Back when the first generation of Pokémon gamesꦦ launched, pl🦩ayers were happy to have their Pokémon and do battles with them. They didn’t care how they looked, as their dreams of having their own Pokémon adventures with their favorite team was now possible.
When Pokémon Diamond and Pearl were launched, their 2.5D overworld marked the franchise’s first steps towar🐟ds a fully 3D experience. In this list, we’re going to show you why the jump from 2D to 3D was and wasn’t a good idea.
10 ಌ Good Idea: Players 𓃲Can Deeply Interact With Their Pokémons
For those who have been playing Pokémon 🧸since they first saw its anime, at some point in their childhood, they probably wanted to play with their Pokémon just like Ash could. And who didn’t? While it was nice to catch, train and battle Pokémon, the 2D games lacked the ability to make players truly feel like they’re bonding with their team.
Pokémon X and Y changed this, as they were the first games to introduce ways to earn a Pokémon’s aff♕ection. Players werꩵe able to pet, play and give treats to their Pokémon, in ways that weren't possible in the 2D games.
9 Bad Idea: It Made Developing Pokémon Games Harder 💯 🍎
T💜his might be a controversial topic, but as of Gen VIII, there are 895 Pokémon, and m𝓰aking a 3D model for each every time a new game is developed would be an unreasonable thing to do.
Most developers would rather create and polish game mechanics rather than making 895 3D models, as it’d be a better use of their time and budget. Sprites were easier to make becaus🐟e they were just images, and it’s way easier to draw a Pokémon than it is to model its body and then animate it.
8 Good Id🥃ea: Added Visual Consistency To Pokémon
Playing with 2D Pokémon was cool, yes, but there was little consistency in the way Pokémon were presented in-game. Each Poké🐷mon had a set of sprites that were used in battles, another set for whenever they appeared in the overworld outside of battles, and a single sprite that waಞs used to represent the Pokémon in the Player’s party and the PC boxes.
But now that the games made the jump to 3D, Pokémon can now appear in battles as they look in the overworld. This adds a touch of immersion to the games, as players can now see their Pokémon doing mundane things just like they see them when they’re in the heat of the fight. They still have a 2D sprite to move around the party and PC boxes tho🐻ugh.
7 🥀 ♊ Bad Idea: 3D Models Take Space
Switch owners know how easily its internal (and external) storage fills up. The Sword and Shield games 🏅take almost 10 GB of internal memory, a🧸nd while that number doesn’t look that big when it is compared to other modern games, it is a lot for Switch owners who don’t want to – or can’t – spend money on buying large SD cards.
The Gen VIII games are also going to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:get a couple of expansions, and since they are introdu🐓cing new 3D assets, areas and Pokémon models, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they require a fair amount of additional GBs of storage. If these games used spr🐼ites, they’d probably require less than 5 GB, expansions included.
6 Good Idea: Ramped Up Player Immওersion ﷽
When the Diamond and Pearl games were announced, some players were a bit scared of the jump to a 2.5D overworld. They thought that some of the game’s essence would be lost, as the overworld𓃲 would look very different as to what they were used to.
However, the games' new overworlds received critical acclaim. Towns looked lovely, forests felt more alive, and mountains looked like mountains. The jump from 2D to 3D helped players feel more immersed in their games, as they had a better view of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the places they were exploring.
5 🔴 🤪 Bad Idea: It Made Developers Lazy
When Game Freak announced that they were cutting Pokémon due to time constraints, the Pokémon community became enraged. According to GF, they had to do that as otherwise there'd be so many Pokémon that they’d spend way too much time creating and animating them, and they’ඣd rather create higher quality models and animation for a smaller group of Pokémon.
The truth is, when the Gen VIII games came out, it turned out that the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:3D models that Pokémon from previous generations had were indistinguishable from those found in the 3DS games. It’s as if Game Freak just ported them from the Sun and Moon games, which led players to believe that Game Freak lied to them and they were jus𝓡t making excuses 🍷to either launch the games sooner, or to .
4 Good Idea: Opened Character Customization Optio𒊎ns
Before the Gen VI games, the only prominent character customization option available to players were their names and gender. Players just us✤ed a character that didn’t represent them in any way, so they cared little for their character’s look.
But since the Gen VI games introduced character customization, players can now make trainers that look and dress like them. This also added something to spend in-game currencies, as there are now a lot of customization options like hats, hoodies, shorts, shoes, shirts, and bags in the main Pokémon games.
3 ✱ Bad Idea: 3D Pokémon Didn’t Come Fully Animated
When fans first saw 3D Pokémon in Pokémon Stadium, they were happy to see their Pokémo𝕴n as they thought they look in real life. At the time the game came out, 3D games were 🎃a novelty.
Nowadays, 💃gamers expect 3D models to be fully animated and to make sense. It isn’t rare for Pokémon to be poorly animated, as the amount of Pokémon that just do a small jump with a twist when asked to make a kick o𝄹r a punch is astounding. Others are even more bizarre, like Dubwool kicking their opponent when ordered to use the Headbutt move.
2 Good Idea: The Gameplay Di🦹dn’t Change
The jump to 3D was basically, just an artistic decision, as the Pokémon battles didn’t change at all. Players still could catch, train, and battle Pokémon just as they did before, the only thing that changed is how they ꧂experienced the game.
While the game doesn’t need to change its formula, it benefits when new gameplay mechanics are introduced. Although, Pokémon fans wouldn't mind ꦦif Game Freak stopped cutting new♈ game mechanics every new Generation.
1 ꦕ Bad Idea: 2D Sprites Made Players Use Their Imagination More
When Pokémon games used 2D images to represent Pokémon, 🌊players understood that sprites didn’t have to make complex animations to represent their movements. Most of the moves were🌼 just additional images on top of the Pokémon.
Of ౠcourse, it wasn’t as ‘realistic’ as watching Pokémon fight in 3D, but players di𓄧dn’t care that much. Somewhat ironically, watching 3D Pokémon remain in their idle animations while doing their attacks is less immersive than seeing 2D Pokémon executing their simpler moves.