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[mikeGFG]

Best character designer ever

She has nice knockers. I like knockers.

Who's the artist, and what game is it from?

 

[Avalon]

edit: Nevermind my scanner isn't cooperating. I really should get a new one..

That's a shame.

Couple more of Kaneko... Persona and Soul Hackers.

 

[Soulhouf]

She has nice knockers. I like knockers.

Who's the artist, and what game is it from?

Shunya Yamashita.
He worked as chara designer on Depth Fantasia(the picture comes from this game) and designed the einherjar in Valkyrie Profile Silmeria.

 

[Durante]

While I don't think that he's the one very best designer in the business, I love most of the character designs in Suikoden 5 (and that's many!), so does anyone know who did them?

 

[vspectra06]

Who's the character designer for the Ryu on XB NG?

 

[Zilch]

Who did the character art for Persona 3? That's some of the best I've seen recently.

 

[soundwave05]

The Super Mario Bros. (esp. Mario 3 and Mario World) games, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, and Capcom's stuff is tops for me.

 

[Avalon]

Who did the character art for Persona 3? That's some of the best I've seen recently.

Shigenori Soejima. He also did all the in-game art in Persona 2 (he didn't handle the designs back then though).

 

[jko]

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Wow, too many developers for me to name. Guilty Gear, Final Fantasy, DMC, Ninja Gaiden, Tekken, MGS, Enchanted Arms, etc, etc,......

 

[No.1]

Another vote for Kazuma Kaneko. Pure genius, really. By far one of the best character artist:

Mature material


Here's a cool YouTube video of his artwork: Youtube Video

 

[akachan ningen]

Another vote for Kazuma Kaneko. Pure genius, really. By far one of the best character artist:

Mature material


Here's a cool YouTube video of his artwork: Youtube Video

I'm changing my vote.

 

[Pimpbaa]

Mature material

:lol WTF, she has big boobs all over her body except in the place where they should be.

 

[GeneralIroh]

All of those artist mentioned are awesome except for the OP's choice, ryu hayabusa, and Yoshitaka Amano.

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

Yoji Shinkawa, Akihiko Yoshida, Kaneko Kazuma, Ayami Kojima, Yusuke Nakano( illustrator for Twilight Princess),Akihiro-Yamada, Katsuya Terada, most of capcom's artist, and Nomura ftw!

 

[momolicious]

Tetsuya Nomura is definately up there with the most unique and good character designs

 

[kevm3]

Capcom's artists... The guy or female who did the art for Breath of Fire 3 & 4.

 

[D.Lo]

 

[Mr Toast]

I personally dont go for the brooding or anime character stylings, my picks would have to be designs for characters like JC Denton (Deus Ex), Gordon Freeman (HL2), the Halo characters (mainly in Combat Evolved - like the mutated Keyes and other Flood design, as well as 343GS). I also love the MGS art by Shinkawa and am also partial to the "character" style in Geometry Wars: RE (seriously - the ship has some nice iconic touches that make it that bit more interesting.

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

<snip>CGI of Wakka</snip>

You know, even though he looked too chubby and boyish in the face under the actual game engine, Wakka definitely did look awesome in some of the CGI (such as your posted image). I remember seeing his potrait in the manual and being impressed by how sly and keen his face looked. Too bad it never carried over in-game.

Digital Devil Saga had the best character designs of last gen.

I grew a lot of distaste for the anime art on most Japanese role playing games last generation, but DDS was definitely still one that stood as as superb. It gave me such a cyberpunk vibe innately.

Capcom's artists... The guy or female who did the art for Breath of Fire 3 & 4.

I would of killed for a graphics style more akin to the concept art for Teepo and Rei. Very squat and husky, I liked how imposing they were and it was one of the reasons I was so interested in the game (beyond being fond of BOF1/2).

 

[Ill Saint]

Masahiro Ito deserves a mention for his monster designs for the Silent Hill games. Pyramid Head!

 

[BorkBork]

 

[Ark-AMN]

Heh, as I figured, I doubt you'll find any non-Japanese names mentioned in this thread.

 

[GeneralIroh]

Andrew Jones
http://www.conceptart.org/?artist=Android

Artists for half life 2



Katsuya Terada

http://www.catsuka.com/focuson_bdillus.php?id=terada_katsuya

 

[momolicious]

Eddie Shosam of Rare is pretty talented too

 

[Abel]

The acclaimed MegaTen artist Kazuma Kaneko!! (I like doing first name then last name :lol ) and we cant forget his contributions to popular series such as:

Super Robot Wars Alpha 3 Werkbau

Dante's Demon Form (and Vergil's!) in DMC3

Inhert & Lloyd from Zone of the Enders 2

and have to also give 2nd runner up to Shigenori Soejima

Artist of the Persona 2 bust shots (and Persona 3!)

And the artist of Trauma Center Second Opinion (Wii) and of Stella Deus (too lazy to post art)


All of the above being awesome artists, but Kazuma Kaneko is my absolute favorite

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

Katsuya Terada

Speaking of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, though I assume he's not an actual character designer as a specific team role, I absolutely love the work of whoever did the major art for the 4th installment of the series.

 

[Kittonwy]

Yeah.

Then again it depends on if you mean in terms of concept or artist execution? Becauase like Makoto Tsuchibayashi might not have the most original designs ever, but they always look awesome:



Wikipedia also said he worked on Shinobi PS2 but I can't find any confirmation. Would make sense since Hotsuma looked ****ing badass.

I agree!!!

 

[NMC2006]

Kenji

No............ wait!

The amount of Robots he has created for the series is just incredible.

Also Akira Toriyama.

There is a bunch actually, I love art.

 

[thetrin]

I choose....Ayami Kojima.

YES YES YES YES YES

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I vote for the Rabbids creator

 

[Tieno]

Whoever did Mass Effect's (Matt Rhodes)

 

[thetrin]

the metal gear guy

Yoji Shinkawa. Yea, he`s ****ing awesome.

Kazuma Kaneko might also be one of the most talented artists in video game history. I don`t think I`ve ever seen a piece of art of his that sucked.

 

[R3Z]

OMG... this is outstanding

WOW

 

[thetrin]

His character designs are really great too. Where is Error, I've seen him post some really nice artwork before...

I have the Kaneko SMT2 artbook, actually. I can post some art from that tonight. It`s like, 1000 pages or something. Ridiculously big.

 

[Kittonwy]

Oh I forgot!!! Akihiko Yoshida!!!

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

Heh, as I figured, I doubt you'll find any non-Japanese names mentioned in this thread.

I put effort into trying to justify characters from my favorite western games but their isolated aesthetic appeal usually just isn't as big as factor as charaters from Japanese RPGs. I look at some of my favorite characters from the last gen, like HK-47 from Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, and it's not because he looks good but rather his characterization. Or J.C. Denton from Deus Ex. Undeniably cool, but was there even a character artist behind the game?

The two kings of Warcraft would likely be my most likely choice for western game character designers: Metzen and Samwise.

<snip> Yoshida's work.

Definitely one of my top three favorites from Japan.

 

[Abel]

I have the Kaneko SMT2 artbook, actually. I can post some art from that tonight. It`s like, 1000 pages or something. Ridiculously big.

Well that is of his SMT 2 art from the olden days in his old style that is akin to 80's anime. His new revised style is where its at

Spoiler

though his older stuff is still appreciated as well

 

[Jiggy]

Probably Satoshi Tajiri. Now if only I could find a picture of all 493 Pokemon to match the likes of that Mega Man awesomeness posted earlier.

Edit: Yeah, it must be late. Ken Sugimori is who I'm thinking of here.


Edit 2: I was actually writing that before your post, but yes, thanks.

 

[SvenMidknight]

Wikipedia also said he worked on Shinobi PS2 but I can't find any confirmation. Would make sense since Hotsuma looked ****ing badass.

That`s right. Have some of his original artworks here. And one would be from Shinobi. Awesome piece of art...

 

[AntMurda]

Satoshi Tajiri came up with the idea, but the character designer was Ken Sugimori for Pokemon. Also the Creature staff which was heavily involved in the concept designs.

 

[Beaulieu]

generic asian name

thread over.

 

[Hunter D]

Amano

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

Akira Toriyama.

His work in Chrono Trigger was very charming; such detailed and telling scenes.
It made for likely my favorite video game box art in the original SNES version.

 

[Zilch]

generic asian name

thread over.

I don't think it's anyone in this thread's fault that by-and-large western artists suck and/or don't have the name recognition that asian artists do (because, again, they suck).

I live in the US and I'll likely work in the game industry as an artist eventually, so don't call me a biased japanophile, cuz I'm not.

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

I don't think it's anyone in this thread's fault that by-and-large western artists suck and/or don't have the name recognition that asian artists do (because, again, they suck). I live in the US and I'll likely work in the game industry as an artist eventually, so don't call me a biased japanophile, cuz I'm not.

Furthermore, on top of the points I touched earlier and yours, the most prominent character designs are usually in genres that aren't exactly popular with western console developers. Fighters? None come to mind. RPGs? Almost exclusive to the PC until a few years ago and this isn't a PC gaming heavy board, and even then the games are generally less character driven and more gameplay or adventure driven.

So it's no real surprise there's a lack of presence here for western character designers.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

It's not that Western artists suck, it's that by and large the best Western artists are not working in games. Japan is fortunate in that their top comic and animation artists have been deeply involved in the game industry, whereas ours by and large have not been.

I wish I could be saying Jim Lee or Jack Kirby or Don Bluth or Joe Quesada. I guess I can say Don Bluth, so I'll add him to my previous choices of a Japanese artist and a French artist.

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

It's not that Western artists suck, it's that by and large the best Western artists are not working in games. Japan is fortunate in that their top comic and animation artists have been deeply involved in the game industry, whereas ours by and large have not been. I wish I could be saying Jim Lee or Jack Kirby or Don Bluth or Joe Quesada. I guess I can say Don Bluth, so I'll add him to my previous choices of a Japanese artist and a French artist.

That's for sure. I'd love to see what Brom, Caldwell, Easley, or Frazette could do for a traditional western RPG, or Alexander Ross for Shadowrun if they get to make a RPG for it eventually (or any cyberpunk game for that matter). The MMO genre actually has seemed to increase the interest of some of the notable fantasy artists (and writers, for that matter).

R.A. Salvatore, in the case of the latter, has become increasingly involved in creative development the last few years (he just founded a development studio with that famous MLB player whom loves EverQuest), notable Dark Horse comic's artists for the Age of Conan comic, and perhaps most directly and notably for western fantasy fans, Keith Parkinson (RIP) as the original concept artist for Vanguard.

 

[Bad_Boy]

what he said.

 

[RSP]

I like the Blizzard art direction in general.

 

[Lobster]

I vote for the Rabbids creator

Seconded.