"Why Pokemon design doesn't feel the same anymore: A discussion about anatomy and weight"

Disclaimer: I don't mean to say that the newer approach to design is objectively worse than the old one. I just noticed some interesting things and would like to share them with people.Basically, Pokemon used to be designed with the implication of having actual flesh, muscle and bones underneath their skin (of course this is only relevant for animal-like Pokemon). They also had relatively realistic proportions, as in having their weight properly distributed and a reasonable center of gravity. This is important.Here's an image of all starters which is a good example of what I mean. If you look more closely, you'll notice that almost all of the Gen 1-5 starters' heads are either smaller than their body, or at least the same size. They also used to have short, sturdy legs, supporting the weight of their head and body in a realistic way. Now, if you look at the more recent starters, you'll see that they have very large heads, larger than their body, and often very small and thin limbs. If they were real, this would simply make them fall over, because their body and legs would not be able to support the mass of their head. Please note that Fennekin and Sobble both fit the latter description, and both are loved in the community, so as you can see, it can still be appealing to many people if executed well.Let's look at Clefairy. It's literally just a ball that doesn't resemble any real-life creature. Yet the basic principles of gravity and mass are still applied to it: it has short, sturdy legs that support its weight and hold it firmly on the ground, making Clefairy look believable.Pokemon has been going away from realism and animalistic anatomy to simplified, geometry-oriented design elements.Original Vulpix: Body significantly bigger than head, well-defined skull structure, sturdy legs supporting the weight. More angles.Alola Vulpix: Head bigger than body, skull/face structure is simplified, legs are very small and dainty. More curvy lines.Even the eyes. Pokemon used to have a very distinct type of eyes found in many Pokemon, which made them look more visually coherent with each other.No wonder why Corviknight has quickly become the fan favorite of this generation. It has a lot of realism and anatomy, very good weight distribution, much more angles and less curves. It's a callback to the old Pokemon design, which is why it's so appealing to many people.The conclusion?There's a very real difference between old and new. Liking old is cool. Liking new is cool. Liking both is cool. Hating on people for liking one or the other is not cool.Thnx for coming to my TED talkEdit: People have been saying the eyes are a poor example in this context, and I agree. Giving many Pokemon the same eye shape, even if signature, was probably not the best decision from the design standpoint. However, it can be used to support my point about anatomy/structure (taken from the comments):Yeah you're right here, I should've worded that better. This was to illustrate how there used to be more angles than curves, and also that the old eye design had more "depth" to it because of the very well-defined eyebrow hanging above it, adding to the feeling of proper anatomy and skull structure. via /r/pokemon https://ift.tt/2NcV1fm