Are Pokemon designs getting worse?

No one would really like to think it, but are pokemon designs getting worse? Sure there might be a few good ones here and there, but are there enough to redeem the recent generations? The answer is quite simply, there is no answer. It’s all about what you’re looking for.

Say generation one is your favorite. With awesome designs like Charizard, Cloyster, and Sandslash, it’s pretty hard to go wrong. The designs back then were plain and simple. Not full of these crazy markings and logos that litter today’s generation. In fact, the most notable marking was Arbok’s hood. Now it’s all about how much we can stuff into one pokemon until it’s overloaded with markings. It just makes the design look crowded and ugly. The Pokemon today hardly even look like Pokemon. It’s fine to put a few markings on a design, but there’s a limit.

Time to switch gears, let’s say that generation five is your favorite, with really cool pokemon like Gigalith, Zebstrika, and Zoroark. There’s a lot of detail put into those designs. Surely much better than those bland Pokemon all the Kanto fanatics are raving about. All those extra touches Game Freak puts on the Pokemon really brings out the factors that people look for. Generation one Pokemon don’t have anything on the detail work of Sigilyph. After all, if you can put more details on Pokemon, why not?

I would just like to say that comparing one generation to another is like comparing apples to oranges. You obviously have your favorite, but if someone doesn’t like one or the other, there’s no way of convincing that person to like the other. Let’s take a moment to look at each of the generations and the general vibe we got from the new pokemon.

Generation One:

The pokemon that started it all. Some classic favorites and ones we would rather forget reside in this generation. The possibilities were endless as there were a million things to base pokemon off of. The whole generation was filled with designs probably any team would have come up with as some of their first designs. Some very common animals were used as inspiration such as butterflies, wasps, rats, cats, and dogs. An urban feel takes place in this generation with pokemon such as Grimer, Magnemite, and Porygon. Nothing too out of the ordinary here.

Generation Two:

The first sequel. This generation was meant to solve a lot of the problems generation one had. Two new types were introduced (Dark and Steel) and a lot of new type combinations were made. A lot of the evolutionary families were expanded and 100 brand new pokemon came into existence. The pokemon of this generation still had similarities with generation one, but we see a more traditional theme with a lot of the pokemon being based off of legends, other animals, and organic life. Ho-oh’s traditional background comes from a legendary bird called the Huma Bird, known for its ability to never rest, and resurrect itself. The legend explains a lot about Ho-oh, from its regenerator ability, to its typing. I could go on all day about where various pokemon got their start, but that’s not why I’m here. As a whole, designs stayed simple and not too many additional markings were added. One noticeable design that might seem a little out of place is Girafarig, but there’s always that one design that seems different.

Generation Three:

This is where we see the biggest shift design wise between generations. Pokemon such as Armaldo, Claydol, and Milotic are starting to show a lot of detail. This generation is all about new. New designs, new type combinations, and 135 new pokemon make up this generation. The theme also changed to exotic with this generation. The exotic feel also explains why there was a huge shift in the designs. We take a look at the artic and we see a polar bear, or an artic fox. There isn’t much going on besides various shades of white. We then take a look at Hawaii and we see parrots and fish of all colors and patterns. The animals in the tropics get a lot more colorful and apparently pokemon do too. We see these pokemon such as Beautifly and Crawdaunt and envision them living in rain forests, or beaches. Game Freak changed the theme for the new pokemon, so why not try out a new design style?

Generation Four:

This is the add-on generation. With a big portion of the 107 pokemon being related to past generations Game Freak didn’t introduce a plethora of new things. Design wise this generation goes back to worldly legends for their main inspiration. Take a look at the starters and you’ll see. We have a world turtle, a monkey that knows ancient kung-fu, and a penguin that bears similarities to Poseidon with that crest on its head. Each one of these pokemon represents a different part of the world and traditions that call it home. The patterns continue with Chatot representing the world’s music and Spiritomb representing all the mysteries shrouding Earth. Once again the designs are getting more detailed with Dusknoir being a notable mention in the design path.

Generation Five:

Generation five was the generation to introduce the most new pokemon. 156 completely new pokemon and not an older one to be found until after you beat the Elite Four. The inspiration goes all the way back to generation one with the urban feel. Even the region itself represents the theme with two of the largest cities (Castelia and Nimbasa) finding their home in Unova. We see pokemon beginning to be based off of items such as Chandelure and Cofagrigus. It was a bold step and we saw some new designs go over very well, while others didn’t make such a good impression. Garbodor and Vanilluxe were met with much disdain and are some of the most controversial pokemon ever to be released. Game Freak released sequels, not a third game, in Black and White two. The main difference was the ability to catch older pokemon early on in the game such as Magnemite, Grimer, Riolu, and Growlithe.

Generation Six (May contain spoilers!):

Even though we still don’t know a lot about generation six, we can still find some trends starting to appear. We see some new pokemon with a lot of markings once again, but with a new theme. With the region to be based off of Europe, the new fairy type, and old pokemon such as Gardevoir getting altered, we start to see a beauty theme appear. Europe is commonly known as the romantic continent and with France being a heavy influence in the games, that only strengthens the theme. We see a lot of the new pokemon trying to be cute such as Inkay and Vivillon. All this could change as more information is released and this is all speculation, but I find this beauty theme quite strong so far.

Themes aren’t just restricted to generations. We see themes running rampant through all the games. One notable re-occurrence is the appearance of an electric rodent. First it was Pikachu, followed by Plusle/Minun, Pachirisu, and Emolga. The fire/fighting starter pokemon is among the most infamous patterns, bringing up many complaints wherever it may be brought up. As we can now see, pokemon is full of patterns, themes, and relations, but now we must take a look at the history to find the solution.

The creatures that we grew to love started out as small, pixelated, blotches on a black and white screen. If that wasn’t bad enough, when Pokemon Red and Blue were being put together, it wasn’t even the main focus of Game Freak. They had no plans for sequels, and other games were taking priority. Pokemon was just another game that a small group of people were assigned to. In other words, Pokemon was not, in no way whatsoever, meant to be revolutionary. With a limited amount of resources, the game’s graphics were average at best. Not a lot of details could fit onto the designs. There was even a limit on the colors that could fit into the sprite. If the designers put as many markings on the first pokemon as they did now, every pokemon would have been indistinguishable, smudges on the screen. Just take a look at Charizard then and now.

Fast forward to today, and the quality of the graphics have skyrocketed. We went from a few colors on a sprite, to full 3D models. You can pack a pokemon full of crazy designs till it bursts. Because of this boost, and Pokemon’s grown popularity, that’s exactly what Game Freak is doing. This has created a rift in the fandom. The people who prefer the older, simpler designs, and the fans who prefer the newer, more detailed designs. I know the fandom isn’t this black and white, and that there are a lot of people who love all the designs, but for the sake of arguing we’ll just leave it at those two sides.

Arguments have popped up all over forums and various websites about which generation is best. The old fans point out Pokemon like Garbodor and Vanilluxe, and say how Game Freak is losing their creative vibe. Newer fans are pointing out Pokemon like Magneton and Muk, and say that generation one never really had much creativity in the first place. The funny thing about this, is that both sides constantly barrage the same pokemon. Almost everywhere the pokemon that are being put up for evidence are the same pokemon as another site with very little deviation. Garbodor and Vanilluxe will be insulted every day, while Gigalith and Zoroark stay virtually untouched. Same thing goes with Magneton and Muk, while Lapras and Sandslash are never pointed out by the opposition.

The truth is, each generation has its fair share of good and bad designs. The designs as a whole are changing, that much is certain. Very few designers have worked with Game Freak since the first generation. Whether or not you like where the designs are heading is up to you. Are the designs getting worse over time? I say no, but it’s up to you whether or not you’ll change along with the Pokemon.

 

 

Written by Slayr231
Edited by Bay Alexison, bobandbill, Iento and Richard Fightmaster