Despite selling nearly 15 million units since its Nov. 2021 launch, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl left a bad taste in the mouths of the wider Pokémon community with its visual choices and odd choices when it came to in-game content.
Because of that, fans are begging Game Freak and The Pokémon Company to take inspiration from other popular games and a fan project when it’s time to bring Black and White back.
Whether the devs are working on a remaster more in line with how BDSP was closer to a one-to-one of Gen IV’s original games or a remaster in the veins of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, there is a rising demand for a step back from 3D graphics.
Over the last several days, videos from 3D pixel artist Dott that were posted several months ago have been making the rounds on social media again. These videos saw the designer recreating iconic areas from the original Pokémon Red and Blue in Unreal Engine 5 using a visual style popularized by Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler.
In their own words, Dott wanted to create these videos to see how the original Pokémon games would look with the HD-2D style that has been adopted by an increasing number of RPG and indie titles over the last several years.
In total, this recreation has produced several looks at Pallet Town and Vermillion City with stunning visuals.
This HD-2D style is something RPG fans adore when done properly, and Square has implemented several classics like Live A Live and an upcoming Dragon Quest III release into that by remaking them.
Every pixel-based hit from Chrono Trigger and beyond has had calls for similar treatment and now the Pokémon community has purchased first-class tickets on that train too.
Especially with the divisive art style of BDSP making a chunk of fans feel like the franchise was going backward, the call for Gen V to embrace the HD-2D style is louder than ever as we approach what feels like an inevitable announcement.
Popular creator and Pokémon personality extraordinaire Alpharad put it best when he said he would “sell multiple years” of his life for Black and White to get this unique treatment with their remakes. And it would fit perfectly since Gen V was the final 2D generation and showed Game Freak’s mastery of the art form.
However, even with that demand, there are plenty of fans pushing back on the idea because the flair effects and other visual oddities games like Octopath are known for can be offputting. The same can be said about BDSP’s art style being divisive in its own way, however.
That doesn’t mean those fans wouldn’t love an HD-2D version of a Pokémon game, but it does show that making those titles work would likely require the devs to find a middle ground between that visual style and Pokémon’s. And this is something that has been an ongoing discussion within the community for a long time.
It is all dependent on a player’s subjective view of what makes a game look good, but a distinct style could provide some extra spark for the next Pokémon remake.
Though, considering how well BDSP sold despite all of the backlash, it is unlikely TPC will change course and risk such a drastic shift in visuals in the next Pokémon remakes since it could also push some of the more casual markets away.
