Pokemon’s Art Style Identity Crisis

New Pokémon games are on the way featuring the Sinnoh region. Both feature distinct gameplay, timelines, and most importantly, different art styles. With a chibi approach to Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, the DS graphics transform to the Switch in a really cutesy way. In contrast, Pokémon Legends: Arceus looks a lot like Breath of the Wild. Both looks are completely different from the Let’s Go games. Even more unique is the art style in Sword and Shield. Is Pokémon having an identity crisis?

Overall, there are perks to exploring different art styles. The Legend of Zelda series does this masterfully. No two games look entirely the same but they’re all distinctly Zelda. The same goes for Pokémon. You take one look at a Pokémon game and you know it’s a Pokémon game. Talking about the art styles of these games might seem trivial, but my concern is that all these different styles are existing at the same time. It’s becoming clear that Pokémon doesn’t necessarily have a clear future paved out.

The Sword and Shield games are clearly the latest mainline generation game. That art style, however, is completely void in any of the two upcoming projects. One could say that there’s almost a divide occurring. Personally, I like the look of BD and SP a lot more than the geographical layout of Sword and Shield. If that’s the way that games are heading for Pokémon, I don’t know how many mainline games I’ll get really excited about in the future.

The real trick is the fanbase of Pokémon. The Pokémon Company is making games for new, younger fans as well as the lifetime fans like me. This identity crisis is unique to Pokémon because the fandom is so engaged and diverse. Exploring all these art styles might be the only way to appease everyone. Unfortunately, it could also mean that Pokémon games fail to move forward with a clear identity in the coming years.