Early Concept Image From Pokemon Scarlet/Violet Reveals Game Freak’s Approach To The Game’s Visuals

Last year, Game Freak released Pokemon Scarlet And Violet, the first open world game in the Pokemon series, which went on to achieve massive commercial success despite many technical issues and mixed reception from critics and fans.

Recently, at the Computer Entertainment Developers Conference in Japan, Game Freak spoke about their approach to Pokemon Scarlet And Violet‘s visual style, and in the process showed off a bit of early concept art from the game.

As translated via Serebii.net’s Joe Merrick and Pokemon Archivist Lewchube, it seems Game Freak tried to adopt a “Real and Deform” approach where the background environments would look more realistic, while the characters and Pokemon would appear less so, at least in comparison to Pokemon Sword And Shield.

This “Real and Deform” approach can be seen quite clearly in the final product, where the world itself indeed tries to look more realistic while the Pokemon themselves retain their usual more cartoonish designs. If you’re interested in checking out more in-development images shared at the conference, you can check some out here.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.