During a CEDEC Awards panel in Japan, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet developer Game Freak has revealed an early piece of concept art from the latest mainline entries, showcasing the team's initial approach in regards to the project's visuals.
As relayed by Serebii's Joe Merrick, Game Freak had conceptualised an idea called "real and deformed", in which the background and environment of the game would be more realistic than than the previous games (Sword and Shield), while the Pokémon and human characters would take on a more stylised look.
It's certainly a facsinating glimpse into what the team were initially cooking up for Scarlet and Violet, and we have to admit that it looks very pretty, indeed. While the original source from Game Watch doesn't delve into the concept too much (and we're also limited by the translation tools at hand), it's perhaps safe to assume that Game Freak implemented the "real and deformed" approach into the final product.
Though the execution is certainly up for debate, you can certainly tell that the environment is suppoesed to look more realistic when compared to the characters. Trees and buildings are depicted with realistic proportions, while character models have a distinct 'cartoonish' appearance. Grassy areas are also extremely prevalent in the final game; much more so than prior entries in the series.
We should emphasise, however, that the image showcased is an early piece of concept art and certainly not representative of the eventual approach taken by Game Freak during full production of the game. While Scarlet and Violet's visuals have been greatly scrutinised since their release, as with all concept art, it's important not to view this piece of art as "what could have been".
The original article itself is well worth checking out if you can stomach the auto-translate tool; it goes into a bunch of other interesting topics such as how Terrastalised Pokémon were created and how certain visual effects were achieved.