Overall, this trailer gave me a very positive impression. I don't know what I was expecting, but what I feared as a worst case scenario was a one-to-one conversion of the original games into HD graphics. This, luckily, seems not to be the case. The Grand Underground, at least, is definite proof that they have been allowed to go outside the scope of the originals, and now I believe there is a good reason to play this instead of replaying the originals. That was something I felt to be lacking with LGPE, so it is good to see it addressed here. My worst fears have definitely been vanquished.
Another thing I noticed, I'm not sure if it is the camera or the models, but the overworld NPCs look better somehow. In the first trailer, I got the impression that the camera was too top-down, so that only the top of NPC heads were visible. In these trailers, either the camera has been lowered a little, or the models slightly tilted away from the camera, but at any rate I feel like more of their body is visible now. You're not just looking at a hat with some limbs poking out underneath.
I think the models were changed slightly too. Of course the pictures I used on page 2 have been subject to link rot already, but Serebii has a few pictures from the first trailer. Notable among them is this one:
Compare to this one:
It looks like the character's legs have been made bigger, and you can see more of them than earlier. The arms are also resting further out from the body. The hat is still very prominent in the look of the character, but it doesn't feel like it's hiding the rest of the model anymore. This is also noticeable with other overworld NPCs, but I don't have screenshots from the previous trailer available right now. That being said, some of the Underground shots in the trailer are still noticeably hat-heavy. Then again, those are cramped spaces where it makes sense for the camera to be positioned directly above the player - in the big caves, you see the character at a lower angle again.
The chibi look is also growing on me. I realized that the buildings and environment feels quite chibi as well. Look at the screenshot above, for instance, with the houses in Twinleaf Town barely being large enough to qualify as sheds. The overworld has caves with big, round, door-like openings, bridges spanning ravines without bending (and without railings), the Canalave canal is perhaps five meters wide, the furniture of houses looks all out of wack ... honestly, realistic characters would fit this overworld really poorly. Might as well make it all look doll-like, then like a toy set.
Other than that, I like what I see. Ball seals changing to stickers feels like a better translation, honestly. If you're putting seals on the ball, it sounds like it can't be opened. I've never heard the word "seals" be used in the same way as "stickers". As a kid, I wondered if the Seal Case had anything to do with blobby creatures swimming in the ocean.
For following Pokémon, I echo a sentiment from upthread: It's not really
necessary that it's present for me to enjoy a game, but when it is present it makes things feel more immersive. It is a neat little touch. Character customization, while simplified, is good to see too. I was never good at mixing and matching, so having whole outfits composed for me is really convenient.
The lack of a Battle Frontier is of course a little bit disheartening, but at this point expectations were low for it anyway. There could still be some fun little QoL improvements at the Battle Tower, but otherwise the game seems to have enough to offer regardless. The trailer definitely left me with much better impressions and expectations than the initial announcement did. I think TPC shall have my money once again. Maybe twice too? Eh, I'll see after playing it the first time.
