An Aesthetic Discussion Spanning 17 Years - Andrew vs Pokemon - DAILY UPDATES!

[Cotigo]

MY DOG HAS METEOR LEGS

WHAT DOES YOUR DOG HAVE?

YOUR DOG AIN'T GOT SHIT ON MY DOG

[AndrewRogue]

My dog is regal as fuck.

5/5, best pokeymans

[Hunter Sopko]

My dog is regal as fuck.

Regal in the sense that the way the resting tongue indicates massive inbreeding.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Agreed on Poliwag series. Passable but bland.

Growlithe/Arcanine are basically the best Pokemon designs ever as far as I'm concerned. Straight up 11/10s there. Fire dog is already a great concept. Fire dog + massive + tiger accents + Japanese mythological beast influence + actually a decent Pokemon in all of its appearances just makes it the best. I'm kinda surprised he doesn't rate higher given your status as a dog lover is certainly higher than mine.

[Dark Holy Elf]

actually a decent Pokemon in all of its appearances

This statement is more than a bit of a stretch.

I do like Growlithe/Arcanine though (Growlithe always, Arcanine varies by art but generally pretty good).

[DjinnAndTonic]

actually a decent Pokemon in all of its appearances

This statement is more than a bit of a stretch.

I don't want to hijack an aesthetics thread with gameplay discussion, so I'll just assume you're right because you always remember these sorts of things better than me anyway. But since I care about this particular 'mon more than most, quick summary of why it's such a stretch?

[Dark Holy Elf]

In RBY, it learns no fire attack stronger than Ember before Level 50, and if you evolve it before then it never learns one at all. It has a very shallow movepool and doesn't even learn Strength. In GSC, it gets Flame Wheel at 34 but otherwise has the same problems, with a bonus demerit for being unable to learn the storebought Fire Punch. (It got a 3.3 in the in-game use thread since for some reason this is the only version we rated.)

In gen 3 it gained Intimidate and in gen 4 it gained physical fire (and dark) moves to make use of its good Atk stat, plus had its good moves pushed earlier level-wise, so it's been solid since then.

[Captain K]

I hate snub-faced dogs.

[AndrewRogue]

The fur and angle obscures it somewhat, but Remy has a distinctly canine muzzle. Somewhat small, obviously, but very much the correct shape.



Compare this to, say,

It's why Poms are one of the better toy breeds! They actually have correctly dog-shaped ears and muzzles.

[DjinnAndTonic]

There's no way Growlithe has a pug nose. Maybe the angle of the image is throwing you off.

It usually looks more like:

[Cotigo]

The RPGDL: Where you can start an argument over literally anything.

[Grefter]

Which hole?
Agree?
Still get in a fisting fight.

Zenny & #rpgdl, a tale of two (body) parts

[AndrewRogue]

I like the more pronounced muzzle/longer skull, plain and simple.

Growlithe is definitely not quite as bad as a pug or anything, but it is still a very short muzzle. And having now looked at it for longer than almost any of the other pokemon in this topic (and compared it to the eeveelutions, who have pretty variable muzzle portrayals), I have come to the conclusion that it is really the white poofy muzzle thing that I can't accurately describe that really contributes to me not liking the it's face. While it works reasonably well on Arcanine because of it's blending and the shape of the muzzle, on Arcanine it ends up looking like a big poofy clown smile, especially in the original art.

And I swear, if I have to have an argument about inconsistency in my opinions re: dog muzzles because of this one on every future canine pokemon, I will gut someone. Or start review MLP color palletes or something.

[Cotigo]

And I swear, if I have to have an argument about inconsistency in my opinions re: dog muzzles because of this one on every future canine pokemon, I will gut someone. Or start review MLP color palletes or something.

You're just begging for it, aren't you.

[Grefter]

Let's cut to Herdier and see what he thinks about this.

[Cotigo]

i feel like that dog taught me sociology in college

[Grefter]

That is pretty much exactly why I went corporate instead of staying in the education and becoming a lecturer.  I can't grow the necessary facial hair to lecture the subjects I would teach.

Also you guys don't even know with Remy.  He has something no other Pokemon can do.  He can be used as a broom in real life, and not only in the "Dog will eat everything from the floor" way either.

[Cotigo]

i thought it was because you liked having money to fuel your distractions more than you liked having a fulfilling-if-wrought-with-anxiety career

[AndrewRogue]

Abra: Hey, a pokemon with segmentation that I like. The alien design just lends itself to it and it breaks the body up nicely. The two colors work well enough (with the tiny stripe saving the tail nicely). The fox face is interesting... I dunno. It is a nice alien/humanoid design and, while it doesn't look overtly psychic, the concept plays well to it. 4/5

Kadabra: Abra minus. That's unfair. There are good elements to the design. The head is well improved and the mustache is rocking. But eh. I just can't get excited about the rest of the design. That super fat tail is pretty urgh, and the whole leg/waist/hip area just doesn't work for me. The bowlegging is weird. The more armory chest is fine, though. Spoon is stupid and the added squiggles, while probably necessary, don't endear me. 3/5

Alakazam: Kadabra plus. Body shape looks good, the wrists and kneepads break things up nicely and the less overbeating chestpiece is cool. Loss of the head star is a drag (he's a little too plain, I think), but the stache is still rocking. Spoons remain stupid. Honestly, this is kinda what I want of humanoid pokemon. Basic bipedal shapes, but do something different with them and minimize the inclusion of human things (belts, etc). 4/5

Machop: Meh. I don't care much for him, but I think the design works. The chest ripples are weird, but the headcrest looks good. The slight dino face is good too. I dunno. I can't really bring myself to hate him despite not being that interesting. 3/5

Machoke: Bro has been lifting and he has not skipped leg day. Nice bulking up which adds more texture to his body, fiercer face works really well, and the little tears on the arm, while technically terrifying, do provide some nice contrast. I'm torn on the belt and speedo. On the one hand, it helps the design by filling otherwise blank space and, honestly, I do kinda feel he would look naked without it. On the other, I'm not a big fan of actual clothes and such shit on pokemon. Still, I think, on the whole, it is one of the more inoffensive choices. 4/5

Machamp: What the fuck happened to your face? Holy shit. Those lips are terrible. Four arms is kinda a neat choice, but he honestly feels less ripped than Machoke in a lot of ways. Just less dense. Screw it. This ranking is based on that stupid face. 2/5

Bellsprout: I honestly have a soft spot for Bellsprout but, looking at him, the design just doesn't do much for me. The sentient stem with leg roots and leaf arms is adorable, but the head is just kinda... eegh? Tiny beady eyes. Sex toy mouth. No real color or texturing. Just doesn't blend well. 3/5

Weepinbell: Get the sextoy jokes out of the way. You good? Does a much better job with the flower than Bellsprout did. Bigger eyes and spots lend it a little more design. Lips are kinda freaky and the stem looks stupid though. And the leaves look hella glued on. 2/5

Savior of his evolutionary line. The whole body is much better shaped thanks to the slight curve. Mottling helps it avoid looking too plain. The combination of leaves and stem/vine make it look more like a real plant while it's sitting there (and better capture the pitcher plant imagery), the added teeth look threatening and the lips are helped by actually looking like a pitcher plant now. Wouldn't want to run into this thing in the forest, is what I'm saying. 4/5

[DjinnAndTonic]

Huh, I think this is the first entry where I 100% agree with everything you said! Didn't ever put much thought into those Machoke arm-tears until you pointed it out, but that -is- kinda awesome and terrifying.

[Dark Holy Elf]

I too, pretty much agree with all of these 100%.

Machoke -> Machamp screws a remarkable number of things up for a change which overall is on the less significant end of evolutionary changes.

[AndrewRogue]

Tentacool: So. This is awkward. I was kinda prepared to say I like Tentacool. The shape is nice. The gems are cool accouterments. The tentacles, while they could be more expansive, work in the dual form. But I finally realized that his face is a shrunken beak. While this explains Tentacruel... it kinda looks weird on Tentacool when you really look at it. And now I can't unsee it. 3/5

Tentacruel: Different, but the same. Hood still looks cool. Additional tentacles are very good. Even the eyes are pretty good. I want to like the "beak" (it's actually unfair to call it that since it isn't), but it ends up looking like a real stupid nose. And the black void body doesn't do much for me. 3/5

Geodude: It's a bro rock with arms. I dunno, not a lot to talk about it. It's kind of a logical design. It isn't OMG BEST DESIGN ever, but it belongs. 4/5

Graveler: Let's talk about why I like Geodude a bit more. His face looks like it belongs on a rock The short body gives him a sorta block head, with some clear cut chin and such going on. His expression is sorta rocky too. Graveler kinda fails here. His face looks very pasted on and it's got this kinda trickster element going on, which doesn't really fit with a giant fucking rock. Also those tiny inset arms are weird. Still, despite all my whining he doesn't look terrible or anything and I can't bring myself to hate him. 3/5

Golem: Especially when this fucker exists. Holy crap is Golem terrible. I'm a rock with some dinosaur shittily attached to it. I look nothing like my previous evos. Despite my previous evos not having legs, I think they still get around better than me. I would probably call this a 2/5 kinda design in isolation, but as an evo of the Geodude family, I reall hate it. So let's go 1/5.

[AndrewRogue]

Ponyta: It's a pony with fire instead of mane and tail and some extra stuff. The white body is... interesting and I'm not a huge fan of it? It just makes Ponyta look really pale, even with the fire. The extension of the flame down the whole back is good as are the touches on the legs. Like Geodude, not the most inspired design, but you know what? Sometimes trying to be unique gets us Golem. 4/5

Rapidash: It's Ponyta, but bigger, fiercer, more flamey, and it has a horn. I'll be blunt here. I actually don't like realistic horses that much, so I end up liking Ponyta (and other things) slightly more because they have the less horse-like builds. So, it's a good evo, but I just don't like it. Biased Andrew. 3/5

Slowpoke: I've recently been gaining respect for this dude and his evo. He's a bit plain looking, but it works. The derp face says everything that needs be said about him, really. The official art not having the distinctly white tip to the tail is kinda a drag, though. It's really good at breaking up his fairly plain look. Single nails, while somewhat logicaly, also look weird. 3/5

Slowbro: I'm losing respect for them as I do this entry. Stomach segmentation is lame (though the belly differentation is a good idea). Added claws are good (thought they detract from the sloth comparison). I really do like the shell though. It's a weird addition (and the story logic of it being Shellder makes negative sense), but it still looks pretty awesome, creating the Hermit Derp. I'm to sleepy to articulate why this is aweomse. 4/5

Oh, also. As of this post, we are 1/10th of the way done. Holy hell have I made a mistake.

[Cotigo]

Biased Andrew. 3/5

I demand ethics in my pokemon games journalism

[Captain K]

I actually don't like realistic horses that much

Shocking reveal.