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Tetsuya Nomura's Character Designs - We already know the bad, let's talk about the good.

Chocobo Blade

Chocobo Blade

The Wise Ones
Member
Oct 29, 2017
2,855
FFX is a mixed bag of character designs but it has a few great ones like Yuna and Auron:
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And I know I'm basically painting a target on my back with this one but... LULU IS AN AWESOME CHARACTER DESIGN AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL
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Look, it's not just some belts plastered randomly all over her like other Nomura designs, this is a whole dress made of them. It's like a fashion statement. You can tell me it's not cool and I won't listen.
 
Tornak

Tornak

Member
Feb 7, 2018
8,395
PE1 Aya is one of my favourite designs of his, really simple and with a very cool 90s vibe:

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Peak Nomura artstyle.
 
ffdgh

ffdgh

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,893
The Mushroom Kingdom
Chocobo Blade said:
FFX is a mixed bag of character designs but it has a few great ones like Yuna and Auron:
191
350

And I know I'm basically painting a target on my back with this one but... LULU IS AN AWESOME CHARACTER DESIGN AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL
281

Look, it's not just some belts plastered randomly all over her like other Nomura designs, this is a whole dress made of them. It's like a fashion statement. You can tell me it's not cool and I won't listen.
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I like lulu and her belt dress but I find it funny how she dresses that way on a tropical island of all places lol.
 
Rotobit

Rotobit

Editor at Nintendo Wire
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
10,196
Nomura is in a pretty solid spot right now. I think early 2000's Nomura was when he was at his worst - Sora's ridiculous red onsie in KH1 is abysmal once you really look at it, not to mention a lot of FFX's side characters.

KH3, meanwhile, I think has incredibly solid designs for all of the main cast. Plaid > Zippers. Kinda wish Donald and Goofy got an update as well.

I love this Unchained X artwork, too, even if I never want to sink any time into the game itself I wanna see more of these characters.

AfrHEJf.jpg


They're wearing outfits I could see teens wearing IRL (the sole exception being Ven maybe) and that's cool.

And let's not forget this legendary artwork that doesn't necessarily show any new designs but wow it's rad


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Paperchampion23

Member
Feb 5, 2018
2,944
Chocobo Blade said:
FFX is a mixed bag of character designs but it has a few great ones like Yuna and Auron:
191
350

And I know I'm basically painting a target on my back with this one but... LULU IS AN AWESOME CHARACTER DESIGN AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL
281

Look, it's not just some belts plastered randomly all over her like other Nomura designs, this is a whole dress made of them. It's like a fashion statement. You can tell me it's not cool and I won't listen.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Lol do you know he gave Lulu those belts because people were complaining his characters have too many belts?

That being said

- Auron
- Kimahri
- Noctis
- Yozora (basically Noctis)
- KH3 Riku (....also basically Noctis)

Are his best designs imo.
 
Orion

Orion

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
6,786
Leo

Leo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,556
I like his more toned down designs, which means I don't like anything in the OP. It's funny that you mention the Organization XIII and the black robes, which is probably one of the most tired design tropes in any medium, while the actual designs for the characters are dreadful.

I really like most of FFVIII's cast, and some of X (Yuna, Kimahri, Auron). XV is pretty good overall too, if a bit too generic. I don't think VII's is anything to write home about, they're mostly just functional. I only really like Tifa and Red XIII (and will admit Sephiroth and Vincent looked rad back in the day, but are kinda tired nowdays).
 
sensui-tomo

sensui-tomo

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,629
Rommaz

Rommaz

Member
Nov 27, 2017
6,267
Kitwe, Zambia.
Lunar Wolf said:
Nomura's Noctis though is by far his best character design:

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I wish he had colored Yozora's hair black and made both his eyes red rather than one.

Yozora already looks like a Noctis clone anyway.
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If Noctis wore pants instead of Shorts I think it'd be damn perfect. So close.

Anyone know if he did Adult Noct in the suit? That design is hella good too.
 
crimsonECHIDNA

crimsonECHIDNA

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,424
Florida
You know what, the sheer ridiculousness of Lulu's design makes it so bad it's brilliant:

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Especially since Nomura basically admitted in an interview he made her design so absurd just to see if the Dev team could actually pull it off.
 
GlitchyDegree

GlitchyDegree

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Dec 4, 2017
5,490
Chocobo Blade said:
And I know I'm basically painting a target on my back with this one but... LULU IS AN AWESOME CHARACTER DESIGN AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL
281

Look, it's not just some belts plastered randomly all over her like other Nomura designs, this is a whole dress made of them. It's like a fashion statement. You can tell me it's not cool and I won't listen.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I'll die on that hill with you. Her design is amazing.
 
Zen Hero

Zen Hero

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,635
Not enough love for his Xenoblade 2 work, which was really good imo! I quite like Malos:

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4 Get!

4 Get!

Alt Account
Banned
Apr 8, 2019
1,326
Lunar Wolf said:
Same goes for Kairi and Sora as well.

Justice for the Destiny trio.



You mean before he turned Aya into blonde Aqua

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I think he suffers from same-face issues, like a lot of popular artists, because a lot of his characters have similar faces in this thread. He shines more at creating unique outfits.
 
NHarmonic.

NHarmonic.

▲ Legend ▲
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
10,297
I'd argue Noctis is his best design ever. It's subtle, elegant, moody. Brilliant, cool design.

However his record is amazing. Riku, Caius, Cloud, Aya Brea. A lot of iconic designs. FFX cast is so varied, seeing them inmediately tells you about how rich is the world they all live in. TWEWY designs are urban like and very interesting and charming. Joshua is another highlight.

And the armored BBS trio are another great batch of designs. Tbh i really love his art, it's a huge inspiration for me.
 
Narroo

Narroo

Banned
Feb 27, 2018
1,819
4 Get! said:
I think he suffers from same-face issues, like a lot of popular artists, because a lot of his characters have similar faces in this thread. He shines more at creating unique outfits.
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Which is interesting, because he didn't have that issue so much during the 90's, but it's gotten worse in the HD era. It's really noticeable in the HD rereleases where they updated the character models.
 
Dream Machine

Dream Machine

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,085
Happy to see the general consensus is realizing the greatness of lulu

All of FFX's party designs are good. Nomura's designs look best in the official character art like:
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Strangelove_77

Strangelove_77

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,392
crimsonECHIDNA said:
You know what, the sheer ridiculousness of Lulu's design makes it so bad it's brilliant:

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Especially since Nomura basically admitted in an interview he made her design so absurd just to see if the Dev team could actually pull it off.
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Hell yeah. Love her design. She almost looks like a final boss character.
 
Salarians

Salarians

Knights of Favonius World Tour '21
Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,725
momwife.club
I love so many of Nomura's designs but I think Edea might be my single favorite of his characters
just tremendous work here

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Alric

Alric

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,947
Not really going to talk to the designs but outside of A world ends with you, & Type-0, the characters all look so stiff. They don't seem to have any natural positions and come off looking like figurines. Never really thought of it until I saw all these images together.
 
Xenosaga

Xenosaga

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,986
Lunar Wolf said:
KH III Kairi is a great design....in his hands but not how it was rendered in the videogame.

D0ez-TAVsAAsAPe.jpg


The design team went too far in making her seem young and cutesy.

KH 3 Riku is also the best the character's ever looked even if he looks like a silver haired Sasuke/Noctis.

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Aqua, Terra and Ventus are all iconic especially the armor. Aqua in particular.

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Yeah I really dislike how KH3 Kairi looks in the game model...
 
Suede

Suede

Gotham's Finest
Member
Oct 28, 2017
12,515
Scotland
I think Edea is my favourite.

Cloud, Aerith, Sephiroth, Yuna, Auron, Lightning and Fang to name a few other favourites.
 
The Last One

The Last One

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Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,585
If XVI is really being directed by Yoshida who is probably creating the character's designs?
 
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