Etrian Odyssey IV's font looks cool, but I's was completely terrible (is it the default DS font?). Sorry NichM
It is... not the default font, no... ;_;
(Haha, no apology necessary. I can own up to how bad it is.)
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Game fonts: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
- Thread starter cj_iwakura
- Start date
It is... not the default font, no... ;_;
(Haha, no apology necessary. I can own up to how bad it is.)
Funchameleon
Banned
You love the constant confusion of "font" and "typeface"?
Really enjoyed the combat font in FFXII, crisp and clean:
I recall Pokemon Sapphire/Ruby having a particularly bad font:
POKéMON
This is something that ALWAYS KILLS ME !!!
If THE NAME OF YOUR GAME has an "´" why not make a font that acepts capslocked ponctuation like this one ???
You can attribute that to the computer age, really. At this point, the two are synonymous for the majority of people. I personally know the difference very well, and yet I still find myself using them interchangeably (as I already have in this thread), just because it's what other people are doing. For people who want to be able to keep the difference straight in their head, though, just think of fonts as MP3s and typefaces as songs or something along those lines.
You're a graphic designer and you go by Helvetica Bold? I hope it's some irony.
But on topic, I think some of the typefaces mentioned work well with games. San Serif fonts, while not the prettiest to look at, do make games a lot easier to read, which at the end of the day is the main focus of the typeface. If you can get one that helps fit the design of the game AND work on a high functioning level, then that is where we have a wonderful use of typography.
chaostrophy
Member
I love the "adventure game" font that a lot of Japanese games use:
I love the font used in Deadly Premonition. I've seen it a few other places- I remember seeing it in Shadow of the Colossus, though it's been pointed out that SOTC uses Papyrus...maybe the OPM demo or a trailer? Most recently it's shown up in the subtitles of the Killer is Dead trailer. Anyone know what it is?
Shotgun Kiss
Member
I'm surpised this hasn't been mentioned:
Chrono Trigger on iOS. They went out of their way to make the font worse.
Chrono Trigger on iOS. They went out of their way to make the font worse.
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
VS's font works just fine for me on a CRT without uprezzing at 15ft.
Sting to Activision: "Get on our level, son."
It took 19 post but we got there. Playing Knights in the Nightmare was crazy with all those font types and sizes flying around. Lol. Sting goes crazy with th fonts.
I'm surpised this hasn't been mentioned:
Chrono Trigger on iOS. They went out of their way to make the font worse.
Helvetica is a bit out of place, but I hated what they did to CT DS, too. Especially the battle interface, where it's super tiny.
I actually edited both fonts in the game because it bothered me so much:
megarockexe
Member
MegaMan Battle Network 5 DS US version used the regular GBA font, which is okay.
European version changed it for no reason.
The first Star Force game definitely had the worst font.
The third fixed it and I like this one the most out of the 4 here.
European version changed it for no reason.
The first Star Force game definitely had the worst font.
The third fixed it and I like this one the most out of the 4 here.
They should always be legible first and foremost. But when it comes to your example, they need to seem like they fit in with the game. A lot of ports of older games to newer systems seem to mess this up. In the example of the Square iOS ports, the game is keeping the same pixel resultion of the the models and scenery, etc, but the font is this really clean, high resolution system font. The contrast is so noticable that it detracts from the game experience.
I loved the game, but Xenoblade's menu font drove me nuts on occasion. The letters themselves were a bit too thin and they really needed more space between letters.
You can see how the double f's and l's blur together, and the first i in "Affinity" is barely there. I specifically remember when trying to deal with the gems I had to squint to see the difference between a level II and a level III.
You can see how the double f's and l's blur together, and the first i in "Affinity" is barely there. I specifically remember when trying to deal with the gems I had to squint to see the difference between a level II and a level III.
cj_iwakura
Member
I don't know what it is that bugs me about Innocent Sin; it's something about the capital letters not meshing with the rest of the line.
SMT: Strange Journey did text right. I know the dialogue font isn't unique to this game, but it's clean, easy to read, and nicely spaced:
This is the font I wished Soul Hackers and Persona 2 used, and it summarizes my problem; it's not 'clean' so to speak.
cj_iwakura
Member
Also, I kind of liked EO1's font, for some odd reason, even if it was(maybe because?) how different it was. 2 was a nice improvement though, and 4's looks divine.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
I've begun to think some are posting every font except their favorite. Bad is Wild Arms 2, which is almost paint to read; not alot of these clean, eminently legible, and well-kerned typefaces.
Or maybe people are judging based on different criteria than you are. It also could be that typefaces are subjective and not everyone finds the same things appealing.
Around my area, yes.
There are a lot of private businesses where I live and it's really common for things like restaurants, spas, or any store run by hippies selling hemp string. Look for it and you'll see it. It's one of those stupid typefaces that's loved by people who know nothing about graphic design.
Edit: and no, it's not a good font lol. As this person rightly points out, Papyrus is the king of bad fonts.
There's even a Tumblr page called Papyrus Everywhere:
http://papyruseverywhere.tumblr.com/
cj_iwakura
Member
As a tangent, this is the font I settled on for the fan translation of Shikigami no Shiro.
Call me biased, but I like it.
Call me biased, but I like it.
To Far Away Times
Member
The default DS font is truly terrible.
Lost Kingdoms 1 and 2 better quality images
It literally hurts my eyes.
Easy on the eyes not too flashy and overall thick enough
It literally hurts my eyes.
Shadow Hog
Member
I've always kinda wondered what Sonic Adventure's font is. Light-hearted, but not as painful as straight Comic Sans.
They changed it for the HD rereleases, and it... kinda sucks, now. Loses any and all character it had for a fairly basic sans-serif.
They changed it for the HD rereleases, and it... kinda sucks, now. Loses any and all character it had for a fairly basic sans-serif.
Xux
Member
wut. I thought this font was perfectly fine. Probably the best font in gaming.I hope whoever chose the font for dialogue for FFXII was taken out behind Square Enix HQ and shot.
ThreePiMatt
Member
Oh yeah baby, drink it in. Drink it in.
It oozes style, which is exactly what makes it miserable for subtitles that are effectively ten or fifteen pixels high. I realize that I have very, very little room to point fingers re: trying too hard to match a face, but smallcaps subs on an SD display is at best a terrible use of a good font.
Oh yeah baby, drink it in. Drink it in.
My poor eyes!
Erm, to offset that, I always liked the Phoenix Wright games' font.
I guess this classic image fits here
OH God COD has always made my eyes bleed. I'm not a designer, my girlfriend is and she cringes at games, after explaining the rules to good, clear and interesting typefaces how it's used to convey immediate understanding, familiarity and interest, I can now no longer accept shitty gaming fonts.
you think with all that money the dude bros would at least figured this out by now.
Angelus Errare
Banned
Basically more developers need graphic designers with typography knowledge.
A drop shadow?
A drop shadow?
Figuring it out is inimical to how AAAA titles are made. If you don't have a single artist devoted solely to each popup, how will you grind out games in a year? And if you don't individually focus-test each one, how will you justify yourself to investors?
You're never gonna get longterm consistency when your model is built around firing the staff when a title goes gold and maybe hiring them back when the next one ramps up, anyway.
Azure Dream
Member
I've always kinda wondered what Sonic Adventure's font is. Light-hearted, but not as painful as straight Comic Sans.
Benguiat Frisky ATT. It's an older font, so it doesn't always play nice with some programs.
Edit: Hm, now that I look, it's not exactly the same. But it is relatively close.
I understand what you're saying. The FFXII dialogue typeface is beautiful. However, it's just totally wrong for that purpose.
It's not always a matter of good and bad. A good typeface can become a bad one when used improperly. And a mediocre one can be just fine (even if not optimal) in the right situation.
Night_Trekker
Member
Natsume's use of Comic Sans in Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life is unforgivable. I believe they also translated Chulip, using the same font. Hideous.
Xux
Member
What kind of purpose should it be used for? I thought the style of it fit the "rarity" and cinematic quality of the voice acted cutscenes and the simplicity made it readable (even if the dialogue didn't always match the subtitles).
This is a really cool site: http://mfs.sub.jp/font.html
cj_iwakura
Member
Well that's Malkavian text, of course it's skewed. I believe the mod did that, too.
RawkHawk2010
Member
It's already been mentioned, but Paper Mario (starting with TTYD going forward):
Perfect font.
Perfect font.
revolverjgw
Member
Oh yeah baby, drink it in. Drink it in.
Hotline Britannia
Spring-Loaded
Member
Femmeworth
Banned
My god, it's beautiful in a horrific way. *bows to Sting*VS's font works just fine for me on a CRT without uprezzing at 15ft.
Sting to Activision: "Get on our level, son."
Can someone identify the font from Lost Kingdom Images?
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