3D Graphics vs 2.5D Graphics (Gen 6 vs Gens 4 and 5)

[Boss1708]

I heard some online opinions of people who didn´t like the Gen 6 jump to 3D graphics, who think they should have remained 2.5D like Generations 4 and 5.

So I started wondering myself which one I prefer...

Some people say Gen 6 in 3D is way more spectacular than previous ones. Some say Gens 4 and 5´s 2,5D was much more colourful and vivid, and that 3D looks kinda pale in Gen6.

So what´s your opinion?

Personally, I had some trouble deciding, cause there was something that bothered me about the new 3D graphics but I didn´t know exactly what.

Until I found it wasn´t the graphics that bothered me, but the NEW CAMERA ANGLE. It is too zoomed- in, and you can´t see the roofs of most buildings, which is annoying and makes it more difficult to know where you are going during the open- world exploration. Actually the poor camera angle takes a lot of the new 3D graphics greatness, cause you can´t see the whole beautiful region from a general view.
(PD: this was fixed in ORAS, making it a bit more zoomed- out, but I still think it could be more zoomed out.)

Compare graphics this way:

- Graphics while exploring and walking around (the open- world graphics)

- Graphics in a pokemon Battle (graphics while battling)

- Cutscene graphics

PD The thread is only for hand- held main- series pokemon games. Please, no comments about spin- offs or Wii games.

 

[Soki]

World graphics
I prefer the gen 4 graphics when it comes to the world you're walking in. The 3D environment in gen 6 just looks so empty and bland. I do love the houses and interior in 3D though and the overworld models of the people and Pokémon. But you see the rest of the environment the most and it just doesn't impress me.

Graphics while battling
When it comes to the battles themselves I do prefer gen 6 graphics, the Pokémon animations look incredible and make the battle feel more alive and real. With some Pokémon I like the sprites more, but that's a minority. They should fix the colors of the models though, they're sometimes too bland.

When it comes to the trainers I prefer gen 4 again. I really dislike you get to see a picture of the trainer instead of a sprite, no matter how prettily drawn the pictures are. Especially the gym leaders deserve more than just a stationary picture, I preferred the animated sprites they got in gen 4. The characters that have a 3D model instead of a picture look great though, so if everyone (especially the gym leaders) get that, gen 6 wins.

Cutscene graphics
In gen 6 I disliked most of the cutscenes, because the characters just keep smiling creepily while talking. Cutscenes that don't involve creepily smiling characters look pretty awesome though, so I do think I prefer gen 6 with this one.

Gen 5 failed in all three categories imo, everything looked too pixelly and the moving Pokémon looked like puppets.

 

[Ivysaur]

I honestly think Gen V's overworld looks better than Gen VI's, but GameFreak had to make the push to full 3D sometime. They improved enough from XY to ORAS to make me feel they got most growing pains out of the way. At this point, I'm just not sure if they can do much better with the 3DS.

I love the battles and 3D models, though. They really did a great job with them other than the 3D lag.

 

[Osprey]

For the most part, the full-3D jump has improved the overall appearance of the games greatly. Some places in the overworld look fantastic, the humans are starting to look a bit more... human and less chibified, and just about everything appearance-wise about battles has improved for the better. Different attack animations, animations for taking damage or idling, and fainting Pokemon not simply dropping through the stage.

However, in a few cases, I wish some Pokemon still had sprites. A lot of the older ones (especially the ones that were static throughout the battle, before Gen V) showed the 'mon in a dynamic, nice-looking pose that just isn't possible with a constantly moving model, or even a moving sprite (think a sprite like Weavile in Platinum). Also, some 3D models look like the color was sucked out of them, but I don't think that's so much the 3D's fault as it is whoever was in charge of coloring them.

Of course, Gen VI kind of dominates the cutscene aspect, since most of the games were limited either to the typical dialogue or overworld scenes with some spritework in it. Gen V did have those cutscenes that involved the Tao Trio, where full 3D models were utilized. While that was very impressive, both ORAS and XY managed to do the same thing... and even included some humans as well! Some of the scenes even used better models than the overworld ones.

 

[~ Blazing White Yang]

I would say that the open world and cutscene graphics are perfect in the 6th Generation, but I somewhat prefer Generation 4's animations in battle to both 5 & 6. They're much more crisp and clean than the Generation 5's animations, and the current 3D battle animations are just sort of lacking to me. Apart from the models, which I love.

 

[firepanda]

Like Windows 8, it had to happen. It had some bizarre implementation, but it had to happen eventually.

In battles, it was only an improvement. They were pretty much doing the same thing with all the camera angles already in Gen V, but with cardboard cutouts. 3D gave them realistic animations and a wider variety of angles.

Cutscenes are a mixed bag. On one hand, the heads are so big, the animations are so awkward and the smiles are creepy. But the cutscenes undeniably have more personality now. I think in spite of all the weirdness, it was an improvement. 3D cutscenes will always be better than characters stiffly looking at each from bird's eye view.

Like the battles, they didn't actually change much in the open world. You still had a fixed, bird's-eye-ish camera angle that moved about a bit. With 3D though, you've got a bit more depth to the world and a wider array of camera angles and zooms. That's only a good thing, right? Except this added depth exposed how empty and small the Pokemon world is. The routes in Hoenn feel positively tiny, and Hoenn's the second largest region in the series. The other thing 3D allowed was the gridless-movement, which is absolutely great; no complaints from me there.

So overall it was an improvement on all three fronts. But there was a bit of weirdness as things failed to catch up from past generations. Only a fraction of the potential was realised and that's probably a good thing. Hopefully the animators and level designers buck up their game for the next gen. And they need to do something about the low poly count on character faces.

 

[skyradiant]

My biggest problem with the 3D is that most of the Pokémon models lack the character they had in Gen 5. With the sprites, Pokémon moved around and had more expressiveness, but now they just stand in place and maybe rock back and forth. The battle backgrounds also look really flat compared to the 3D in the foreground, things like trees and buildings look like they're made of cardboard. I also really hate that GF couldn't be bothered to make character animations for all of the battles, so they just used the Ken Sugimori art, which is a real step-back compared to B2 and W2.
The 3D did handle the over-world well imo, and the cutscenes are pretty solid too, especially stuff like Xerneas/Yveltal awakening in X/Y and Groudon/Kyogre transforming in OR/AS.

 

[winstein]

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if Pokemon uses the fully-drawn art as sprites (environment is still in 3D), rather than pixel art. What I am thinking is something like Wario Land: Shake It or Ducktales Remastered, where they still used sprites, but they have a hand-drawn quality that zooming in or out doesn't compromise their quality (through stretching).

However, if going by what Generation 6 had blazed the path upon us, the quality would be perceived as a step down because Pokemon has always known to be about pixel art, and the polygonal models did a good job at conveying this in 3D.

As for me, I really liked the 3D art as it seemed more consistent in showing what the characters look like, even at a different angle.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Treacle]

The models for the pokémon themselves are nice, the chibified models for the human characters during cut-scenes are bit dodgy IMO.

 

[Gomez16]

I do not like that lack of 3D. It is only used on a few cut scenes and single battles. There is an on/off switch for it, I personally like the 3D effect on my New 3DS.

I think its a much more zoomed in view though. I wonder how gen 6 is so taxing on the hardware that they have to zoom in, and cut the 3d effects out.

 

[Mitchman]

Cobsidering how they somehow managed to go full 3D and STILL kept the grid based world and didn't go for something more organic looking, I would have preferred the gen 5 look. I was pretty adamant pre reveal that the overworld qould be full 3D, but akin to aay something like animal crossing. Top down with a great camera angle and the chibi squished look with crisp models and textures
If they got rid of the grid, and didn't have stuff like square puddlea and an actual open world(they still use separate maps, its fucking unbelievable to me that they still do this)I would be an advocate of gen 6 )
in a heartbeat.

 

[WallflowerCanyon]

While I think the graphics don't necessarily dictate the full enjoyment of these kinds of games, I do really like the graphics of Gen 4 on up. That's including all cutscenes, overworld, and battles. Since my absolute-favorite part of the Pokémon main series has always been the exploration and environment, Gen 6 wins for me by a landslide. What I like about the cutscenes in 4-6 is that they add a little bit more to the storytelling that goes on in the games.

I imagine that eventually, these games will start to have graphics like Colosseum/XD/PBR. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if that starts with Gen 7, but I may be wrong.