>>49045303It works for DQIII because it had a 16-bit remake and GBC demake, so seeing a change of presentation merely incentivizes players who played those games before and new players. Not to mention seeing your characters in battle is a recent application in Dragon Quest games, so this may test the waters for more HD2D installments if the money is right.
Pokémon's prestige doesn't come from the same place as Dragon Quest even though both are highly successful and appeal to children despite a wide audience. Square Enix has other IPs to keep it afloat, so it can afford to experiment with its other IPs. Game Freak's only successful and consistent brand is Pokémon and while Nintendo probably can tank it on top of funding other IPs, Game Freak still insists on being the head chef of the Pokémon kitchen and only asks for the bare minimum to get a game off the floor since the rest of the most successful IP in the world would rather fund cards, Post Malone, the anime and merchandising more than the games or side games.
Should also point out that even though sprites look easy to pick up since the only barrier of entry is how to draw and what, being a 2D dot artist is still a niche craft and game design grads who get their first job with Game Freak are likely working there to advance their position throughout the industry. 3D is still an industry standard and most development house primarily work with 3D since it's easier to train a team of 3D animators than it is to have several people draw the same. Not to mention it's way easier to make characters expressive and more active in 3D whereas 2D sprites, it's a matter of whether or not the artists can be fucked to draw those frames.
