Dark Octave
Banned
So many, but here are some of my favorites.
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Amazing character design
- Thread starter Neiteio
- Start date
Dabookerman
Member
Regulus Tera said:
What is it then?
You do realise Goth isn't limited to colours of Black and Red, right?
Auron_Kale
Member
Neiteio said:
Okay, I get what you're saying. I posted a pic of Kain Highwind from FFIV (DS version) earlier and the main reason why I love the character's design is not because of the character himself (blond human male) but it was actually the armor that Amano designed. He's a dragon knight (dragoon) and every aspect of the armor makes him look like a dragon: the helm (my favorite item), the little spike-like things on his shoulders, the chestplate that looks like a dragon's belly, and although you can't see it in the picture - he has like a little cape in the back that I guess may represent either the wings or the tail of a dragon.
Any mention of Dead Space in this thread should be negated by that horrible, horrible character design. The helmet is just terrible and very, very uninspired.
Maybe NSFW, but great fanart of two characters Odin Sphere:
http://cellar-fcp.deviantart.com/art/odin-sphere-61757963
Maybe NSFW, but great fanart of two characters Odin Sphere:
http://cellar-fcp.deviantart.com/art/odin-sphere-61757963
:lolmac said:
Somebody knocked the Dead Space guy. He's supposed to be a miner, so I think they did a good job. They could have called him a miner and given him a generic marine-looking costume. It's the same thing with Big Daddy: they built around the helmet, which is decidedly under-water looking.
needlesmcgirk
Member
beat
Member
Ubi should really produce an Altair-themed hoodie.Iksenpets said:
No mention of Hyung Tae-Kim till page 6? He's not my favorite character designer, but considering some of the awful nominations in this thread.... eeesh.
Can't believe I forgot Purple Tentacle from DOTT.
Kirby, yes. Great design, and works well with the ability-stealing mechanic. Sackboy has some of the same design requirements and fulfills them similarly too. (basically, character and yet with enough genericity to overlay on a ton of interesting features.)
Psychonauts all over, yes yes yes. Team Fortress 2 - amazing character design. Full of character and absolutely distinguishable in silhouette from hundreds of meters away.
I can't say Ninja Gaiden's character design is awesome throughout, but I do like the giant fat cyborg boss at the end of ch 2.
JSRF - what can I say, I liked the futuristic Tokyo teen clothing. (Harajuku style? Shinjuku/Shibuya style?) The enemy gangs were less awesome.
The Guybrush Threepwood for Monkey Island 3 was _terrific_. MI1&2 were constrained by technology (I did like the pirate coat in MI2). MI4's 3D version was fine for what it was, but coming after MI3, it was a severe disappointment.
Death_Born
Banned
Botolf said:
It's also interesting that his "eye" is the same one as the Combine Scanners. However, Dog's "eye" can also show emotion much better than the Combine's emotionless robots, thus setting up an important contrast while showing that even Dog was built out of Combine parts. The hunchbacked appearance also makes him look somehow sad, or like a downtrodden workhorse.
bloodforge
Member
Cuth said:
WarpToken.com
Member
may not be great character design to me but Sky Gunner was very charming. The amount of information that flew by in the shadow of the cutscenes explaining the backstory was done pretty nice. Characters are talking then they happen to mention a word you don't know and in the corner a image and definition would pop up. The game was too confusing/hard for me to play seriously though. I am on level 4(?) the first night time one and I don't want to go back.Dark Octave said:
]
Baten Kaitos
While entirely impractical, this design has always stood out as one of my favorites. I love the variety of different materials and patterns used in the games clothes, and it really makes the world feel like some alien, gypsy like place.
Although he wears a skirt
P), Sagi from Origins also has a fantastic design that gives me the same vibe, and perhaps it's more to do with the character than the design, but even the face feels more lively.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
Itahana's art is magic. His designs are absolutely full of life and charm, and this is one game where it really captured the charm of those designs for me, with fantastic art and music all around. It doesn't get much better <3 As a side note, I fucking loved his unused FFIX work.
Final Fantasy Tactics
Sometimes simplicity is the way to go, and Ramza's design is completely befitting to his modest, practical personality. That the design changes through the game is also great.
Jak and Daxter
Bob Rafei is an incredible artist (oh how I long for news from Big Red Button), and my love for his art started with Jak. A fantastic character with exaggerated proportions, and a great blend of cartoon cool and wacky. You know from the beginning that Jak is an adventurer, that he's light-hearted, and that he's awesome. He's also a great blend of natural and mechanical, with hunter-like clothing, grass-colored hair, but with the eye-piece that even Rafel says he doesn't know what the hell is for. I also love Keira's design:
The one videogame character that makes me feel geeky for thinking "hot" (the voice doesn't hurt either). I'm trying to keep the amount of pictures I use to a minimum, but Samos is also great.
Valkyrie Profile
http://i35.tinypic.com/r8i90i.png
Is Arngrim fucking awesome? Yes... yes he fucking is. I even sat through his pussification of VP2 because of how awesome he was in the first. Anyway, the character designs for this game is really in a world of it's one, as it feels entirely grounded in reality but enchanting at the same time, and very clearly inspired by our ideas of the Norse and middle ages. The games truly deserve credit for the huge amount of art they use, and how incredible it is for each character (yay for Covenants return to portraits!). (I used a link as I couldn't seem to resize this in paint without losing the transparency and making it ugly...)
While entirely impractical, this design has always stood out as one of my favorites. I love the variety of different materials and patterns used in the games clothes, and it really makes the world feel like some alien, gypsy like place.
Although he wears a skirt
P), Sagi from Origins also has a fantastic design that gives me the same vibe, and perhaps it's more to do with the character than the design, but even the face feels more lively.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
Itahana's art is magic. His designs are absolutely full of life and charm, and this is one game where it really captured the charm of those designs for me, with fantastic art and music all around. It doesn't get much better <3 As a side note, I fucking loved his unused FFIX work.
Final Fantasy Tactics
Sometimes simplicity is the way to go, and Ramza's design is completely befitting to his modest, practical personality. That the design changes through the game is also great.
Jak and Daxter
Bob Rafei is an incredible artist (oh how I long for news from Big Red Button), and my love for his art started with Jak. A fantastic character with exaggerated proportions, and a great blend of cartoon cool and wacky. You know from the beginning that Jak is an adventurer, that he's light-hearted, and that he's awesome. He's also a great blend of natural and mechanical, with hunter-like clothing, grass-colored hair, but with the eye-piece that even Rafel says he doesn't know what the hell is for. I also love Keira's design:
The one videogame character that makes me feel geeky for thinking "hot" (the voice doesn't hurt either
). I'm trying to keep the amount of pictures I use to a minimum, but Samos is also great.Valkyrie Profile
http://i35.tinypic.com/r8i90i.png
Is Arngrim fucking awesome? Yes... yes he fucking is. I even sat through his pussification of VP2 because of how awesome he was in the first. Anyway, the character designs for this game is really in a world of it's one, as it feels entirely grounded in reality but enchanting at the same time, and very clearly inspired by our ideas of the Norse and middle ages. The games truly deserve credit for the huge amount of art they use, and how incredible it is for each character (yay for Covenants return to portraits!). (I used a link as I couldn't seem to resize this in paint without losing the transparency and making it ugly...)
My avatar is the most amazing character in a videogame. Some others I like:
yorda
Wind Waker Link
It's all in the eyes. Yordas' design went perfect with her behavior and the atmosphere of the game. An entire story is being told by her design and gestures. In the case of Wind Waker Link it's the eyes. the designed reminded me of a Link to the Past. Link's eyes did all the communication for him, his designed told us everything we needed to know abut him and set the tone for the game.
As for Alyx, well................ If you don't know why, you need to Play half life 2 NOOB!
yorda
Wind Waker Link
It's all in the eyes. Yordas' design went perfect with her behavior and the atmosphere of the game. An entire story is being told by her design and gestures. In the case of Wind Waker Link it's the eyes. the designed reminded me of a Link to the Past. Link's eyes did all the communication for him, his designed told us everything we needed to know abut him and set the tone for the game.
As for Alyx, well................ If you don't know why, you need to Play half life 2 NOOB!
Wow. Batbeg just did what I was hoping everyone in this thread would do: not only sharing examples of what he considers great design, but elaborating on why it works for him. He posted quite the variety, too.
I never paid too much attention to FFCC art (or Itahana in general) until you posted the pic and explained why you liked it. It really works for me, too; they all sort of have a loving, handmade quality to them. You should post some of that unused FFIX art you mentioned.
Now, I'd like to give some love to my all-time favorite design from MGS4, the Gekko:
(Photo credit goes to Majik).
(Photo credit goes to user friendly)
MGS4 was my first next-gen (new-gen?) game. Now imagine for a moment the impact of such an experience. Then imagine the impact of meeting the Gekkos for the first time. Gekkos are, in my opinion, the pinnacle of functional mech design. Screens don't do them justice. You have to see them leaping from rooftop to rooftop, hanging upside-down from ceilings, crouching to squeeze through corridors, hissing like cicadas and roaring like bulls, clamping one paw down on a second-story balcony and hoisting their head up over the edge to see if you're there, stretching out on tippy-toes and shuddering convulsively before pissing green chemicals and lumbering off... These things are fucking scary. I swear, hiding under a car and watching in first-person as their feeler tentacles groped around and just barely missed me was one of the best gaming moments ever.
They're the antithesis of your usual mech design: no flash, all functionality. But they're so well-realized, so animalistic, what with their muscular legs and blood-like oil and bloodcurdling animal sounds (it's for "psychological warfare," I read), that they become a character all their own. That's another hallmark of great design, if you ask me.
I never paid too much attention to FFCC art (or Itahana in general) until you posted the pic and explained why you liked it. It really works for me, too; they all sort of have a loving, handmade quality to them. You should post some of that unused FFIX art you mentioned.
Now, I'd like to give some love to my all-time favorite design from MGS4, the Gekko:
(Photo credit goes to Majik).
(Photo credit goes to user friendly)
MGS4 was my first next-gen (new-gen?) game. Now imagine for a moment the impact of such an experience. Then imagine the impact of meeting the Gekkos for the first time. Gekkos are, in my opinion, the pinnacle of functional mech design. Screens don't do them justice. You have to see them leaping from rooftop to rooftop, hanging upside-down from ceilings, crouching to squeeze through corridors, hissing like cicadas and roaring like bulls, clamping one paw down on a second-story balcony and hoisting their head up over the edge to see if you're there, stretching out on tippy-toes and shuddering convulsively before pissing green chemicals and lumbering off... These things are fucking scary. I swear, hiding under a car and watching in first-person as their feeler tentacles groped around and just barely missed me was one of the best gaming moments ever.
They're the antithesis of your usual mech design: no flash, all functionality. But they're so well-realized, so animalistic, what with their muscular legs and blood-like oil and bloodcurdling animal sounds (it's for "psychological warfare," I read), that they become a character all their own. That's another hallmark of great design, if you ask me.
TheCardPlayer
Likes to have "friends" around to "play cards" with
The good. Where is it? Where is the good?Threi said:oh before i forget:
Grimm Fandango
Member
No Fire Emblem love?
Ike from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
And Samus from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes in Light Suit
I agree with Altair also. One of the best this gen.
Ike from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
And Samus from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes in Light Suit
I agree with Altair also. One of the best this gen.
WarpToken.com
Member
Grimm Fandango said:No Fire Emblem love?
Ike from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Yes...pretty much all Fire Emblem is choice. I failed for not posting some first.
Apologies in advance if image turns out to be hot-link proof...
That's Telma from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The design fits her personality so well. I thought all of the characters were designed extremely well because they fit the character's personality. Except for Zant. He can go screw himself with his "Look at me I'm suck a badass PSYCHE I'm just Him from the PowerPuff Girls in your Zeldas lol" shit. And even Him was cooler than that.
That's Telma from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The design fits her personality so well. I thought all of the characters were designed extremely well because they fit the character's personality. Except for Zant. He can go screw himself with his "Look at me I'm suck a badass PSYCHE I'm just Him from the PowerPuff Girls in your Zeldas lol" shit. And even Him was cooler than that.
Yeah, at first blush Telma seemed like the slutty big-breasted barmaid typical of D&D-derived dungeon-crawlers (alliteration ftw), but it's true -- she had that husky yet motherly, stereotypical-big-black-lady buoyancy of spirit that really fit the look.
As for Zant... Well, on the one hand the way his character pans out fit the design well. He was, after all, only strong while behind the facade of Ganon's power. But again, I agree; he had much more promise following Lakebed Temple when he showed up and trounced Link and Midna.
Regardless of how he wound up, Zant's mask design is EPIC. Someone post that shit!
As for Zant... Well, on the one hand the way his character pans out fit the design well. He was, after all, only strong while behind the facade of Ganon's power. But again, I agree; he had much more promise following Lakebed Temple when he showed up and trounced Link and Midna.
Regardless of how he wound up, Zant's mask design is EPIC. Someone post that shit!
Dark Octave said:So many, but here are some of my favorites.
Really? They all look the same, and they all look like almost every character in UTIII as well. I mean I could see admiring the texture work, but there is nothing that gives any type of personality away, or even the feeling of a sheltered personality. The armor is just there.
Strider Hiryu's design just screams badass, especially the newer incarnation seen in Marvel vs Capcom and Strider 2 games. Although he's supposed to be some kind of futuristic ninja, considering that he's up against an alien being from another galaxy, does it really matter?
I chose a more stylized art just because it does a great job of portraying how badass he is. Everything from his costume to the unique tonfa/blade hybrid weapon called Falchion that he wields shows how unique he is. Also, one of the first ninjas I think who makes wearing a scarf look badass. Scarf not shown above, but just do a google search for him.
He fights friggin soviets, robots, aliens, amazons, you name it. He's a killing machine.
Monocle
Member
Yoshimitsu (Tekken series) - I prefer this, the Tekken 3 version.
Dante and Trish (Devil May Cry series)
Lady (Devil May Cry series)
Vergil (Devil May Cry series)
343 Guilty Spark (Halo series)
Elites (Halo series) - Not one character but a whole species, as every gamer who hasn't been in a coma for the past decade probably knows. I prefer the Halo 1 version (pictured).
Pyramid Head (Silent Hill series) - Excellent monster design. I wish I could have found a better photo of the Silent Hill 2 version.
Nurses (Silent Hill series) - Another great monster design.
Genesis (Crisis Core: FFVII) - "Hurf durf, it's Gackt!" Yeah, I know. I think the red sword pulls this design together.
Lulu (Final Fantasy X) - Maybe my favorite Final Fantasy character design.
Other selections previously posted in this thread that I agree with:
Ashlotte (Soul Calibur 4)
Amaterasu (Okami)
Auron (Final Fantasy X)
the Master Chief (Halo series)
Link (The Legend of Zelda series)
Big Daddies (Bioshock)
Zeratul (Starcraft)
everything (Shadow of the Colossus)
Young Nobleman Of Sadness
Member
A new challenger appears!
Nathan Rain
Banned
mr stroke said:of all time-
probably Tetsuya Nomura
love his style
Abso-fucking-lutely!
Ninja Kn1ght
Member
.jpg)
MickeyKnox said:Masterchief's design is blatantly lifted from Roughnecks, the CG animated Starship Troopers show from the late '90s.
Wrong. It's an evolution of the MJOLNIR cyborg's design from Marathon, which predates Roughnecks by almost half a decade.
Further, Halo was first shown in July 1999 at the MacWorld conference, with the Master Chief (or what would become him) design more or less intact.
Halo Macworld trailer
Roughnecks premiered on August 30th, 1999. So much for that bit o' Bungie hate.
QuickSilverD
Member
I like many of the designs I'm seeing in this thread. For me a good design is one that can call attention of the eye by being really stylish yet at the same time functional.
I then to dislike the designs of most fantasy games, because while most of themcan look good and sexy, ultimately they are incredibly ridiculous, you know what I mean, don't you? I mean: Lingerie armor for females, come on. Or take Sigfried from SCIV, yes it looks cool, but he really couldn't move on that thing if it was real, for me that is just ridiculous.
I design I really do like, and that I think hasn't been mentioned yet is that of the new DS Castlevania:
Shaona, from Castlevania Order of Eclesia
I mean sure, perhaps a long dress is not the best choice to fight against the legions of evil, but compared to what most female fantasy character wear, this is actully pretty good and functional, and it has that Gothic look that is just... seriously I think I'm in love
Albus from Castlevania Order of Eclesia
This guy also has an elegant yet functional set of clothes
I then to dislike the designs of most fantasy games, because while most of themcan look good and sexy, ultimately they are incredibly ridiculous, you know what I mean, don't you? I mean: Lingerie armor for females, come on. Or take Sigfried from SCIV, yes it looks cool, but he really couldn't move on that thing if it was real, for me that is just ridiculous.
I design I really do like, and that I think hasn't been mentioned yet is that of the new DS Castlevania:
Shaona, from Castlevania Order of Eclesia
I mean sure, perhaps a long dress is not the best choice to fight against the legions of evil, but compared to what most female fantasy character wear, this is actully pretty good and functional, and it has that Gothic look that is just... seriously I think I'm in love
Albus from Castlevania Order of Eclesia
This guy also has an elegant yet functional set of clothes
drtomoe123
Member
Shockgamer
Banned
I must have missed a post. I can't believe in the first guy to vouch for:
