Lanstar
The Cutest of Ladies
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2015
- Messages
- 632
- Reaction score
- 1,466
As I look at the graphics style... How can I put it - It's trying to be multiple entirely opposite stylizations at once, and it feels too inconsistent and offputing as a result.
It wants to be modern-anime in terms of the battles, yet also wants to be incredibly retro-nostalgic with the overworld proportions. They want to use the 2 forms together as a way to make it look like an older game in 3D HD graphics. But even more, they want to unify the entire artstyle between the contrasting proportions with the same shading and HD polycount across battles and the overworld.
The issue is that early 2D graphics games did the chibi overworld for gameplay due to practical graphics limitations, and to scale everything down to fit on tinier screens. They never meant to look heavily detailed and high poly - They were supposed have just the right amount of detail to represent each character and asset, until we get to zoom in to the more detailed representations of them and their actions.
Now, one might think "HEY! Link's Awakenings remake was chibi, and it worked great! No double standards!" However, that game didn't scale up Cute Link's proportions in the gameplay - The whole game had the models with fixed scaling. That added unity and consistency in the artstyle, as you were always playing as an adorable chibi throughout the lifetime of the game.
The BDSP scaling feels offputting because the supposedly "necessary" scaling between the overworld and battle scene of the days of olde no longer is in a fullfledged, large screen HD era of today. And it makes us look at the overforms not as the 'just enough detail representation' sprites - but as weird forms you must become until a pokemon appears, and you finally get to grow up into your "True" form of realistic proportions!
I mean, that did happen in Gen 6 - your overworld sprite was in smaller proportions than in trainer ID, cutscenes, etc. However, the contrast in proportions wasn't that severe. You were scaled, but not in a weird, overboard manner - and it was also due to various graphics issues that game freak had to figure out when they decided to go full overworld scaling in Gen 7. Thus, I can somewhat forgive the 3D chibi's used that way.
I.e.: Trying to have your cake and eat it too with scaling doesn't work well with these remake graphics.
It wants to be modern-anime in terms of the battles, yet also wants to be incredibly retro-nostalgic with the overworld proportions. They want to use the 2 forms together as a way to make it look like an older game in 3D HD graphics. But even more, they want to unify the entire artstyle between the contrasting proportions with the same shading and HD polycount across battles and the overworld.
The issue is that early 2D graphics games did the chibi overworld for gameplay due to practical graphics limitations, and to scale everything down to fit on tinier screens. They never meant to look heavily detailed and high poly - They were supposed have just the right amount of detail to represent each character and asset, until we get to zoom in to the more detailed representations of them and their actions.
Now, one might think "HEY! Link's Awakenings remake was chibi, and it worked great! No double standards!" However, that game didn't scale up Cute Link's proportions in the gameplay - The whole game had the models with fixed scaling. That added unity and consistency in the artstyle, as you were always playing as an adorable chibi throughout the lifetime of the game.
The BDSP scaling feels offputting because the supposedly "necessary" scaling between the overworld and battle scene of the days of olde no longer is in a fullfledged, large screen HD era of today. And it makes us look at the overforms not as the 'just enough detail representation' sprites - but as weird forms you must become until a pokemon appears, and you finally get to grow up into your "True" form of realistic proportions!
I mean, that did happen in Gen 6 - your overworld sprite was in smaller proportions than in trainer ID, cutscenes, etc. However, the contrast in proportions wasn't that severe. You were scaled, but not in a weird, overboard manner - and it was also due to various graphics issues that game freak had to figure out when they decided to go full overworld scaling in Gen 7. Thus, I can somewhat forgive the 3D chibi's used that way.
I.e.: Trying to have your cake and eat it too with scaling doesn't work well with these remake graphics.
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