Final Fantasy 14’s lovably polygonal grapes have snuck their way into Pokemon Legends: Z-A

For motives that elude my understanding, Final Fantasy 14 enthusiasts caused an uproar back in 2021 when Square Enix enhanced its in-game grapes with more polygons, aligning them more closely with what one would anticipate from a contemporary game. At this point, I can only surmise that those same gamers would be experiencing a delightful time in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, which appears to feature a remarkably akin type of blocky, polygonal berry.

The commendable individuals at GameSpark were exploring Lumiose City when they opted to examine some grapevines near a structure, as one often does, and upon closer inspection, they discovered that these grapes are just as low-resolution and peculiar as those from Final Fantasy 14. And you know what? It nearly seems as though Game Freak pilfered the grapes directly from Square Enix’s fantasy MMORPG.

During the peak of GrapeGate 2021, our friends at PC Gamer conversed with several game developers and posed crucial inquiries, such as “How many game developers does it require to make a banana explode effectively?” (The answer is roughly six.)

“Every element added to a game accumulates future potential ‘technical debt’ in terms of QA testing and bug resolution later on,” expressed Unfortunate Spacemen creator Geoff “Zag” Keene during that period. “As complexity increases, other departments must expand to accommodate it. It all compounds.”

The point is, it is logical for developers to draw resources from set decorations and assets that are overlooked by players to reduce processing requirements. In simpler terms, let’s be kind to Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s grapes. They are striving hard.

I’ve been anticipating 6 years for Pokemon to revive its most adorable features, and Pokemon Legends: Z-A has instilled hope that I will soon receive what I desire

After obtaining an English degree from ASU, I served as a corporate copy editor while also freelancing for venues such as SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG. My significant opportunity arose here in 2019 with a freelance news position, and I was brought on board as GamesRadar’s west coast Staff Writer in 2021. This entails managing the site’s western regional executive branch, which is essentially my home office, and covering whichever horror game I lack the courage to complete.