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[Neiteio]

So the other day I was revisiting Soulcalibur IV, a lovely fighting game I hadn’t played in awhile, when I encounter the last character I had yet to unlock. Her name is Ashlotte:

When it comes to good creative, characters like Ashlotte peg my meter all the way. I just love her design. I love the Gothic Lolita style, the clockwork joints, the wire framework, the floral print on the inside of her sheet-metal skirt. I love the juxtaposition of a delicate figure with a two-ton halberd, and the implacable coldness of her porcelain face. I love the fact her design inspires me to wax poetic about a mechanical doll. She just has a style and presence all her own, at once lovely and unnerving.

Another design I love is Goht, the boss of Snowhead Temple from The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask:

Again with the clockwork! (Yes, I love Guillermo del Toro movies). This steam-powered monstrosity is what I think of when I think of my favorite game. For me, Goht captures the spirit of Termina, that dark, nebulous quality of the creepy and the carnivalesque. Unfortunately, the underpowered Nintendo 64 couldn’t quite capture the degree of detail seen in the (tiny) art above, yet the game still did an admirable job of conveying his design. To this day Goht remains my favorite Zelda boss design.

So in terms of character design, these two work wonders for me. But what about you? Are there any character designs in videogames that you really enjoy? Share them here!

 

[Threi]

there's your character design.

 

[Hazaro]

I love Ashlotte, I want to peg her.

I can't think of any off the top of my head.

 

[∀ Narayan]

Half-Life 2

 

[Chowfahn]

I really hated every single character design in Soul Calibur 4. But that's just me!

Greatest horse design ever. Take that, Oblivion!
Wander was also pretty fucking awesome.

 

[CurseoftheGods]

 

[Diablohead]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a363/SonicAngel948/Wallpapers/AmyRoseWall.jpg[img][/QUOTE]
joke post of the year.

 

[Kandrick]

Amy Rose pic

So hot.

 

[MrDenny]

 

[EmCeeGramr]

 

[The-Switcher]

there's your character design.

Yep.

I also really like...

 

[Sibylus]

AvatarQuoteAvatarQuoteAvatarQuoteAvatarQuote

 

[Guymelef]

All Ayami Kojima works.

 

[Dead Man Typing]

I'd say the enemy designs in RE4.

Not the normal Ganados, but anything more advanced just looks so weird and grotesque. Truly scary stuff when I first saw it.

 

[Iksenpets]

Ubisoft's been really good on character design lately.

 

[MaritalWheat]

AvatarQuoteAvatarQuoteAvatarQuoteAvatarQuote

True dat.

 

[Oblivion]

 

[Hazaro]

joke post of the year.

Or is it?

 

[mr stroke]

of all time-
probably Tetsuya Nomura
love his style

and while generic, Master Chief is simple and extremely recognizable-

 

[The-Switcher]

While I like uncharted, I dunno if jeans and a white t-shirt constitute great character design.

 

[ianp622]

I really hated every single character design in Soul Calibur 4. But that's just me!

Greatest horse design ever. Take that, Oblivion!
Wander was also pretty fucking awesome.

Yeah, I was thinking of posting Wander myself. Not my favorite in a static picture, but the way he deteriorates as you kill the Colossi puts him at the top of my list.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

While I like uncharted, I dunno if jeans and a white t-shirt constitute great character design.

but he's got a half-tuck and a faux-hawk, the pinnacle of unique character design

 

[beat]

* Jade from BG&E.

* Manny from Grim Fandango.

* Shun Di from VF. (Just kidding. I love his animations, but as far as character design goes, VF has never been great.)

* The starring characters from Locoroco.

 

[Neiteio]

Chowfahn: No hard feelings on the the lack of Soulcalibur love. Different strokes for different folks! Although I will say it's interesting you posted the protagonists of SotC but not the colossi themselves. I've yet to play SotC, but from what I've seen of the colossi they're truly inspired design -- an organic blend of fur, flesh and arcane rock sculpture!

I'd say the enemy designs in RE4.

Not the normal Ganados, but anything more advanced just looks so weird and grotesque. Truly scary stuff when I first saw it.

Yes, I agree. Stuff like the transformed Bitores Mendez (the chief), with the centipede-like stalk of writhing flesh and the sort of perverse crucifix it forms with the scorpion arms... I love it! But let's not sell the Ganados short -- something about their dark, recessed eyes made them undeniably creepy.

As for all the No More Heroes love... Man, I gotta play that game. The guy with the laser crotch -- Destroy Man, is it? -- is simply awesome. And the new Prince from Prince of Persia looks great, too; I had an image of him crossing his hand in front of his face as my PS3 wallpaper for awhile, and I always marveled at his design.

As for Amy, I'm more of a Knuckles person myself.

 

[Johann]

Phantagram, why don't you just do the artwork for every fantasy game in existence?

 

[Oblivion]

While I like uncharted, I dunno if jeans and a white t-shirt constitute great character design.

but he's a breath of fresh air

 

[Desi]

of all time-
probably Tetsuya Nomura
love his style

Well...I'll just let swim in that for a while.

 

[Death_Born]

 

[The-Switcher]

Phantagram, why don't you just do the artwork for every fantasy game in existence?

Holy asshole!

That's awesome.

 

[mr stroke]

Well...I'll just let swim in that for a while.

ops I think I am confused here:lol
Yoshitaka Amano yes?

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

 

[Evolved1]

Ubisoft's been really good on character design lately.

You cannot top this.

 

[Peronthious]

This.

 

[Evolved1]

This.

I take back what I said. *bows*

 

[EricDiesel]

I've always liked Valoo from Wind Waker.

 

[Raist]

of all time-
probably Tetsuya Nomura
love his style

Dude, that's Amano...

 

[-Winnie-]

Is there a wallpaper of this?

 

[S. L.]

So the other day I was revisiting Soulcalibur IV, a lovely fighting game I hadn’t played in awhile, when I encounter the last character I had yet to unlock. Her name is Ashlotte:

[.IMG]http://williamtio.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/20080707_sc04.jpg[/IMG]

Oh! Great is a god of awesome art

 

[Neiteio]

Ah, Old Snake. The man that led me into the next gen (I'm the fella who picked up the PS3 MGS4 bundle earlier this year). The amazing thing about Old Snake is how his smallest mannerisms -- a kink in his back, the weary look in his eyes, etc -- make him feel so real. I might be jumping the gun by saying this, but of all the games I've played he probably felt the most real.

Much love to the lush, Gothic watercolors of Ayami Kojima. My hope is that someday Konami makes a full-fledged 2D Castlevania for consoles using this style. I dig the darkly romantic.

And Mr. Stroke mentioned Tetsuya Nomura's work (or was it Yoshitaka Amano's?) on Final Fantasy VI. I'm not a big FF fan, but I found FFVI to have astounding character design. It's the whole steampunk, past-as-future package, that Jules-Vernes-meets-the-Renassaince brand of fantasy that is so fresh compared to the more generic trappings of American fantasy.

Oh, and kudos to S.L. for some Ashlotte love!

EDIT: It was Amano who did FFVI's character designs. I'm surprised I ever hesitated, because I own a book of Amano-illustrated fairy tales!

 

[Death_Born]

Dude, that's Amano...

Lul, I didn't think you could confuse those two.

Nomura:

Just think belts, zippers, and insane collar lengths.

 

[RobertM]

Man I love the design of Anubis from ZoE.

All of the characters from Valkyria Chronicles

 

[PolyGone]

 

[Death_Born]

Man I love the design of Anubis from ZoE.

Gives a new meaning to "cockpit"

Heheh....eh....that never gets old.

 

[SolidSnakex]

 

[Fio]

 

[LCfiner]

Big Daddies were cool

 

[AndresON777]

You cannot top this.

Yeah Altair is awesome. Gotta go back and finish that game.


Not a big fan of this game but these masks are awesome

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

 

[Shig]

I always find it sad how much great character design is wasted on bad games. The character designer does their job admirably and everyone else drops the ball, then those designs are sealed away and forgotten. There should be some sort of "second chance" program where devs can mine forgotten old stinkers for their better-then-deserved designs and put them to better use.

Stuff like Drakengard 2, Gungrave, Chaos Legion, Odin Sphere, Eternal Sonata, Unlimited Saga, and Brave Story come to mind.

Oh and let's not forget the vast graveyard of wasted designs that is Korean MMOs. Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff for a lot of those, yet all for naught because of the dismal games they're attached to.

 

[MThanded]

Her legs are bigger than her waist...