New pokemon are different

[Some_weirdGuy]

Some people love them, some people hate it.
you get people complaining about how new pokemon are 'stupid' for various design reasons, and the defenders pointing out equally 'stupid' designs from older generation pokemon.


For ages i couldn't quite work out what it was about new pokemon designs that made them feel so different. I mean they were different animals or objects then before, but as more and more new generations came out there just seemed to be this shift that i couldn't quite put my finger on. (not a big pokemon fan mind you, don't own any of the games myself but grew up with pokemon anime and pokemon stadium, and have played through the ruby/saphire/emerald games and some leaf green, as well as the general exposure you get from internet and friends)


After a while I started cottoning on though, at first i began to notice that alot of the newer pokemon seemed to be like they were... 'wearing clothes'. like they weren't actually wearing cloths, but their designs were clothing-like in some ways.

I saw an image today however that finally hit the nail on the head:

Older pokemon designs were generally less 'complex', as in their designs tended to look more 'smooth', with less extra colours and less 'bits and pieces' (little added elements to their designs) than seems to be the norm among the newer generations.


So am i just a slowpoke here, or is this revelation equally enlightening for others? (not as in you didn't pick up on it at all, but that like me you could never exactly pin-point what about the design made them 'feel' different till now)

 

[Don Savik]

Eh, I tend to agree and disagree. While generation 1 was very plain with heavy influence from pre-existing animals (a seal named Seel for instance), it was honestly the most boring and unoriginal generation because of it (cmon ppl agree with me here, don't let nostalgia blind you). I think its just taken them a while to get the pokemon style down. Generation 1 is really the only one that stands out, all the others seem to be pretty coherent.


And lets be honest, that charizard picture is a lot better than generation 1....I mean....cmon now...

 

[ResonanceSD]

Right now one of my heaviest hitters is a sarcophagus

and some gears.

My main problem with Gen5 is the fucking inanimate objects suddenly becoming pokemon. Like candles.

 

[him over there]

Right now one of my heaviest hitters is a sarcophagus

and some gears.

My main problem with Gen5 is the fucking inanimate objects suddenly becoming pokemon. Like candles.

Yeah that's a big problem not because they exist but because there was just suddenly a huge influx of them in generation 5. I mean plenty of pokemon have been inanimate objects before but there weren't like more than maybe 4 a region. However I think that plenty of things like koffing were lame too. They weren't based on anything they're just sort of miscellaneous monsters rather than anything really.


Also Cofagrigus is your heavy hitter? Dude's got a massive defensive stat you could be buffing up.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Right now one of my heaviest hitters is a sarcophagus

and some gears.

My main problem with Gen5 is the fucking inanimate objects suddenly becoming pokemon. Like candles.

Yeah that's a big problem not because they exist but because there was just suddenly a huge influx of them in generation 5. I mean plenty of pokemon have been inanimate objects before but there weren't like more than maybe 4 a region. However I think that plenty of things like koffing were lame too. They weren't based on anything they're just sort of miscellaneous monsters rather than anything really.


Also Cofagrigus is your heavy hitter? Dude's got a massive defensive stat you could be buffing up.

His special attack begs to differ. Shadow Ball does Loldamage to most things.

Oh and I still use WoW/Hex combos for even more hilarity.


Miscellaneous Monsters? In a game CALLED Pocket Monsters? Who the hell saw that coming.

 

[him over there]

Right now one of my heaviest hitters is a sarcophagus

and some gears.

My main problem with Gen5 is the fucking inanimate objects suddenly becoming pokemon. Like candles.

Yeah that's a big problem not because they exist but because there was just suddenly a huge influx of them in generation 5. I mean plenty of pokemon have been inanimate objects before but there weren't like more than maybe 4 a region. However I think that plenty of things like koffing were lame too. They weren't based on anything they're just sort of miscellaneous monsters rather than anything really.


Also Cofagrigus is your heavy hitter? Dude's got a massive defensive stat you could be buffing up.

His special attack begs to differ. Shadow Ball does Loldamage to most things.

Oh and I still use WoW/Hex combos for even more hilarity.

Need a specially offensive fifth gen ghost type and you didn't use Chandelure? Not that Cofagrigus isn't usable but it doesn't really play to his strengths. Though a calm mind set could make a grest offensive tank.

 

[Some_weirdGuy]

That's also true, seems to be a few more inanimate-object pokemon.

Though i'd assume thats got to do with already having used so many real and mythological animals already, so they're trying to find other sources.


coincidently in the same place I saw the picture in the OP it also had this, which mentions pokemon by... 'source'? whatever you'd call it, by whether they're base don plants, animals, inanimate objects, etc.

(guize i bet you totally can't guess where i was wasting time on)

 

[ResonanceSD]

Right now one of my heaviest hitters is a sarcophagus

and some gears.

My main problem with Gen5 is the fucking inanimate objects suddenly becoming pokemon. Like candles.

Yeah that's a big problem not because they exist but because there was just suddenly a huge influx of them in generation 5. I mean plenty of pokemon have been inanimate objects before but there weren't like more than maybe 4 a region. However I think that plenty of things like koffing were lame too. They weren't based on anything they're just sort of miscellaneous monsters rather than anything really.


Also Cofagrigus is your heavy hitter? Dude's got a massive defensive stat you could be buffing up.

His special attack begs to differ. Shadow Ball does Loldamage to most things.

Oh and I still use WoW/Hex combos for even more hilarity.

Need a specially offensive fifth gen ghost type and you didn't use Chandelure? Not that Cofagrigus isn't usable but it doesn't really play to his strengths. Though a calm mind set could make a grest offensive tank.

I refuse outright to use chandelure because it's fucking ridiculous.

Also I don't give enough of a shit to battle other people. That's why I have a gaming PC.

 

[him over there]

Right now one of my heaviest hitters is a sarcophagus

and some gears.

My main problem with Gen5 is the fucking inanimate objects suddenly becoming pokemon. Like candles.

Yeah that's a big problem not because they exist but because there was just suddenly a huge influx of them in generation 5. I mean plenty of pokemon have been inanimate objects before but there weren't like more than maybe 4 a region. However I think that plenty of things like koffing were lame too. They weren't based on anything they're just sort of miscellaneous monsters rather than anything really.


Also Cofagrigus is your heavy hitter? Dude's got a massive defensive stat you could be buffing up.

His special attack begs to differ. Shadow Ball does Loldamage to most things.

Oh and I still use WoW/Hex combos for even more hilarity.

Need a specially offensive fifth gen ghost type and you didn't use Chandelure? Not that Cofagrigus isn't usable but it doesn't really play to his strengths. Though a calm mind set could make a grest offensive tank.

I refuse outright to use chandelure because it's fucking ridiculous.

Also I don't give enough of a shit to battle other people. That's why I have a gaming PC.

When you say that Chandelure is ridiculous do you mean its design or the fact that it has the highest spAtk of any non legendary pokemon?

 

[Launcelot111]

I'm far from one who clings to the first 150 after all these years, but with the exception of Magnezone and Nosepass, I can't remember many pokemon straight up copying real world objects. Then we hit Gen 5 and suddenly "sentient ice cream cones!" Not that the designs aren't good (I love Trubbish) but I have an increasingly hard time picturing these things living in the wild.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Right now one of my heaviest hitters is a sarcophagus

and some gears.

My main problem with Gen5 is the fucking inanimate objects suddenly becoming pokemon. Like candles.

Yeah that's a big problem not because they exist but because there was just suddenly a huge influx of them in generation 5. I mean plenty of pokemon have been inanimate objects before but there weren't like more than maybe 4 a region. However I think that plenty of things like koffing were lame too. They weren't based on anything they're just sort of miscellaneous monsters rather than anything really.


Also Cofagrigus is your heavy hitter? Dude's got a massive defensive stat you could be buffing up.

His special attack begs to differ. Shadow Ball does Loldamage to most things.

Oh and I still use WoW/Hex combos for even more hilarity.

Need a specially offensive fifth gen ghost type and you didn't use Chandelure? Not that Cofagrigus isn't usable but it doesn't really play to his strengths. Though a calm mind set could make a grest offensive tank.

I refuse outright to use chandelure because it's fucking ridiculous.

Also I don't give enough of a shit to battle other people. That's why I have a gaming PC.

When you say that Chandelure is ridiculous do you mean its design or the fact that it has the highest spAtk of any non legendary pokemon?

Design and name. Gamefreak got lazy. The fact that it has whatever stats means nothing to someone who doesn't rely on a 3DS for online multiplayer.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Right now one of my heaviest hitters is a sarcophagus

and some gears.

My main problem with Gen5 is the fucking inanimate objects suddenly becoming pokemon. Like candles.

Yeah that's a big problem not because they exist but because there was just suddenly a huge influx of them in generation 5. I mean plenty of pokemon have been inanimate objects before but there weren't like more than maybe 4 a region. However I think that plenty of things like koffing were lame too. They weren't based on anything they're just sort of miscellaneous monsters rather than anything really.


Also Cofagrigus is your heavy hitter? Dude's got a massive defensive stat you could be buffing up.

His special attack begs to differ. Shadow Ball does Loldamage to most things.

Oh and I still use WoW/Hex combos for even more hilarity.

Need a specially offensive fifth gen ghost type and you didn't use Chandelure? Not that Cofagrigus isn't usable but it doesn't really play to his strengths. Though a calm mind set could make a grest offensive tank.

I refuse outright to use chandelure because it's fucking ridiculous.

Also I don't give enough of a shit to battle other people. That's why I have a gaming PC.

When you say that Chandelure is ridiculous do you mean its design or the fact that it has the highest spAtk of any non legendary pokemon?

Design and name. Gamefreak got lazy. The fact that it has whatever stats means nothing to someone who doesn't rely on a 3DS for online multiplayer.

Chandelure is lazier than a seal with a horn... named Seel?

yes, it was cute the first time. An additional problem is that it's a fucking inanimate object that they decided to turn into a pokemon.

 

[Dryk]

I'm not sold on the OP, I just preferred the general design aesthetic of the first two generations more. That and the fact that I'm predisposed to hate new Pokemon, too much "Oh hi, we took out of the game, so here's a . That's what was briliant about Generation II, The Pidgeys and Hoothoots, the Rattatas and Sentrets. They coexisted in peace instead of driving each other out.

Design and name. Gamefreak got lazy. The fact that it has whatever stats means nothing to someone who doesn't rely on a 3DS for online multiplayer.

Says the guy who swears by Cofagrigus...

 

[Nazulu]

Eh, I tend to agree and disagree. While generation 1 was very plain with heavy influence from pre-existing animals (a seal named Seel for instance), it was honestly the most boring and unoriginal generation because of it (cmon ppl agree with me here, don't let nostalgia blind you). I think its just taken them a while to get the pokemon style down. Generation 1 is really the only one that stands out, all the others seem to be pretty coherent.

It's not nostalgia at all, it's something you fail to see, a lot of you fail to see when it comes to the designs. While I prefer original creatures or whatever, the 1st generation designs are actually very clever.

The first generation, a lot of the pokemon has very strong charactertistics ranging from cute to cool, and because of that more of them are iconic, they just work really well. Yeah, this means the designs were of better quality. A lot of the second season is great as well and I remember there was many 3rd generation pokemon designs that are effective.

The later generations do have some good design but are lacking, especially the legendary's, yuck! They are just not as iconic and some of them are just bad in general. You can point out Jynx or Mime, and they are unpopular for a reason, but some of these new pokemon are just flat out poorly designed.

 

[Nazulu]

So it's not nostalgia, it was just better when the designs were simpler and lazier to fit with the crappy handheld graphics of the day. Gotcha.

Go suck a lemon.

Some of the really simple pokemon might of have been from laziness, I don't know. I wasn't speaking about them specifically though.

 

[Scrustle]

That gen 4 Charizard still looks way better than that gen 1 Garchomp to me. You have a point though. A lot of the new designs are far too fussy with lots of stupid useless bits and pieces hanging off them, but that's not what I think is the main reason for the decline in design quality. It's because they have drifted away from the original aesthetic. They're more or less had to since they've been creating more and more, but what it has done has made the new species look more and more generic. The new designs don't look like Pokemon, they just look like random monsters that anyone could have made up. There may have always been "stupid" designs in Pokemon, but at least you could tell a Voltorb and a Hitmonchan were actually Pokemon.

 

[Nazulu]

So it's not nostalgia, it was just better when the designs were simpler and lazier to fit with the crappy handheld graphics of the day. Gotcha.

Go suck a lemon.

Some of the really simple pokemon might of have been from laziness, I don't know. I wasn't speaking about them specifically though.

See, it's still the same guy doing the Pokemon Designs. It's not some new designer who's come in and messed up, it's the same designer, making designs that are more complicated and involved because now we have the graphics to handle them.

Take Mario. What's the meaning behind his classic look? It's all to compensate for the graphical limitations of the original arcade games. He's wearing a red shirt and blue overalls to make his clothes stand out against each other and the background. He's wearing a hat, so his hair doesn't have to be animated. He has white gloves to make his hands stand out more. He has a large nose and moustache to avoid having to draw any other facial features.

Older Pokemon designs were simplier because the Game Boy had crappy resolution, and if they were more detailed, you wouldn't be able to see anything other than a chaotic blob.

Same designer or not, it's irrelevant. Made simpler for Game Boy, irrelevant. Thanks for the info but it's not what I'm talking about.

I'll repeat, some of these simple design are just really really effective. My original post is to point out that if you can't see why they are iconic then it's useless. Both sides can't understand each other and the fighting should stop.

 

[Nazulu]

They have to be effective, because otherwise, like I said, they'd be a chaotic blob. And they're only 'iconic' because they came first.

If you took someone who had absoultely zero knowledge of Pokemon, which one of them do you think they'll like the most? A little yellow jagged-tailed mouse, or some sort of big, awesome dragon from B&W?

No, sorry, that's wrong. It's not because they came first. Unfortunately, that's a coincidence a lot of famous artists make there most iconic stuff first, not always but a lot of the time.

No matter how you spin it, Pikachu will always be a design that stands out more than some dragon. Cute and really good aesthetics, amazing design, stands out even more than Charizard.

 

[Nazulu]

They're effective, because they had to be to not be blobs, and they're iconic, because they came first.

That's a not good reason to say something is effective or iconic just so you know.

Believe what ever you want. Like I said, if you can't see it, then this is pointless.

 

[Scarim Coral]

While that is true to what you said but I take it they had just change style along the way. I mean Pokemon existed in 1998 so do you think they would of kept the same style for that long?