Personal Opinion: From a character design standpoint, Tekken 7 is a mess

["D."]

Been a big fan of the series since Tekken 3 and I liked the simple but effective designs. Fast forward to present era....and we have stuff like this:

When either of these was pretty effective and should have been left alone:

Some (well most) of the returning characters are just an overdesigned or tacky mess. Here are some comparisons:
Before

Now

Before

Now

Before

Now

Personally, I feel like the series hit peak (best) design at Tekken 5. From that game on, the newcomers have been real hit or miss as far as designs go....but I will say I like Dragunov, Kazumi's and Miguel's designs but the buck stops there. How do you guys feel? Do you agree? Disagree? Honorable design mentions? I didn't mention either of the Tag games cause most of the designs there are the same, but Jun's is dope, I'll give her that.

 

[Dreamboum]

Hwoarang is fucked but Marduk is legit

and we got Anna

New designs are all great imo, but designs from the Tekken 7 arcade days are all mostly trash except for a select few (Lee Chaolan is always cool)

 

[Deleted member 1102]

I like Jin's Tekken 7 outfit but I still think they perfected that hoodie design in 4;

Otherwise, I think Hwoarang is the only example in the OP that's objectively bad. The others are fine and some of the better redesigns in the game.

 

[TheInfinityGauntlet]

Hwoarang is great, someone's mad the eyepatch distracted him from the kicks

and we got Anna

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Honestly I love the idea behind her outfit but I kinda hate how it looks in game

 

[Maximum Spider]

Doesn't Tekken have like 5 different character designers now?

How is Jin supposed to move his arms with those things on and what are those even supposed to be?

 

["D."]

Hwoarang is fucked but Marduk is legit

and we got Anna

New designs are all great imo, but designs from the Tekken 7 arcade days are all mostly trash except for a select few (Lee Chaolan is always cool)

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She's too busy for me. I know the game is ridiculous and all...cyborgs and devils and bears...but for me it kinda breaks my immersion a little when I see someone fighting in a extra busy/cumbersome looking outfit

 

["D."]

I like Jin's Tekken 7 outfit but I still think they perfected that hoodie design in 4;

Otherwise, I think Hwoarang is the only example in the OP that's objectively bad. The others are fine and some of the better redesigns in the game.

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Man I HATE they didn't keep a lot of the designs from Tekken 4. I know the game was bad but not EVERYTHING.

 

[Hanbei]

I strongly disagree with you, OP.

 

[Maximum Spider]

Heihachi got it worst. He's wearing something that looks like it was designed in create-a-character.

 

[XaviConcept]

Tekken designs have been floated since FOREVER, way before 7. Anytime I get asked to make a Tekken art commission I
a) am grateful and do it happily
b)want to die

 

[cj_iwakura]

Man I HATE they didn't keep a lot of the designs from Tekken 4. I know the game was bad but not EVERYTHING.

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I loved Tekken 4, and it had the best Julia design.

 

[DrArchon]

Jin would honestly be fine if it weren't for whatever the fuck those are on his arms.

I still hate what happened to Leo.

Standard anime belts aside, why do they have those orbs on chains? That's super dumb.

 

[Velocity:Design:Comfort]

hate the term overdesigned, it literally means nothing besides "dont like thing"

 

["D."]

Heihachi got it worst. He's wearing something that looks like it was designed in create-a-character.

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I don't even play with Hwoarang and I'm like what the fuck you got on, bro??

 

[Deleted member 1102]

I know the game was bad

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Smh Tekken 4 is the GOAT

 

[kubev]

It's kind of the same problem that Mortal Kombat has (though I think it's improved in the latest MK). The character "designers" are just obsessed with putting as many stupid little trinkets and whatnot on characters, and they just end up looking over-designed.

 

[Dream Machine]

I think Jin looks pretty lame, especially with the hood up, but everyone else is good. Lei is an awesome design.

 

[Dreamboum]

Tekken 4's designs were awesome

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["D."]

hate the term overdesigned, it literally means nothing besides "dont like thing"

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Personal Opinion: From a character design standpoint, Tekken 7 is a mess

 

[Mr.Fletcher]

I've bought every Tekken game - except 7 - and think the character designs have gotten worse and worse.

I adore the rather simplistic, but memorable designs from Tekken 3. Tekken 4 was a massive shock for me.

Take that hoody of Jin FFS!

 

["D."]

Tekken 4's designs were awesome

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I liked both of these in Tekken 4....they kept some of the past essense but jazzed it up a little for most everyone. I liked karate gi shirt Jin Kazama too

 

[XaviConcept]

hate the term overdesigned, it literally means nothing besides "dont like thing"

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Nah it means plenty more than that. Overdesigned doesnt mean unlikable but there is no disputing that Tekken characters are overdesigned.

 

[genjiZERO]

Tekken has had trash character designs for games now. They're gaudy and cheesy looking. I blame Tetsuya Nomura for starting the trinket fad you see in Japanese gaming character designs these days.

Still a great playing game though.

 

[GUNDAM STARDUST]

I don't see it OP. Many belts Hwoarang looked bad.

 

[Village]

I know its your personal opinion, but uh, everything you posted looks tight.

I'm not with you man. Characters can't look the same forever, and that's cool. Evolve and move on

 

[Deleted member 17627]

You're not wrong.

I feel like so many of the designs in Tekken 7 tried to be modern and stylish, only to feel obnoxious and confusing as a result.

At the very least, give us a story mode that EXPLAINS why they look the way they do. The character stories in Tekken 7 were absolutely awful.

 

[Rickenslacker]

name a more iconic duo than tekken and shitty looking tattoos on characters

 

[nded]

They really hit a lot of characters with the greeble hose. Eddy Gordo's T7 costume is generally pretty nice, though it too suffers from gratuitous accessorizing.

Reminds me of what happened to Soul Calibur's character designs.

 

[Village]

name a more iconic duo than tekken and shitty looking tattoos on characters

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Tekken and hoodies tbh

 

[Pai Pai Master]

i love T7 Marduk

I hate Katarina's design so much tho

 

[Richter1887]

Best.

 

[nded]

Tekken and hoodies tbh

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I want to see Paul with a really tall hoodie.

 

[Deleted member 1102]

Man everyone looked so good in Tekken 4

 

[fontguy]

hate the term overdesigned, it literally means nothing besides "dont like thing"

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Hard disagree. The instinct to drown designs of all kinds in superfluous details is universal, and it's something every good graphic designer gets, at some point, beaten out of them.

Words to fucking live by.

 

[dadjumper]

Tekken 4 appreciation thread?

 

[Banned]

I respectfully disagree, I'm in love with the new designs

 

["D."]

Tekken 4 appreciation thread?

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Might as well be lol

 

["D."]

Man everyone looked so good in Tekken 4

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Aside from diaper Heihachi, no lies detected. I'll even go on record to say Tekken 4 has the most of my favorite designs for returning characters in the series. Pretty much EVERYBODY looked good. The roster was kinda small but still.

Newcomers Christie and Steve looked dope too

 

[Leo-Tyrant]

Tekken designs have been floated since FOREVER, way before 7. Anytime I get asked to make a Tekken art commission I
a) am grateful and do it happily
b)want to die

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Do you feel the Tekken 3 designs (utilitarian - grounded in real designs) were the best?

Cause I do.

Tekken 7 looks like fan fiction random shit to me.

 

[dadjumper]

Might as well be lol

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Sick.
I didn't like the game when it came out, but yeah I can't deny those character designs.

 

[mojo]

Aside from diaper Heihachi, no lies detected. I'll even go on record to say Tekken 4 has the most of my favorite designs for returning characters in the series. Pretty much EVERYBODY looked good. The roster was kinda small but still.

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nah diaper heihachi was dope

 

[Wamb0wneD]

name a more iconic duo than tekken and shitty looking tattoos on characters

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First thing I thought when I saw Claudio and his shitty face tattoo was " WHAT YEAR IS IT"

 

[SirKai]

Tekken 7 has some lame ass designs but I love Nina and Yoshimitsu in it, so there are some winners.

 

[Leo-Tyrant]

I don't see it OP. Many belts Hwoarang looked bad.

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Yeah, but Tekken 3 biker and regular Hwoarang were perfect. Is Tekken 7 Howarang supposed to be a sky captain in Skies of Arcadia or something?

 

[Deleted member 1102]

Aside from diaper Heihachi, no lies detected. I'll even go on record to say Tekken 4 has the most of my favorite designs for returning characters in the series. Pretty much EVERYBODY looked good. The roster was kinda small but still.

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Lol diaper Heihachi is indeed bizarre but it's Tekken so I'll allow it.

And yeah, 4's roster could have been bigger. It's especially disappointing when you listen to the announcer's un-used clips and find out that there might have been a ton more characters planned at one point.

 

[Hours Left]

I respectfully disagree, I'm in love with the new designs

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This is how I feel too about almost all of them.

Hwaorang looks the best he ever has.

 

[Cordy]

Marduk looks doper than ever.

I'd say the best character designs are tied between 4 and 5 for me if we're talking about the current cast.

 

[UnsungVagrant]

Marduk looks like he has Deadpool baby legs in Tekken 7.

 

[Village]

Hard disagree. The instinct to drown designs of all kinds in superfluous details is universal, and it's something every good graphic designer gets, at some point, beaten out of them.

Words to fucking live by.

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Character designers and graphic designers are not the same thing. And do not abide by the same rules, often the rules of character design change depending on what the project is and what people want out of the project. Some project require crazy " over designed " designs. This is ontop of what is over design is in the eye of the beholder and unless it is a almost universally hated design is usually something that can be argued.

This is actually really funny , because there's an illustrator meme about or family members asking us to design logos and shit and us telling them, we aren't the people to do that.

 

[Hong]

Some are definitely hit or miss. We also got amazing ones like Armor King and Anna. At least most legacy customes are still in the game. Really hope they go for a more Tekken 4 like design overall. They probably won't considering a lost of people hated it.

Personally I'd say:

Good/superior design:

• Alisa
• Anna
• Armor King
• Bob
• Bryan
• Eddy
• Dragunov
• Feng
• Kazumi
• King
• Kuma/Panda
• Lee
• Leroy Smith
• Lili
• Lei
• Law
• Master Raven
• Shaheen
• Zafina

Bad/inferior design:

• Asuka
• Claudio
• Devil Jin
• Eliza
• Gigas
• Heihachi
• Hwoarang
• Jack-7
• Jin
• Josie
• Julia
• Katarina
• Kazuya
• Lars
• Leo
• Lucky Chloe
• Miguel
• Nina
• Paul
• Steve
• Xiaoyu
• Yoshimitsu

 

[selo]

I'd agree with the OP. Honestly some of these guys look like they came out of a create a fighter mode. Not very much thought, some look pretty ordinary.

New guy, Leroy also looks pretty generic.