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Improve a character's design with subtle changes
- Thread starter stinkyguy666
- Start date
Give Triss Merigold her auburn hair back like in the books, and we're good.
That Witcher 2/3 red is a bit too flashy.
That Witcher 2/3 red is a bit too flashy.
I had to save the photo
Yes.
I had to save the photo when I first saw this concept art since I loved it so much. This will forever be my head canon Cindy outfit. Her current form is out sexist garbage by comparison. This outfit is so much sexier and fits the character much better.
Just remove the fuckin' belts
To be fair, whilst I liked Lulu a lot, her design choice, especially for the world of Spira was bonkers and stuck out sorely. FFX nailed so much artistically (regardless of if you liked the art choice or not) for damn near all of Spira, but Lulu's gothic look isn't alluded to, or referenced anywhere else in the game until Paine in X-2 (who doesn't really count as she herself is just an allusion to Lulu's design). Like, literally every other inhabitant of Besaid wears clothing matching a tropic climate, Lulu seems by no means a pariah to them, so it's not like she appears to be lashing out at conformity. The priests, and other magic wielders wear stylised robes despite the climate, though even then ascetically they still allude to the the world design of a land ruled by Yevon - she's even a devotee, so wearing a custom alternative here would've even made more sense. It's not so much that she shouldn't wear that dress, as much as the logic of her wearing it on a pilgrimage through a relatively tropic landscape, and the fact nothing in Spira seemingly should necessarily spark such an inspiration in her to wear it.
Though on the design tweak itself, yeah, belts are the dumbest thing there.
Cammy's Story Costume is bad.
Just her some Pantyhose.
"CAMMY WILL NEVER WEAR PANTS - THE MANAGEMENT"
She's tan because she's out on the high seas in the sun all day, not a POC. It's super weird she got lighter when she went back to being a princess and I never noticed it actually. Asia worships lighter skin so it makes sense that they think she's more beautiful or desirable or as you said akin to royalty with the lighter look. I live in Japan and all day I see young women with parasols to avoid getting dark skin. I tan here at my gym and people admonish me saying I should try and go back to being paler because it's more attractive. Couldn't disagree more but here we are.
Bless this. As a brown guy with a younger sister who really likes Zelda and princesses, it was extremely awkward and disappointing when she was watching me play WW and I got to the part where Tetra transforms... So damn stupid.I never really liked how in Wind Waker Tetra transforms from this...
To this...
The transformation changed her skin color but not her weird lime green hair??
Some modders seem to have fixed it a bit, at least.
This tops Camilla and ZSS as the worst redesign on this list. Not mocking your shop skills, it's just conceptually bad.I tried, :(
SCV did it well.
I always wanted to see Yunica with fingered gloves rather than those oven mitt style ones she is wearing.
I think the miniskirt on the female uniforms in Trails of Cold Steel is dumb. Should have kept it as regular skirts or given them shorts. I just can't take that uniform seriously and it ultimately detracts from the game for me made worse by the fact that it is damn near constantly shown and not limited to some characters having ridiculously short skirts but pretty much all of the students.
That camel toe... Yikes.
I think the miniskirt on the female uniforms in Trails of Cold Steel is dumb. Should have kept it as regular skirts or given them shorts. I just can't take that uniform seriously and it ultimately detracts from the game for me made worse by the fact that it is damn near constantly shown and not limited to some characters having ridiculously short skirts but pretty much all of the students.
This tops Camilla and ZSS as the worst redesign on this list. Not mocking your shop skills, it's just conceptually bad.
SCV did it well.
That camel toe... Yikes.
I did this quickly so some parts are a little sloppy but god did I hate all of the belts and mullet. I also would add the fur collar in as it would look better.
By that logic, when Kratos throws that slave girl into a bunch of gears to open a door, it's really a reflection of the player, and has no bearing on Kratos as a character. In fact nothing Kratos does outside on a non-intractable cutscene has any bearing on him as a character, because it was done under the control of a player /s.
I'm just going to drop this here because I'm really tired of seeing this argument thrown around like this.
The whole point of "real woman can choose x" is to highlight the role of author intent. A wroter who just wants and excuse for women to be naked can just slal together some excuse about female autonomy and call it a day. But a good writter who's willing to put in the time will write write them as If they were real; sometimes the results aren't going to look all that different. If a writter genuinely creates and fleshes out a world where a female character has reason to dress and act like Bayonetta (no fetish bullshit), and the reasoning is effectively and clearly conveyed to the audience, criticising the outfit and behaviour while ignoring the context isn't much different from criticising the creator for putting in effort.
That's not to say that any justification is instantly valid. Context matters, and in some cases, even if the choices are valid, they can still be criticised for their real world implications and consequences. When Quiet is revealed to breath through her skin, I call bullshit, because it's a nonsense reason (both in and out of universe) that adds nothing to the character or story, and I know Kojima has a history of being oddly perverse in his games. When I hear Detroit Become Human might have issues with sexism and racism, I'm skeptical of justifications, because while I haven't played the game for myself, David Cage has a long history of fetishising women and racial stereotypes in his games. When Tetra magically becomes 9 shades lighter, I'll grudgingly accept that her darker skin prior was the result of a tan (despite her biological ancestor having the exact same skin tone sans tan), but that doesn't change the implications behind the skin tone change and their relation to real world people and history.
Within the fiction of the game, yes Bayonetta does have autonomy, and things like her looking to the camera and winking are relevant to her character and how we are intended to view her. You can point out that for a portion of the audience Bayonetta is just a ''sexy'' girl who gets naked (that at least is true), but with regards to the games own narrative, themes, and characters that's not the case. Whether or not you think that validates the decision to have her lose her clothes for combo finishers is a different question.
Honestly this. Lots of people like to push many male characters as being toxically masculine, but when the personality is being used to argue against open and owning sexuality, it's suddenly the player's will and not that of the character.
If Bayonetta's owning her sexuality doesn't exist because the player is in control of her, then one can argue that Kratos and Doomguy aren't actually violent because it's the player projecting their will onto the persona and not actually the character's personality.
Here mate, one of these is canon.
Yes
User Warned: Attempting to dictate the terms of feminist iconography
A lot of women would and do disagree she's a borderline case. Are they wrong?
Also, are we really floating the premise that a gay man can't identify feminist iconography? Are we suggesting that men in general can't be feminists or distinguish between empowerment and exploitation? Are we insinuating that a difference of opinion implies a patriarchal agenda?
If you're really attempting to characterize my side of this conversation as mansplaining, check yourself. Nothing I've said hasn't been repeated by scores of reviewers and female commentators.
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Lose the high heels, get something more sporty. More unkempt bangs, rather than that ridiculous plastic Barbie coif. Confident eyes, rather than a vacant sex-doll stare.
For good measure, probably also lose the beauty mark/move it to someplace less cliche/give her something cooler and more reflective of her job like a little scar or two.
I never understood why they had to make her a cartoon character all of a sudden. They should have stayed with this:
Fixed Camilla:
The covered outfit would need some more work cause it's a bit odd, and doesn't work well with the pose without the heels (that shit needs to be nuked on VG characters BTW), yet that simple change already makes the character feel more like an actual character than immediate waifu bait on first glance.
The loincloth could go aswell.
Kratos embodies the average teenage male phantasy of being an unstoppable ultra muscular hypermasculine hero. And Bayonetta embodies the average teenage male phantasy of an hypersexualized heel wearing and nude fighting female 'heroine'. I wouldn't point her as an exemple of female empowerment, but that's like just my opinion man
I suppose from the Japanese point of view, she went from being a Ganguro (ガングロ) with an artificial tan and crazy hair color (done in defiance of the mainstream idea of beauty) to a 'proper' princess.
They should have changed the hair color to highlight the transition better.
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Reboot Lara's design would look so much better with a braid instead of a ponytail, if her hair was less puffy and her fringe was smaller and less messy. I also think she should be taller and more muscular (which, at least the latter they seem to be addressing in the next game).
Unlike other FF characters (like Cloud), I've always loved Squall's look in KH, especially the first one. Even the mullet and the lack of fur collar!
Your edit definitely looks better though. Which makes me wonder when the hell are they showing FF characters in KH III.
Them being short is fine. It'd be better if they went up higher but at least they stop short of giving her ass cleavage like previous games had.
Some of the source art still has ass cleavage.
You don't need to try anything.I tried, :(
Namco just needs to bring back the GOAT Ivy costume.
Just remove the fuckin' belts. Like how the hell do you even wear this
Lulu needs a completeb overhaul in order to make any kind of sense.
She lives in a tropical paradise and she wears all black with 50 pounds of leather and a lot of fur! Can you imagine how hot that is?
As silly as the mitts look, I do like to think they serve a purpose once she starts wielding the hot sword.
I don't like this. The blue was perfectly fine, its a nice change for once.
You're right.
Much better, except I feel there could be more armor and not fabric. Like something that will actually be some sort of protection.
This is a LOT better than the actual design. Almost full armor which is good, some actual protection. Just make the armor less feminine cause why do we need that, its to protect not to look fashionable, and put some more on her side there, I see the skin showing. This is a great start though to fixing an A W F U L design.I will never be able to unsee this now, and it will always bother me. By god, you're absolutely right -- your revision is so much better.
Yep, these two were exactly what I came here for. Pyra needs a breast reduction, too -- it's not as apparent in the character art, but her tits are absurdly, cartoonishly, distractingly enormous in the game.
I also like artist Lou Cord's slightly less subtle revision. She feels more like a mysterious ancient weapon here than the anime sex pillow that's in the game.
What a way to disrespect women. "Could be bigger". Should say reduce it and cover her up. How would you feel to be walking around in this attire. Not too happy I'm sure.The Sorceress from Dragons Crown
Could be bigger
Consider that Kratos's meatheaded bloodlust and transactional relations with female sex props are played straight. No wink, no thematic contradiction to his murderous hypermasculine stance in his world, no hint of self-awareness. He's the straight male id unleashed and exaggerated tenfold. (Newer GoW game(s) aside.)
Now, what are some common characteristics of an exploitative female character? She exists to be ogled, coddled, dominated. Probably weak and compliant, definitely two-dimensional. More often than not, she has nothing of interest to say and no real point of view. If she's strong or smart, her gifts are clipped just short of being intimidating or disagreeable. If a strong male is present, he is always stronger than she is, and she'll inevitably find herself in need of his protection. Her aims and needs will recede or reorient around his.
All of her personal qualities and actions are secondary to her main function as eye candy for the male gaze. All of her goals and relationships are subordinate to her male love interest winning the figurative key to her chastity belt.
So then, take Bayonetta. Does the average teenage male fantasize about a woman who's stronger than he is, never in a position to be saved by a man, and willful to the point of running the show each and every time a male authority figure is in the room? Do typical teenage guys get off on the idea of a woman who can outwit them no matter what? Do they lustily envision long-necked, small-bosomed, 9-foot-tall fashion creatures dancing for themselves, fighting for themselves, rescuing their friends and allies, and defeating every man and monster that tries to control them? Do they long to be in the place of a dorky klutz like Luka who gets babysitting duty when mom is out saving the day?
Where does the average heel-wearing nude-fighting heroine fit into this dubious equation? Personally, I don't believe that an ass shot with a fourth-wall-breaking wink turns Bayonetta into a brainless battle slut when every detail of her series' style and design, right down to the lyrics of her combat themes, aligns with her portrayal as unputdownable alpha queen in a universe of superpowered beings who keep trying and failing to use or silence her.
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I just did one for the hell of it. Not..ideal (I don't really wanna spend more time on a fake design lol), but I really liked what the darker Pyra outfit went for and did something similar (and added some fancy ass asymmetrical dress and superfluous JRPG belting for 'substance')
Subtle change. But still better than showing off her legs straight up to where her underwear would be at.
This picture gave me a good laugh. Finally putting a guy in the uncomfortable looking clothing. We need more of that. If these game designers are all about plastering half naked women into their games, and have no intentions of stopping, then give men the same treatment of it. It should be an even playing field.
Isn't the thing with tetra that she's just super tanned from being in the sun as a pirate all the time? That's how I figured the transformation happened, she lost her tan.
Give Dante cornrows or a ponytail.
Lmao. I'm going to Google image that height n weight.SAMUS WAS 6'3" AND 200LBS?
Whether Tetra was meant to have brown skin or have a dark sun tan is second to how the character is perceived by players. It's kind of a bummer when darker-skinned characters have their skin tone lightened because it reduces that possibility for player interpretation.
Since there was no frame of reference for who Tetra was, and she had shipmates with lighter skin than she, many players perceived her as brown-skinned until suddenly she wasn't. The explanation that she was light-skinned all along and it was just an unusually dark sun-tan was a let down for players who thought that was just what she looked like.
Representation of brown characters has historically been so low that characters with tanned skin often provided a point of reference for POC players to perceive a character with skin that looked like theirs. For lots of fans, Tetra is still the POC princess that never was.
Just my two cents.
If you just gave them actual fatigues instead of the wetsuit thing, they might look like badass special ops types and not a bunch of goofy dad bods.
Maybe something like this?
Edit: comparison shot - basically added more muscles, arms, shoulders, thighs, hips, butt.
I wholehearted approve of this large improvement.
For reference:
I stand by my statement. She'd be Athena incarnate.
I meant no disrespect, except for speaking a matter-of-fact on who is and isn't an icon; in which case there are faaaaaar better and less controversial choices than Bayo-freaking-netta. xD
You must forgive me if I don't find her MY feminist superhero. She's a lot of fun and she's super cool, but her pole dance routine doesn't at all 'empower' me nor does the perv cam that follows follows her body.
Original:
Improved:
I don't know what I hate more, the awful audio drama that [lovely] Yuna design came with or the fact.... I'd def take a FFX-3 if it was made. I even liked Tidus's design; but it's not hard to top his assymetrical overalls and decorative hoodie.
Actually just make the vest much bigger and it would work. Like make it fit him.
Give him a god damn shirt or jacket.
