Generation 4 ain't colourful (pokemon colours)

[Grave-E]

I restarted one of my 4th gen games the other day, intending to train some of the pokemon I'd yet to try out. Halfway through compiling my team of choice, it dawned on me just how drab they look as a group. Lots of purples, blues, browns and greys.
I've always been aware that there was a large sum of pokemon this time around that had been saddled with similar colour schemes for the most part, but scrolling through the latter half of the pokedex, it becomes really jarring to see so many in succession.
I like several of the 4th generation pokemon as individuals, but as a group, they look incredibly dull in comparisson to former generations. While I'm sure it sounds quite petty to some, it's become off-putting to the point where I've actually given up training a few new guys for the time being and opted for older pokemon that bring a little more color to my team. It's as if my subconcious is turning me against pokemon I find genuinely interesting based on something as (arguably) superficial as what colour they are.


Has anyone else ever been in a similar situation? Are there any pokemon you feel would have benefit from being a different color? Has this sort of thing ever had any influence on your team?

 

[Gato]

I noticed the same thing as you. I can't say it affected my team, since I have given up on my Gen. IV games, but come to think of it, that may have had something to do with it. Oh well, I could always restart the game.

 

[Yotsuba]

I noticed the same thing as well. Maybe not so much in the game (I probably did, but just didn't think about it), but I definitely noticed it in the anime. Houen was so bright and colorful...lots of solid reds and greens and blues. Shin'ou is like a cloudy day. The color's still there, it's just so dulled down in comparison.

One pokemon I really wish was designed differently is Gureggru. I love poisonous frogs, but none of them are so dark looking, where's the vibrant color? I'd also love to see a poison type that WASN'T that typical shade of lavender they love to use for every poison pokemon.

 

[Falconwing]

nostalgia goggles maybe?

 

[Grave-E]

nostalgia goggles maybe?

And what, exactly, gave you that idea? I did say I like the 4th gen pokemon individually, and this most certainly is not my least favourite generation.

I noticed the same thing as well. Maybe not so much in the game (I probably did, but just didn't think about it), but I definitely noticed it in the anime. Houen was so bright and colorful...lots of solid reds and greens and blues. Shin'ou is like a cloudy day. The color's still there, it's just so dulled down in comparison.

One pokemon I really wish was designed differently is Gureggru. I love poisonous frogs, but none of them are so dark looking, where's the vibrant color? I'd also love to see a poison type that WASN'T that typical shade of lavender they love to use for every poison pokemon.

Oh yes, I feel it's certainly noticable in the show. In all honestly, I think it's part of the reason I'm put off my Hikari's team so much. Though Satoshi has fared pretty well!

Regarding Gureggru, I can definately see where you're coming from, and I recall many people feeling the same way. But on the other hand, as he is, the color scheme plays off the species streotypically creepy persona quite nicely. I don't know if it's just because I've become accustomed to it, but I find it diffficult to imagine them lurking in the shadows, making those disturbing croaking sounds as anything brighter
I think that's what makes this quite annoying. A lot of the color schemes DO work with the given pokemon but they're so samey that it's kind of overwhelming!

 

[PlatinumDude]

Yeah, a lot of 4th Gen Pokemon are blue, green or purple, but I don't care.

 

[Mitchman]

Blame Gamefreak's theme of Sinnoh being home of the ultimate Pokemon and its mystical dark theme.

 

[Jesse GS the II]

I dunno, seems to me that the Shinou Pokémon are actually brighter in color than any previous generation. Yeah, there are a lot of blues and purples and browns at the end of the line, but the colors are hardly drab.

And in both the games and the anime, I've noticed that Shinou actually uses much brighter and louder colors than Houen did. Trees are a brighter green, the sky is a richer blue, etc. It seems like they wanted to take full advantage of the DS' color palette and really make the screen jump out at you. Lots of heavily pronounced blues and greens and pinks and purples, whereas Houen was more evenly balanced and a little more earthy, with more dark greens and browns.

You can even tell when you look at the characters. Hikari's outfit is all bright lavender and magenta, whereas Haruka wore deep crimson and navy blue. There was a clear effort to make Shinou's color scheme pop.

 

[Glaciachan]

I can't say I really noticed. Besides, do you want them to be neon green for God sakes?

 

[Faye Scarlet]

All those color schemes is why I love a whole bunch of the Gen IV Pokemon. Hardly "drab", because why do the Pokemon choices need to be a huge rainbow?

 

[Bummerdude]

A majority of the Gen 4 pokes were leaning towards the blue/purple side, yes. But overall, the pokedex is a trippin' ride through the light spectrum.

 

[Usagi-Zakura]

Speaking of poison types if they took a look at nature they should be very vibrantly colored. Poisonous animals in real life are everything from clear red to almost neon-green, the complete opposite of camouflage to warn of predators.

 

[Our Wasted Years]

I never really noticed the colors and all but to me the design of 90% of Gen IV just threw me off >_>
But I try to use almost every Pokemon because I give everyone a chance

 

[NyaChan]

All those color schemes is why I love a whole bunch of the Gen IV Pokemon. Hardly "drab", because why do the Pokemon choices need to be a huge rainbow?

Because rainbows are cool. ;D

And I honestly didn't realize until I looked just now. Most of the pokemon are in the Cool color range (Green-Purple), which is probably why I over looked it, cause I like cool colors better.

You know, now that you mention it, I want to make a literal rainbow team (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple, in that order)... xDDD

 

[Somari]

The games are becoming more realistic in terms of Pokemon designs. Gen 1 - 2 was fantasy land, gen. 3 and 4 are more realistic.

I never noticed really a dullness. Maybe it's a Sinnoh thing.

 

[PDL]

I suppose they're trying to make the Pokémon seem more "cool" rather then "cutesy". It's similar to the Real is Brown phenomina.

This of course, calls for alot of black, navy blue and White, yellow or red to contrast.

Empoleon
Luxray
Lucario
Garchomp
Starraptor
Rampardos...

I can go on.

 

[Flare Blitz]

I like the more "cooler" and "darker" shades, better on my eyes.

I also like the colors they chose for the new evolutions.

 

[Keldora Dragon]

I always thought the first gen was very dull in terms of color. A lot of the Pokemon seemed to have earthly tones. But yet again Gen.I seemed to go for basing the Pokemon off real animals more. Generation II was similar in a sense, but then we got Pokemon like Ariados and Xatu that were vibrant in coloration.

Like Raine I also prefer the cooler and darker shades in some cases. Sometimes less is more. Besides if every generation had the exact same color palette style then it would be boring.

 

[RavenKingSage]

I don't care about goddamn colors. As long as I have a good team, I'm content with it.

 

[Keldora Dragon]

I don't care about goddamn colors. As long as I have a good team, I'm content with it.

Agreed. In the end that's what really matters.