Twitter Flooded With GameCube Screenshots After Dan Salvato Says 'Pokémon Legends Arceus' Looks Like A GameCube Game
It's Pokémon game release season, which also means it's "Complaining About Modern Pokémon" season. Today, Nintendo and Pokémon fans were riled up by a tweet from Dan Salvato, creator of Doki Doki Literature Club, who posted two screenshots from a recent trailer for Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
"The Pokemon franchise has grossed more than MCU, Mario, and Harry Potter combined. Why do these graphics look like they're from a GameCube game?," he wrote.
The tweet brings up a complaint that's plagued the Pokémon franchise, especially after it began releasing games on the Nintendo Switch. Many fans have expressed disappointment in the games' switch to home consoles, particularly with the graphical fidelity, which some think are not up to par with other modern titles (who could forget Treegate?). This, itself, got Pokémon defenders riled up in the QRTs, with many arguing that the screenshots portray the game's art style.
However, on a slightly less-exhausting note, Salvato's tweet inspired people to post screenshots of old GameCube games, either to make the point that Legends: Arceus is a step up from the 20-year-old console or to simply admire how good GameCube games looked back then.
Granted, all this hemming and hawing about upcoming Pokémon games is just something that seems like it will plague Pokémon forever, at least until Game Freak goes full-on Unreal Engine, Nintendo, Hire This Man graphics, but at least with this most recent controversy, the silver lining is we get to remember some enjoyable GameCube games.
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Stegobiumus102
I have my copy of Pikmin 2 on the Gamecube in that still looks amazing.
Jyron Stone
Not only is that a hefty insult to the Gamecube, Monster Hunter Rise is a Switch-exclusive and looks fucking gorgeous while also having to synchronize up to 4 people fighting 3 boss fights simultaneously across different ends of a map, so people saying "Switch isn't strong enough for anything better!!!!" also need a good slap on the back of the head.
Peanut970
I'd honestly say a lot of the Game Cube games look BETTER than the new pokémon games. The pokémon games' strange mix of sporadic high quality bits surrounded by mediocre visuals and drab colours really makes for a game that feels aimless in its art direction.
Punkypine
Granted, it looks better than Sw/Sh, but something still feels…off with that screencap. The field still looks really flat and it's not covered up by those few sprigs of grass sticking out. I think the blank sky with the clouds obviously just painted on it is what's throwing me off the most.
And the fact that we have two Pokemon games in a row that were obviously rushed to Hell and back (They've been finding new glitches in BDSP literally every other day) doesn't bode well for Legends: Arceus, regardless of its graphics.
Hyperion235
Graphics don't make the game. Pokémon hasn't been fun or engaging since Black 2 & White 2. Point goes to Just Monika.
ZoruaLoL
The people claiming Legends Arceus looks the way it does because of an """artstyle""" have no fucking clue they are talking about, Legends Arceus is totally lacking in an art direction.
Generations 6 to 8 went with outlines to sort of mirror the look of the official Sugimori art, Legends Arceus removes that and now the models from now 10 years ago look the rawest they have ever looked: no anti-aliasing, poorly-filtered low-resolution textures and overall unflattering lighting (I think it would look slightly acceptable if it looked like the pre-rendered bit from one of the trailers):
If people think Legends Arceus is trying to look like "ancient japanese art" they should fucking look at games like Okami (also on GameCube) and World of Demons or even the new GetsuFumaDen, as those games actually have a deliberate visual design
And it seems that this graphics debacle has done nothing but to smokescreen the very real problems these games would persist even if the game had better graphics:
- SwSh would still be an on-rails handhold-y experience over hallway maps with a tacked-on sandbox
- BDSP would still be an uninspired cynical rehash of a DS game
- Legends Arceus will still be your typical open-world wasteland with not much to do but repetitive grinding tasks
Hysteria98
The visual style isn't the problem. It's the blatant, distinct lack of detail, of which Sword And Shield was heavily criticised for as well.
The game looks fine, but there's absolutely fuck-all going on in the environment- barely any trees, shrubbery, long grass. When there is, it's so scant, it's as if they're trying to make the entire world a Savannah by design.
You want a game based on Japanese paintings and woodblock prints? Look at Muramasa (albeit a 2D game) and see what a small indie dev team accomplished in 2009, it's stunning.
There is a lot to criticise with this game, and as smug as this sounds, my fears with Nintendo game previews are never wrong. It looks stark, the gameplay looks fairly stark as well- or at least, the core mechanic the game is based around, they showed off of for all of 5 seconds in the 4 minute-long gameplay trailer.
I'm absolutely keen on the game, but dear god, is it so empty. It should be looking like Pokemon Snap 2- Bandai Namco littered those levels with Pokemon and environmental detail, and there is a ridiculous amount of content to match (and this is BN we're talking about).
I haven't bought a mainline Pokemon game since Diamond & Pearl let me down in 2007, and it seems that isn't really going to change. I'd like to be wrong, and that this game turns itself around for the final release, but Game Freak's repertoire has only grown more diminished over time.
Nani Sore
Don't make me bring up the N64 trees from Sword/Shield
Lonefirebearer
Like, GameFreak is going for an Artstyle here but… I ain't going say it a Gamecube game. You got remember the limitations of the console the game's on. Remember; there going games that would push the limits of a system, and games that make the system look weak. The new Pokémon game here just, looks like your standard Switch game. Nothing much else say…
UnKewln00b
Because Photorealistic Pokemon would be weird.
supergoron
Looks fine to me.