Imho the problem with the 3D-era pokemon games isn’t that they look low-fi, it’s that they look low-fi in a boring way. Like they were built from asset-store content from 15 years ago.
If ever there was a game that could’ve gotten away with some weird theme like voxel-art or heavy use of billboarded sprites, it’s pokemon. Like, imagine a pokemon game with pixelated hand-animated textures like in Megaman Legends. That would work.
Yup. The game is pretty overrated, imho, but its aesthetic was amazing. No lighting system, everything was hand-shaded with textures that really got the Megaman look. One of a kind style.
Cobblemon is a pokémon mod for minecraft, and definitely has a charm to it and fits weirdly well into the minecraft-pixel-art-with-shaders esthetic IMO. Plus the “gotta catch em all” basic gameplay loop meshes well with Minecraft’s incentive to explore the world.
Of course it’s a free mod so it’s a bit rough around the edges and there doesn’t seem to be much to do beyond collect pokémon and build minecraft houses, but in my online circles it certainly has captured a lot more attention than any pokémon game released in the last forever. I would like to think Nintendo is taking notes, but we all know they Don’t Give A Fuck. They’ll pump out any asset flip and people will buy it because they’re nostalgic and Nintendo has a legally enforced monopoly on the franchise.
Imho the problem with the 3D-era pokemon games isn’t that they look low-fi, it’s that they look low-fi in a boring way. Like they were built from asset-store content from 15 years ago.
If ever there was a game that could’ve gotten away with some weird theme like voxel-art or heavy use of billboarded sprites, it’s pokemon. Like, imagine a pokemon game with pixelated hand-animated textures like in Megaman Legends. That would work.
Is that mouth just a texture with the camera angle painted on it?
Honestly that’s just great.
Yup. The game is pretty overrated, imho, but its aesthetic was amazing. No lighting system, everything was hand-shaded with textures that really got the Megaman look. One of a kind style.
Cobblemon is a pokémon mod for minecraft, and definitely has a charm to it and fits weirdly well into the minecraft-pixel-art-with-shaders esthetic IMO. Plus the “gotta catch em all” basic gameplay loop meshes well with Minecraft’s incentive to explore the world.
Of course it’s a free mod so it’s a bit rough around the edges and there doesn’t seem to be much to do beyond collect pokémon and build minecraft houses, but in my online circles it certainly has captured a lot more attention than any pokémon game released in the last forever. I would like to think Nintendo is taking notes, but we all know they Don’t Give A Fuck. They’ll pump out any asset flip and people will buy it because they’re nostalgic and Nintendo has a legally enforced monopoly on the franchise.