Kanethedragon
Veteran Pokegamer
Found it! or maybe another one, after the release of bw2 in Japan, hmmm you got to be thinking the main team is already working on the next game, here is what he had to say:
"There are definitely good aspects to both 3D and 2D. For example if you look at the Pokémon on the package you can really see how cool it looks as a 2D illustration and in the games, for the Pokémon characters, one of the reasons we use sprites, at least currently, is because we like to have more of a comical, kind of look like an animation, this kind of visual style is what we want to do for the Pokémon games. If we were able to take that style we have now and have it translate into 3D with no problems; that is definitely something we would be into. However, it’s not just about the visual appearance either. The feeling and the control of the character is also very important to us. There is definitely a certain feeling you have when you control these 2D characters. It may be different if we switched over to 3D."
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/featu...alks-pok-233-mon-s-first-numbered-sequel.aspx
See, they may not be going into full 3D for overworld, but this doesn't rule out battles.
but I like the direction and the visual style that Masuda is seeking :} hope they nailed it this time.
Hmm, then they might want to take a couple examples from Marvelous (MarvelousAQL) if that's the case. As Rune Factory 4 is very anime-like and done in a better definition than seen in sprites, but I think that's because it was cel-shaded, I don't exactly remember the specs much.