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rras1994

Member
Nov 4, 2017
5,743
What is a JRPG characters if not fashionable? Cuz my man Vincent Valentine's rocking the same kind of look:

latest
The only skin showing for him is literally his nose and eyes
 

Foot

Member
Mar 10, 2019
10,887
I hate her look in large part because of the dehumanizing levels of sexualization, and also because it doesn't even make sense in the game's world. They are literally rotten, stinking rags from a sewer and I'm supposed to believe she keeps wearing them by choice? It just drives home that showing the character's breasts is more important than having her make actual human decisions.
 
May 13, 2019
1,589
I hate her look in large part because of the dehumanizing levels of sexualization, and also because it doesn't even make sense in the game's world. They are literally rotten, stinking rags from a sewer and I'm supposed to believe she keeps wearing them by choice? It just drives home that showing the character's breasts is more important than having her make actual human decisions.
Velvet makes it clear that cares for nothing but her revenge quest and includes if her teammates live or not. She, in fact, tells to their faces that she's going to murder them if that brings her closer to her objective. Of course, she never goes through her threats because the team actually proves to be useful to her. Except perhaps for Bienfu but Magilou takes cares of him just fine.

If I had to make a educated guess, her appearance is of absolutely no concern to her.
 

rras1994

Member
Nov 4, 2017
5,743
Yes I know. That's why I was saying I like Velvet's design but understand it was in poor taste to overdo the sexual aspects of it.
The majority of his clothing is normal, it's only really his cape which is raggy. They really aren't the same thing at all the only similarity is they are both black mainly
 

Dary

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,415
The English Wilderness
Velvet makes it clear that cares for nothing but her revenge quest and includes if her teammates live or not. She, in fact, tells to their faces that she's going to murder them if that brings her closer to her objective. Of course, she never goes through her threats because the team actually proves to be useful to her. Except perhaps for Bienfu but Magilou takes cares of him just fine.

If I had to make a educated guess, her appearance is of absolutely no concern to her.
"I'm so obsessed with revenge I won't even change out of these sexy, sexy rags." just sounds like some hilariously juvenile writing to me.
 

grand

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,973
Velvet makes it clear that cares for nothing but her revenge quest and includes if her teammates live or not. She, in fact, tells to their faces that she's going to murder them if that brings her closer to her objective. Of course, she never goes through her threats because the team actually proves to be useful to her. Except perhaps for Bienfu but Magilou takes cares of him just fine.

If I had to make a educated guess, her appearance is of absolutely no concern to her.
If that was true, she would wear full body armor to help further her goals for revenge. Not Sexy Rags™️
 
May 13, 2019
1,589
"I'm so obsessed with revenge I won't even change out of these sexy, sexy rags." just sounds like some hilariously juvenile writing to me.
It's the Tales of games serieswe're talking about. That goes without saying.

Still, I appreciate's Velvet's callous disregard for other people. Very few JRPGs would have one of the first act of the protagonists be intentionally setting a town on fire to steal a ship, concequences be damned.
 
Oct 27, 2017
39,148
Velvet stood out way too much with that outfit. If anything I feel wearing that outfit would have made her run into more trouble compared to wearing a normal outfit.

Plus another character on her team told her that they can fix her outfit if she wants and they were sailing a lot so surely she can set aside time to get it fixed? She had lots of times for downtime so there is no excuse.

What it all comes down to it is they wanted to make her wear this nonsensical outfit. A shame because her character was really cool.
 

Foot

Member
Mar 10, 2019
10,887
They saw that female main characters were on the rise and completely misunderstood why. "Oh, it's because of boobs!"
 

Morrigan

Spear of the Metal Church
Member
Oct 24, 2017
34,357
Velvet makes it clear that cares for nothing but her revenge quest and includes if her teammates live or not. She, in fact, tells to their faces that she's going to murder them if that brings her closer to her objective. Of course, she never goes through her threats because the team actually proves to be useful to her. Except perhaps for Bienfu but Magilou takes cares of him just fine.

If I had to make a educated guess, her appearance is of absolutely no concern to her.
Appearance? How about convenience? Did she forget that too?
"I'm so obsessed with revenge I won't even change out of these sexy, sexy rags." just sounds like some hilariously juvenile writing to me.
It's at the level of "she breathes through her skin" stupidity, to be honest.

A woman obsessed with revenge will not forget basic things like dressing herself . Unless you think women are stupid, brainless creatures.
 

FallenGrace

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,036
Velvet makes it clear that cares for nothing but her revenge quest and includes if her teammates live or not. She, in fact, tells to their faces that she's going to murder them if that brings her closer to her objective. Of course, she never goes through her threats because the team actually proves to be useful to her. Except perhaps for Bienfu but Magilou takes cares of him just fine.

If I had to make a educated guess, her appearance is of absolutely no concern to her.
And Quiet had to be half naked to breath through her skin! :P (Edit, beaten to it by Morrigan )

She could still be obsessed with revenge and not dress like that without undermining her character I feel.
 

esserius

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,288
Yeah, I don't think clothes and hygiene have anything to do with revenge.

Though that itself might make for a pretty good game.

I can see our moody, brooding protagonist now: "T-shirts will never hold me down! RAAAAWRGHGHGHGH" *rips off t-shirt, but like in an anime way so it's just super awkward looking and totally fan-servicey bullshit*
 

weemadarthur

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,602
Taking 40 minutes to get dressed, rather than 3 minutes, strongly contributes to successful revenge.
 

Morrigan

Spear of the Metal Church
Member
Oct 24, 2017
34,357
I mean if we ignore that this is just an excuse to dress up the character like a sex toy for a moment, it'd just mean that she's completely stupid and brainless. So, congrats on writing a very, very dumb character, I guess. 🤷‍♀️ Oh what's this, you're saying she's meant to be powerful and smart? Well nope, you failed at that on the most basic level. Oops.
 

Doc Kelso

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,157
NYC
Yeah, I don't think clothes and hygiene have anything to do with revenge.

Though that itself might make for a pretty good game.

I can see our moody, brooding protagonist now: "T-shirts will never hold me down! RAAAAWRGHGHGHGH" *rips off t-shirt, but like in an anime way so it's just super awkward looking and totally fan-servicey bullshit*
More games need to do the Yakuza thing where attractive, beefy men rip off their suit jackets and shirts the moment it looks like there's going to be a big fight.
 

Biestmann

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,413
Tales historically has had a large female following, and just one look at Tales of Festival and their merchandise shows that they know their audience. So their decision to dress Velvet the way they did is even more puzzling to me. I hope they learnt something from her reception and won't try to pander to the typical suspects with the next entry again.
 

esserius

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,288
Taking 40 minutes to get dressed, rather than 3 minutes, strongly contributes to successful revenge.
Truthfacts
I mean if we ignore that this is just an excuse to dress up the character like a sex toy for a moment, it'd just mean that she's completely stupid and brainless. So, congrats on writing a very, very dumb character, I guess. 🤷‍♀️ Oh what's this, you're saying she's meant to be powerful and smart? Well nope, you failed at that on the most basic level. Oops.
B... but it gives her +20 to her AC! That's how anime works!
More games need to do the Yakuza thing where attractive, beefy men rip off their suit jackets and shirts the moment it looks like there's going to be a big fight.
jRPGs can only do this with an inverse broodiness function, determined by the hentai co-efficient.
I get the impression they've identified their lack of appeal to the male audience as some sort of problem based on a recent interview with the producer of Tales of Arise so unfortunately I'm fearing more design decisions like that.
Good to know they don't understand their audience or how to do interviews. Thumbs up!
 
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rochellepaws

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,452
Ireland
Tales historically has had a large female following, and just one look at Tales of Festival and their merchandise shows that they know their audience. So their decision to dress Velvet the way they did is even more puzzling to me. I hope they learnt something from her reception and won't try to pander to the typical suspects with the next entry again.
I get the impression they've identified their lack of appeal to the male audience as some sort of problem based on a recent interview with the producer of Tales of Arise so unfortunately I'm fearing more design decisions like that.


We're upping the intimidation of enemy designs. This comes from the idea that "you should get a greater feeling of accomplishment from defeating an enemy." While we also worry there some female players that dislike that, it is nevertheless important for RPG battles to evoke a sense of accomplishment when defeating an enemy.
 
May 13, 2019
1,589
Tales historically has had a large female following, and just one look at Tales of Festival and their merchandise shows that they know their audience. So their decision to dress Velvet the way they did is even more puzzling to me. I hope they learnt something from her reception and won't try to pander to the typical suspects with the next entry again.
Velvet is actually quite popular. Hell, she is the only woman to make to the top ten in the latest popularity poll:
  1. Mikleo (Tales of Zestiria)
  2. Ludger Kresnik (Tales of Xillia 2)
  3. Luke fon Fabre (Tales of the Abyss)
  4. Asbel Lhant (Tales of Graces)
  5. Eizen (Tales of Berseria)
  6. Sorey (Tales of Zestiria)
  7. Velvet Crowe (Tales of Berseria)
  8. Jude Mathis (Tales of Xillia/Xillia 2)
  9. Zelos Wilder (Tales of Symphonia)
  10. Judas (Tales of Destiny 2)
www.abyssalchronicles.com

Mikleo Takes The Crown in the 8th Tales of Character Popularity Poll Rankings! - Abyssal Chronicles ver3 (Beta) - Tales of Series fansite

The results are in! Meet your top 20 favorite Tales of characters as voted for by fans! The results of the 8th Tales of Character Popularity Poll Rankings are now out! For the main characters [Read More...]

A woman obsessed with revenge will not forget basic things like dressing herself . Unless you think women are stupid, brainless creatures.
Yeah, I don't think clothes and hygiene have anything to do with revenge.
I don't know why, but those comments remind me... What do you think of Zero from Drakengard 3?

To me, she's one of a kind. I seriously don't think we will ever see another female protagonist like her: an unrepentant female rapist and all around terrible human being that goes around killing everyone she comes across because she wants more power. That includes her sisters, whom she not only murder but also steals her boyfriends, bang them and makes her own harem regardless of what the guys want or not. She also eats food off the floor if she dropped it and can't stop dropping f-bombs and threating everyone like crap.

She's basically a garbage fire piece of shit of a person. I love her.
 

Biestmann

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,413
I get the impression they've identified their lack of appeal to the male audience as some sort of problem based on a recent interview with the producer of Tales of Arise so unfortunately I'm fearing more design decisions like that.

While they don't mention character designs here, that excerpt does have me worried. When they showed the two new protagonists, I felt they didn't seem traditionally Tales, the guy especially. I will nervously await the introduction of the next few party members, I guess. Regarding the upcoming Tales mobile game, those designs are much more in line with what I tend to expect when I think Tales.

Velvet is actually quite popular. Hell, she is the only woman to make to the top ten in the latest popularity poll:
  1. Mikleo (Tales of Zestiria)
  2. Ludger Kresnik (Tales of Xillia 2)
  3. Luke fon Fabre (Tales of the Abyss)
  4. Asbel Lhant (Tales of Graces)
  5. Eizen (Tales of Berseria)
  6. Sorey (Tales of Zestiria)
  7. Velvet Crowe (Tales of Berseria)
  8. Jude Mathis (Tales of Xillia/Xillia 2)
  9. Zelos Wilder (Tales of Symphonia)
  10. Judas (Tales of Destiny 2)
www.abyssalchronicles.com

Mikleo Takes The Crown in the 8th Tales of Character Popularity Poll Rankings! - Abyssal Chronicles ver3 (Beta) - Tales of Series fansite

The results are in! Meet your top 20 favorite Tales of characters as voted for by fans! The results of the 8th Tales of Character Popularity Poll Rankings are now out! For the main characters [Read More...]

Asbel placing 4th has me question the worth of this ranking. They must have forgotten to add the 0 after the 4. About Velvet, I don't think 7th place is incredibly impressive given she was the protagonist of the latest entry in the series and recency bias is a thing. Hard to say though, it's possible some are fond of her for her personality traits design aside. Also, where the fuck is Yuri.
 
May 13, 2019
1,589
Asbel placing 4th has me question the worth of this ranking. They must have forgotten to add the 0 after the 4. About Velvet, I don't think 7th place is incredibly impressive given she was the protagonist of the latest entry in the series and recency bias is a thing. Hard to say though, it's possible some are fond of her for her personality traits design aside. Also, where the fuck is Yuri.
From the website:
Yuri Lowell & Leon Magnus aren't eligible for votes in the Favorite Character category as they were added to Hall of Fame status at Tales of Festival 2013 due to the amount of times they've topped the rankings in the past.

As for Velvet, It IS impresive given that women barely made it to the poll in the first place.
 

grunkleFungus

Banned
Aug 22, 2018
171
NC, US
I like the character concept of someone who plain ol' doesn't give a shit about anything other than revenge, but that outfit is bad. I'd probably like it more if she wore a sports bra and ripped leggings underneath everything. I'm willing to buy into the idea of clothes as armor as long as it looks cool, but this just doesn't. Makes me think of Enoby Darkness Dementia Way.
 

Mekanos

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 17, 2018
44,173
I think if Velvet just gets rid of the underboob and wears more practical shorts the design is fine for a fantasy JRPG character, especially a series like Tales.
 

Deleted member 49179

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 30, 2018
4,140
I mean if we ignore that this is just an excuse to dress up the character like a sex toy for a moment, it'd just mean that she's completely stupid and brainless. So, congrats on writing a very, very dumb character, I guess. 🤷‍♀️ Oh what's this, you're saying she's meant to be powerful and smart? Well nope, you failed at that on the most basic level. Oops.

lol! Yeah, exactly!
 

Village

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,809
I would like to say two things.

As an artist and guy who likes edge lords I like the idea of some cool man or woman wearing tathers. That doesn't however excuse that character designs and even under the logic the design is pushed in a way that is supposed to sexual her. And its disappointing.

Thing two, whats even more disappointing is that you could can do " Person weaing a tathered cloak and little else can actually be done well and in a none sexualized way but its never done with lady characters. One of my favorite outits is akuma's alt in Street fighter 4. Its him in a hooded cloak and the only thing he's wearing is like..underwear. And he looks fucking sick. But if were a woman it would be sexually designed. There are ways to have characters wear little and have them look cool. so when I see designs like that, as an artist I knew the person went out of their way soley for sexualization when they could have just went a cool direction and it would have worked fine
 

Pandora012

Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
5,496
Velvet is in a weird place for me. I don't actually mind her rags look. I wonder if it's just a case of me loving her characterization so much that i was able to overlook her appearance. To the point it kinda suits her in a way.
 

Aexact

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,262
Velvet is in a weird place for me. I don't actually mind her rags look. I wonder if it's just a case of me loving her characterization so much that i was able to overlook her appearance. To the point it kinda suits her in a way.
Yeah, I think it's dumb looking in a vacuum but I get that they were going for a villainous look. It's just that villainous female is associated with less clothes which is a problem but I can see that thought process.

On terms of practicality, I'm fine with suspending my disbelief for that. Stylization is eye catching and fun, it's just the sexualization aspect that's eh. And the villager outfit is so colorless and drab it almost makes her stand out more among her super colorful teammates.

She's such a an enjoyably driven character though. Just full of anger and motivation, a standout among the usually passive, reactive Tales leads. It's a shame about the outfit.

Edit: Oh and I had a bemused chuckle when one of the villains is looking for Velvet's group and asks if Velvet is cold. Their group is so obviously suspicious but that's suspension of disbelief for you.
 
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Deleted member 49179

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 30, 2018
4,140
Velvet is in a weird place for me. I don't actually mind her rags look. I wonder if it's just a case of me loving her characterization so much that i was able to overlook her appearance. To the point it kinda suits her in a way.

Sure. It means there's some competent storytelling in the game. But it was a choice to dress her like that. They definitely could have give her a rags look in a way that would have been effective, but much less blatantly sexualized.
 

Isilia

Member
Mar 11, 2019
5,806
US: PA
I switched Velvet to the villager outfit at first chance. She still pops up in those, for lack of a better term, rags in the skits/some cutscenes, but I can't fix that far.

I know on several occasions they bring that outfit up, too, and Velvet is like "sure, if you can fix it I'll wear it." I haven't beaten the game, but I am probably right in assuming that, regrettably, doesn't happen.

What a disaster of an outfit, though.
 

Pandora012

Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
5,496
Sure. It means there's some competent storytelling in the game. But it was a choice to dress her like that. They definitely could have give her a rags look in a way that would have been effective, but much less blatantly sexualized.

I wonder. I think that if her personality were different, or say more like how she was in the prologue of the game. I probably would not have been able to like her look. But like Aexact said, I think with Velvet they went with the sexy villain look with her. It's kind of interesting when i think about it.
 

Mekanos

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 17, 2018
44,173
Yeah, in the context of Berseria and how Velvet is characterized, it's very hard for me to view her as a sexual object... but I'd guess Namco's mentality was "she's gotta have visible underboob so men don't feel icky playing as a girl." Or something?
 

Jonathan Lanza

"I've made a Gigantic mistake"
Member
Feb 8, 2019
6,812
See, I'm torn (pun intended?) on Velvet's design. I love the whole ragged goth look and I feel like the actual game does a good job not putting her too much in the male gaze; the outfit is just kind of there. And she's just a cool character with agency that doesn't feel like she exists to titilate JRPG fans who love submissive, squeamish little girls.

That said... yeah, probably not the best design choice for the first female lead of a Tales game. There was this touchup to her design that does a good job downplaying the sexualization while still keeping the #aesthetic:
The thing is though, I don't know if this is ACTUAL goth fashion. I can see it used as maybe some example of high fashion or a cosplay but something that someone wears? Especially for an adventurer seems dubious.
 

Crossing Eden

Member
Oct 26, 2017
53,347
Velvet makes it clear that cares for nothing but her revenge quest and includes if her teammates live or not. She, in fact, tells to their faces that she's going to murder them if that brings her closer to her objective. Of course, she never goes through her threats because the team actually proves to be useful to her. Except perhaps for Bienfu but Magilou takes cares of him just fine.

If I had to make a educated guess, her appearance is of absolutely no concern to her.
 

Scrooge McDuck

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
3,038
Velvet makes it clear that cares for nothing but her revenge quest and includes if her teammates live or not. She, in fact, tells to their faces that she's going to murder them if that brings her closer to her objective. Of course, she never goes through her threats because the team actually proves to be useful to her. Except perhaps for Bienfu but Magilou takes cares of him just fine.

If I had to make a educated guess, her appearance is of absolutely no concern to her.
One would think if somebody is so unconcerned with appearance, they would change into a simple, practical clothing the very first chance they get instead of bothering themselves to put on these complicated and flimsy rags-and-belts every day. Hers is the most "I dress like this because I want to look exactly like this" costume in the entire party!

JRPG costumes are almost always designed with style in mind first and foremost. I'm fine with that. The concept of still looking stylish while fighting for your lives is something I actually adore in these games, practicality be damned. Thus, I usually judge them by style and concept rather than some in-universe reasoning that's almost always shaky.

And I have to say, the look Velvet is sporting actually highlights a personality opposite of no-nonsense and unconcerned. It comes off as overdone and try-hard.
 

Ketkat

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,727
Asbel placing 4th has me question the worth of this ranking. They must have forgotten to add the 0 after the 4. About Velvet, I don't think 7th place is incredibly impressive given she was the protagonist of the latest entry in the series and recency bias is a thing. Hard to say though, it's possible some are fond of her for her personality traits design aside. Also, where the fuck is Yuri.

Yuri and Leon are banned from the popularity polls because they literally always win by a large margin, and they want to give people a chance to pick other characters
 
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