I've wanted Pokemon Black and White remakes for years, and this fan-made version inspired by one of 2023's best JRPGs makes me desperate to return to Unova

The protagonist looks across Skyarrow Bridge in Pokemon Black and White. — (Image credit: The Pokemon Company/Nintendo)

One talented Pokemon fan has given us a taste of what Pokemon Black and White remakes could look like if they were recreated in an Octopath Traveler-esque HD-2D art style, and I'm now more keen to dive back into the Unova region than ever before.

Even though nothing official has been announced, we can probably expect Pokemon Black and White to be next on the list when it comes to mainline Pokemon remakes. They first released in 2010, and fans have been begging for them to be remade, well, ever since Diamond and Pearl's remakes were announced, really. However, following the mixed reaction to the Gen 4 remakes' art style, which transforms the original 2D chibi visuals into a similar, 3D take, more questions were raised over what'd be the best way to adapt Gen 5's unique pixel art look.

One very solid answer to that is HD-2D, the art style used by the likes of Octopath Traveler and the upcoming Dragon Quest 3 Remake. Over on YouTube, content creator Shemne has shared a project that's been a year in the making – a taster of HD-2D Pokemon Black and White. After being inspired by the release of one of 2023's best JRPGs, Octopath Traveler 2, the creator learned how to create pixel art to bring the protagonist's animated sprite to life, as well as how to make 3D models for things like buildings, mailboxes, and trees.

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Shemne kept the project relatively small-scale – they recreated the whole starting area, Nuvema Town, as well as Route 1 and the Striaton City gym. So, it's just a glimpse of what a full remake could be, but no doubt an exciting one based on how compatible those Octopath-style visuals are with adapted Pokemon sprites. Shemne's remake isn't just for show, though, as they actually got the battle system working, as well as the ability to catch wild Pokemon from random encounters.

Sadly, this isn't a project that Shemne is planning to release for people to actually play, so the best we've got for now is this video and a dream. Hopefully, it might be able to inspire The Pokemon Company itself for its own future projects, though. Black and White have got to get remakes at some point, right?

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I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.