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Sprites vs. 3D models

I think 3D models have overtaken sprites for me in just the past few games. I think SV, LA, and especially ZA models have a lot of life to them that the models of other games and pokemon home just don’t. I really don’t love older 3D models and actively turn them off to show the sprite art when I’m playing pokemon showdown. Theres a certain beauty to sprites in how they can convey so much with so few pixels, but eventually the hardware and modeling ability just caught up to this more limited medium and we got 3D models that show more personality and detail than sprites ever could. It would be cool to see another game with sprites at some point though. Maybe black and white remakes/sequels could do this considering the og games had some of the best sprite art in the series.
 
im on team 3D models

i really don't want to get into a long debate about it because i think people have.... strong feelings on the matter. part of it is because i grew up on pokemon spinoffs, so models are what i'm used to (pokemon stadium/stadium 2, pokemon colo/XD, etc), part of it is that while i do think models have their flaws in that there are pokemon that don't look great in them, i think they're overall a net positive in really bringing pokemon motion to life in a way that sprites couldn't. with pixel art, you have to rely a lot on flashy attack animations to feel the intensity of battle (gen 3 ice beam, anyone?), whereas with models, it feels more "life-like" in which it does feel like it's the pokemon themselves performing the attack in motion.

it's a bit hard to verbalize, but it feels more like you're a trainer in the pokemon anime, which i think is more of what the point of 3D models is supposed to achieve. i've always wanted that feeling even as a kid, which is why 3D models feel better visually, to me.
 
I have appreciation towards both, but I think slightly I lean towards models. The animations put into the models have some so much wrt personality and lifeness for 90% of Pokémon.

I'd understand the hesitantance towards models wrt not touching them up much since the 3ds days, but we're far along enough from those games that models feel and look pretty different from when they started (well for the most part... Mega Venusaur still uses his original model despite base Venusaur getting a remodel otherwise)

That's not to say sprites are bad, far from it! I think the sprites back in the day were top notch and the use of new sprites for most games stand out pretty distinctly.
 
i miss the sprites personally. i liked that with every generation a new sprite would be created for most/all pokemon. so we'd get to see new poses and expressions and sometimes get new and interesting vibes for old pokemon. there were a few times where a new sprite would make me like a pokemon i had previously overlooked! this was especially true for spinoff games. personally im a bit tired of seeing the same models for over a decade with what i feel is very few changes or additions :sadsola:

but honestly the biggest crime of the 3d models imo is that lugia's model is absolutely terrible :lapras:
 
If we are talking about the human characters, it's a tie for me. Both have its charm. If we are talking about pokemon, I prefer the sprites overall, but I would like them about equal if the sprites didn't look so washed up and if the movements were more dynamic. Pokemon battle revolution has some great movements and color palettes for the pokemon.
 
I'll go with the models, although a number of Pokemon look much better in 2D, such as Archeops (it looks overweight in Generation VI), Snorlax, Swellow, Scyther, Skarmory, Tropius, and Dragonite. That being said, I really dislike the fact that the models look desaturated in Generations VI - VII, and Altaria's wings in Scarlet/Violet look like they are made of bubbles for some reason.
 
i love and greatly prefer sprite-based artwork in any video game, but the use of 3D models allows developers to re-use some assets and not have to worry about making new ones.
(for example, with a 3D model, you can just rotate it to make it look to the left, but with a sprite, you'd have to make a new one) we've seen many other games pivot to 3D for the same reasons, such as many fighting games.
 
I've recently watched a great video where a YT content creator wanted to "live up" the 3D models with brighter color schemes on the models and more dynamic poses like they do in sprite era. I've always liked 3D models better than the sprites, but if the GF had the competence to make them more distinct like the YTer does in his project, we would have gotten significantly better models over what GF has been doing with bare minimum touches over the past 13 years.

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