To preface, I have a lot of respect for the sprite designers and animators involved in Pokemon Mystery Universe’s development. The vast majority of the custom sprites made by the design team are very impressive and hold up exceedingly well, and I know that many others share this sentiment. There are a few that are on the weaker end, though, that I feel could use some updates or improvements – particularly in regards to their animations. One in particular that fits this criteria perfectly is Greninja, whose animations leave a lot to be desired.
I am unsure, though would not be surprised if anyone has brought this concern to light in the past, but I believe that Greninja deserves more love with its running animations, especially considering its widespread popularity amongst Pokemon fans. While I do enjoy laughing about how the side sprite looks when in movement, I can honestly say that it does take away from the Pokemon for me in this game.
Though I take issue with Greninja’s sprite and animations in a general sense, the sprite definitely deserves some amount of credit. I actually like its idle animation – it fits the Pokemon’s personality well and is fluid enough to not look awkward. In contrast, its running animation is very stiff; the only movement in its running sprite is a slight, rapid tapping of its legs with no perceivable effect on the rest of its body. It looks jarring, as this static animation limits the movement it can portray. A brief but accurate comparison for its running animations is to a scarecrow with piston legs, taking into account its arms staying completely stiff out at its sides like a T-pose model.
This is certainly not a game-breaking problem that should take any immediate priority over performance and gameplay. There are other cases of lackluster sprites and animations that represent a Pokemon poorly, but Greninja has always stuck out to me as one of the more jarring examples. I would really appreciate if this critique was given some attention, though I understand the importance of the more mechanical features, and I recognize that a lot of time and effort is put into the process of designing and animating sprites for the game.
I do agree personally. I think its quite impressive so many detailed sprites were able to made in the time they were, they also have a lot of complexity to them. However, I do feel like some Pokémon got better treatment compared to others. While I don’t think any sprites are “bad”, I feel like there is a lot left to be desired from Greninja. Shiinotic is another one of these Pokémon for me unfortunately.
Sylveon’s shiny sprite has been glitched since I’ve joined a few years ago. When I showed my friend gameplay several weeks ago, he was shocked its sprite hadn’t been changed yet.
Pawniard is worse, not only is its side walking animation static like Greninja’s, but it also for some reason moves like 2 pixels to the side every few frames while it walks up or down. It’s been like this since I started playing and I’ve been playing for like 4 years.
I feel the same–I’m very grateful for all the hard work everyone’s put into the sprites, especially with the sheer amount of Pokémon that there are. I saw Shiinotic mentioned and I agree, it doesn’t look like it even has a different sprite for when it attacks. When you press F or use a move, it seems to use the same sprite as the idle where it simple stands but without moving its arms.
I know some sprites aren’t great but most of you seem like newer players so I want to clarify this:
The sprite format was originally different. A lot of things only used one frame for attacking. If you wanted to make something with more than one you had to manually save pngs of each frame. And so when people made sprites they would tend to only make one frame for attacking
This sucked, and official sprites couldn’t use their beautiful official animations
The format was upgraded when shinies were Introduced ( 2019 )
Nowadays you should report sprite errors like this In #content-report In the Discord ( the forum post should be moved or remade or something for those not In It though )
That said, this may come across the wrong way but I see a lack of constructive criticism here personally
Most of the replies are “yeah I think the sprites suck too!!1” ok but what do you want staff to actually do If It’s not just oversights or glitched animations… OP you’re entitled to your opinion but for me Greninja Is not even one of the worst ones considering whoever made the sprite put some effort Into the attack animation It does have
You have two options In you think a sprite Is bad:
Suggest the SpriteCollab one If you think It’s better
Apply for the sprite team. Staff are open to sprite revamps and would probably allow you to edit or just completely redo the sprite. There are other spriters who are probably more than happy to give feedback or even directly help you. Be the change you want to see or something
Most of the spriters are not staff and truthfully, only sprite Pokemon that they like or are needed urgently
Even then spriting good attack animations and the actual arrangement process for the staff takes a lot of time
There are some gems like Soulja who are amazing and make Incredible attack animations for every sprite he does and even consistently remakes his own so they look better, but that requires a level of dedication and motivation that many people just don’t have ( unless for Instance It’s a top favorite of theirs )
I started playing in January 2018, but thank you for the response regardless. I appreciate it! However, I do not think anyone who commented here is a new player. Rather, maybe this has just given them an outlet to express some similar concerns?
You say that there is a lack of constructive criticism, but I struggle to understand how you would interpret what I’ve posted as unconstructive. I outlined all of my points in a concise (and honestly very generous) way so as not to come off as demanding or passive aggressive.
What would you actually like to hear? What criticism is unconstructive? Would you have preferred I explain exactly what I think the sprite/animations should look like? If this is not constructive, I don’t know what could possibly fit that criteria for you. The sentence you wrote mocking the people who shared their thoughts certainly wasn’t constructive. If you’re trying to convince me that I have wasted my time in sharing this, you should not have misrepresented their replies so greatly as if their opinions hold zero value. No one said that the sprites “suck” and it makes me think that you only represented in them this way to devalue their points of view.
Additionally, is it relevant to bring up the fact that you don’t consider Greninja to be one of the worse ones? You’re still acknowledging the fact that there is a problem in the first place.
I am well aware that spriting takes time, effort, and commitment, and I very clearly acknowledged this multiple times in my original post. This is very obviously not something that should take priority, but that doesn’t change the fact that it exists and could be improved upon. What I’d like staff to actually do is very clearly to take a second look at some of the sprites. I hold absolutely zero ill will towards them.
Thank you for sending me the link to apply for the sprite team, but I am nowhere near skilled enough to create sprites at the same level as the current team, nor do I have the time to do so. I would end up becoming part of the problem by never actually being able to contribute with what little time I currently have.
I hear your concerns about the sprites. The sprite team is always hard at work and constantly working on multiple things, including sprites for new Pokemon and reworks for old ones. There’s certainly some sprites which could require a deeper look for a variety of reasons, but I always appreciate the work spriters have done for the game.
That said, while constructive criticism is appreciated, I ask that any other further concerns be posted in the #content-report channel of the discord. Foonzl cleared posting a forum thread with me first regarding Greninja to post extra necessary details, which is fine, but other sprites likely need smaller scale adjustments. Having concerns posted in the content report discord channel also lets me see which actions can be handled through adjusting arrangement and which require a deeper lock to address any potential issues as promptly as we can.
