Favorite graphical style?

[Explorer of Time]

The Pokemon series has spanned nine generations across six generations of Nintendo consoles. Though the Pokemon designs might have stayed the same for the sake of consistency, everything else has had quite a lot of changes, from monochrome 2D sprites on the original Game Boy to detailed 3D models of everything for the Switch games, and quite a bit in-between. Which art style was your personal favorite?

My own favorite is the entirely 2D, non-tile-based, graphics of the Pokemon Ranger trilogy, in late Gen 3 and throughout Gen 4. I've always liked 2D sprite art best, compared to 3D, and the Ranger games had the most advanced 2D sprite art before the series moved to 3D. Ranger also untethered the map design from grid-based maps well before the mainline series did, allowing much more creative freedom in area design, and though the Pokemon sprites were small, there was a lot of effort put into them and their animations. Here's an example screenshot from Shadows of Almia, taken from Bulbapedia.

 

[Rock_Salazar]

I do love the graphical style of the ranger games. I'd say you've chosen a good image. Outside of Ranger I love the graphical style of the Mystery Dungeon games, and how most Pokemon have a portrait with expressions.

 

[Devalue]

Generation 2. Appreciates the fancier 2D art of later generations too. (Typically uses Generation 5 sprites for VPPs too, although partially for more consistency.) Comes down to nostalgia. Grew up on pixel art games. Likes seeing the...grittiness(?) of pixel art. Says "Pokemon" more.

May not extend to other games, though. Could prefer smoother 2D of a completely unfamiliar game over a more pixelated version.

 

[Sheep]

Wow, I love the Almia screenshot! It is absolutely gorgeous.

For me… probably gen 2 or 5. 2 just had a really charming feel to it, and I really loved the pixel style there in particular. Maybe that's partially due to nostalgia, but either way, I just think it is gorgeous and everything flows wonderfully together.

And 5 just felt so smooth and nice to play. ❤️ Was also very appealing visually. Again, could be Unova bias, but I have always loved this style from day one.