A 3D artist had fun recreating the very first generation of Pokémon games with HD-2D rendering.
A whole generation has been marked by Pokemon Red and Blue, the very first edition of a saga which, even today, is a huge success. She is talking about her again today thanks to the work of dott, spotted by Eurogamer in an article published on April 19. This passionate Japanese RPG (J-RPG) artist had fun reinventing games Pokemon of our childhood with HD-2D graphics.
The HD-2D is a rendering attributed to Square Enix, which decided to pay homage to the RPGs of yesteryear with a very particular retro style. Iic, 2D pixel art elements, which navigate in 3D decorations, are highlighted by a staging close to the diorama (the camera is placed above) and nice blur effects in the background. This allows characters to stand out, while maintaining flat (2D) gameplay. Square Enix used it for games like Triangle Strategy and Octopath Traveler.
Pokemon in HD-2D, it’s great
The breath of nostalgia sought by the HD-2D current is undeniable. And, of course, it works 100% for Pokemon Red and Blue — a duo of games released on the Game Boy in 1996. dott used the Unreal Engine 5 for this project, which the Pokémon Company would do well to take inspiration from. The company loves to update the old opuses of its cult license, and dott’s proposal is both original and successful.
This is all the more true as the latest games Pokemon did not particularly shine by their visual aspect. It’s quite the opposite : Pokémon Purple and Pokémon Scarlet were singled out for their technical flaws, forcing Nintendo to apologize. What dott delivers is otherwise more interesting and refreshing than the remakes Pokémon Sparkling Diamond And Pokémon Sparkling Pearlwhere some graphical choices are odd.
On his YouTube channel, dott shares comparisons between the Pokemon Red and Blue period and his project. The opportunity to recall how far technology has come since the 90s and, above all, to show how faithful he is to the games he has decided to rework.
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