Scraping The Bottom of the Barrel?

[Esper]

I think the whole complex/simple idea is more of concept than design. Looking at Gen I pokemon and you see things like Zubat, Ponyta, Graveler, Butterfree, Seel, Golduck, Vileplume, Raticate, Tentacruel, and so on. They are very much inspired by one thing and really only one thing, a bat, horse, rock, butterfly, seal, duck, flower, rat, jellyfish, etc. There's not much sense that these in particular are anything but stylized versions of real things, i.e., different colors, exaggerated proportions, etc. They did pick a lot of common things to use as bases.

 

[voicerocker]

I think people fail to realize that when Gen. 1 was first introduced, there was NOTHING previous to compare it to. We shouldn't be comparing the new generations to the older ones. Also long as we don't get a Pink mouse Pokemon called "Pinkachu", then they aren't repeating themselves.

Think about this: The 5th Generation had no connection to any of the previous 493 Pokemon, no pre-evolved forms or further evolved forms. They introduced a totally new set of stand-alone Pokemon. (Not to mention, we got 156 new Pokemon, 5 more than the original games.) Also, look at White Kyurem and Black Kyurem. This is a new concept in having a Pokemon change formes to take on features of another. Black 2 and White 2 were a complete surprise to everyone, so Game Freak has proven that they aren't as predictable as some of us thought.

Everytime new Pokemon are introduced, the designs are attacked. Yet, if I remember right, Black and White are the most successful games in Pokemon history. People seem to just like attacking new Pokemon and comparing them to Digimon and Yu-gi-oh. However, after actually playing the games, they come to like them.

The Pokemon themselves are far more interesting than the first ones. In Gen. 1, all they were were creatures with powers that battle. These days, Pokemon actually represent deeper concepts and can control time, space, and we even have a "god Pokemon". Sure, they could try not to repeat a Fire/Fighting started for Gen. 6, but that's just a minor thing. Gen. 1 had THE most simple Pokemon design ever: Voltorb. Also, I personally think that Exeggutor is the strangest Pokemon ever. (Think about it: 6 eggs evolve into a pineapple?!) Truth is, even the very first Pokemon are sort of strange, so simply saying "the new Pokemon look stupid" makes no sense.

In the end, whether you like certain Pokemon or not is just taste. However, Game Freak is clearly still creative. Also, it's totally justified for more new Pokemon to come in the future. You may think that 649 Pokemon is way to much, but there are far more creatures on this Earth than just 649, and many just waiting to be discovered. (Just saw this morning that a new frog species was discovered in New York.) Don't be so quick to judge Game Freak.

 

[Kirbychu]

You clearly don't really seem to get the artistic aspect of it. Like I said, try to draw one without a reference and you'll see what I mean when you notice you actually don't even know how to draw Gyarados' face or Nidoking's arms, without looking it up before.

That's not exactly what I consider "complicated". Lines =/= complication. Same with the ability to emulate a drawing. Besides, I'm a terrible artist, I can't even draw Voltorb.

It doesn't matter if they are anatomically correct even,

How so? I would say that paying more attention to things like bone structure would make the design look like a lot of effort was put into it.

it's about getting all the lines and details right, there are many and that's what makes it complicated (that is not necessarily a bad or good thing btw).

So if I want to make something complicated, I just have to add a bunch of lines? I see where you're going with this, but I don't believe there's much to Pokemon like Gyarados, especially when I look at Pokemon like Garchomp and Haxorus. Gyarados, despite being one of the most intricate Pokemon in the first generation, happens to have a rather tame design. Newer "cool" Pokemon tend to have a lot more things going on and possess more creative origins. They possess a lot more colors and features. Rhyhorn has tons of lines, but I don't find that Pokemon complicated.

I don't see how a Pokémon's behaviour has anything to do with it's design, from an artistic standpoint??

There's more to Pokemon than their design. The lore and actions of legendaries such as Mewtwo are much more intricate than say, Rattata, who does little more than gnaw on things in the forest. I believe this add more complication to the character.

It feels as if we're arguing different points here.

 

[Zertinan]

While I haven't played the Gen IV and V games yet, but I've looked at the designs. And like in every generation, I've seen good designs and bad. I'm not really seeing a decline, but hey, that's just me. I'm particularly attached to Generation I, but I can blame that on nostalgia.

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

I honestly feel that the design of Pokemon is just evolving as a whole. They really can't be scraping the bottom of the barrel - just take a look at any book on taxonomy and you'll know there's plenty of ideas they can start off from, and that's just for the Pokemon based on animals. They're just evolving their style, because to be quite frank, if they kept the same basics, it would stop appealing to people because it would become repetitive.

Also, Generation 5 pokemon aren't hard to draw, they're just different. You just have to figure out another way to remember their details. Reshiram for example isn't that complicated once you remember the key parts, just like drawing Feraligatr or Armaldo.

 

[Xander Olivieri]

I think people fail to realize that when Gen. 1 was first introduced, there was NOTHING previous to compare it to. We shouldn't be comparing the new generations to the older ones. Also long as we don't get a Pink mouse Pokemon called "Pinkachu", then they aren't repeating themselves.

Think about this: The 5th Generation had no connection to any of the previous 493 Pokemon, no pre-evolved forms or further evolved forms. They introduced a totally new set of stand-alone Pokemon. (Not to mention, we got 156 new Pokemon, 5 more than the original games.) Also, look at White Kyurem and Black Kyurem. This is a new concept in having a Pokemon change formes to take on features of another. Black 2 and White 2 were a complete surprise to everyone, so Game Freak has proven that they aren't as predictable as some of us thought.

Everytime new Pokemon are introduced, the designs are attacked. Yet, if I remember right, Black and White are the most successful games in Pokemon history. People seem to just like attacking new Pokemon and comparing them to Digimon and Yu-gi-oh. However, after actually playing the games, they come to like them.

The Pokemon themselves are far more interesting than the first ones. In Gen. 1, all they were were creatures with powers that battle. These days, Pokemon actually represent deeper concepts and can control time, space, and we even have a "god Pokemon". Sure, they could try not to repeat a Fire/Fighting started for Gen. 6, but that's just a minor thing. Gen. 1 had THE most simple Pokemon design ever: Voltorb. Also, I personally think that Exeggutor is the strangest Pokemon ever. (Think about it: 6 eggs evolve into a pineapple?!) Truth is, even the very first Pokemon are sort of strange, so simply saying "the new Pokemon look stupid" makes no sense.

In the end, whether you like certain Pokemon or not is just taste. However, Game Freak is clearly still creative. Also, it's totally justified for more new Pokemon to come in the future. You may think that 649 Pokemon is way to much, but there are far more creatures on this Earth than just 649, and many just waiting to be discovered. (Just saw this morning that a new frog species was discovered in New York.) Don't be so quick to judge Game Freak.

Quoting this for Truth, and only want to add in:

One thing I see EVERY Generation: People comparing older to newer.

Hoen: OMG this place sucks! There are too many Water types, you have to use Surf everywhere!

Sinnoh comes out: OMG Religion in Pokemon?! Gamefreak you guys suck! The Pokemon are horrible! Hoen was the best game ever! Why you ruined Pokemon with so much Evolutions and Legendaries?

Some time after Platinum: Ho hum. Need new Pokemon, they should make new ones. No we have too many as is. But we need more innovative ideas.

Unova comes out: OMG this region sucks. There aren't enough water types and all the designs are horrid. There are too many Pokemon now.

Now this isn't just here. I joined here when B/W were coming out. But these were the majority of the responses on a great many chat boards, Game sites like IGN and Game FAQs, as well as all over dA, where guess what? People are making more and More Fakemon.

We don't even get all the Pokemon made either when a new game comes out. Some ideas are scrapped for the ones that seem better.

People harp on Trubbish and Garbador. Magnemite was also created from junk in a junk yard. in the Anime, it was said Grimer and Muk were made from pollution itself. They could also apparently reproduce by splitting themselves.

The fact that they were able to make a region with 156 NEW Pokemon states for a fact that they are not running out of ideas nor have they reached their end. If anything, giving us remakes is more a sign that ideas are running out and all they can do is give a little spit and polish to an older game and pawn it off as new. Until we get remakes back to back with no new regions in between then they'd be running out of ideas. Especially if they make a Remake with updated graphics better than the current "new" Generation.

 

[pryce10]

....https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuinedFOREVER

....

I'll take my leave.

 

[Dathroda]

No, no, no, and NO! How are Pokemon Yu-Gi-Oh? Ok, no resemblance, since, well, Dragons are mythology, and not Yu-Gi-Oh. And they have not run out of ideas, but made new ones! I mean, you can't really get mad if they make an evolution too similar to the pre-evolution, as it is supposed to be an upgrade, and be relatively similar. And making Pokemon out of non living things is sort of good. I mean, what if EVERY SINGLE Pokemon was made after the same things? We can't say that they run out of ideas if all you want is the same stuff. Making Gorbodor (Misspelling I think) was smart, because who knows, garbage could of been mutated? Like all of the HUGE cities in Black/White. Got to be at least some pollution, right? And at least they make sense, not just making a fire type computer, or something stupid like that. And all of the legendary Pokemon add to the story, which I think is pretty darn good. And the machines and stuff? Why not, have you noticed how much stuff is relying on technology? If they had no ideas left, why would all of us be on this forum, playing Pokemon games, and talking about Pokemon stuff? It's not like it left the face of the Earth or anything. They are still succeeding at making millions of dollars. I hope this isn't too much of a rant, and more of a logical post. But does anyone see where I'm going at?

On the whole , this Gen doesn't feel like Yu-Gi-Oh. That whole thing mostly seems to come from people comparing Zekrom to Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Kyurem to Blue-Eyes White Dragon , specifically.

 

[Xander Olivieri]

On the whole , this Gen doesn't feel like Yu-Gi-Oh. That whole thing mostly seems to come from people comparing Zekrom to Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Kyurem to Blue-Eyes White Dragon , specifically.

Those are nothing alike other than color scheme. Blue Eyes White is also Silver scaled and furless.