Your loss, not ours.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Worst Female Character Design in Gaming?
- Thread starter DiipuSurotu
- Start date
- Status
Your loss, not ours.
Shigenori Soejima has been the artist for Persona from P3 through P5 (including for P4A and P4AU). He was also the artist for Catherine. Personally, I don't like Marie's design (or her character) at all in spite of liking much of his work, but that's me.
also hanako from p4
has no redeeming qualities, is a blatant way of equating being fat with being bad, just shows that the people making the game are assholes. idk if they changed any of that shit in golden but it is just sad
at least the oversexed teacher is supposed to be an adult so you can feel okay ridiculing her
in the five or so hours of golden i played i thought marie was total dead weight and a lame as hell character but i guess i feel more apathetic about her design and character than anything else. margaret already paled in comparison to elizabeth and the p5 twins are just annoying so clearly theres no hope left for the velvet room
has no redeeming qualities, is a blatant way of equating being fat with being bad, just shows that the people making the game are assholes. idk if they changed any of that shit in golden but it is just sad
at least the oversexed teacher is supposed to be an adult so you can feel okay ridiculing her
in the five or so hours of golden i played i thought marie was total dead weight and a lame as hell character but i guess i feel more apathetic about her design and character than anything else. margaret already paled in comparison to elizabeth and the p5 twins are just annoying so clearly theres no hope left for the velvet room
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
It's an asymmetrical bikini with ripped leggings and boots....literally nothing about the design makes sense. It doesn't even create any sort of silhouette nor does it tell us anything about the character. It's bad by every objective metric of how character design is supposed to work.
That series seriously needs to overhaul it's modeling team as well as it's character designer(s).....Ugh. The designs of females in Xenoblade Chronicles are just SO bad. It kept me from enjoying the game honestly. Just armour set after set of boob windows, bikinis etc etc. So strange because the actual characters themselves are pretty fantastically written.
Fiora's is so annoying, like her "body" isn't even human? But no worries, she's still got boobs to show off at every opportunity.
Also come on. Sharla is a Healer, so why is the emphasis always on her chest?
Xenoblade X did so much better, but it seems like Xenoblade 2 will be reverting back to the series roots.
This is an abomination. She literally looks deformed.
More like he was doing laundry and then thought "why not make the hamper an outfit? It holds clothes so let's make it wearable"
Monocle
Member
Yep.
Nope EDI looks awesome. Love the visor and hair.Hi, i'm an AI that got a new body, previously I had no capacity for sexuality, but this is how I'm represented:
Also it's flat out inaccurate to suggest she was totally nonsexual before.
TheRealTalker
Banned
so true with female battle armour
everyone on your team actually has armour that defends themselves but somehow the female needs to barely wear anything to battle
everyone on your team actually has armour that defends themselves but somehow the female needs to barely wear anything to battle
Fat chance.
Hell, I wish SEGA would stop producing the same shitty half-assed designs that are all derivative of the same five base outfits for PSO2 at some point, but for whatever reason their artists are only capable of producing the same old with minor variations over and over and over and over again.
Dnno why they have such creative bankruptcy going on over there, but I somehow doubt it's going anywhere any time soon.
Mobile Suit Gooch
Grundle: The Awakening
He'd know all of that if he played the game.
What?
Dragon's crown characters are designed to be comically grotesque.
Funny I loved all the controversy surrounding the art its pretty obvious it takes inspiration from old fantasy/Conan and exaggerates it to the point of almost being a stylish parody of itself.
Basketball
Member
Literally Deformed
SolidSnakex
Member
I don't think anyone would argue that Lara's clothing was practical for what she was doing. But I also don't think that's a bad thing. Most characters don't wear particularly practical clothing for what they're doing. In many cases they're simply designed to look cool or simply be visually appealing. This was one of the things that was discussed a lot with the DMC reboot as Ninja Theory made a comment about how the Japanese designed Dante was built purely around what they thought looked cool. I recall Kamiya actually commenting that Dante didn't spoke because he didn't think that was cool. Which made the debut reboot trailer all the more controversial as it featured Dante smoking. And I think to many the designs they like most are those that are simply made to look cool/visually appealing even if they aren't necessarily practical for the situation.
Jangowuzhere
Banned
I feel like you would have to be very new gaming to actually say Quiet is the worst female character design. Please, she is controversial, but she barely compares to the actually offensive and shitty looking female characters coming out of Japan over the past decade.
She isn't even badly designed to top it off.
Cindy from FFXV is way worse
She isn't even badly designed to top it off.
Cindy from FFXV is way worse
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Everyone says that but... I don't see why it's an argument, it's still ugly as fuck
Please, I've been gaming for 25 years and I think she's easily one of the worst, no need to be condescending?
"I'm annoyed this female character isn't absurdly hot"
Bland, boring, generic, grey, uninspired, uncreative, unattractive, non-feminine, terrible.
:^)
Yeah, that is the worst defense, haha.
I think complaining about Nier will get a lot of resistance because the game's story is very good and emotionally resonated with a lot of people. Even people that would have no desire to self-destruct 2B's skirt. A friend of mine almost didn't play it because of some of these complaints and he's incredibly glad that he ended up playing it. The story spoke to him deeply.
I think if her character design bothers people because it sexualizes 2B and that's enough to not play the game, it's hyper disappointing to the people that truly love that game and the story that it told. However that's 100% fair.
While there are elements that undercut what the game achieved, I think it's also fair for the people that loved the game to be annoyed for that to be the reason that you don't experience it. Again, not that it isn't a fair one.
I just don't think there is a medium that exists currently where this isn't an issue. So it ends up feeling like, "how do you enjoy anything?/what is fair to enjoy?Am I bad person for enjoying it?"
As a PoC, If I ignored or didn't engage with any piece of content that was insensitive or racist to a certain degree than I'd only be able to engage with like 10-20% of any entertainment medium. If I were then to add sexist content or content that had a heteronormative spin to it, I'd be able to enjoy about 1-5% of content in the world.
Keep doing you, but I hope you don't take it personally when someone is like, WTF NIER IS AMAZING.
All that being said I think it's hyper important for people to point this stuff out.
plasmawave
Banned
Lara Croft's new design is totally fine. It might be plain and boring but it's fine. The problem is her personality is equally plain and boring. Doesn't help the fact that the new TR decided to go grim dark for whatever reason.
Remembered another one :
In context of the character in the game, this is objectively the worst female outfit ever created.
What is it with Persona 3-5 and horrible elements? They are good games generally but its as if the developers in question didn't have any real sense of self critique when making those games. They criticized certain parts of society which is good, but then plays other elements straight as if they were afraid to make their audience think about controversial issues, or had no real mindset on those themselves.
In context of the character in the game, this is objectively the worst female outfit ever created.
What is it with Persona 3-5 and horrible elements? They are good games generally but its as if the developers in question didn't have any real sense of self critique when making those games. They criticized certain parts of society which is good, but then plays other elements straight as if they were afraid to make their audience think about controversial issues, or had no real mindset on those themselves.
He's a wussy though. It fits his character for me lol. The other guy characters aren't tiny looking like him either.
But she's still super sexualized.
Maybe the worst thing I've ever seen
Papo Swing
Member
Like you said it's a bikini and leggings. The way it was used makes no sense, but it is the most normal costume in this thread. The controversy comes out from the stupid nonsensical explanation as to why she is dressed like that.
We have entries about a female character wearing a body fitted basket in this thread. Quiet looks normal when compared. Like take away the controversy and the gun, other than beong skimpy it's ok.
UtterlyPerplexed
Member
Context is key here. I personally agree that were you to look at Quiet's design in a vacuum with no knowledge of the game she is from or the in-universe context for why she is supposedly dressed like that (and if you have no knowledge of Kojima trying to pull wool over people's eyes by promising an actual good legit reason for her appearance), it's probably not the worst thing you'll find in gaming. It's still godawful and certainly deserves being mentioned in this thread, but I can probably think of some other designs from the top of my head that make me feel genuinely uncomfortable while I only feel second-hand embarrassment by just looking at Quiet.
But when you factor in all the context, realise that Quiet is the only prominent female character in her game and prowling around the desert dressed in one of the worst attires you would want to don in such an environment, coupled with the fact that everyone else appears to be dressed up sensibly...in a game series that has by and large (ehh, mostly) been relatively decent about how it has presented its female characters and you have this mixing pot that compounds the issue regarding Quiet. And that's not even getting into what actually happens to her and the Kojima's ultimate reason for why she is dressed like that...
I think FFXV's Cindy is similar in that my disdain for her design is compounded by how weak the game is when it comes to female representation, and the fact that Cindy is the only actual female character the player will meet and be acquainted with for almost half the damn game! I think the only exception in the game is Aranea, and
Episode Prompto has the good sense to give her a new outfit that is LEAGUES better than her original.
I mean, that's the thing, isn't it? The amount of media that actively panders to me as an individual is... basically nonexistent. I have no choice but to take the good with the bad, but goddamn, there is just so much bad out there that I have no choice but to step back and point out all the negative stuff on account of it being so overwhelming.
It gets real bloody old real bloody quick. At least things are slowly improving, even if the glacial pace makes me feel like I won't see a seminal work that speaks to my experience within my lifetime.
Astral Dog
Member
Hmmm probably most all have been mentioned already, that red Xenoblade girls looks utterly ridiculous and not in a good way, the boy too but slightly less so as he is covered. Monolith really needs to work on those character designs.
Special mention to Samus, i never liked how she looked on Prime 2 and 3. Maybe not the worst but something is seriously off in those games. :c
Hunters got it right.
Special mention to Samus, i never liked how she looked on Prime 2 and 3. Maybe not the worst but something is seriously off in those games. :c
Hunters got it right.
Except for, surprisingly enough, bad Cia
Papo Swing
Member
Why giant penises? It's not like the female characters are shown woth giant vaginas. And you csn clesrly see the guy has a big chest.
malboroking
Banned
It is almost word for word what that poster wrote.
Jangowuzhere
Banned
I simply cannot understand that position. Go look at several Japanese fighting game series over the years or even Mortal Kombat before MKX. Some of that shit is actually gross and lame looking.
Everyone says that but... I don't see why it's an argument, it's still ugly as fuck
I think what he said perhaps explains the stylistic choice in Dragon's Crown for designs, but that of course doesn't mean you have to like that stylistic choice. And yes, some of the poses and cutscenes (like the nun and a couple of other examples) are pretty egregious. Still like the game quite a lot though.
I'm not sure if this totally fits this thread, but the starting armour for female mage types in Guild Wars 2 always annoys me
Though I don't think "skimpy" clothing is always terrible, this for example I think is pretty awesome
I did testing for Guild Wars 2 for a few months and I thought it was interesting how the plant people had outfits that just looked like flower blossoms, vines, and leaves coming out of their body. It's such an interesting aesthetic.
Yeah, the false equivocation between breasts and penises is really annoying at this point.
Breasts are not genitals, people!
As much as society may try to paint them as such, the equivalent of female breasts basically does not exist on men due to how desexualized male chests are. Thus, the closest we can get is ass exposure or putting emphasis on naked torsos.
Also, framing. Framing is very important.
100%, as a PoC it's hyper frustrating to see friends and colleagues overlook things that I couldn't possibly overlook while also telling me that "it's just a videogame," or "just a TV show," etc.
However, I can't begrudge them a show or game they love, although I will anyway from time to time to try and "enlighten"/just show them how I perceive it.
Media that I feel bad about liking are:
Resident Evil 5 (Co-op is so fun)
Ender Series (I love Ender)
Game of Thrones (Characters are soooo good)
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Yeah.... and so is Quiet
Also, Quiet is apparently supposed to be taken seriously as a character. MGS, despite its goofy moments, deals with serious themes like child soldiers, government abuses, war and poverty, sexual violence, and so on. Throwing blatant, juvenile T&A in there makes it worse than a cartoony anime boobs in a game full of cartoony nonsense.
SatoAilDarko
Member
Quiet and other super fanservicy characters like Camilla from FE obviously win.
I'll like to highlight the Xenosaga games not because they are the worst but because of how the art style would change between. Drastically between Episode I and II which take place immediately after each other.
So in the first minute someone steps on main character Shion's glasses and breaks them. All throughout the first game we see her were them her entire life from childhood. In fact future games still have flashbacks to her wearing glasses as a child. Yet after this she never replaces them.
The third game allows you to unlock the first game's outfit.
Basically she goes from scientist to fashion model. That fur half-jacket from 3?
In general they went from a more anime inspired look (the character designer of Episode 1 also worked on Xenogears and returned in Xenoblade Chronicles X) to realistic and then to a combination.
The realistic style of the second game is usually agreed to be the worst because of how dead-eyed and creepy everyone is. Like images of realistic game characters. She Kos-Mos from II below.
Then there's Momo who seems to age 5 years instantly.
Lin is fine for a 13 year-old in a game where the rest of the party is mid-twenties and later.
I prefer her to Momo.
I like Castlevania Judgement a lot and one of the reasons is the radical redesigns of all the characters by the Death Note artist.
It's a neat little weird crossover game. I like how everyone looks crazy.
Yeah that outfit is so needlessly open and disgusting tight.
It's so weird when the main female characters of the first game wore perfectly normal-looking clothes for standard outfits.
And in X there's no exposed skin at all in normal outfits because they are kind of in a military force.
Even more exposed outfits like the later Xenosaga games or Savyna from Baten Kaitos still seemed fully functional and not egregious.
I mean look at her chest in this image!
I'll like to highlight the Xenosaga games not because they are the worst but because of how the art style would change between. Drastically between Episode I and II which take place immediately after each other.
So in the first minute someone steps on main character Shion's glasses and breaks them. All throughout the first game we see her were them her entire life from childhood. In fact future games still have flashbacks to her wearing glasses as a child. Yet after this she never replaces them.
The third game allows you to unlock the first game's outfit.
Basically she goes from scientist to fashion model. That fur half-jacket from 3?
In general they went from a more anime inspired look (the character designer of Episode 1 also worked on Xenogears and returned in Xenoblade Chronicles X) to realistic and then to a combination.
The realistic style of the second game is usually agreed to be the worst because of how dead-eyed and creepy everyone is. Like images of realistic game characters. She Kos-Mos from II below.
Then there's Momo who seems to age 5 years instantly.
Lin is fine for a 13 year-old in a game where the rest of the party is mid-twenties and later.
I prefer her to Momo.
Quiet looks fucking awesome. Kind of a lame character though.
Any who, Maria from Castlevania Judgment is so real shit.
Almost as bad as
I like Castlevania Judgement a lot and one of the reasons is the radical redesigns of all the characters by the Death Note artist.
It's a neat little weird crossover game. I like how everyone looks crazy.
This is more egregious to me.
It isn't just the usual anime Otaku pander. It isn't just the stripperiffic outfit.
It's the little bulge on skin under the string on the hip that makes it that much more skeevy. :/ Gotta make sure we know it's really tight.
Yeah that outfit is so needlessly open and disgusting tight.
It's so weird when the main female characters of the first game wore perfectly normal-looking clothes for standard outfits.
And in X there's no exposed skin at all in normal outfits because they are kind of in a military force.
Even more exposed outfits like the later Xenosaga games or Savyna from Baten Kaitos still seemed fully functional and not egregious.
I mean look at her chest in this image!
moustascheman
Member
Dark Suit - Metroid Prime 2
Now this design is not even in the same stratosphere of awfulness that every other design in this thread is, but I've gotta say that the dark suit is my least favorite suit in the entire franchise. The brown, grey and red color scheme, the overly large shoulders, the weird indents and red circles, they just don't work well together IMO. It looks way worse than the light suit, the varia suit, and even the PED suit.
Now this design is not even in the same stratosphere of awfulness that every other design in this thread is, but I've gotta say that the dark suit is my least favorite suit in the entire franchise. The brown, grey and red color scheme, the overly large shoulders, the weird indents and red circles, they just don't work well together IMO. It looks way worse than the light suit, the varia suit, and even the PED suit.
As much as I like that game, it's full of border-line unbearable character designs.
Palette Swap
Member
Clicked expecting Quiet (and agreeing), was not disappointed.
Browsing the thread, though, I agree with other examples:
- the Xenoblade 2 pick hurts because I'm really hyped for this game but that bikini is jarringly stupid.
- as much as I love the Trails of Cold Steel games, the (Altima/Millium) Orion designs are embarrassing.
Browsing the thread, though, I agree with other examples:
- the Xenoblade 2 pick hurts because I'm really hyped for this game but that bikini is jarringly stupid.
- as much as I love the Trails of Cold Steel games, the (Altima/Millium) Orion designs are embarrassing.
Bioware rendered her labia my dude. I think that counts as oversexualizing a ship's AI.
John Rabbit
Banned
Everytime someone rags on the reboot Lara design I like it even more, and I've never played either game.
Just from games/series I'm familiar with, I'm gonna throw my votes in with Cindy from FFXV, Shalua Rui from FF DoC, and Materia from Dissidia.
Also cuz I didn't see this one yet, but:
Not because I think the outfit is necessarily horrible but because the context of it drove me nuts. How Serah went from the outfit in XIII to this always felt kinda weird to begin with, but how it just ~magically~ appeared on her one night and she's just all like, 'well okay then!' was so dumb, SO DUMB.
It came across like they couldn't even come up with a good reason for why she would wear this outfit herself so it had to be magically spelled to appear on her. I just. /head in hands
Also, I actually super hate Lightning's default outfit in LR. That thing bugged the heck outta me, too.
(somehow they're all FF lmao jfklda
Also cuz I didn't see this one yet, but:
Not because I think the outfit is necessarily horrible but because the context of it drove me nuts. How Serah went from the outfit in XIII to this always felt kinda weird to begin with, but how it just ~magically~ appeared on her one night and she's just all like, 'well okay then!' was so dumb, SO DUMB.
It came across like they couldn't even come up with a good reason for why she would wear this outfit herself so it had to be magically spelled to appear on her. I just. /head in hands
Also, I actually super hate Lightning's default outfit in LR. That thing bugged the heck outta me, too.
(somehow they're all FF lmao jfklda
It isn't just the usual anime Otaku pander. It isn't just the stripperiffic outfit.
It's the little bulge on skin under the string on the hip that makes it that much more skeevy. :/ Gotta make sure we know it's really tight.
ugh fuck this character. killed any interest I had in the game. I rolled my eyes so hard when she appeared in the e3 direct.
humansarehorses
Member
Nowi from FE: Awakening.
Jangowuzhere
Banned
I believe if you factor in the context of why she is dressed the way she is, then Quiet is far more acceptable than her just being seen in a vacuum. The story and her personality give her a reason to be dressed the way she is. And yeah, you could argue that the reasons are fucking lame and shitty. But keep in mind, most games don't even bother giving you a reason.
Why does Cindy dress the way she does? Why does no one acknowledge that she is dressed in such a way? Why does her personality seem completely at odds with her character design? I think Cindy looks lame in a vacuum, but she is fucking gross when you actually play FFXV.
Same could be said for MK9. All these female characters are dressed in the most ridiculous possible outfits. The fact that no one at least mentions or acknowledge this is the worst.
For me personally, I can accept a crazy character design like Quiets, because the game knows its basically a joke. There is no self-awareness with Cindy and other lewd female character designs, and I hate that.
She wasn't nonsexual, but she was non-sexualized. Flirting and becoming companions with Joker in ME2 was natural and fine; giving her a 'sexy' body in ME3 was stupid and a clear grab at more sex appeal.
Stallion Dan
Member
It's a very boring and unoriginal rip off from what is popular. And she is really whiney (and personality is part of fictional design).
Original Lara died for this awfulness. New design is pretty much the opposite and the original was loved enough to be a gaming icon.
Some would argue that she always looked a bit like a vagina anyway
(But seriously, wasnt that camel toe a bug? Only one specific outfit has it)
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
This is what i'm talking about, an expression between robots who have no genitalia but bond with each other emotionally. I'm talking about the actual subject matter, you know, people actually having sex, not being unable to do so, not a metaphor, actual displays of it.
It literally makes no sense even considering where she is in the world, in Afghanistan, with as much exposed skin to the sun as possible. We literally breath through three orifices. Why is she wearing asymmetrical gloves, why is she wearing legging that're ripped, why is she wearing a bikini top and a leather thong, literally none of the design makes sense other than to get dicks hard.
- Status