A Pokemon Scarlet and Violet fan has posted an extremely impressive fan creation, showcasing many of Gen 9's Paradox Pokemon in the style of Generation 5's pixel art. Recreating new Pokemon with pixel art isn't a new thing for fans of the series. As a series that heavily invokes nostalgia for a lot of players, it makes sense that the audience would often compare its past and present.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet continue the series' trend of using a 3D graphics style, rather than the traditional pixel art style that the series became known for over two decades ago. Many fans continue to debate between the two styles, although it seems Game Freak is committed to the 3D graphics for the foreseeable future. With Pokemon Scarlet and Violet criticized for a huge amount of bugs upon its 2022 launch, it's presumed that Game Freak's priorities currently lie away from making huge changes to the graphics engine.
The video posted by Redditor R3dd1t_D4v1d features seven designs from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, as they would have appeared in Gen 5's Pokemon Black and White. The Pokemon featured in the video are Iron Treads, Iron Bundle, Iron Hands, Iron Jugulis, Iron Moth, Iron Thorns, and Iron Valiant. As well as the beautiful pixel art, the user has also hand-animated the art, showing exactly what they would have looked like in-game. The details added by the user give the pixel art more definition, and rival the modern 3D renders for quality.
The post sparked some debate around the graphics style of the Pokemon franchise, with one user proposing the use of a hybrid 2.5D style, with 2D sprites seamlessly incorporated in 3D environments. A fan concept for a 2.5D Pokemon game has previously been seen online, and as a proof of concept, it's interesting to see. Within the hardware restrictions of the Nintendo Switch, a 2.5D game could also solve the performance issues that have plagued many of the recent titles.
Fans of the Pokemon franchise have continued to show their reverence for the franchise in a variety of different ways. The opening of a Pokemon Cafe in Japan shows the strength of a franchise that could very easily have run out of steam a long time ago. With hordes of fan creations and the continued popularity of the long-running anime TV series, Pokemon is showing no signs of slowing down as a pop-culture juggernaut. As new generations continue to introduce new Pokemon into the world, expect to see more fans recreate the new additions in the style of the older games.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for Nintendo Switch.