There was a lot of exciting information that came out of last week’s Pokemon Presents, however, one fan noticed something that might be changingPokemongames forever. Based on the presentation, it looks likePokemon Legends: Arceusas well as bothPokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlwill be dropping theclassic Pokemon spriteswhen viewing them through the in-game menus.
Pointed out by Twitter user @Mattyoukhana_, it looks as if sprite work might be leaving the series for good withthe newest entries in thePokemonfranchise. As they show in the tweet, not only have the sprites for each individual Pokemon been replaced but the sprites for Poke Balls and all other in-game items are gone as well.
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Instead of the dedicated sprites for each Pokemon,Pokemon Legends: Arceuswill be replacing them with 3D renders of a close-up of each monster’s face.Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearl’s replacements are closer to the spite work of games past, as they feature full-body renders of each Pokemon, but are still noticeably different than older games in the series.
Similar replacements have been made to items in each game withLegends: Arceususing official artwork for its trainers’ inventory.Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlare also using official art for in-game items, however, asthe Pokeballs don’t have any major design changes, like the one seen inLegends: Arceus, they still look pretty similar to their sprite counterparts.
Pokemonfans in the comments of the tweet by @Mattyoukhana_ seem to have mixed feelings about the change to the series. Some think that while the shift away from sprites makes the games lose a certain level of charm, it does make for a cleaner design overall, while others argue thatPokemon’s historic rootsare being forgotten. A change like this is bound to divide some fans, however, it seems like the Pokemon Company is doubling down on it as both of the mainlinePokemonentries that it showed off during the presentation look to be dropping sprites for good.
The change to the series’ traditional sprite work isn’t the only thing thatPokemon Legends: Arceusis changing up, however. Manyfans were disappointed with the lack of new features inPokemon SwordandShield, and it seems likeLegends: Arceusis a good look at what the future ofPokemonwill look like. The game looks like it’s putting a much heavier emphasis on the nature of wild Pokemon, making the player engage with the world much more in ways never before seen in aPokemontitle. That among other things has fans excited to experience the game and see what’s in store forPokemon’s future.
Pokemon Legends: Arceuswill launch exlusively on the Nintendo Switch on January 28th, 2022.
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