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Are you happy with the "visual identity" adopted by modern Final Fantasy?
- Thread starter MYE
- Start date
Conciliator
Banned
I honestly think this is how the SNES games would have looked had the tech been there. That said, that painterly style they used for icons in FF6 and stuff is great. Love that stuff.
Beyond that, it's fine. There are some characters that I like. There is that overdesigned Japanese anime...thing that happens so ubiquitously. If they could reign in their writing and mechanic design then I'm down for whatever they're in visually.
Beyond that, it's fine. There are some characters that I like. There is that overdesigned Japanese anime...thing that happens so ubiquitously. If they could reign in their writing and mechanic design then I'm down for whatever they're in visually.
KoopaTheCasual
Junior Member
Honestly, it won't be fine with some posters here until Noctis is in a suit of armor, and FFXV takes place in the medieval era.
MagnaderAlpha
Member
Hmm for some reason I thought that was Kojima's wife, but regardless, she is an excellent artist.
Square needs to let the artist from the Saga series do the art for one of the next FF's. They already got Hamauzu for the music.
Kobayashi's art always looked to me like a more Japanese take on Moebius. They both got that similar surreal style. They both have a sorta strange style that is bizarre yet appealing:
Hell, I'm pretty sure Square was trying to replicate Moebius's style with the early FFX concept art like this:
Would've been interesting to see a world like that, actually. As for Moebius, some of his other world arts, particularly the art he contributed for Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, would fit in with the type of world Amano is known for, just more cleaner:
It also fits in with that 90s sense of JRPG fantasy, the whole mystery of the world and imagination.
The problem is, Square considers her designs in a similar view to FFIX's take on "classic FFs", as in they are only good for SD characters(like Minstrel Song, which was a horrible take on her work). I'd love to see a new SaGa(hah!) or even have her work on a FF game and have her work translate into full proportioned character renders(not unlike what we see in the currently in the series).
I really liked The Last Story, and felt the game had a good balance of tone with serious and randomly comical moments. The game has some faults, but is a very solid effort for a new series. I'd totally be down for another sequel.
However, reading through reviews and previews for the game, it was often criticized for having the 'typical' jRPG character designs of form over function. But I think that was kind of a bullshit trend in the gaming media. I like the character designs of The Last Story quite a bit.
Form over function? Yeah, but it still looks damned cool.
I think there's a difference between "form over function", but looking classy, and "form over function" and looking stupid. Of course, that's opinion. I still think Arganan has a classy look to him and that makes his overall design look cool. Nooj or Tidus, their clothing just makes them look like jackasses. That's just me, as I'm sure there are people out there that think those looks are actually appealing.
Not even the prospect of being able to explore this locale?
FFXV has some awesome locations. It's actually interesting because it's supposed to be melding of modern and medieval worlds. That particular city, Accordo, looks magnificent. It's how I envisioned something like the city and castle of Walse being, if FFV ever got an HD remake. Interestingly enough, the highly decorated architecture and style of such buildings fits in with Amano's art. Lots of spires and domes. Same can be said with Ul'Dah in FFXIV, which it's artwork even looks like it was trying to convey an Amano-esque feel:
I miss when final fantasy looked like this
I always felt that was a contradiction to the Amano art I initially saw. I can swallow that kind of look for an Ultima game. Just needs Lord British.
Not a joke.
Oh, that's a serious question?
No, Final Fantasy XV does not star a Japanese pop group.
Meccanical
Member
X-2 does however if you are looking for that kind of thing.
That is true i forgot about that,
There should be a jrpg that stars a rap crew.
He flyer than the rest of em, still got his roen boots.
Also somebody that looks older than 25.
Meccanical
Member
He's most likely gonna die though.
as someone who has actually played ffx-2, no this is not true AT ALL
The person in the intro singing the song was impersonating yuna. Not yuna herself.
Meccanical
Member
Red Liquorice
Member
The sappy/angsty teen feelings stories they make seem to go hand in hand with the bishounen visual-kei look they're going for but, no it doesn't appeal to me.
All types of citations are needed.
Their in-game faces is. Some dodgy costumes too I guess. But the rest of the art is at least cohesive, ambitious and somewhat grounded in its own solid, made up reality.
The industrial and organic landscapes and designs of Xenoblade were wonderful.
And the way the characters were written kinda made up for the subpar 3D faces.
SE has a LOT more to learn from them than they do from SE
"Maybe when Square realizes I'm personally not their target audience anymore they'll make more games that cater specifically to me because only I matter."
Pretty sure that the character designs aren't causing poor sales.
Pretty sure if you make it to a 15th installment of a single brand you probably don't need to worry about "selling more."
Dark_castle
Junior Member
Still the second most selling JRPG franchise in general after Pokemon. I know, shocking.
All that does in reinforce that anime isn't the problem, especially when you take into account Dragon Quest. I wouldn't even call FFs designs anime, but the character design and art are least of the series problems at the moment.
Dark_castle
Junior Member
Even if the choice of design and outfits are related to the context of the story, which is the case for XV?
I guess you're referring to character design, because Xenoblade has some of the most stunning landscapes I've ever seen in a video game.
Xenoblade's character design is definitely its weakest aspect, though. It ranges from passable to downright dumb.
I've actually always thought that of one the reasons for the decline in popularity for JRPGs in the west has been in large part to increases in visual fidelity highlighting the gap between eastern and western tastes. Back when JRPGs were all pixels, characters had relatively little detail and it was easy to expand core visual concept to match your own tastes. How I perceive the specifics of characters like Locke, Edgar, and Terra from FFVI is largely up to me, and oftentimes wholly independent of character portraits and concept art. The characters are defined by their representation in the game, and games used to leave a lot to the imagination. Shit, it never even occurred to me that Chrono Trigger was done anime-style until I got older and looked back on it (and when I saw those wretched Toriyama Chrono Dragonball Trigger Z cutscenes). Now though, there's no wiggle room when it comes to exactly how many zippers and belts and hair spikes each character has.
I don't know if we can say that Final Fantasy has adopted a "new" visual identity as much as we can say that we're just getting a better look at the artists' intent, but I will say that I'm liking it less and less as time goes on. Except for the guy that did Tactics, XII, and XIV. God damn, that guy is amazing.
I don't know if we can say that Final Fantasy has adopted a "new" visual identity as much as we can say that we're just getting a better look at the artists' intent, but I will say that I'm liking it less and less as time goes on. Except for the guy that did Tactics, XII, and XIV. God damn, that guy is amazing.
Honey Bunny
Member
Yes. I'm getting tired of those giant dog enemies though.
JPRGs were much more popular in the West during the PS1 era. And sure, the fidelity isn't great, but there are CG cutscenes. It easy to know what those characters look like.
Final Fantasy's popularity is waning because it's quality is low. If XV is as good as I hope, and believe it will be, it will sell great. People want to care about the franchise.
Final Fantasy's popularity is waning because it's quality is low. If XV is as good as I hope, and believe it will be, it will sell great. People want to care about the franchise.
Am I allowed to say yes? I don't really have a problem with the majority of settings and characters. Yes there are some character designs that I don't like, but thery aren't contained in a single game, so I can't say the designs have declined. I would also dispute that it started with FF7, Cloud wasn't particularly feminine (in FF7) I never really considered Squall feminine either, he was 17, i'd say he was feminine if he was supposed to be 30. I do find it difficult to criticise Squall in any way as he is my favourite Final Fantasy character, that might be an unpopular opinion though lol.
I think if anything, it started with Advent Children, they basically rewrote Cloud's character and turned him 'emo' I think it's kind of ruined the original character for a lot of people. The only character design that really annoy's me is Vaan, now he did look like a girl. In my mind Ashe and Balthier are the main characters of 12.
I have liked all the settings, even 13. The problems with that game go beyond character design and setting. Somewhere in there, there was a good story, it was just badly told imo. I think I would like a 'medievil' setting again, just to mix things up a bit, oh and for Nomura to lay of the zips.
I think if anything, it started with Advent Children, they basically rewrote Cloud's character and turned him 'emo' I think it's kind of ruined the original character for a lot of people. The only character design that really annoy's me is Vaan, now he did look like a girl. In my mind Ashe and Balthier are the main characters of 12.
I have liked all the settings, even 13. The problems with that game go beyond character design and setting. Somewhere in there, there was a good story, it was just badly told imo. I think I would like a 'medievil' setting again, just to mix things up a bit, oh and for Nomura to lay of the zips.
Ignorance is bliss. Chrono has always looked like Goku.
DBZ guy can only draw like 5 characters. lol
Meccanical
Member
More like Vegeta.
Matter of fact the whole playable cast was basically two Vegetas, two Bulmas, Frog Ginyu, a robot and a cavewoman.
KoopaTheCasual
Junior Member
Thank you for your reasonable critique. Seeing logic in the past few pages was becoming a rarity. I for one enjoy the post SNES art direction, but for someone such as yourself, would you recommend they tone down the 'photo-realistic' approach, or just change designers to more western-centric in general?
a cavewoman who looked like Android 18, lol.
There's a huge difference between the cutscenes in Final Fantasy VII/VIII and say, Advent Children. I was fine with both of the former and can't stand the latter. And the ratio of cutscenes to actually gameplay in those games was tiny enough that even if you weren't a fan of the more detailed cgi representation, you could shrug it off for 98% of the game. Nowadays though, I have to deal with things like Kaim having one fucking hair that he refuses to move covering his face the entire god damn length of Lost Odyssey.
I'd personally prefer something more western, but that's a pretty obvious statement coming from a westerner. I think Dark Souls has a spectacular visual design, but at the same time (like I said) FFXIV is looking pretty damn spectacular nowadays. It's a case by case thing.
So, in short, I have no idea.
Syphon Filter
Member
Aren't they all the same?
More like Vegeta.
Matter of fact the whole playable cast was basically two Vegetas, two Bulmas, Frog Ginyu, a robot and a cavewoman.
You're right, I'm sure. I only watch DBZ when it comes on Saturday mornings. Just finished the Cell saga fight and Chrono looked like the little kid. lol
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
My favourite is Final Fantasy IX, so no, not happy at all.
R
Retro_
Unconfirmed Member
Yeah lol
You must be blind or have an extremely bad memory if you Chrono didn't look exactly like the guy on the box in game. Chrono Trigger has really detailed sprites
Pretty much all of Akira Toriyama's characters look the same.
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
No, she looked more like the girl from the Kame House that could change the hair color, that or the teacher of Arale lol
Yep that one is the one i was talking about
Well, be that as it may, sales of Final Fantasies in the West have not depicted what you're suggesting.
They're going to trend down, as long as they're of a lower quality, but there doesn't appear to be a correlation between the fidelity of the games, and their sales performance.
The art was always anime, not that I really knew what that was back then. What I'm saying though is that the sprites were just the sprites, and as relatively detailed as they were, they were still their own thing distinct from anime. There was space there for you to fill in the blanks, or at least not be overpowered by an exact portrayal of a style that you may or may not like. If the game came out today, it would look just like an episode of DBZ, and I find that infinitely less appealing than the sprite work it has due to coming out in '95 (or whenever that was).
The trend is for JRPGs as a whole. No one used to complain about the art style in JRPGs. Now, all you need to do is look at this thread to see how people feel. How many times have you read someone on this board posting about how they can't/won't get into a game because of an anime art style, or androgynous leads, or even just judging other users because they have an anime avatar? Ive never seen anyone make those complaints against SNES JRPGs. But, as the Chrono Trigger discussion going on right now will tell us, lots of those games were actually meant to be in that style. We just never complained because it wasn't overbearing, or even noticeable.
Its ok Akira Toriyama forgot about her too.
H_Prestige
Banned
You do realize FF sales have only been decreasing since FFVII, right? Clearly it's not just him who's put off by FF's immature schtick.