3D Graphics or 2D Graphics?

[DarkMeow]

I'm curious if anyone else prefers the 2D graphics over the current 3D ones.

Personally, I prefer the 2D. Don't get me wrong, when I first heard about the jump to 3D I was very, very excited. It was also inevitable that the series would make the jump eventually. However, as time has passed, I've found myself disliking the 3D graphics and Pokémon models less and less.

To me, the 3D models look... flat somehow. I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but they look flat to me. The Pokémon models look uninteresting, and the player characters are portrayed in an odd chibi-esque style in the overworld that I really, really hate. The colors are either too bright or too flat.

Perhaps it's really just personal preference, but heck, the 2D games felt more alive and more "real" to me than the newer games do. I'm wondering if anyone else shares this view, or has something to say about the topic in general. What're y'all's opinions?

 

[Icy Wind]

I don’t really like the 3d models either.

They look so washed out compared to the gen 4/5 sprites.

Not to mention that a lot of flying got screwed over because of sky battles(seriously, Swellow and Xatu look embarrassing).

 

[Esserise]

I... love them both, in different ways. I think their 2D work was, on the whole, generally more pleasant to look at, but for me, the 3D stuff has more life in it. One way or the other, I can’t really complain.

 

[Peachy]

The 2D games have an amount of charm and polish that the 3D games haven't come close to approaching. 3D has the potential to have so much detail and little features but the games just don't. Instead we get soulless player characters that stare blankly ahead no matter what's happening to them.

 

[Esserise]

Instead we get soulless player characters that stare blankly ahead no matter what's happening to them.

Despite my previous comment, I have to say that this failure in particular does blow my mind. I just... is it really that hard to give the player some facial expressions? It’s especially bad in Gen 7 because at least Gen 6 gave them a few...

When your 3D protagonist’s ability to emote is outdone by tiny sprite people with nothing more than exclamation mark bubbles over their heads for emotions, you know you’ve fucked something up...

 

[Aulos]

I actually think they have done a fantastic job with the 3D Pokemon models. For years after years we were cursed with only seeing slightly revamped Pokemon Stadium models in a lot of 3D games. The ones created in X/Y were brand new and MUCH less blocky. I was very impressed.

What I'm not impressed with are the environmental graphics. X/Y claimed to move the series into 3D, but aside from the Pokemon themselves, it didn't feel very "3D". Taking the same kinds of environments created in previous generations and making them into 3D models does not make for a satisfactory experience - in fact, it only comes off as feeling very cheap.

To their credit, Sun/Moon took some big strides in that department. From what I remember anyway. It's been a while since I've really played Sun. I think there is still a long way to go, though. This is why I'm adamantly opposed to Sun/Moon's graphics working on the Switch. While they are much better than X/Y, they are still cheap-looking. On the 3DS they certainly pass, but on the Switch they would not cut it - They're more what I'd expect from an Indie production, not a product of one of the most successful video game franchises.

Another thing is that darn camera angle. Forcing the camera angle overhead (which Sun/Moon is guilty of in many places) really takes away from the feeling of the game being 3D, especially with some environmental features still feeling not as dimensional as they should in a 3D environment.

 

[DarkMeow]

I don’t really like the 3d models either.

They look so washed out compared to the gen 4/5 sprites.

Not to mention that a lot of flying got screwed over because of sky battles(seriously, Swellow and Xatu look embarrassing).

Washed out! Yes! Took the words right out of my mouth.

I... love them both, in different ways. I think their 2D work was, on the whole, generally more pleasant to look at, but for me, the 3D stuff has more life in it. One way or the other, I can’t really complain.

To me, the jump to 3D made the game seem more lifeless. It's like, they built a humongous world that had so much opportunity, but they failed to fill it to the brim with detail. Or something. I dunno. Pardon me, writing stuff that makes sense is. eh. hard sometimes.

The 2D games have an amount of charm and polish that the 3D games haven't come close to approaching. 3D has the potential to have so much detail and little features but the games just don't. Instead we get soulless player characters that stare blankly ahead no matter what's happening to them.

This is another big gripe of mine. I feel that if I looked into that dead-eyed stare for long enough, I'd lose my soul. Also, the way characters are represented on the overworld (that weird, small style) is so lifeless and just, ech, weird.

 

[Zeb]

The 3D battles and models are fine for me, the models need a bit more saturation, but overall they are good and the models add a lot of life to the Pokemon and made me appreciate some I previously didn't care for (like Eelektross). There are some losers in the models, Pokemon like Tropius and Xatu look terrible, but I lay that blame at sky battle's feet, since they had to be animated like that for those.

The 3D overworld sucks though, something big was lost in the transition to 3D. It was even worse in Gen 6 when they had that ugly chibi style for the characters, Gen 7 did improve it but I still miss the days of Gen 4/5 overworlds. Seeing what's being done with Octopath Traveler makes me wish Game Freak had stayed with sprite work and tried to develop their own style rather than just going for 3D, but I think I might be in the minority on that one.

 

[KrisiChiki]

One of the things I do not like about the 3D games is the scale. The world feels smaller. I know I might be a little biased about Gen III and VI due to nostalgia and because I haven't replayed any of those games in years, but both of those games felt like they had a vast world. Gen V was arguably the pinnacle of sprite work in the franchise and the world felt detailed and amazing.

Kalos was surely exciting as the first 3D region, and don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things, areas and landmarks that I absolutely love about Kalos, alas, in hindsight the world felt smaller and maybe emptier. Then came Gen VII which had significant improvements in some areas, but managed to make the world even even smaller thanks to so many areas being blocked, skip-able or really small (the flower meadows come to mind; beautiful but awfully small).

I acknowledge that my perception of time as a kid and young teenager playing Gen III and Gen VI respectively is different, but I could explore caves and other areas (Hoenn's sea and diving spots for example) for what felt like ages. The areas in ORAS, despite being based on the original Hoenn, felt smaller. Admittedly, I don't remember too much from Unova aside from me exploring every corner of Castelia, but I remember feeling Unova had a pretty good size of a region despite its linearity.

In the end, I can't say whether I prefer one or the other because Game Freak surely had more time to spend on refining their sprite work as opposed to their 3D work and the Switch might bring us something really good.

 

[Minnale101]

2d

3d isn’t bad but gamefreak 3d is bad

 

[Team Gaara]

I like the 3D just fine, but I miss sprites~ They made Pokemon (ironically) feel more lively since they could have all these exaggerated poses and now most are stuck on the ground (Hitmontop, RIP). Plus, some cries were much better before they because "realistic"~ And the Player Character sprite is a depressing loss, too~

 

[RetroPokeFan]

In terms of the 3D the human characters definitely look better in the Alola games.

The smaller Chibi looking style hasn't aged all that well and it fares the worst in terms of Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. Some characters look okay but others like the professor just look awful.

Also I really wish they did more faces for the player character. We have seen some of it in terms of proper cutscenes with Ultra but even then in terms of in-game stuff our character still looks like he's staring blankly off into space during some important parts.

 

[Muur]

2D should never be used by 99% of companies, it's not 1995 any more. Pokemon just needs to get off the dated 3DS. The models are future proof and very high res etc, once they're in a semi decent system, they'll look a lot lot better.

2D had its time but if Pokemon swtiched back... well, they should only charge like, $10

 

[DarkMeow]

One of the things I do not like about the 3D games is the scale. The world feels smaller. I know I might be a little biased about Gen III and VI due to nostalgia and because I haven't replayed any of those games in years, but both of those games felt like they had a vast world. Gen V was arguably the pinnacle of sprite work in the franchise and the world felt detailed and amazing.

Kalos was surely exciting as the first 3D region, and don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things, areas and landmarks that I absolutely love about Kalos, alas, in hindsight the world felt smaller and maybe emptier. Then came Gen VII which had significant improvements in some areas, but managed to make the world even even smaller thanks to so many areas being blocked, skip-able or really small (the flower meadows come to mind; beautiful but awfully small).

Hm, this is something that I was thinking about in the back of my mind, but couldn't quite articulate. Unova didn't feel very big to me, but Johto in HeartGold and SoulSilver felt huge in comparison to Kalos. Unfortunately, I don't remember much of Alola, but if that's any indication, it didn't feel very big to me. Or memorable, but I didn't play much of it anyways. I hope that whatever succeeds the 3DS brings in larger and more memorable regions.

2D should never be used by 99% of companies, it's not 1995 any more. Pokemon just needs to get off the dated 3DS. The models are future proof and very high res etc, once they're in a semi decent system, they'll look a lot lot better.

2D had its time but if Pokemon swtiched back... well, they should only charge like, $10

Honestly, it doesn't matter what year it is, 2D can be used regardless. It's very possible to make beautiful games with 2D graphics. And, frankly, your last sentence is insulting all of the 2D Pokémon games that were done in 2D. None of those games were worth a mere 10$, they were well worth their price. A lot of work goes into 2D spritework and 2D work on the overworld. And, 3D hardly is future proof. If anything, they're more prone to looking old because there seems to be a ridiculous race to improve 3D graphics as time goes on. The only way to "future proof" 3D graphics is to make a unique artstyle, and so far, the 3D Pokémon games have yet to do that, in my opinion.

I do agree that there needs to be something better than the 3DS, and I'm not saying Pokémon needs to switch back, but it's insulting to say that 2D graphics no longer have a place during this time.

 

[KrisiChiki]

The 3D Pokemon models were made with a high poly count since XY with the intention to be useable in many future Pokemon games down the line. I believe this is what Muur was referring to.

The models themselves were compressed to fit into the 3DS and, if I’m not mistaken, that is one of the reasons the 3DS struggles in battles.

I do agree that the models look washed out though. I suspect they are meant to emulate Sugimori’s colouring style who used to have a more washed out style. I don’t know if this is true but it makes sense in my head. I don’t even know if Sugimori has been drawing the official Pokemon art “models” lately, because I think the latest Pokemon art seems more vibrant.

 

[Esserise]

I suspect they are meant to emulate Sugimori’s colouring style who used to have a more washed out style. I don’t know if this is true but it makes sense in my head.

That’s correct:

> Masuda: The kind of expression that we wanted to achieve at Game Freak with the 3D models was to really make it look like the official 2D artwork we put out, that our art director Ken Sugimori designs. It has this softer, warmer feel to it. We felt that this is the first time that the hardware was really able to accommodate that expression that we wanted to achieve.

There was a picture I came across which compares some of the models side-by-side with their official artwork, and I think (pardon the Poochyena edit) it really does make the resemblance clear:

Spoiler

Personally, I’ve always thought of the Sugimori art as the “definitive” take on any given Pokémon, so for me, the closer they get to that, the better. But it is true that there are some Pokémon, like Golem, who suffer for the transition, because they were never designed with 3D in mind. And that’s unfortunate, but I’m willing to make a few compromises in exchange for the rest of them (although specifically in Golem’s case, the Alolan Form came around later and helped it to some extent).

Another thing is, I never liked how some Pokémon couldn’t seem to pick a color to be in sprite form, like Gligar, who spans three different shades of purple across the Gen 4 games (DP, Platinum, HGSS). Or Kyurem, which I think is a particularly baffling one, because they didn’t even change Kyurem’s sprite between BW and B2W2, but somehow, the fused forms ended up using completely different shades of gray and blue.

That all being said, though, I do understand why most people prefer the vibrancy of the old sprites.

 

[Muur]

And, frankly, your last sentence is insulting all of the 2D Pokémon games that were done in 2D. None of those games were worth a mere 10$, they were well worth their price.

I do agree that there needs to be something better than the 3DS, and I'm not saying Pokémon needs to switch back, but it's insulting to say that 2D graphics no longer have a place during this time.

Yeah, they deserved the price they had 20 years ago. But now 2D is for indie devs that can't afford much more. Gen one now isn't worth more than $5. If they released a 2D Pokemon main game series game, I'd expect it to come at $15. Even Pokemon GO has 3D models.

It's fine to like 2D but that doesnt mean the SECOND highest selling game of all time should push out 1995 quality games

The 3D Pokemon models were made with a high poly count since XY with the intention to be useable in many future Pokemon games down the line. I believe this is what Muur was referring to.

The models themselves were compressed to fit into the 3DS and, if I’m not mistaken, that is one of the reasons the 3DS struggles in battles.

What she said. They clearly made the models for the Switch, then downgraded them for 3DS. If you've seen them outside the 3DS, they're really good

 

[Camille]

I like 3D models slightly better, but I really dislike the fact they look so washed-out compared to the sprites. The chibi models were awful, but they did fix them, now if only they fixed flying Pokemon like Xatu and Skarmory. Some models are just off, though - Haxorus' head is too tiny, Snorlax never needed to stand up, Archeops isn't sleek enough, and Cyndaquil line looks too bland without the flames. I love the fact Sceptile and Reshiram don't look overweight anymore, however.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I personally prefer 3D models. It is annoying as hell to have the flying Pokémon always in the sky, however.

The newer Pokémon in the 3D games look good and some of them ooze personality. Incineroar is the best example of this imo. I doubt the sprites would've shown it’s wildness better than the current 3D in-game animations. Incineroar's personality really shines in the 3D style.

 

[IncineROAR]

I think I am so used to 3D that playing in 2D seems weird. Pokemon XY when I first played them felt amazing, but after the more polished graphics and character models of SM/USUM, XY looks terrible. ORAS still looks relatively pretty though, both character models and Pokemon models.