GenGAME writes: Pokémon has finally made the jump from the 2D realm of sprites to a fully 3D (in every sense of the word, given the stereoscopic functions of the 3DS) world. Is the dimensional upgrade the right move for the Pokémon franchise?
That depends on if it’s done right. The change gives Pokémon the ability to do new things, but Game Freak has to make sure they don’t rush the sixth generation and release an underachieving game experience.
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Look at Monster hunter freedom unite on the psp. It has 80 monster in it and every single one of them is many times more complex than even the most ambitious pokemon, boasting fluid animations and detailed texture maps. Alongside this they have their own AI and Behaviour. We're talking about a game on the PSP!
The truth is nintendo has never and probably never will give the pokemon games the budget they deserve and Gamefreak will probably never set their ambitions higher then the absolute minimal.
The game doesn't release until October. That's over 8 months of finishing and polishing time before production starts. I don't see what the issue is here...
But seriously just look at the screenshot at the top of the article on the site. It really does look like a 3D DS game.
I'm stoked for this game and buying it regardless, but don't be blinded by fanboyism or stupidity. The game looks like ass right now (though not so much in battles) and hopefully it gets polished before release.
As just a 3DS game I don't see how in the world you could think the trailer/screenshots look remotely in the same ball park as even early screens for Mario 3D Land, Revelations, Monster Hunter, Luigi's Mansion, Kingdom Hearts, etc.
I love Pokemon and I just pre-ordered my copy of X today, but lets be objective here. What we saw in the trailer/screens isn't graphically impressive and I think we should all admit it. But that's not to say we can't be optimistic. We don't know what build this first bit of media was taken from and should hope that it was from an old build or that the game will get its fair share of polish over the next couple months.
9 months also isn't long at all in terms of game development. Within 4-6 months of release most games are content complete and the last couple of months are left to bug squashing and general polishing of areas. You aren't going to see an entirely revamped engine in that period of time. We might see the framerate get more solid in the final version, but I'm not expecting any huge changes in the game's geometry and character models in that period of time unless of course these videos were from a very old build of the game.
BUT, I do agree that something that is well within their control, art direction, is something they could definitely fix.
Look, they're trying to keep it familiar and they thought Pokémon didn't need to be techincally advanced. It doesn't have to, because what everyone wants is a game that plays similar to all the other main pokemon games.
The author speculates that the game may be rushed because when questioned on the games lack of graphical prowess an employee from The Pokemon Company international said that the game is still in the early stages, despite the game's release only being 9 months away.