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[GamingIsDead]

This.
It's incredibly easy to interpret your post as being derogatory because of the history the word "thing" has with transsexual people.

I have no intentions of apologizing for how you incorrectly interpreted my post.

If you feel need to derail this further go make a thread about it. Preferably in the off topic section. (isn't back seat modding fun?)


Here is another gem, Hector.

 

[KittenMaster]

Anyone else waiting for Nomura to just say "fuck it" and have a character wearing nothing but wrapped up belts like a Goddamn mummy?

...Or has he already done that?

Nomura has moved away from belts as of late. FF13's character designs are some of the best he's done and with FF15 it looks like he's embraced more tasteful fashion.

Spoiler

To answer your question, Lulu's dress is about as close as it gets to mummifying somebody in belts.

 

[Pyramid head]

I don't like the hideous design so i must hate a certain group of people. Brilliant deduction. I really hope you're offended.

I say thing because i have no idea what the hell they are shooting for with this character. It doesn't look all to human to me, like some fucked up saiyan race in a dragon ballz episode.

"Thing" is just your term for describing characters who have an 80's L.A. hair metal style?



Okaaaaaaaaay.

 

[MisterGrey3000]

*defensive nonsense*

Whatever man, have fun getting defensive over people just trying to be helpful.

 

[Dantis]

I just realized, it took until PAGE 7 to get t Morta Kombat and Netherealm female characters

And some of you are generalizing jrpgs too much. Not the ones posting bad jrpg art, because it definitely exists, but stuff like this



doesn't give credit to good jrpg designs/art styles, like TWEWY's

which I find fantastic

I hate this art style. It doesn't upset me, but I think it looks awful.

 

[zpoc]

Say that

hm? i already did. in my first post, i said: two recent ps4 ps+ games come to mind as one's i find aesthetically offensive. all i added in response to your question was that the character design was a particular aspect that i didn't like - something i expected to be inferred without me explicitly saying. i'm sorry if you took personal offense to the sharing of my own taste - i assure you, though, that it wasn't meant as an attack on yours.

 

[Hyperactivity]

I hate this art style. It doesn't upset me, but I think it looks awful.

...
That style is AMAZING. Just unique and yet so well put together and just next to everything about it is great
Love what they were going for with TWEWY's design

 

[Kilvin]

Anyone else think Aiden's hat, mask, and trenchcoat combo looks super tacky and bad?

I seriously have a hard time not laughing every time I see this or the box art image.

For whatever reason, this didn't faze me until I watched someone streaming the game on Live on PlayStation. It was a cutscene where he was just driving normally in a car talking to someone but he still had the mask on. The scene just struck me as odd and it finally registered with me how silly it was.

 

[Taiser]

These frog things from Dark Souls 1/2

I realized that the huge orbs on their heads are not their eyes like I originally thought, and their eyes are actually those tiny little dots above their mouth. Ever since then they just creep me out and I hate looking at them

 

[Jaeger]

Western sci-fi shooters, like Gears. From the drab colors, to everyone being bulky linebackers. And the horrible armor designs that expose most of their body parts, and have lights attached on them for no reason.

 

[luca_aros]

Every JRPG getup ever.
It's either one of 3 things that bother me:
1. Chibi art design
2. Little kids that wearing rather revealing crap (Creepy as hell too)
3. Pineapple hair shit like this:

(granted, this is not a bad design, but I just can't stand it)

...I quite like pineappley hair...watch it whip back and forth in the sea breeze...theres always a sea breeze

 

[Nemmy]

These frog things from Dark Souls 1/2

I realized that the huge orbs on their heads are not their eyes like I originally thought, and their eyes are actually those tiny little dots above their mouth. Ever since then they just creep me out and I hate looking at them

I think it means their design is working as intended

 

[Inspectah_Deck]

Anyone else think Aiden's hat, mask, and trenchcoat combo looks super tacky and bad?

I seriously have a hard time not laughing every time I see this or the box art image.

Also don´t like that character design.

"Let´s design a typical nerd with bad fashion tastes, but make him cool for the focus group with this ugly mask and cap."

Srsly, only seeing Aiden makes me not want to play that game.

 

[KaufLive]

Don't get me wrong, I love the game, but to me the main characters in Brothers: a Tale of Two Sons feel a bit off somehow.

Also, I couldn't stop noticing those huge hands

 

[Uthred]

Not that Im a big fan of the character deisgn but there is a pretty solid in game reason for Aiden to wear the hat and scarf, it would actually be stupider given the nature of the game and its story if he wasnt wearing something like that

 

[mdzapeer]

I loved Drippy. I want a Drippy plush!

Have a drippy plushie from the wizard's edition

its adorable.

 

[Skinpop]

Design wise, there's nothing wrong here, it's actually quite good. It's just jarring because they put it on someone who is clearly 12.

I mean this isn't chibi style where the proportions of a woman are reduced in scale for the sake of a consistent style, this girl is just 12, the purpose of this outfit is to ogle a 12 year old.

But that outfit on an adult though...yeah, I'm with it.

I don't see a problem with that. it's not sexualized at all , it just looks ethnic.

great design imo

 

[Ran rp]

hm? i already did. in my first post, i said: two recent ps4 ps+ games come to mind as one's i find aesthetically offensive. all i added in response to your question was that the character design was a particular aspect that i didn't like - something i expected to be inferred without me explicitly saying. i'm sorry if you took personal offense to the sharing of my own taste - i assure you, though, that it wasn't meant as an attack on yours.

Haha nah, I'm not offended. I just want to know specifically what's so ugly about the first two games, because another poster chose the same two games and didn't explain further than "artsy indy" games.

Most artsy Indy games, like don't starve or stick it to the man, I hate those kind of games.

When you don't specify what it is you don't like about a game's art I have no idea if it's the character designs or the environments or the whole package that you guys find unappealing.

And then there's this guy.

the modern cartoony style most indie games have. I just find it unattractive to the most

I still don't know what this means. There isn't a single, "modern cartoony" style.

 

[old manatee]

Brendan Fraser goes to Burning Man

 

[djtiesto]

i fucking vomite every time i see this style...

The Atelier games art is absolutely gorgeous...even if it's not to your taste.

 

[ZanDatsu]

She's too perfect, to the extent that it just puts me off her completely. I can't take her serious in any way because I'm constantly being bombarded by her perfection. That sounds like a compliment, but I don't mean it that way. It really is off-putting.

 

[Manu]

I still don't know what this means. There isn't a single, "modern cartoony" style.

Knytt Underground?

I thought it looked like crap, it's one of the reasons I stopped playing it.

 

[Ran rp]

Knytt Underground?

I thought it looked like crap, it's one of the reasons I stopped playing it.

What I mean is there isn't one standard modern style that all or most indie games adhere to. It's like saying all of anime is one style, or all western artists have the same style.

 

[danmaku]

Brendan Fraser goes to Burning Man

Is it me or his head is far too big in this pic?

 

[Data Elemental]

I don't know. I could actually see that upsetting EEs and possibly physicists at least.

 

[psylah]

8-bit design.

I know, you're indie, you're broke, you can't afford to do everything polygonal,
but for fuck's sake, it doesn't mean you can't do something original.

Supergiant, Johnathan Blow and Dean Dodrill show that a small group with a limited budget can still turn out a game that looks like nothing else.

Fez I give a pass because it really turned the 8-bit style on it's head when

Spoiler

you beat the game the first time

, and that was at best a 2-man affair.

 

[BumblebeeCody]

HAAA wow!

Fucking seriously with that camel toe?

That reminds me of all of this horrendous atrocities(You also get them when you purchase physical Tekken Card Tournament packs).

I don't see the point of making a female character if you take away any 'respect' they have. Adult bodies with the face of 10 year old. This here is far worse than Dragons Crown. Shitty fan service from a clearly thirsty "artist".

 

[King Gilga]

Man...the original character design for Cloud was so good. .

No it wasn't, his belt is like literally up to his chest. Looks ridiculously stupid. Like he's 90% leg and 5% torso.

8-bit design.

I know, you're indie, you're broke, you can't afford to do everything polygonal,
but for fuck's sake, it doesn't mean you can't do something original.

Supergiant, Johnathan Blow and Dean Dodrill show that a small group with a limited budget can still turn out a game that looks like nothing else.

Fez I give a pass because it really turned the 8-bit style on it's head when

Spoiler

you beat the game the first time

, and that was at best a 2-man affair.

This, pixel art indie is so overdone.

 

[Avari]

Also this

Pretty much first thing I thought off. I would bet that 'design' came first, and 'justification' second.

 

[BibiMaghoo]

I'm becoming pretty confident that he believes that his justification is that

Spoiler

it's Chico after losing Paz or that this Quiet sustains herself through photosynthesis

. People were always throwing the first theory around and I'm not sure where the second one came from but neither would surprise me.

I'm going to spoiler my response, just in case.

Spoiler

Honestly, if it is Chico, that is going to upset a lot of people. ''Look at this sexy lady who used to be a man but raped his friend and now must be a woman because shame'' is going to be a fucking disaster if true. It's bad enough he made those comments about cosplayers, which amounted to Kojima wanting to see cosplayers looking 'more sexy' and dressed in his own designs. That is super creepy where I'm sitting.

I really, really hope that is not the case, for just about every reason. But all that aside, I don't want my video game character designs to be based on either Kojimas fetishes, teen wrist fodder, or what a designer thinks would look good at dress up parties. That is not cool.

 

[SmithnCo]

"Sexy" armor with midriff exposed is one of the worst. Boobplates are pretty bad too.

 

[Lotto]

Everything about Diablo 3 upsets me, but most of all is the art design. Bulky/over designed armors, muted/drab colored environments (with some exceptions), super saturated flashy spell effects. The design choices make sense since the gameplay is focused on collecting EPIC loot with clicking your EPIC spells but I can't help but be upset at what they compromised for the series. The atmosphere the previous games created is pretty much lost for me. Everything has to be EPIC and BADASS, it's easily the most disappointing thing for me. The butcher went from a demon with a cleaver in a dark bloody room full of corpses and skeletons to a giant lumbering demon with EPIC demon horns in a wrestling arena with chains everywhere and a boiling lava pit at the bottom. I'm a less is more kind of person so everything about Diablo 3 was just too over the top for me that I hated it. Even in Whimsyshire it was over the top. There was no subtlety in anything.

 

[Blues1990]

I personally find the illustrations, concept, & promotional artwork for the Mario Striker series to be a cluttered, unappealing mess. However, I always liked that this series had given Waluigi a more definite personality, & they were definitely a lot of fun.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Pretty much first thing I thought off. I would bet that 'design' came first, and 'justification' second.

I think it's a bit offensive that anytime a transsexual character seems to appear in a Japanese video-game, such as Poison, Bridget, or possibly Quiet, that they're always mindbogglingly sexualized. I guess it's a step-up from the old stereotype in Japanese media where they were super-masculine men wearing makeup and wigs, but it's still sort of odd.

 

[Ganondorfo]

Vandal hearts flames of judgement

 

[yamo]

Have a drippy plushie from the wizard's edition

its adorable.

You should send it to me!

Spoiler

/Jedi mind trick

 

[zpoc]

Haha nah, I'm not offended. I just want to know specifically what's so ugly about the first two games, because another poster chose the same two games and didn't explain further than "artsy indy" games.



When you don't specify what it is you don't like about a game's art I have no idea if it's the character designs or the environments or the whole package that you guys find unappealing.

And then there's this guy.



I still don't know what this means. There isn't a single, "modern cartoony" style.

if you're not offended, then you're certainly at least a little hung up on the subject. very few people are offering more detail about their choices in this thread, but you only seem to mind when it comes to these specific games.

and for the record - 'aesthetics' and 'art direction' are terms that should be interpreted as in reference to "the whole package."

 

[Synth]

Apart from the skin lightening, looks like a huge improvement. But I guess that's the main issue here.

That's actually only part of the issue (although it would still be an issue on its own). Vanessa has an extremely powerful fighting style similar to Marduk from Tekken. The original version of the character has an athletic build and demeanour that fit her fighting ability. The redesign looks extremely unconvincing with this moveset. It's like giving Makoto's moveset to Sakura's model in Street Fighter 4, it makes absolutely no sense. I don't generally care when games get these sorts of things wrong (most do), but when you've already created the character correctly, swapping it out for something stupid is far less forgivable.

Here's two videos showing Vanessa in VF5 which gives an idea of her fighting style:
VF5 Vanessa Throws
VF5 Vanessa Combos

I couldn't find comparable Virtua Fighter 4 videos unfortunately. Her original design sells the character far better though. She also rocked military wear far better in VF4.

 

[Brandon F]

Oh damn, that is great.

 

[Ran rp]

8-bit design.

I know, you're indie, you're broke, you can't afford to do everything polygonal,
but for fuck's sake, it doesn't mean you can't do something original.

Supergiant, Johnathan Blow and Dean Dodrill show that a small group with a limited budget can still turn out a game that looks like nothing else.

Fez I give a pass because it really turned the 8-bit style on it's head when

Spoiler

you beat the game the first time

, and that was at best a 2-man affair.

The thing is, not every indie team has an artist or can afford one, and not every indie game artist is as talented as Jen Zee. There are artists working for bigger studios who aren't as talented as her. It takes years of studying, practice, and experience to be able to produce quality original art for a game.

Also, not all pixel art is 8-bit, and pixel art is more of a medium than a style. What's original as opposed to pixel art? How are 3D modeling or 2D drawing and painting "original"?

if you're not offended, then you're certainly at least a little hung up on the subject. very few people are offering more detail about their choices in this thread, but you only seem to mind when it comes to these specific games.

I've never even played those games. I'm just replying to people who are sweeping all indie games under the rug and trying to identify exactly what it is they don't like. The only reason I replied to you is because you also picked these two games in particular and didn't really specify what was "wrong" with their aesthetics. I personally don't find them offensive but I'm curious about why others might. Other posters have said enough for me to form a decent idea of what they don't like about the games they chose.

and for the record - 'aesthetics' and 'art direction' are terms that should be interpreted as in reference to "the whole package."

Not always. Someone might not like one specific thing about a game but trash the entire game or an entire category of games anyway, like the other two posters have. For example in your original post you said that Quantum Conundrum was a game that you couldn't finish because of its art direction but you don't elaborate on that. Then you give Bayonetta as another example of "shitty art direction" but you specifically say that you think the bosses and environments are great but the character design in general is poor. That's much more clear than "shitty art direction" or "aesthetically offensive". I'm an artist and game developer myself, so I genuinely want to know what people do and don't like and why.

 

[Rest]

that's pretty insulting

I know, they should at least have the decency to base a dragon on something other than a dog.

 

[charsace]

She's too perfect, to the extent that it just puts me off her completely. I can't take her serious in any way because I'm constantly being bombarded by her perfection. That sounds like a compliment, but I don't mean it that way. It really is off-putting.

The original design for her had a darker shade for her hair, a bigger nose that pointed down and wasn't perfect and more fierce eyes that were slightly too big for her face. She had a touch of wildness to her look that was better and had more character. Your average gamer seems to hate it when women in games don't look like dolls so they changed her look.

Look at these pics:

Edit: Just realized her arms got smaller and less muscular than the original. lol SE.

 

[charsace]

I like Nomura's belt and zipper designs (barring his FF13 designs) they work well in a videogame setting, clothing doesnt have to be practical for 'our' world. There is obviously a limit though whne clothing can get ridiculous

What is the practicality of Cloud's overcoat in pieces thing that he wears in AC? Even in his world you are never shown why he wears it. Arm guard hidden under the sleeve? Nope. Things hidden under the tale? Nope.

Because it's just such a plain lazy design and on top of that in this specific image he's using the generic "guy walking towards the camera" pose that feels like it belongs on an EA game.

Dante's design actually makes sense for the "cool guy that doesn't try or care all that much," kind of character. Keeps his hair short, throws on some beat up boots , beat up jeans, and a tee shirt, and has is vanity item in his jacket(staple of the series). This Dante matches the type of character Dante is.

Cloud and Lightning similar types and yet their physical designs don't incorporate that at all. They are over manicured and over planned which doesn't fit. The look of a character should reflect their personality in some ways.

 

[Crazy_Sunshine]

I mean he's not even trying to hide the anime influences anymore.

Oh man, I can't unsee that now.

 

[dragonlife]

That reminds of Chris in Resident Evil 5

What is wrong with Capcom? Really hate characters that have big abnormal muscles.

The one on the right is definitely not how he looks in-game. Must be a mod or something.

 

[ktynn]

I find a lot of Rares work just aesthetically ugly, particularly where they branch out from cartoon animals.
JFG characters, the KI crew, the GBTG cast... yeah, I'm not a fan.

I mean;

come on.

i love this lol

 

[ktynn]

No consistency in the designs in the designs of LoL champions. They just look silly together.

I'm with ya bro, love the gameplay, but man... LoL is such a hideous thing :-/

 

[Ken]

I don't see the point of making a female character if you take away any 'respect' they have. Adult bodies with the face of 10 year old. This here is far worse than Dragons Crown. Shitty fan service from a clearly thirsty "artist".

you turn them into figures that get bought and make even more money

 

[Grenouille]

I'm amused at the JRPG design hate when Western games can give us horrors like this:

You are not showing the worst part: their huge legs and feet. Makes them look cartoonish and even more silly.

 

[A-V-B]

The original design for her had a darker shade for her hair, a bigger nose that pointed down and wasn't perfect and more fierce eyes that were slightly too big for her face. She had a touch of wildness to her look that was better and had more character. Your average gamer seems to hate it when women in games don't look like dolls so they changed her look.

Look at these pics:

Edit: Just realized her arms got smaller and less muscular than the original. lol SE.

Wow, that's actually a pretty decent design. I like it.

My God, I like something from FF13.


They look like different siblings, actually. Design on left is the hard-working one who could actually pull a team together, the right one is the result of some kind of genetic experiment and is incredibly arrogant as a result. At some point, they square off. It'd be cool.