>>25242289I don't think in the handhelds they can improve the models.
The issue in the handhelds is the ridiculously small textures the models have, (about 256x256) and to overcome that issue, textures should be 1024x1024 or 2048x2048 to be displayed nicely in HD and be zoomed properly.
Vertices count is not that of an issue. Having around 10k or 20k vertices for each model is enough for a current desktop console to run smoothly.
But problem is cartridge space.
Take account that each model (at least Gardevoir's) has 4 different texture files. Compressed properly, each texture file should be 1MB size (considering the 2048x2048 size), and the model should be another MB.
That makes 5 MB for each model. Animations are made with armatures, which are included in that size and allows to save A LOT of space.
5MB x 722 = 1444 MB only in 3D Pokemon assets.
In a Wii U game (and pretty surely in a NX game) that would be pretty plausible. But there's the issue of video card specs. The PICA200 (3DS video card) is pretty sub-par and aged nowadays, supporting OpenGL ES 1.1, while the state of the art is OpenGL ES 3.2 and this year Vulkan will be released.
