Are new Pokémon overstylized?

[West the Hardcore Nerd]

I've been a fan since Generation I, but the stylized designs are, in my opinion, more creative and interesting. Going back to the early ones, they look a bit too much like animals. After all, they're supposed to be these strange, unexplained, almost monster-like species, and the ones in Generation I looked like... Weirdly-colored animals. Ratatta doesn't exactly look like a purple, mouse-like creature, it looks like a purple mouse. And even then, the Gameboy had greyscale graphics, so it just looked like a regular mouse.

Nowadays, though, they look a lot more creative, and as such, have a lot more personality. Trubbish gets a lot of crap for being a creature based on a trash bag, but, on the other hand, it's a creature based on a trash bag. That's a lot more creative than a creature based on a mouse, eh?

Of course, everyone's mileage may vary.

 

[Ω Ruby and α Sapphire]

Meh, there more styled but that isnt nessacerly a bad thing.:|

 

[BBA_Beyblader_321]

I completely agree. And that is why I HATE the two newest regions. While I still don't think they're completely like digimon... They are getting really close. Too many details. Like, really? I can see catching a pidgey, or a zigzagoon or something. But a pokemon with pants? Or metallic features on it? Completely unnecessary.

 

[GStheHero]

Hold up, since when did detail become a bad thing? And why would you complain that Pidove doesn't look as much like a real bird as Pidgey does? If you want to see real birds, stop playing Pokemon and become a bird watcher. This is ridiculous.

 

[Wya77]

I completely agree. And that is why I HATE the two newest regions. While I still don't think they're completely like digimon... They are getting really close. Too many details. Like, really? I can see catching a pidgey, or a zigzagoon or something. But a pokemon with pants? Or metallic features on it? Completely unnecessary.

Agreed.

Some of the Generation 1 Pokes are just abysmal in design. Voltorb and Electrode have uncreative designs, Magmar is literally a butt-head (EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA!!!), Mr. Mime looks stupid, and Tangela and Jynx are just...nasty. People need to remove their nostalgia goggles before analyzing a new generation. People should stop complaining about Generation V and look at some of the IV Pokes. While some of the new evolutions were great (Gliscor, Yanmega, Electivire), many other Generation IV Pokes were awful. Ambipom was horrendous, the starters were meh, and most others were forgettable. One of the few that I actually like, Chatot, belonged in the tropical and colorful Hoenn region instead of the cold, forbidding Sinnoh region. Although some Generation V Pokemon are awful, some are great! Scolipede, Excadrill, Elgyem, and Eelektross have become my new favorite Bug, Steel, Psychic, and Electric types, for instance. The Snivy line is phenominal, Emboar is great, and the first 2 pokes in the Oshawott line are great! Although the region isn't my favorite, many of the Unova Pokes were great and really showed the potential of GameFreak to create great Pokemon. Plus, this region featured numerous great Psychic types. Munna/Musharna are cute, Elgyem/Beheeyem are cool, and the Reuniclus line shows GameFreak's creativity. I'm not even going to mention Gothitelle and Swoobat, they are ugly. Not to mention weak as heck. I really don't understand why people want Pokemon to just be different-colered cuter variations of animals. Plus, the Gen. 5 animal Pokemon look a lot more organic than the Gen. 5 animals. Just compare Pidgey and Pidove and you will see. Pidove looks more like it's base animal, a pidgeon, while Pidgey doesn't really look like any specific bird, just a bizarre combination of a bunch of different birds. Plus, if you consider Generation 2, Sandile is definitely more of a crocodile than Totodile.

I think you're missing the point. The point is that pokemon are getting more detailed and "elaborate" as we pass through the generations, which is completely understandable. It's turning into an argument about which generation has the most realistic-looking pokemon. If that's the case, what IS Venusaur? What IS Samurott?

OT: I agree that pokemon is getting more and more stylized.

 

[켄니씨]

I don't think so,I like them all the way they are,but they could be simpler

 

[Somni]

They feel fake and unnatural. I also enjoyed the organic animal-like pokemon of the first generations. Another thing that makes me cringe is how so many pokemon seem/or are human-made. I understand if one or two, but so many of them now appear human-made! Might as well be digimon.

 

[professor plum]

Personally, I still think there's a fine line between Pokemon and Digimon, but that's just me.
I think, as has been said, the design process has just 'evolved' (if I may) over time as it should. As said, things became more detailed and whatnot.
I also appreciate the new non-organic Pokemon. I think the creativity behind them should be applauded. :)

So, yeah. I definitely think that becoming more stylized and more unique is a good thing.

But a pokemon with pants? Or metallic features on it? Completely unnecessary.

Or, a Pokemon with a dress!

Metallic features are unnecessary, too.

 

[moonlightning]

Personally, I think the designs on the new Pokemon are as good as ever. They just need time to grow on me. The legendary designs were the best from this gen, Reshiram and Zekrom looked legendary.

 

[Careful With That Axe Pichu!]

Personally, I still think there's a fine line between Pokemon and Digimon, but that's just me.
I think, as has been said, the design process has just 'evolved' (if I may) over time as it should. As said, things became more detailed and whatnot.
I also appreciate the new non-organic Pokemon. I think the creativity behind them should be applauded. :)

So, yeah. I definitely think that becoming more stylized and more unique is a good thing.


Or, a Pokemon with a dress!

Metallic features are unnecessary, too.

I think you're missing the point. What we mean is that the tendency now for nature/animal-based Pokémon (like Tauros, Gloom or Charizard on their time) is unecessary, sometimes overtly artificial appendages. An example is Empoleon, a big penguin with steel-plated wings, a really tall beak-crown, a pointy tie-like blue steel appendage though its chest and circular border designs on its waist.

If you compare it to another "artificial" starter like Blastoise, for instance, it's a big blue turtle with cannons on its back. It's quite simpler; no weird designs, spikes or other just-so-it-looks-cooler stuff.

THIS: (thanks Kirbychu)

Spoiler:

I personally don't like it. I don't believe in unecessary design flair. I wouldn't say it's "detail" or "benefits from greater technology". To me, it's often superflous decoration.

 

[Kirbychu]

Hold up, since when did detail become a bad thing? And why would you complain that Pidove doesn't look as much like a real bird as Pidgey does? If you want to see real birds, stop playing Pokemon and become a bird watcher. This is ridiculous.

Not everyone likes that Pokemon designs are getting more stylized and possess more features. Be aware that things like beauty are completely subjective. Did you ever consider that some people just prefer simpler more animal-like designs? I could tell you to go play Digimon if you want creatures heavily stylized, but I won't, because I realize that you and I find different things aesthetically pleasing.

They feel fake and unnatural. I also enjoyed the organic animal-like pokemon of the first generations. Another thing that makes me cringe is how so many pokemon seem/or are human-made. I understand if one or two, but so many of them now appear human-made! Might as well be digimon.

I totally agree with this post, except the part with Digimon.

 

[RetardRaichu]

Definitely not as bad as D/P/P. I love it.

 

[Atomic Pirate]

I completely agree. And that is why I HATE the two newest regions. While I still don't think they're completely like digimon... They are getting really close. Too many details. Like, really? I can see catching a pidgey, or a zigzagoon or something. But a pokemon with pants? Or metallic features on it? Completely unnecessary.

Well, Magnemite from your beloved first generation was completely metallic. Plus, the second generation brought us Skarmory, Steelix and Scizor, which had metallic features. Are you saying that there shouldn't be a Steel-type? I will admit that some of the new ones (some of the legendaries come to mind) are overstylized, some aren't. Darmanitan, for example, would fit right in in Hoenn. That's really why I like Hoenn the best: It's less simple than Kanto, but not as complicated as Sinnoh. Honestly, I think Sinnoh had more overdone designs than Unova. Just look at Giratina, Heatran, the 3 final starter evos, and Rhyperior for proof. Anyways, while Unova does contain some overdone Pokemon, there are also many more organic designs than Sinnoh, and even some simple designs like Solosis and Elgyem.

 

[marcc5m]

Game Freak got creative. Idk how that's a bad thing. Would you rather another blob of slime that turns into a bigger blob of slime?

 

[Kirbychu]

Game Freak got creative. Idk how that's a bad thing. Would you rather another blob of slime that turns into a bigger blob of slime?

As long as it looks good, sure. Who cares how creative they're being? I'm not so concerned about the process of creating the Pokemon; it's the final product that counts. Game Freak could have thought up Grimer and Muk in a couple minutes, but they look good regardless. Maybe Vanilluxe took many months to create. Who cares, I still think it looks terrible.

Pokemon like Garbador, Conkeldurr, and Stunfisk I'm a bit more lenient about, because they're suppose to look dreadful.

 

[Kirbychu]

I'm sensing some hostility here...

And this doesn't look terrible?

I don't recall saying anything about Gen 1 being perfect in that post. As a matter of fact, the only thing I ever mentioned about Gen 1 was Grimer and Muk.

So what if they're adding more detail? It's their games, they aren't forcing anyone to buy them.

Where in that post did I say anything about detail? Where in this thread did I say detail was a bad thing? Where did I say Game Freak can't do whatever they want?

 

[Scythemantis]

There aren't any pokemon I really actively dislike, but there are many I would probably find at least a little more pleasing if the designs were more streamlined, with fewer clashing colors and tacked on "doo-dads." It's not that more details make a design worse, it's that in many cases, certain details appear out of place. They clash with the rest of the design or look like they were pasted on as an afterthought.

Some of my favorite pokemon are artificial or partly artificial, like Garbodor, Rotom and Cofagrigus. This is, however, part of their concept. When the pokemon is only based on an animal, I'd prefer more organic shapes, and do feel like more of them per gen have maybe one or two more details than necessary.

Arbok is a nice, simple cartoon cobra. Seviper on the other hand has a mess of jagged shapes scattered throughout its body. The purple parts and smaller yellow scales make it especially cluttered to me...with just the yellow scales on the back and face I'd find it twice as appealing as I currently do.

 

[ORegan]

Arbok is a nice, simple cartoon cobra. Seviper on the other hand has a mess of jagged shapes scattered throughout its body. The purple parts and smaller yellow scales make it especially cluttered to me...with just the yellow scales on the back and face I'd find it twice as appealing as I currently do.

So basically you'd wanna see something like this?

 

[HeidiMoose]

I like to keep things simple and sweet, and just out of bias I will always like the first couple of generations best, however, once I familiarize myself with the "newest" generation the pokemon eventually grow on me and then they seem normal, rather than overstylized.

Unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to familiarize myself with Gen 5 yet... lack of money and lack of time. :(