Are Pokemon designs getting lazy?

[Endolise]

Lazy? That's not my problem. I think the legendaries are too "over the top" now. I'm kind of tired of dragons who rule time and space. Legendaries used to be simple birds or dogs with a deep story and lore. That's mainly what I miss - the simplicity.

In fairness, they did tone it down for Gen V. Reshiram and Zekrom are genuinely "just powerful Pokemon" with no deifying myths surrounding them. All they did was play a prominent role in the region's history and in the development of its civilization. In addition, the Swords of Justice and the Therian Trio are two sets of "simple" Legendaries who play only a minor role in the region's history, just like the Legendary Beasts. Lastly, there are the event Legendaries (excluding Keldeo who's technically one of the Swords), who are all very irrelevant to the region in the grand scheme of things (although Genesect is related to Team Plasma, but then again, Genesect is supposed to be a Mewtwo parallel).

However, I still stand by the belief that Dialga/Palkia/Giratina/Arceus were never meant to be considered "actual gods"; it's just that people frequently misinterpret "ruler of time/space" or "creator of the universe" with "god," even when that is not necessarily the case. I think that the Spacetime Trio and their creator were most likely meant to resemble the exaggerated deification of animals that occurs within our own real-world mythologies, only with the added effect of the Pokemon in question being able to live up to those exaggerations because of their own innate powers and capabilities.

[SimH8]

You acknowledge that other generations had equal shortcomings, but single out Gen V anyway?

Because in my opinion Gen 5 had the worst ideas in general.

[Psychic Politoed]

For the umpteenth time, no.

[OrcaCity]

I don't think they are getting lazy at all. Everything from their games to the Pokemon cries are more complex. If you pair up the starters with the really old ones, they've gotten way more complex.

[gliscor&yanmega]

Because in my opinion Gen 5 had the worst ideas in general.

Even though the ideas are basically the same concept that are present in all generations?

[SimH8]

Even though the ideas are basically the same concept that are present in all generations?

I might have misread this but are you saying every concept for a pokemon is in every generation?

[stoutshako]

Are you kidding me?! 5th got one of the best Designs ever, excluding kyurem, but Lilligant Bisharp Genesect and Meloetta are just perfect.

[ZakRs1]

The designs aren't lazy. The ideas are a bit, but they've used up so many there's not many options left. Look at Voltorb gen 1. That's lazy!

[GoggleBoy]

Why would they get lazy on a franchise that brings in the money the way Pokemon does? They're not getting lazy, you just simply don't like them as much as others. That's all.

[gliscor&yanmega]

I might have misread this but are you saying every concept for a pokemon is in every generation?

That's basically what I'm saying.

Animals, Plants, in-animated objects, food, and nasty stuff has been present in generations before(The latter two not so much, still Vanillite, and Trubbish aren't the first and wont be the last). There's also concepts of philosophy/myths/legends that are used in at least most of the generations(Pretty sure it's all though).

So yah, the overall concepts have been the same in generation 5 as they have been throughout the generations.

The designs aren't lazy. The ideas are a bit, but they've used up so many there's not many options left. Look at Voltorb gen 1. That's lazy!

The ideas aren't lazy either. There are a ton of options left for them to use as well, there are more then just 100 Animals, and it's not like they only use one kind of a species, we have a Brown Bear(Or whatever Ursanring is) and a Polar Bear, we have different breeds of Dogs, different species of Birds, etc...

Same goes for the rest of the stuff they use.

Voltorb wasn't so much lazy as it was just a simple design, which is nothing wrong with that either.

Are you kidding me?! 5th got one of the best Designs ever, excluding kyurem, but Lilligant Bisharp Genesect and Meloetta are just perfect.

And what is wrong with Kyurem?

[SimH8]

That's basically what I'm saying.

Animals, Plants, in-animated objects, food, and nasty stuff has been present in generations before(The latter two not so much, still Vanillite, and Trubbish aren't the first and wont be the last). There's also concepts of philosophy/myths/legends that are used in at least most of the generations(Pretty sure it's all though).

So yah, the overall concepts have been the same in generation 5 as they have been throughout the generations.

Ah sorry, I misunderstood you and thought you meant every specific concept for a pokemon had been in every gen. I didn't realise you meant concepts on a larger scale. I was referring to the origins of pokemon at a smaller scale eg Zebras, Turtles, Dogs and Trees. I pretty much meant Gen 5 has most amount of pokemon I dislike because of what they are based on, but there are loads of pokemon in Gen 5 I think look amazing.

[Thomas Elliot]

Nope. I may not like all of the designs, but I don't think they are lazy. I think they create pokemon with a correlation in mind.
Look at the Chandelure line for instance. It take it's inspiration from ghostly flames and those moments in scary movies where candles and chandeliers flick on suddenly.
You look at that and you instantly think ok it's got to be a Fire type. Not to mention that most pokemon of the same type generally share a common color.

[MuseHarmonia]

I would say yes. When I first saw Gen 5, I thought they looked like the stupidest things ever created. And, honestly, I still do. I just think they are running out of ideas. Then again, if I had to come up with more than 600 creatures and give them all descriptions and such, I would be lacking creativity at this point. ._.

[gliscor&yanmega]

I would say yes. When I first saw Gen 5, I thought they looked like the stupidest things ever created. And, honestly, I still do. I just think they are running out of ideas. Then again, if I had to come up with more than 600 creatures and give them all descriptions and such, I would be lacking creativity at this point. ._.

It's not like they are running out of ideas or lacking creativity anyways. That's why they are using new concepts each generation.

[Abysmal Zero]

I think we need to stop calling the design conceptualizations lazy, and start calling this argument exactly what it is: "I think *insert Vanillish/Trubbish/Voltorb/etc.* looks stupid, but saying that isn't a strong discussion so I'll call it lazy." And I don't mean that as an attack on the OP, I mean it as a generalization.

Look, I don't like the Vanillish line or Trubbish line. While I like Uxie, I feel like the lake trio is nothing more than a palette swap. Is it true? No. No, it's not any more true than saying a pile of sludge is lazy.

I think we need to give all the gens a little bit of perspective. Speaking as a conceptual artist, people who (NOT all mind you, I realize people use the old pokemon as an argument against new poke haters) get upset at the bland, boring look of some of the old Pokemon have to understand that the old Pokemon had to be designed around the limitations of the Gameboy, basically a 4 color palette. Pokemon had to be designed to be identifiable, which meant that simple was better.

As for the new Pokemon, I don't feel that they're lazy, I feel that it's a matter of not being able to vocalize exactly what you don't like about them. I know some of it IS that change from the gameboy limitations to pretty much what is now an almost limitless number of possibilities in sprite size and colors combinations, allowing for more and more complex designs. I know for me, art wise, I like the older style of concept art because they felt smaller, like the capsule monsters they originally started as. Even Charizard felt like it fit in your pocket. Nowadays, the Pokemon are grand, and bright! Which is absolutely fantastic, but I also don't feel like they're capsule creatures either. Compare: http://socialtryhards.files.wordpres...rizard_cor.jpg
To http://img.pokemondb.net/artwork/reshiram.jpg

Actually, personally in terms of design, I feel like 5th gen has been the best in a while--I liked many of the designs in gen 5 as I felt they more closely resembled the simple, pocket-sized feel of the originals (Blitzle, Litwick, even Hydreigon). IMO, of course. There are plenty of people who like the designs of 3rd and 4th gen, whereas I don't. Doesn't make them bad designs, or lazy. They all enrich the Pokemon world by being not only cute or cool, but also ugly and weird.

tl;dr: No, they aren't lazy. It's a matter of personal taste. You may dislike a design someone else likes, and vice versa. I feel like if the style of Pokemon never grew and changed, the universe would've gone stagnant years ago.

[InsaneStar7]

The designs for the 5th gen are getting more creative, and less bland like adding interesting stuff on the designs like more colors, interesting patterns, and other stuff. So no, the visual designs are not lazy. The older generation (like the 1st gen and maybe the 2nd gen) are bland because some (or most?) Pokémon designs are simple like Ditto is just a plain pink blob, Grimer is just a pile of purple sludge and it's evolution Muk, it's just a bigger version of Grimer, only meaner. Voltorb is like a Pokéball with two colors with eyes, and it's evolution Electrode is just a bigger upside-down Pokéball with a face. It's been over like a decade that those older gen Pokémon visual designs haven't been changed (not talking about sprite quality and resolution) to look modern in this day.

[Axel.]

My opinion never changed much. There have always been some I like and some I didn't. If anything they're getting more original with the designs and even the names. Mankey is as much of an example as many of the earlier pokemon.

[Prince Fluff the Second]

If people are only complaining about four new evolution chains out of... a whole bunch then I doubt they are getting lazy.

[Spin Attaxx]

I thought not... then, the anouncement of Gen VI came...

OH WOW A FLYING Y AND A DEER THAT LOOKS LIKE DIALGA... um... yay?

[gliscor&yanmega]

I thought not... then, the anouncement of Gen VI came...

OH WOW A FLYING Y AND A DEER THAT LOOKS LIKE DIALGA... um... yay?

Pretty sure they put more thought into their designs then that. Their's enough reasoning that they have a few different possible concepts, all of which are basically brand new for the franchise.

X and Y still look different from the rest of the Pokemon anyways.

[Rex Kamex]

Nope. I may not like all of the designs, but I don't think they are lazy. I think they create pokemon with a correlation in mind.
Look at the Chandelure line for instance. It take it's inspiration from ghostly flames and those moments in scary movies where candles and chandeliers flick on suddenly.
You look at that and you instantly think ok it's got to be a Fire type. Not to mention that most pokemon of the same type generally share a common color.

The scariness is what I like about that line of Pokemon. They could've just made it a regular candle, lamp, and chandelier (when I only saw they were Fire-type I kinda thought those Pokemon were interesting), but adding the scary theme along with it takes things a step further (although how big of a step it subjective). Realizing they were also Ghost-type made me really like these Pokemon (and not consider them lazy- well, I never considered them lazy anyway).

Pretty sure they put more thought into their designs then that.

Right. We don't know that much about them so far.