Apparently, there is a faction of Pokémon fans who don’t think the more recently revealed Pokémon look all that much like Pokémon. Maybe viewers and players who have stuck with the series since the beginning didn’t notice anything because the change has happened gradually since the ’90s; but for a fan coming back to the Pokémon world after having been away for a while, something might seem off about the new creatures. Reddit user IanMazgelis thinks he figured out what the issue is: The eyes.

I think that both old and new Pokemon all look fantastic, but I feel that the shape of the eyes is a huge part of why people say that new Pokemon “don’t look like Pokemon.” from gaming

The belief is summed up thusly: new Pokémon look more cutesy than the first-gen creatures, and a lot of that has to due with their softer eyes. Look at the graphic above: The sharp angles of Charizard and Mewtwo’s eyes are a lot more immediately threatening than the round eyes of Greninja and Helioptile.

To further demonstrate his point, IanMazgelis made a series of GIFs showing what new Pokémon would look like with “old-fashioned” eyes, and the result is a creature that looks a lot more menacing, like how the original Pokémon felt. As one Reddit commented put it, “They go from ‘oh, what a cute creature’ to ‘yeah, I can see that one kicking ass with the right training.'”

Which eye variation do you prefer? The classic cool, or the updated cute eyes?

Images: The Pokémon Company