox and fan made Pokémon is So popular

[@huggleskuishy]

3rd gen was peak pokemon

[@trailersforfun2669]

3rd was my introduction to the series and is definitely so impressive, but there’s no denying that gen 5 is the peak

[@jenneking952]

Gen 5 >

[@artem1816]

For me, the best way to play pokemon is like those anime style RPGs but still keeping the gameplay the same. that way you can immerse yourself in a gameplay that is the same when you watch the anime. I also think that there is no need for a new gen pokemon for now. GameFreak nailed it with ORAS so I'd like to see them try to remake classic games into the modern standard (Hello, Johto)

[@1.0xY.m0r0n]

If anyone can make 3D pokemon work it's gamefreak. They have the money and manpower to make incredible things happen. The OG pokemon titles pushed the limits of what the gameboy could do. I wish we could see them return to that mentality.

[@frogboy831]

i would love the 3D feature to be back on the switch 2 :) ik it won't but i really loved it

[@SyIynt]

2D era polish + 3D era QOL = Fantastic Pokemon game.

[@jacobniles2892]

I would say they fixed Tylphosion kinda in Scarlet and Violet

[@shewolfcub3]

Generations 2-6 are the only Pokemon anyone ever needs, really.

[@sushiboy500]

They should make a legit Pokemon mmo with Gen 4 2.5d or 3d chibi…. Both those styles are so fire

[@phizen1]

I would love to see newer generations in that style

[@mey_jr2232]

Noone suffered from 3D as hard as poor Typhlosion 😭

[@spaceowl9246]

The routes alone were much bigger and had much more to explore in them. The biggest fun I had with Pokemon was exploring the new region. X and Y were okay but Sun and Moon's Alola was such a letdown. It was literally just corridors.

[@phizen1]

Need a mix between open world and the linear formula for a peak game imo

[@TFAric]

The best Pokemon ever looked like was on the Nintendo 64, some of the models were derpy and the poly count was rather small but it looked better than the new pokemon for Gamecube and the 3ds and Switch games

[@azadsprogramm]

great video!

[@phizen1]

Thank you!

[@wTVe.]

I can guarantee you that if they ever go back to sprites, it’ll break records. Sadly I don’t see it happening

[@dinoman6481]

With the situation Pokémon is in right now we sometimes forget that 3d Pokémon did use to look good.