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[BocoDragon]

I would dig that.
Though I liked FFXIII menu, I'd still prefer this over CGs.

Animated versions of 2D art would be awesome. Just a few frames of animation before settling into a static image, kind of like XIII's CG portraits.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

I feel like Nomura has settled down into a style that's actually half-appealing.

He almost reached self parody a decade ago with characters like Tidus, Sora and Lulu (belt-skirt).

I've always loved VIII's designs and Type-0 feels the most similarly restrained-but-cool.

That's how I feel as well. Maybe it had to do with the limitations of PSOne modelling, but I feel like it actually had to think about how to make the characters memorable and distinct without having a lot of details to work with and that produced his best work. From the PS2 onwards he's had too many polygons to work with and fills a lot of his characters with details and trinkets that detract from the overall appearance, instead of enhancing it.

I do feel that XIII was a step back in the right direction, as the main character designs did seem to focus on using colours and shapes well to create an impression. Now he just needs to vary up his approach to hair and faces.

 

[Dark Schala]

I also really love Soejima now since Persona and Catherine. I think his art book is coming out in the US? I'll definitely try to find it.

Yep. I'm getting the Catherine artbook whenever I have some money to burn.

They really should use the hand drawn artwork for all the menus in Versus, FFVII style. It would help with that modern/old school FF feel they're going for.

Absolutely.

I don't think this (from the Versus footage we saw) is really appealing. Not as appealing as the hand-drawn art.

They could go the Tales or KH route for this sort of thing, imo.

 

[Rinoa]

That's how I feel as well. Maybe it had to do with the limitations of PSOne modelling, but I feel like it actually had to think about how to make the characters memorable and distinct without having a lot of details to work with and that produced his best work.

FF8 main character designs weren't in your face and most the clothing and hair looked like stylized real life stuff, rather than over stylized and hyper detailed. It fit the setting too, which is why Versus is now so interesting.

I don't think this (from the Versus footage we saw) is really appealing. Not as appealing as the hand-drawn art.

I assume they have the menus like that so we can see who is talking and what they're doing while we're in the middle of fighting. Kinda like picture in picture but the camera is way too close to their faces.

 

[H_Prestige]

Yep. I'm getting the Catherine artbook whenever I have some money to burn.


Absolutely.

I don't think this (from the Versus footage we saw) is really appealing. Not as appealing as the hand-drawn art.

They could go the Tales or KH route for this sort of thing, imo.

Absolutely. I didn't like that when I saw it in the trailer. It looks really pointless and is actually kind of distracting. They should have done it the KH way with the static hand drawn portrait. Have them grimace when they're hit.

 

[rataven]

That cover is really lovely. The artwork feels very reminiscent of PS1 era FF, which has always been my personal favorite.

Gah, I'm so looking forward to Type-0. NA announcement any day now.....please??

 

[Jomjom]

That cover is really lovely. The artwork feels very reminiscent of PS1 era FF, which has always been my personal favorite.

Gah, I'm so looking forward to Type-0. NA announcement any day now.....please??

If SE won't, Sony should publish it like how Nintendo published DQ9, just as an act of goodwill to PSP owners.

 

[AAK]

Oh man, @ FFvXIII lead.....

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Oh man, @ FFvXIII lead.....

Everyone facing right is smiling, everyone facing left is brooding.

Coincidence?

 

[NyogoZ]

I love Nomura's work, especially when he uses his more mature drawing style like this. The cover art he made for BbS:FM is also really cool if you've never seen it before. I hope he makes an artbook one day in the future 'cause I'd buy it in a flash.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

I agree with what someone said above about FF VIII having great art, sharing the same appeal that Versus XIII's art has. I like the close-to-realism look when the setting matches the style, it's a nice change of pace.

 

[xion4360]

FF8 main character designs weren't in your face and most the clothing and hair looked like stylized real life stuff, rather than over stylized and hyper detailed. It fit the setting too, which is why Versus is now so interesting.

The world of FF8 is still my favorite (as is the game itself) I really like its character and world design. You're right about versus too, though I wish Nomura would do something better with Noctis' hair...something a little bit neater.

 

[Dark Schala]

Absolutely. I didn't like that when I saw it in the trailer. It looks really pointless and is actually kind of distracting. They should have done it the KH way with the static hand drawn portrait. Have them grimace when they're hit.

Yup. Something like these would work better, imo:

They aren't nearly as distracting. But of course, that Versus HUD could be some sort of prototype or placeholder for the actual thing.

 

[Nora Kisaragi]

Yup. Something like these would work better, imo:

They aren't nearly as distracting. But of course, that Versus HUD could be some sort of prototype or placeholder for the actual thing.

Hand-drawn portraits in today's generation are usually reserved for anime games. (KH2 specifically has enough anime-comparisons as it is.)

You won't be seeing that in versus, I garuntee it.

 

[xion4360]

yeah, I dont think the drawn portraits fit in with the realistic graphics. It would have to be renders but then it would look silly to animate that. I personally would prefer no portraits, I appreciate minimalistic menus.

 

[Electivirus]

I love Nomura's art so goddamn much.

 

[Droplet]

I'd prefer we used hand drawn art in menus and the cg art in the battle screen or something. It really just depends on the style they're going for, but anything could work.

That said the versus moving portraits that they have already seem distracting.

 

[Data West]

Man. I really hope we get Type 0 by the time the Vita is out, and it's on PSN. Or hell, I'd be willing to get scammed and buy a 'Vita' version with more hats.

The game looks incredible.

 

[Dark Schala]

yeah, I dont think the drawn portraits fit in with the realistic graphics. It would have to be renders but then it would look silly to animate that. I personally would prefer no portraits, I appreciate minimalistic menus.

It looks extremely silly. You're right.

I truly hope that is a placeholder HUD. It's dreadful-looking.

Hand-drawn portraits in today's generation are usually reserved for anime games. (KH2 specifically has enough anime-comparisons as it is.)

You won't be seeing that in versus, I garuntee it.

I didn't mean those specifically, but KH's idea would work well. I don't think it'd be quite jarring. Using a Nomura hand-drawn portrait of Noctis, Ignis, that chipmunk dude and his other friends grimacing when their hit does not strike me as a terrible idea because it's not exactly the main thing I'm paying attention to onscreen, is it? It'd be nice if Nomura's artwork is showcased somewhere in the game, and I think the menus would be a good place to do it, personally. Take that mess out of the battle HUD if it's going to cause "photorealism vs stylization" and "it looks dumb vs it looks fine" debates.

Note that I might be slightly biased, though... because I preferred the anime portraits in Star Ocean 4, and the anime edition of Tales of Hearts.

 

[daffy]

Nomura drew the NA KH2 cover? He's amazing if so.

 

[Grisby]

Some of Nomura's work I like but that cover kinda blows. Took me a good minute to figure out who everyone was or what game they were from.

Also, I was expecting Versus to be at TGS. Kinda blows as I wanted to see a bit more of the mechanics and general gameplay.

 

[Sennorin]

Hopefully, Sasuke doesn´t ruin *this* story. :>

 

[LiK]

http://www.novacrystallis.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Cover.jpg

Hopefully, Sasuke doesn´t ruin *this* story. :>[/QUOTE]

lulz

 

[thetrin]

At this point I'm a lot more interested in Type-0 than I am in Versus. That's kinda sad.

 

[LiK]

At this point I'm a lot more interested in Type-0 than I am in Versus. That's kinda sad.

i think everyone agrees with you.

 

[Nora Kisaragi]

Note that I might be slightly biased, though... because I preferred the anime portraits in Star Ocean 4, and the anime edition of Tales of Hearts.

Get outta town. Versus is nowhere near anime style, such an art direction wouldn't work for this game.

As for portraits in the menus, you have to accept that train left the station for new waters years ago. It would be good for nostalgia purposes, nothing more. If you want character portraits, there's always the instruction manual.

i think everyone agrees with you.

I don't. I could care less about portable games, Versus is my most-hyped for FF title.

 

[Electivirus]

I'm pretty damn excited for Versus as well, but Type-0 is a hell of a lot closer to release.

 

[Raitosaito]

Looking at all these threads involving Square games, Famassu seems to be in everyone of them defending Square Enix's decision.

 

[Dark Schala]

Get outta town. Versus is nowhere near anime style, such an art direction wouldn't work for this game.

As for portraits in the menus, you have to accept that train left the station for new waters years ago. It would be good for nostalgia purposes, nothing more. If you want character portraits, there's always the instruction manual.

I dunno. Neither the Japanese nor English instruction manuals for FFXIII had character portraits. Gotta buy the Ultimanias for that, which means extra money out of my pocket! :O

As for the character portraits in general, I think I'll agree to disagree. There's no point to drawing out this disagreement, really... Just note that some people do prefer looking at the original illustrations, and I'll note that some people prefer looking at the CG renders.

 

[Ether_Snake]

TEA-HATER-RYTHM!

 

[Korigama]

I dunno. Neither the Japanese nor English instruction manuals for FFXIII had character portraits. Gotta buy the Ultimanias for that, which means extra money out of my pocket! :O

As for the character portraits in general, I think I'll agree to disagree. There's no point to drawing out this disagreement, really... Just note that some people do prefer looking at the original illustrations, and I'll note that some people prefer looking at the CG renders.

Though it is an "anime game", it's worth pointing out the fact that SE gave people the choice of illustrations or CG for portraits with Star Ocean: The Last Hope International as well, so it's definitely not the case that there wouldn't be demand for such a thing.

 

[Kagari]

Direct feed.

 

[ULTROS!]

Direct feed.

At first glance, I thought Noel was Yuna.

 

[jiggle]

nice to see a new artwork from nomura

At first glance, I thought Noel was Yuna.

she looked like yuna in the trailer too

 

[Kagari]

 

[Dunan]

I want an Akihiko Yoshida artbook very much, myself.

Then you want his Tactics Ogre artbook which contains high-quality drawings from both the original SFC TO and the new PSP game. Hardcover, coffee-table-book style; it's not quite as amazing as the Valkyria artbook, which also has lots of text, but it's still a must if you're a Tactics Ogre fan.

 

[LiK]

Then you want his Tactics Ogre artbook which contains high-quality drawings from both the original SFC TO and the new PSP game. Hardcover, coffee-table-book style; it's not quite as amazing as the Valkyria artbook, which also has lots of text, but it's still a must if you're a Tactics Ogre fan.

Didn't know this existed. Thanks

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Not trying to point out the obvious but the characters are positioned in order of release for there respective games.

Spoiler

@ Versus

 

[Dark Schala]

Then you want his Tactics Ogre artbook which contains high-quality drawings from both the original SFC TO and the new PSP game. Hardcover, coffee-table-book style; it's not quite as amazing as the Valkyria artbook, which also has lots of text, but it's still a must if you're a Tactics Ogre fan.

Ooooh, didn't know this was out. Thank you kindly. *bookmarks* Great that it's hardcover too.