To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise on February 27, Game Freak announced Pokémon Winds and Waves, the 10th mainline entry in the long-running series. Coming in 2027 for the Nintendo Switch 2, Winds and Waves will welcome a whole new generation of Pokémon, with the new starter trio – Browt, Pombon and Gecqua – getting the spotlight in the first trailer.
One big discussion point that the new trailer brought was the very obvious leap towards more realistic-looking graphics compared to Scarlet and Violet. Ever since the shift to 3D with X and Y, and especially when it comes to Scarlet and Violet, issues regarding graphical fidelity and art direction in Pokémon have been a hot topic in the English-speaking community.
“Being arguably one of the most successful and well-known video game franchises, couldn’t Pokémon have had ‘much better graphics,’ comparable to the stronger and more detailed visuals many other major game series offer?” A recent post on the Japanese side of X went viral for addressing the criticism, spiraling out into a wider debate, with many other domestic fans agreeing that Pokémon, at its core, doesn’t exactly need conventional “good graphics.”
“So I recently heard someone say: Why are Pokemon’s graphics so cheap-looking when it’s such a popular title?… What? […] The graphic express what’s intended, and they’re completely fine as they are. It would feel weird if you made only the background look realistic, and trying to make the Pokemon realistic to match the background would go against what the devs wanted to express in the first place,” they wrote.
“There are many people who mistake good graphics for realism,” another user added, suggesting that Pokémon, as an anime-styled game, should keep pursuing and evolving within that visual style. Addressing criticism that Pokémon’s visual presentation is rather meek for a major game franchise, the user explains that the said “evolution within the anime style” was quite apparent up until Sword and Shield. However, with Scarlet and Violet, the textures of both human and Pokémon characters seem to go for a somewhat more “detailed” and realistic style. The user argues that, in contrast, the “western-inspired” push for realism might actually be what’s standing in the way of the game pursuing its full potential as an anime-styled series.
Another fan theorized that this shift in graphics is likely the developers’ attempt to find a middle ground between the demands of Japanese and Western gamers. “[The shift in graphics] is the downside of overseas expansion. Japanese players love the anime style, while overseas players love realism, and while I think it’s fine that the devs put in the effort to make a game anyone can enjoy, I still believe that it’s a bit wrong for Pokémon to go realistic,” they wrote, expressing concern for how the game’s visual style might evolve past Scarlet and Violet.
On the other hand, others suggested that Pokémon had been popular overseas ever since its beginnings, and that there is technically no need for Game Freak to “pander to the West” in that sense. Rather, they argue that the stylistic shift likely has to do with the devs trying to keep up with current video game trends, like having open-world features and focusing on delivering an experience that is first and foremost “immersive.”
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