Basically the whole Blood & Wine expansion is full of those designs
Actually I meant to say "in comparison to American developers whenever they do western fantasy." The Witcher games, especially 2 and 3, have a look that at least to me seems more authentically medieval. You almost never see character designs like what's posted above in a western fantasy-themed game from an American or Japanese developer. I imagine one thing that sets Witcher apart is it isn't going through D&D or Tolkien for its inspirations.It's not just you. That's one of the main reasons why JRPG fans prefer JRPGs over WRPGs, because they're stuck in medieval settings. Even when there's a twist, it's usually just added fantasy. There's also sci-fi and post-apocalyptic RPGs, but they're pretty rare compared to medieval/fantasy.
That's because most of the time it's you usually don't deal with kings queens and royalty in those games you don't deal with the mobility but commoners which aren't nearly as flamboyantActually I meant to say "in comparison to American developers whenever they do western fantasy." The Witcher games, especially 2 and 3, have a look that at least to me seems more authentically medieval. You almost never see character designs like what's posted above in a western fantasy-themed game from an American or Japanese developer. I imagine one thing that sets Witcher apart is it isn't going through D&D or Tolkien for its inspirations.
I've been dipping my toes into the Visual Novel waters with Utawarerumono: Mask Of Deception and Mask Of Truth, and it's interesting.
They're both sequels to the original Utawa from 2002, which was a hentai VN with SRPG combat interspersed throughout (rereleases, ports and the remake from a few years ago removed all the porn), but it still had some gorgeous character designs (very Ainu inspired), with a few eye-rolly ones. I haven't played in like 15 years but I remember the h-scenes not really adding anything and were probably added just to make it sell. Anway, for those who don't know, they're games where technologically advanced mainline humanity has died out and is survived by humanoids with slight animal features who have built up their own feudal-era Japan styled society, and then the wars and battles for territory and such that transpire around the amnesiac main characters Hakuowro (original game) and Haku (Mask games). Lots of Ainu (as in the indigenous Japanese people) inspired themes/designs.
I just finished MoD and am working on MoT, and I'm quite surprised by the disparity between the good female designs and the worse ones. MoD/T are still kinda horny games despite not being hentai, with the horniness being pretty few and far between, in the 15 hours I've played of Truth there's only been one egregious scene, but I guess its pedigree can't help itself with some of the designs.
For the good, we've got Kuon, who just looks amazing to me. She has long, warm looking robes that are completely sensible and look like something a real person could wear in a colder climate. Other characters like Rulutieh, Nekone, Anju are all wearing these beautiful elaborate robes as well, with intricate designs and great colors.
Then there's characters like Nosuri, who is wearing a leotard with boob socks, or Fumirul who I can't really describe what she's wearing but it's real dumb, then there's characters like Atuy that toe the line between ok and bad design-wise. Really bad ones are the twins who dress like half-naked dancer types, not good.
Kuon looks great though!
Nosuri not so much
The openings for the Mask games are pretty gorgeous tho.
A quick throwback to this classic from One Angry gamer
Their article about "benelovent sexism" was beyond embarrassing too.
Sounds really interesting, thanks for all that info on Pathfinder. Although I wouldn't be surprised if there's no sexual diversity, they didn't mention any LGBT+ inclusion in their romance Kickstarter stretch goals. I am aware this is one of the games Chris Avellone contributed a lot to and Owlcat Studios hasn't stopped working with him after the sexual misconduct allegations came out because they don't want to "rush" decisions based on allegations...Hello, I'm new here, but I've been lurking for the better part of... Maybe 15 years before I was able to secure a proper email address to sign up here?
I wonder if there's anyone else here that tends to approach games with custom characters in a similar way that I do. I am generally a more narrative/mechanics focused person when it comes to feedback. For the better part of the past decade, I've somehow gravitated towards roleplaying as a male character instead of female despite being a woman myself. I'm not entirely sure why, I guess it started when I began playing this MMO called Dragon Nest that had gender locked classes (the Priest class, the game's primary healer, was actually male-only). The name and class choice for the character I made in that game was a reference to Megaman Battle Network, not too far removed from people naming themselves Naruto in an online game or something. But over time, I guess it evolved into a sort of online persona that I've carried over into every other game and online community since.
I've since tried to rationalize my tendency to play male characters as trying to experience games from the standpoint of the original developer's intent in this male-dominated industry, or something like that. But in the process of typing out this post, I've come to realize that it's a flimsy excuse at best, ha. Although, playing a male character in most games with any kind of online interactivity may have helped me avoid a lot of potentially unpleasant situations. It sucks that this is the way it is, though.
I think the only recent game I've played so far that didn't fit into this pattern was AC Odyssey, if only because I had heard of how phenomenal Kassandra is as a lead character. People really weren't kidding there, A+ design and characterization.
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On a different note, I've been getting into cRPGs lately. Specifically the Pathfinder series. I happen to be beta testing Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous at that, and I'm in love with the art direction and writing. My avatar itself is (a badly cropped version of) one of the female portraits you can choose for your player character.
I believe I've seen posts in this thread a few months ago bringing the Pathfinder games up before, but I also want to mention how consistent the style and writing is. It's probably the most fascinating setting I've come across in a while, even if it looks like a standard fantasy thing on a surface level. But there's some real depth to the writing and characterization.
For example, these are the female party members in Wrath of the Righteous.
Seelah the Paladin. Your main tank for most of the game. Later on, she gets the option to have a sort of tiger that she can literally ride on into battle. We are unsure if it's supposed to be a tiger or a more traditional horse since it is beta testing, after all. It is incredibly amusing and terrifying at the same time.
Camellia the Druid. She is, surprisingly enough, a great off-tank due to her high DEX score and her proficiency with using bucklers. She can be built to heal and buff/debuff too since again, she's a Druid, but the tanking part seems to be what most people focus on in regards to building her during beta testing so far. It's actually pretty interesting how the earliest female companions you get in both Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous are actually front-line fighters and more specifically your primary tanks.
Ember the Witch. I have quite a few things to say about how she is written, very good things. Otherwise, she's generally a support mage with a focus on fire spells for direct offense.
Arueshalae, a Ranger succubus trying to find redemption. One of the central romance options for the game because it's obvious why. I may elaborate later if anyone's interested enough to ask.
Nenio, a Kitsune Wizard. She actually starts the game with a human appearance. Exactly what causes her appearance to change is something best not spoiled.
Not pictured: One additional female companion, Wenduag, a Fighter Archer. I can't get her portrait because I don't have her in my party in any of my current save files.
Contrast with the male companions below.
Lann the monk (Zen Archer). He has a super novel build, a TANK ARCHER. Though this doesn't become that obvious until later in the game.
Woljif, a Rogue (specifically Eldritch Scoundrel, a variant capable of casting arcane spells). Super fun guy.
Daeran, an Oracle. Neutral Evil asshole, but probably one of the most well written evil aligned characters I've ever seen thus far, to the point where you can easily justify his presence in a good aligned party without having to come up with any flimsy excuses. He's actually the game's primary healer, though Camellia and Ember can potentially be built for that role too (and it's worth bringing up that Kingmaker's primary healers were also male).
Sosiel the Cleric. He's the other primary healer for the game, though he can hold his own on the front lines while Daeran should be kept in the back.
Regill the Hellknight. He is actually a gnome, and an utterly terrifying one he is.
Greybor the Assassin. Probably the most 'normal' character out of the cast in terms of actually having his life in order, really.
Notice something? The artists don't really appear to frame the characters any differently based on their gender at all. The actual writing appears to follow the same principle, until it might become briefly relevant for backstory reasons (especially when it comes to Arueshalae for very obvious reasons), but this post is already pretty long-winded as is. If anyone's interested, I could describe a party member's character arcs later upon request, though I probably won't go too deep because Wrath of the Righteous is a yet unreleased game that's currently set to release in a couple of months.
The cast of characters is excellent though. Probably the best written and most diverse set of party members I've seen among every game I've played thus far.
Long time reader, first time poster in here, but since this is a topic I know a bit about, Godfather some of those artworks are from the original release of Pathfinder in 2009. When Pathfinder 2E released in 2019 they updated the iconic designs for those core classes and I think covered a lot of those issues! So yay for progress.
Full gallery of all eight comparisons here: https://imgur.com/gallery/mD6GOiF, but to post the most relevant ones:
Less boob plate on Paladin:
Made the rogue more lithe and got rid of the cleavage:
Much more covering for the sorceress:
Hello, I'm new here, but I've been lurking for the better part of... Maybe 15 years before I was able to secure a proper email address to sign up here?
I wonder if there's anyone else here that tends to approach games with custom characters in a similar way that I do. I am generally a more narrative/mechanics focused person when it comes to feedback. For the better part of the past decade, I've somehow gravitated towards roleplaying as a male character instead of female despite being a woman myself. I'm not entirely sure why, I guess it started when I began playing this MMO called Dragon Nest that had gender locked classes (the Priest class, the game's primary healer, was actually male-only). The name and class choice for the character I made in that game was a reference to Megaman Battle Network, not too far removed from people naming themselves Naruto in an online game or something. But over time, I guess it evolved into a sort of online persona that I've carried over into every other game and online community since.
I've since tried to rationalize my tendency to play male characters as trying to experience games from the standpoint of the original developer's intent in this male-dominated industry, or something like that. But in the process of typing out this post, I've come to realize that it's a flimsy excuse at best, ha. Although, playing a male character in most games with any kind of online interactivity may have helped me avoid a lot of potentially unpleasant situations.
A lot of the 2e designs have lighter skin tone yeah, which is a bit unfortunate. Here's Amiri one more time for 2eEdit: Looking again, it seems like they lightened the skin tones on all of them, which is odd.
Sounds really interesting, thanks for all that info on Pathfinder. Although I wouldn't be surprised if there's no sexual diversity, they didn't mention any LGBT+ inclusion in their romance Kickstarter stretch goals. I am aware this is one of the games Chris Avellone contributed a lot to and Owlcat Studios hasn't stopped working with him after the sexual misconduct allegations came out because they don't want to "rush" decisions based on allegations...
I also always make a male character in character creators. And it's always as androgynous a male character as I can possibly make using the game's creator. I'm also a bit like you in that I often create a similar-looking character with the same name, like a sort of persona across different games. I never really thought about it too much (though I did sometimes wonder if my sisters found it weird, because they always made female characters and I always made male characters), until the period of time when I started to slowly realize things about myself, and then suddenly I was like "oh," lol.
Louelle, another member of the Leonis Queensguard and their chief scholar.
This is what Sothis looked like in Three Houses:But even then, I feel like Nifl is the sillyest design of all to the point that it sticks out. Sothis also shows more legs than I remembered and that is very bad, but maybe because the pose is less stupid, or for some other reason, it doesn't offend me as much. Naga has very stupid cleavage, but idk the art make her looks regal and otherworldly enough for her title in spite of it.
This is what Sothis looked like in Three Houses:
I kind of assumed that whoever designed her had a leg/foot fetish or some kind.
I'm not the only one that thinks she looks incredibly stupid right? What is that humanoid form? Would you have even guessed she's the same character as the icy horse-thing below?
Nifl is by one of my least favorite character designers, Suzuhito Yasuda.
To be fair I wouldn't think anyone was that ice horse because I didn't know they turned into animals in that game haha. If nothing else I love her coat and the dress is a very pretty color, but you raise a lot of good points otherwise.
To be honest, Sothis is "slightly" better because she doesn't have the personality of a 10-year-oldYeah, this pretty much goes to show that I'm blind as a bat for such things. Or at least I used to be. Back when I first played Three Houses I didn't notice it and didn't think Sothis was fanservicey. "A straight up improvement over Awakening and Nowi, good character design" was my opinion back then.
To be honest, Sothis is "slightly" better because she doesn't have the personality of a 10-year-old
Also
i find it hilarious that you can marry with the person inside your head
I won't lie, marrying someone that exists inside your head is a bit scary for an avid player of dating games (ok, a quarter dating game in FE's case) because at that point we are going too meta for my tastes. But then again I played Doki Doki with a literal girl that lives inside your computer and falls in love with you for real, and after that nothing will ever be as scary, or as meta in any dating game
For all is worth
After importing a picture, if you click on it and press the arrows button, you can adjust the size.And then one last example that I could only find a giant picture of, sorry:
After importing a picture, if you click on it and press the arrows button, you can adjust the size.
Tell me you're sexist and draw unrealistic poses without telling me. Is there a genderswap mod showing what a male character doing this pose looks like?This pose gets me each time and I have Mona but slowly avoiding it since everything is just embarrassing.
I kinda didn't play Three Houses because of characters like her.I'm thankful Sothis has such little screentime in Three Houses.
Nifl is by one of my least favorite character designers, Suzuhito Yasuda.
Pretty sure is the same one that did cyber sleuth
God, played that game recently and the char designs were awful. Looked at screens from the sequel and it seems just as bad.
The game team put out a feedback survey today and a woman in the subreddit commented that she requested having a gender-neutral/choosable-gender MC since they're a self-insert anyway (no face, no default name), and she got down-voted to hell + one user said that people who want to be able to identify with an MC (and thus can't because the MCs are almost always male) "lack confidence" among other horrible things.
Yeah, Atlus doesn't like using putting female main characters in their games. Think the last one was FeMC from Persona 3 Portable and the SMT mobile game. And look at FeMC, it took almost a decade for them to finally acknowledge she existed in a spinoff game and a play.Not having a gender option for a blank slate protagonist was stupid back in the 80s-90s and it only became stupider since having it started to become common place. Objecting to it now is pretty much being stuck in the past with how standard it has become.
Fallout 4 lets you do it, GTA Online lets you do it, all pokémon games let you do it, other gachas (genshin, Kingdom Hearts X, FEH and so on) let you do it, Persona 3 lets you do it... but not Persona 4 still. Yo Atlus, how about a Golden edition Plus? I can understand not doing it for Persona 5 because yeah, Kamoshida and the main villain would treat you way differently and in general there are major differences in how a girl criminal would be treated compared to a boy criminal, so it would change the story a lot, but P4 has no excuse.
Heck even dating sims and porn games made entirely for the cis-het-male "gamers" (I am thinking of HuniePop, I will admit it) let you do it, just for the heck of it.
Yeah, Atlus doesn't like using putting female main characters in their games. Think the last one was FeMC from Persona 3 Portable and the SMT mobile game. And look at FeMC, it took almost a decade for them to finally acknowledge she existed in a spinoff game and a play.
The same is with Zelda. The gender of Link doesn't affect the story; you can have a female Link protect the princess and at most what would change is how Zelda interacts with the silent protagonist.
For Persona 5, the gender of Joker might affect the story, but they should have still allowed the player to pick between a male or female Joker. But I can't expect too much of Atlus when it comes to portraying women. We just need to look at what they did to Ann. Or that they let you date Futaba, who is like a little sister to Joker. Just to pander to the male otaku crowd.
Tell me you're sexist and draw unrealistic poses without telling me. Is there a genderswap mod showing what a male character doing this pose looks like?