The 4th Generation Style

[Cipher]

Each generation of Pokemon has come with its own destinct general theme or style, in both the nature of the monsters, and the artistic schemes.

The Kanto creatures were primarily standart animal creatures, for the most part more natural/realistic looking (as far as Pokemon go.) Most Pokemon were primarily one color apeice.

The second generation, and in my opinion the strangest, bombarded us with a sea of artistically innovative Pokemon. All of them taking basic animals, and assigning them very abstract designs. They seemed more like they belonged in an impressionist painting than in nature. For some reason, purple was a very dominant hue in this generation. This generation also seemed to have a thing for pale, artsy colors. I don't know how to describe it.

And then, bam, we're hit with a tropical swirl of outlandish monsters in the third generation. The color theme swtiches from light and subtle, to bold, varied, and vibrant. Many of the Pokemon themselves bare tropical appearences or markings. Others, while maybe not so tropical, as they are found in other climates of Hoenn, still have the distinct boldness and oddities that are the third generation. A wider variety of colors, monsters, and settings, make up the seeminly tropical third generation.

So, generalizing, each generation seems to have its own style. Natural for Kanto, artistic/muted for Johto, and colorful/tropical for Hoenn. Judging on the fourth generation Pokemon released so far, what type of theme or style can we expect to see from the fourth generation? What overall style would you like to see?

 

[Dratini]

i never relized that but igot no ideas

 

[Eszett]

My thoughts?

It's too soon to make any generalizations about the style.

Sure, we've had a few Pokemon revealed, but the two Pokemon that we have that are unconnected to the previous generations hardly enough material to postulate about a group of Pokemon that number at least 50-60 times more than this miniscule selection, especially when considering they are both legendaries. The other three Pokemon we have obviously borrow their style from their Kanto/Johto predecessors and thus do not reflect the style that this generation will reflect as accurately.

But from what I've seen, I like it...it seems like a nice amalgam of Kanto's simplicity and Hoenn's adventureness.

 

[Yami_no_Waru]

Wow. Somebody else who intelligence enough to pick this up! ^.^

For years I've been trying to educate people about the artistic and conceptual differences between generations, and how some Pokemon you can tell were part of a previous generation and not the one they are in (case in point, Wailmer).

There's not enough released that are unrelated to prior monsters to discern a style... in that sense, I agree with Eszett. However, I do get the vibe from what we've seen that the Pokemon will be a lot more imaginative in terms of combining features and creatures into one, and will look less like their typing than we've grown accustomed to (Lucario being a fine example). I definitely find Manifi to be very... doodly. Like a bizarre cartoonist's drawing on a napkin. And if that thing is a parrot with a note sticking out of its head, and the weird thing with two tails is a boxing weasel like I keep imagining... Yeah, we're in for a weird and wild generation.

My vote? Cartoons. They're going to be very crazy and cartoony looking.

 

[bob799]

I noticed that also, for some reason for years i have preferred the original style they used. My least favorite being hoenn because half the pokemon in it remind me of digimon or some other monster thing.
Anyway i think the theme in D/P will probably a little bit of everything. The latest revealed pokemon remind me of gold and silver while gonbe reminds me of red and blue. And manyula reminds me of hoenn style.

 

[Cipher]

I was not taking into consideration that four of the new monsters that we have seen are related to past monsters. They don't borrow entirely from the generations that their relatives were a part of, they're close enough to throw us off. However, I think I am noticing a bit of a theme. The Pokemon we've seen so far are, as Eszett pointed out, zany in their concepts like the Hoenn Pokemon, but simpler in their artistic schemes like the Kanto Pokemon.

What I'm noticing so far, is noticably darker colors than the Hoenn Pokemon. No more, tropical mixes. One or two solid, darker colors apeice. These Pokemon seem to be a mix between a rustic/olden time Japanese feel (Manene, Bonsly, Manyula, Lucario), and somewhat futuristic designs. Look at Manaphy, Lucario, or even Manyula. They are all concepts that could be rooted in old folk lore, but their designs and colors make them seem more, futuristic.

Or another interpretation, as suggested by Yami No Waru, is that they could be more sylized/cartoonish. I didn't find the new shadowed Pokemon to be that strange. I can easily see them being somewhat normal looking. But the colors and designs we've seen are more stylized than any generation. They're not realistic. Certainly not tropical or happy-go-lucky a la Hoenn, but they have a sense of fluidity and edginess. I think I like this one better.

Conclusion as of now:

Concepts: Rustic/Stylized blend of creatures

Pallete: Solid, Dark, a one to two color scheme per Pokemon

Just my interpretations based off of a small handful of creatures. They may end up being as doodly as Yami predicted.

 

[Chilled2m7]

Well, so far we have two pre-evo's for Johto Pokemon. I may be stretching this a bit far (I'm being hopefull as well!) but i'm guessing that the new gen will most closely resemble Pokemon from the Johto region. The artistic style of Pokemon revealed so far are on par with Johto. IF they had been introduced a few years ago (GSC) I certainly wouldn't have found them odd looking.

 

[VampirateMace]

All I noticed was the bugs got less complex.

 

[DarkSpectrum]

well... I'm guessing from the first shown pokemon that the new gen will be
a bit darker for some of the pokemom
a bit cartoonish for the others
and all being simplistic in a color design and more modernized than previously

 

[umbreon43085]

They wil probably be:

Cartoonish (I think that we have established that.)
Simple
Few Colors
Blend of light and dark
Colors that should belong in a comic book

Those are my opinions. Some have already been suggested but, some have not. Some even contridict!

 

[Pixol]

I must agree with all of you.

The cartoon appeal comes across, but also, I find that some of them (mainly Manyula and Lucario) are quite dark Pokemon. Should we expect a deeper, darker and more menacing set of Pokemon than ever before?

 

[Ethereal]

All I noticed was the bugs got less complex.

Really? So Flygon and Vibrava are less detailed than say....Pinsir? Right.

Beautifly and Dustox are also leaps and bounds ahead of Butterfree, Beedrill, and Venomoth.

 

[OmegaDragon]

Flygon and Vibrava are not bug, Eternal.
Anyway, I am suprised that another person noticed the art styles. I think that these pokemon are going to be cartoonier and look more original the the others. But I cant really tell you until more pokemon are revieled

 

[Ethereal]

Flygon and Vibrava are not bug, Eternal.

I knew that. >_>

Besides, they TECHNICALLY are bugs. They just couldn't have the 3rd type that officially made them so. I think it's common agreement that they are "bugs", even if the typing says otherswise.

 

[PDL]

Flygon and Vibrava are still insect-based...

anyway, as Eszett said already, it's too soon to tell what the next batch of monsters are going to look like right now... but my prediction is that they'll be as complex as the 3rd generation with a dash of simpleness as of the 1st... or the second.

 

[Cipher]

Flygon and Vibrava are not bug, Eternal.
Anyway, I am suprised that another person noticed the art styles.

I thought everyone would've noticed.

The thing about Vibrava and Flygon is that while they are bug-like creatures, the mere fact tht they are typed as Dragon means people are expecting something more in terms of design, to fit in with the other Dragon types. Had these Pokemon been actually typed as Bug, they could've gotten away with something less extravagent. Flygon is an excellent example of the third generation's style though.

with a dash of simpleness as of the 1st... or the second.

Keep in mind that the second generation had simple concepts, but not artistic direction.

 

[Alastor DMc]

I feel it had to do primarily with the platform they were released on. RBY were on the gameboy, which had limited color ability, and thus, they were given guide lines by which to do create the pokemon (making them simple and easy looking, with normal colors) while RSE are on the advanced platform, thus making it a more complicated pallet of colors, and designs. Imagine the difficulty of drawing a pokemon like Dustox, with it's multiple bright vibrant coloring on a regular game boy. He just wouldn't look right.

Since the DS is capable of much higher graphical powers, I believe we'll be seeing new pokemon that consist of amazing ammounts of colors and design (compaired to the first gen.) but I do believe we'll also see a more rustic, simple look to many of them. Time will tell, of course, but it's fun to speculate.

 

[VampirateMace]

Really? So Flygon and Vibrava are less detailed than say....Pinsir? Right.

Beautifly and Dustox are also leaps and bounds ahead of Butterfree, Beedrill, and Venomoth.

Well I wouldn't say that, but yeah the complexity of the bugs did go back up.
I was really looking first to second generation. I guess it's all prespective anyways.

 

[Matt Silver]

Yeha i noticed that Hoenn were a bit tropical. I think pokemon of 4th gen will differ between dark and Johto style. Kinda like a darker version of Johto...But with Manafi i think that light kind of art is gonna still be used. I would like to see a more darker, deeper tone of pokemon this time around.

 

[sam_h12]

yeah i think they'll be like the Johto Pokemon, judging by the current pokemon that have been released. also, ther are a lot of evos/pre-evos compared to crappy 3rd gen (azumarill, wynaut, and...thats it. full stop.) and its just the wackiness of Bonsly, Manene, Munchlax and Manafi.

anyone else think 3rd gen truly sucked?