JAPE: New Ultra Beasts
| « Previous Article | Next Article » |
Official art by Ken Sugimori.
skylight
Three new Ultra Beasts were recently unveiled. Today our JAPE panelists will be judging UB Burst, UB Assembly, and UB Adhesive. Are they good enough? Are they a waste of Pokédex space? Our judges will decide!
| brightobject | Codraroll | FellFromtheSky |
| Pikachu315111 | Pilo | {Pokemon_Vigilante} |
| heritage | ||
| Click on the images to read their thoughts! | ||
UB: Assembly
brightobject
This geometric monstrosity has an interesting pure geometric / architectural shape that we haven't seen before, as well as an interesting animation gimmick in that every part of its body can have its eye turned either outwards or inwards. However, I do think the final result ends up looking a little bland, since it is essentially composed of only two components. The legs also look pretty spindly considering the massive weight they are supporting. Perhaps something more imposing there could have solidified this thing's hulking presence, but for now I'm pretty iffy on UB Assembly.
UB: Burst
brightobject
The dizzying colors and patterns of this UB are intriguing, but I do think the execution could have been a LITTLE more thought out? There is so little visual cohesion in this design that it sits on the verge of falling apart. From the stick figure-like body to the massive bulbous head to the flashing colors and variety of patterns on display, this Pokémon is more like a visual sucker punch than it is a visual feast. Every design choice seems to come nearly out of nowhere here with no coherent inspiration. Of course, my real gripe is with its weird bulb-like hands, at least give it funky gloves or something to close out the clown / stick figure person aesthetic, geez! Conclusion: confusing as hell 'mon that doesn't look very good in stills.
UB: Adhesive
brightobject
The core design is relatively simple, basically just a chubbier version of the tried-and-true legendary pixie designs (a la Azelf, Uxie, Mesprit, Mew, Celebi, etc), with a massive head thrown into the mix. The head looks cool until you realize it is basically a wibbly wobbly sac of sticky venom, then it becomes kind of gross. The colors are weird and kind of clash? Dunno, not exactly feeling it either way with this one.
Codraroll
My first reaction to seeing the new Ultra Beasts was something along the lines of "Well, that's... unusual...". Because frankly, these things look very little like anything we've ever seen from Pokémon at all. You have a weird lime kiln on legs and a colorful, tube-y... something. Truly, pictures make them look equal parts strange and ridiculous. Is this what Pokémon has come to these days?
However, watching their reveal trailer again changed my impression somewhat. I think these designs have to be seen in motion to be fully appreciated. UB Assembly consists of a structure of bricks with eyes on one side. The bricks are constantly shifting in their positions, giving the monster eyes sprouting out of every part of its body, and vanishing again just as fast. As can be briefly seen, in "default" position its inside is completely lined with eyes. Meanwhile, UB Burst makes an eerie, clown-like dance as it attacks, which involves taking its own head off and blowing it up in a colorful explosion.
Still... do the new Ultra Beasts really have good Pokémon designs? Yes, I'd argue. They're actually the leading edge of Pokémon designs from a certain point of view. As Pokémon generations have progressed in the past, new technology has created new tools for the designers and pushed the bounds of what is possible to create and present as a Pokémon. Take Generation I and II, where the limitations of the Game Boy meant that all Pokémon had to be made so that their designs could be conveyed in a low-resolution, black-and-white, static sprite (later improved to two colors plus black and white when the Game Boy Color was released). Innovations in Generation II brought us Unown, the first Pokémon to have several different designs for the same Pokédex number. In Gen III, dynamic sprites made designs like Spinda possible, with its billions of different patterns. The hardware of the Game Boy Advance also allowed Pokémon to display a whole rainbow of colors for one design. In Gen IV, we saw Pokémon with drastic gender differences, going so far as having certain Pokémon evolve based on their gender (notably, this feature could not be perfectly implemented in Gen I—hence why Nidoran-M and Nidoran-F are considered entirely different Pokémon). The designers also added Pokémon that could change form outside of battle.
And so on and so forth. Every time technology moved forward, the designers created new designs that took advantage of the new possibilities. Now, in Gen VII, Pokémon are displayed with 3D models viewed from rapidly switching changing camera angles, with custom idle animations and attack animations. These new Ultra Beasts take full advantage of the fact. The design of UB Assembly isn't done justice in still images, you have to see its ever-blinking designs with eyes popping out and vanishing to get a real impression of what kind of strange monster this is. UB Burst can't be fully conveyed without its dance-like motions and wildly spinning head.
As for actual comments on their design... they're otherworldly and weird, like the other Ultra Beasts. I guess that is the entire point of Ultra Beasts from a design perspective, to have monsters that don't follow the conventions of regular Pokémon. I think the other panelists (will) do a good job of judging their aesthetics, but I hope this rambling about why they look like they do is also appreciated!
UB: Assembly
FellFromtheSky
Um... what is this? A brick box with an eye. No thank you.
UB: Burst
FellFromtheSky
Really Game Freak?
UB: Adhesive
FellFromtheSky
Finally, something worth talking about. While certainly not the most charming of Pokémon by any measure, UB: Adhesive does stand out from its fellow Ultra Beasts in that it is certainly the most "Pokémon-like." Its petite fey-like body and large head and eyes, as well as its expressive face, lend it a more classically charming and less otherworldly appearance in contrast to its Ultra brethren. Its cute color scheme of magenta, blue-violet, and cyan also lends itself to its charming facade.
On the less bright side, however, Adhesive's odd head ornaments scream Celebi gone wrong, and its design doesn't really convey its Poison typing or its supposed stickiness very well at all (aside from its aforementioned color scheme). It also feels a bit generic next to Ultra Beasts like Pheromosa and Xurkitree, which exude personality. It resembles one of many 600-BST pixies Game Freak has released over the years, except without as much cute. All in all, UB Adhesive is a cute, if slightly boring (but welcome and refreshing), addition to the lineup of Ultra Beasts.
UB: Assembly
Pikachu315111
UB Assembly's complexity, which is what makes it interesting, would not have been possible when the games were using sprites. Just as there are certain Pokémon before Gen VI that were not meant to be seen in three dimensions, there are Pokémon from Gen VI onwards that were made to take advantage of being a model to be viewed at by multiple angles. UB Assembly has many moving parts, but much of it is hidden, as its body is a wide, hollow wall of tiles, each of which have an eye on one side of them. It is constantly turning several tiles all around its body to have a few eyes staring out, but when the angle peers into its hollow center you can see all the eyes it has on the inside.
Other than that, UB Assembly suspiciously seems straightforward. Initial guess is a defensive Pokémon, being a literal wall and Rock / Steel, the two types that lean toward defense (though oddly isn't that great of a defensive type when paired together, already putting UB Assembly in an awkward position if it is a defense-focused Pokémon). We'll just have to see how UB Assembly turns out before deciding whether its a wall of tricks or a crumbling wall due to quadruple weaknesses.
UB: Burst
Pikachu315111
First ARMS and now this, what is Nintendo's sudden interest with colorful clowns? UB Burst is certainly the strangest of the three new Ultra Beasts. At first UB Burst seems "simple" enough, but then it removes its "head" and uses it as a bomb before instantly growing back another one. While not the Ultra Beast with the strangest biology, this does give it an uncanny valley effect that, to humans, makes it more stranger than the non-humanoid Nihilego, Xurkitree, Kartana, or UB Assembly.
While we initially thought it was made of candy, more information confirms it's supposed to be made out of pyrotechnic material. That explains why it's part Fire-type, though not quite why it's part Ghost-type. Granted, many Ultra Beasts have a strange typing, but usually there's an explanation why. But so far that Ghost typing goes unexplained; maybe because it can remove its head, have it explode, and grow back another one (and with no change to its personality, thus it's "mind/spirit" is not connected to its head)? And who knows what its stats are going to be like.
UB: Adhesive
Pikachu315111
The Ultra Beast that kind of looks "normal" not only compared to the new three but all Ultra Beasts we know so far. If they had announced a new generation and then showed this Pokémon was going to be in it without any more info about it, I'd be hard pressed to decide whether it was an Ultra Beast, Legendary/Mythical, or unique standalone meant to entice players to buy the games because it looks cool/cute. For one thing it's sort of mixing something organic (the plain body) with inorganic traits (a robotic-looking head). I can see why they gave it to the new antagonist team to use; it's an Ultra Beast that's not TOO weird, so they're using a creature instead of an object (also marketability).
So it floats, looks robotic, and is purple and pink, so obviously its typing is... Poison. I'm not sure where the "adhesion" part comes in, all that is said about it is its head is filled with poison (and it's called the Poison Pin Pokémon, Nidoran family be like "what?"). There's a theory that, due to its unique status of being used by the new antagonist team, it may have an evolution (or maybe alternate form). If so, it could explain why its code name, design, and typing don't quite match. But if that's true, then what should we expect from an Ultra Beast evolution? And would it explain the dissonance between its traits or would it be just as strange and go on the excuse "it's an Ultra Beast". Because of this, it's the new Ultra Beast I'm most interested in.
UB: Assembly
Pilo
I'm not going to beat around the bush here, UB Assembly may be the ugliest Ultra Beast yet to be conceived. Aside from the glowing blue eyes that evoke a sense of spirituality and a possible connection to the soul (and make me wish Game Freak hadn't missed the opportunity to make this thing a Ghost-type) this Pokémon doesn't have much going for it in the visual department. Competitively speaking I don't have very high hopes for this Rock / Steel abomination either.
UB: Burst
Pilo
On the other hand though, I'm quite fond of UB Burst. Albeit a bit quirky, Burst's demented, jester-like demeanor is pretty entertaining and its vibrant color scheme is pure eye candy. Heck, even this thing's morbidly descriptive signature move Mind Blown is something I find oddly gratifying. The firework theme also ties into this Pokémon's design really well, matching its silly, fun comportment and bright colors. All things considered though I can't help but feel that Burst stole Assembly's Ghost typing.
UB: Adhesive
Pilo
Hands down one of the most appealing UB designs so far. Adhesive trades the abstract elements its brothers and sisters possess for the diminutive form, large head, and placid eyes characteristic of a grey alien, which is fitting given the alien nature of the Ultra Beasts; and while I'm definitely not one to vapidly obsess over every cute Pokémon that's released, UB Adhesive has unequivocally caught my attention.
UB: Assembly
{Pokemon_Vigilante}
Legos with eyes like the ones my kids play with. There's no other way to look at this Pokémon and not think about something created by Lego or Mega Blocks. It could have been something special if it had come with a combat forme to go along with its obvious brick wall forme. I'm left wondering exactly whose lame idea came to life here? This isn't something worth looking at, due in large part to its dark and bland color. Nothing here to see folks, except a nightmare waiting to happen if you should find a way to step on it in the dark.
UB: Burst
{Pokemon_Vigilante}
This walking pom pom escaped from a circus in Alola and jumped into UB Wormhole to take on an even more ridiculous role in the world. No Pokémon should have the ability to decapitate itself for the sake of an attack and then use its head as an exploding confetti bomb. I'm not sure if they were looking to get anything right here, but at least the color sequence when UB Burst blows its own head up is appealing to the eyes, and if that's the only positive here, then you have yet another failure on your hands. I guess this game is going to be filled with letdowns instead of upgrades like we all had hoped.
UB: Adhesive
{Pokemon_Vigilante}
I like the design and color here. Poisonous type attacks are in purple in the games, making UB Adhesive fit right in, but I'm confused how something made of Poison can be sticky? Corrosive I can understand, but sticky isn't the first thing I think of when it comes to poison in the game. I know some will argue such things like Gunk Shot being a "sticky" attack, and there is some truth to that, but I digress. I think the shades of purple are on point here, and that the overall animation of UB Adhesive looked relatively nice from what we saw in the video. This Pokémon may be the most well-thought-out UB that Nintendo has created thus far. Time will tell if that sticks or not.
UB: Assembly
heritage
Ok, um, so I know there's not really a threshold for what a Pokémon's supposed to look like, but man, Game Freak's gonna break an arm with all this stretching. It's a giant brick wall with legs. But hey, we've had ice cream and garbage, so who am I to talk? Admittedly, I do really like the lore of it, with all these little creatures being sentient. It kinda reminds me of Magneton, except the execution is way better with UB Assembly. Would be a cool idea to have each of the little pieces being a separate Pokémon. Not necessarily catchable, but maybe we can see a few of them flying around in the Ultra Space that we catch it in. The shade of blue is also nice to look at, it's just... the rest of the design is overall bland and seemingly uninspired. It's nothing terrible, just nothing really worth wasting time looking at. I can't even see it being good in competitive, its typing just doesn't work. At least Rock / Steel fits, I guess.
On another note, can we just call this thing UB Anxiety? The picture when it pops out of the Ultra Wormhole, it just screams "HELLO" and all the eyes stare into your soul, like geez, chill. It's way freakier than it needs to be.
UB: Burst
heritage
Now this... this is just... what? After It, I've had enough of anything relating to clowns or luring kids in to steal their energy, givin' me PTSD, man. Real talk, I do believe its design is getting a little too far into the realm of "unbelievable". A lot of other Pokémon kinda fall into this category, but this one takes the metaphorical cake. While its color scheme is certainly pleasant, its body shape is... not. There's no way that thing should be able to function without falling face-forwards onto its silly-looking head. How does it hold anything, especially its own head? Its hands don't actually have anything to grab with from what I can see. Is that even its head? How can it live without it, is it like a cockroach or is there some lore saying its consciousness isn't linked to its head? It's the physical embodiment of "running around like a chicken with its head cut off", it's way too ridiculous for me to be too fond of it. But on a better note its signature move is literally Mind Blown, that's bound to generate some memes. I'm honestly kinda laughing at how gruesome that is. What, blowing up someone's own head is fine for a kid's game? I'll give it originality points for being clever at least, lmao.
UB: Adhesive
heritage
i shall call him squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my squishy
Out of all the Ultra Beasts, UB Adhesive is certainly the most down-to-earth, and that's a bit of a relief. Even if it looks a little basic for an Ultra Beast, what's the problem in that? It still manages to capture the foreign feeling without losing itself in a million arms or stupid-looking body structures. A lot of people think this might even be the first Ultra Beast to evolve, which would be neat. Even if it doesn't, that's fine, I wouldn't want them to overkill a decent design. It's certainly simple, but lovable and well executed nonetheless.
skylight
UB Adhesive is clearly the coolest, apparently. What do you guys think? Let us know on social media!
| « Previous Article | Next Article » |