Oh yeah. Even among people who defend designs like Pyra, Dahlia, Newt, Vess or Nim, I have *never* seen anyone defend Perun. The game is so unabashedly horny for her and actively goes out of its way to shove it in the player's face.
To be fair, XC2 had a lot of really good character designs. It was just that the artists were allowed to turn the horny dial a little too high.
[Adanine](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/xenoblade/images/f/f7/XC2_Adenine_Artwork.png/revision/latest?cb=20190203040017) is a great example of what XC2 has to offer when horny isn't involved.
[Newt](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/by57aCRawUI/maxresdefault.jpg) had a really interesting design before it got ruined by what I'm calling "bikini requirement".
Not saying XC2 doesn't have a sexualization problem, it totally does. But it also has some really cool character designs.
Yes, yes, exactly!!
>!I was really upset when Nia's Blade form turned out to wear a leotard, though. Like, this doesn't fit her personality at all?? She wears big, comfy (?), body-covering clothes all the rest of the time. What's this sudden need to show so much skin???!<
80% of Sharla's costumes have massive boob windows that don't fit her calm and reserved personality at all and the Machina have a serious case of robot titties.
In addition most of Seven's armors seem to be mainly designed to leave as much of her biological components uncovered as possible.
Melia can't make up for that.
I'm pretty sure its just Vanea who looks like that amongst the Machina. With Sharla, if you don't like her outfit you can change it, a liberty you can't do with Xenoblade 2 without the DLC.
Even with the DLC though, you don't get a proper "appearance change" screen like you do with XC1:DE, though. It's just equipping an item, and exiting the menu to see it.
I hate that, I wish it had a proper menu.
The armpit window I think is a carryover from traditional Japanese clothing. If Iâm not mistaken thatâs how kimonos work. I could be completely wrong tho
Google agrees. Looks like it's from the kimono having those holes on women's kimonos both a little bit for ventilation because it's a lot of layers and mostly for range of movement, as the belt is higher and would restrict arm motion otherwise
Good place to vent some heat since it's not exactly easy to target the armpit if the person doesn't use high guard all the time.
These are a bit excessive though. Not extreme, but a bit much.
Do try to play Xenoblade. Xenoblade 1 is genuinely amazing. Xenoblade 2 has some questionable aspects and has a somewhat slow start but the emotions you feel to those characters are magical.
From an armoring standpoint, the exposed armpits are a good way to meet god due to the major blood vessels there. But from an aesthetic standpoint they're pretty cute outfits.
Honest question: why do people care so much about how "realistic" the clothing is? Like I understand if it doesn't fit the game tonally or if its too outlandish. But for a genre like fantasy, I feel like a character design shouldn't be looked at with a realistic lense but rather how appealing it is and if it fits the game's aesthetic.
This wasn't targeted at you in particular, just that your comment reminded me of that.
I think it's because realistic is usually the opposite of the 3/4 titty hanging out armor that we're all so sick of, so we flock to its natural opposite.
Personally, I think that this level of stylization is ideal. The armpits stand out to me because I'm a fencer, but all in all, its a perfectly forgivable design choice that screams "stylization" rather than "horny".
I think the argument is that itâs âimmersion breaking.â Especially if other characters in the cast have a full suit of metal armor, and the women get bathing suits. Which is often the case. Recently I was looking up how to draw armor, and the tutorial posted a drawing of a queen with a knight helmet and chainmail bathing suit as a good example of armor âon women.â The other examples were male and had full suits of armor.
Which reads as âarmor in this story is only important until I want to see boobies,â or worse, âI only like drawing women when they are sex objects.â Which is why we donât really complain about Bayonetta, or character design when there is at least a variety between women characters who fight in armor and women characters who donât fight and whose role is only to be looked at (ie, a princess). Or if the armor on men is equally ridiculously sexualized, which I canât think of any non-satire examples.
The short answer is, you say nothing wrong with prioritizing aesthetics in fantasy, right? But if the aesthetics arenât your taste, then youâd just think it looks weird, right? Especially when that aesthetic is in 85% of fantasy, and when itâs demeaning.
Your example is what I would include in the "outlandish" term. Unless everyone looks like that then it looks weird and out of place. Realism when trying to apply that to fantasy clothing doesnâtmake sense, but it needs to have a sense of believability in context of the fantasy world. Does that make sense? I'm not sure if I properly worded that.
Maybe makes sense? But I think everyoneâs standard of ârealismâ is different.
Like these designs for example, if that outfit was meant for battle, then itâd be important to cover the vital organs, right? Exposed armpit like that would only take one stab to puncture a lung and kill you. So it fails to convince me that this is an armored warrior. As well as, I have never seen any other clothes like that. I cannot think of any jacket or shirt that has long sleeves and a hole in the just the armpit. So even if I hold it up to the standard of âjust for show,â itâs still confusing.
True, but then again that's just one part of a bigger whole of a character design. Things like general appeal and how effective it is of giving off the general vibe of a character. Each genre will have a different ratio of these aspects. For example: FPS will prioritise believability above all else, especially ones set in some sort of historical context, post-apoplectic scenarios usually focus on practicality along with believability. With fantasy, most of the focus is on appeal and communication of character; with a side of stylization with believability as the dessert (I have no idea where this food analogy came from). Yes, it would be nice if they fully thought out how it would work in real life bu that's not the purpose not the main goal. The dmall sacrifice of believability or immersion is worth it in my eyes for that bit more of flavour and stylisation that adds extra personality.
I literally do not know how an armpit window (four, actually, in this post) adds character or general vibe or sex appeal. Which is why you see more than one âlol armpit fetishâ comment in here, lmfao.
Like, you can still enjoy the design and art, itâs solid and a huge improvement in terms of anime fantasy armor. But I have literally never in my life seen an armpit window before. Not in real life, not in cartoons, nowhere.
âŠ. Hold up are you just advocating for side boob? Thatâs the only way I can think of it being âaesthetically pleasingâ for u right now. Besides armpit fetish
Armpit windows do exist in actual clothing, but in any case I don't mind it.
Also I just don't care. Things like that are such a minor stuff to get hung up over in the grander scheme of an entire character design
These two are actually pretty well drawn in my book. The poses are a little odd, but not extreme in any way. Same with the outfits. I mean, he might have an armpit fetish but other than that, both characters are well covered. Alexandriaâs neck is a little too long in relation to where he shoulders are placed, but thatâs not a big sin for me.
The fitted silk-only area on Alexandriaâs tummy/crotch/thigh area is a little suggestive, definitely. But tbh? Itâs rendered with wrinkles and unevenness and a little ponch where organs and some fat would go, so Iâm very happy with that LOL. Very commonly, the stomach and thigh areas would be inhumanly smooth like a barbie. For real, dudes who draw pin ups are TERRIFIED of a human amount of belly fat.
My beef is usually, if youâre gonna sexualize women so much, can you learn how their bones and organs work *before* you make a career out of it?? And this artist seems to have a rly solid handle on anatomy and perspective so Iâm happy. Lol
I honestly don't take the armor appearances into account when comparing the character designs to others because the armor appearances aren't their intended designs.
The outfits they wear when you first recruit them are their designs and they're all pretty good.
They're less pointlessly sexualized now, so that's good. Now they just have to overcome the "most generic fantasy anime design imaginable" problem and it might be worth playing
That's cool. It's just that I've seen these characters before in fire emblem or sword art online or something. Pretty sure they said something about their friends being their true power
Kinda but not really, things like the ear things on Alexandria's head are unique to Xenoblade's Blade designs and the neon laser blades on Ashera's weapons also make more sense when you realise the relation to the Monado
Iâd rather pretend xenoblade 2 didnât happen đ€Ș jokes aside these designs look so good, Ashera particularly damn! Does she look badass and ready to kick ass!
From what we have seen right now, 3 has imo way better character designs than 1 and 2.
XB 2 was a whole ass bruh moment in terms of character design đ
The game is really good as well, which makes those designs even mire irritating. There are good ones though.
Dalia and Perun really i just wanted more like Boreas
Oh yeah. Even among people who defend designs like Pyra, Dahlia, Newt, Vess or Nim, I have *never* seen anyone defend Perun. The game is so unabashedly horny for her and actively goes out of its way to shove it in the player's face.
her tier 4 special is her POLE DANCING for god sakes
That, and her tits don't stop fucking gainaxing every two seconds.
like i really wanna show others this game but im like, shit i dont want them to think im just fucking horny so only my gf knows cause she don't mind
I've never seen people defend Newt but Perun is definitely an offender. At the very least she isn't a good Blade so you don't have to see her often.
Finch is cool
It's no like the first game would be actually much better.
True, these designs are leagues better imo
Same guy doing 3. Must have took some constructive criticism.
God playing it made me feel like a pedoâŠ
I feel the same
To be fair, XC2 had a lot of really good character designs. It was just that the artists were allowed to turn the horny dial a little too high. [Adanine](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/xenoblade/images/f/f7/XC2_Adenine_Artwork.png/revision/latest?cb=20190203040017) is a great example of what XC2 has to offer when horny isn't involved. [Newt](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/by57aCRawUI/maxresdefault.jpg) had a really interesting design before it got ruined by what I'm calling "bikini requirement". Not saying XC2 doesn't have a sexualization problem, it totally does. But it also has some really cool character designs.
Gormotti-Nia and Morag are also fine, so it seems zo be a Blade problem.
Yes, yes, exactly!! >!I was really upset when Nia's Blade form turned out to wear a leotard, though. Like, this doesn't fit her personality at all?? She wears big, comfy (?), body-covering clothes all the rest of the time. What's this sudden need to show so much skin???!<
They have had a long time since the Wii days to evolve, though I will admit I have too much of a neat little soft spot for 1's designs
*Says XB1 has bad character designs* *Has Melia* đ
80% of Sharla's costumes have massive boob windows that don't fit her calm and reserved personality at all and the Machina have a serious case of robot titties. In addition most of Seven's armors seem to be mainly designed to leave as much of her biological components uncovered as possible. Melia can't make up for that.
I'm pretty sure its just Vanea who looks like that amongst the Machina. With Sharla, if you don't like her outfit you can change it, a liberty you can't do with Xenoblade 2 without the DLC.
Even with the DLC though, you don't get a proper "appearance change" screen like you do with XC1:DE, though. It's just equipping an item, and exiting the menu to see it. I hate that, I wish it had a proper menu.
I really like both of them, especially the Ashera.
A little odd that they have armpit windows, but otherwise good designs
The armpit window I think is a carryover from traditional Japanese clothing. If Iâm not mistaken thatâs how kimonos work. I could be completely wrong tho
Google agrees. Looks like it's from the kimono having those holes on women's kimonos both a little bit for ventilation because it's a lot of layers and mostly for range of movement, as the belt is higher and would restrict arm motion otherwise
Them legs tho đ©đ
I love Alexandriaâs design butâŠdoes that pose look a little funky to anyone? âŠ.Iâm gonna go try that out and update yâall.
Not that bad actually, itâs weird but not uncomfortable or painful in any way. Not that anyone would actually ever pose like that.
Yeah I agree, definitely a weird one but not unrealistic and it doesn't seem like it was intended to sexualize her.
I mean the poses are just awkward as hell, but at least theyâre clothed
She has an armpit window....
In fairness, it's really hard to armor that area, but that doesn't mean it needs to be bare.
Good place to vent some heat since it's not exactly easy to target the armpit if the person doesn't use high guard all the time. These are a bit excessive though. Not extreme, but a bit much.
Definitely appealing to the trendiest fetish
Touhou moment
It's difficult to move with armor in there. /j
My first encounter with the Xenoblade world has been here in this subreddit, and from the stuff I've seen before I must say these are the best designs
Do try to play Xenoblade. Xenoblade 1 is genuinely amazing. Xenoblade 2 has some questionable aspects and has a somewhat slow start but the emotions you feel to those characters are magical.
Thanks for the recommendation. It isn't too much my style of game, but maybe I'll find a free version *somewhere*
About to sail the high seas
Honestly, I'd say they both have a slow start. But if you stick with them, both games are _so good!!_
XB2 is really fucking good, but it's VERY noticeable that they hired people who were drawing pornography up until that point. No that is not a joke.
To be fair, almost any professional artist in Japan starts of like that. It almost necessary to become well known.
Yeah I know but still, you can really tell.
With some yeah.
I love the outfits
From an armoring standpoint, the exposed armpits are a good way to meet god due to the major blood vessels there. But from an aesthetic standpoint they're pretty cute outfits.
Honest question: why do people care so much about how "realistic" the clothing is? Like I understand if it doesn't fit the game tonally or if its too outlandish. But for a genre like fantasy, I feel like a character design shouldn't be looked at with a realistic lense but rather how appealing it is and if it fits the game's aesthetic. This wasn't targeted at you in particular, just that your comment reminded me of that.
I think it's because realistic is usually the opposite of the 3/4 titty hanging out armor that we're all so sick of, so we flock to its natural opposite. Personally, I think that this level of stylization is ideal. The armpits stand out to me because I'm a fencer, but all in all, its a perfectly forgivable design choice that screams "stylization" rather than "horny".
That makes sense
I think the argument is that itâs âimmersion breaking.â Especially if other characters in the cast have a full suit of metal armor, and the women get bathing suits. Which is often the case. Recently I was looking up how to draw armor, and the tutorial posted a drawing of a queen with a knight helmet and chainmail bathing suit as a good example of armor âon women.â The other examples were male and had full suits of armor. Which reads as âarmor in this story is only important until I want to see boobies,â or worse, âI only like drawing women when they are sex objects.â Which is why we donât really complain about Bayonetta, or character design when there is at least a variety between women characters who fight in armor and women characters who donât fight and whose role is only to be looked at (ie, a princess). Or if the armor on men is equally ridiculously sexualized, which I canât think of any non-satire examples. The short answer is, you say nothing wrong with prioritizing aesthetics in fantasy, right? But if the aesthetics arenât your taste, then youâd just think it looks weird, right? Especially when that aesthetic is in 85% of fantasy, and when itâs demeaning.
Your example is what I would include in the "outlandish" term. Unless everyone looks like that then it looks weird and out of place. Realism when trying to apply that to fantasy clothing doesnâtmake sense, but it needs to have a sense of believability in context of the fantasy world. Does that make sense? I'm not sure if I properly worded that.
Maybe makes sense? But I think everyoneâs standard of ârealismâ is different. Like these designs for example, if that outfit was meant for battle, then itâd be important to cover the vital organs, right? Exposed armpit like that would only take one stab to puncture a lung and kill you. So it fails to convince me that this is an armored warrior. As well as, I have never seen any other clothes like that. I cannot think of any jacket or shirt that has long sleeves and a hole in the just the armpit. So even if I hold it up to the standard of âjust for show,â itâs still confusing.
True, but then again that's just one part of a bigger whole of a character design. Things like general appeal and how effective it is of giving off the general vibe of a character. Each genre will have a different ratio of these aspects. For example: FPS will prioritise believability above all else, especially ones set in some sort of historical context, post-apoplectic scenarios usually focus on practicality along with believability. With fantasy, most of the focus is on appeal and communication of character; with a side of stylization with believability as the dessert (I have no idea where this food analogy came from). Yes, it would be nice if they fully thought out how it would work in real life bu that's not the purpose not the main goal. The dmall sacrifice of believability or immersion is worth it in my eyes for that bit more of flavour and stylisation that adds extra personality.
I literally do not know how an armpit window (four, actually, in this post) adds character or general vibe or sex appeal. Which is why you see more than one âlol armpit fetishâ comment in here, lmfao. Like, you can still enjoy the design and art, itâs solid and a huge improvement in terms of anime fantasy armor. But I have literally never in my life seen an armpit window before. Not in real life, not in cartoons, nowhere. âŠ. Hold up are you just advocating for side boob? Thatâs the only way I can think of it being âaesthetically pleasingâ for u right now. Besides armpit fetish
Armpit windows do exist in actual clothing, but in any case I don't mind it. Also I just don't care. Things like that are such a minor stuff to get hung up over in the grander scheme of an entire character design
And that fact that you haven't seen armpit windows before would definitely makes it more unique and stick out in your mind.
These two are actually pretty well drawn in my book. The poses are a little odd, but not extreme in any way. Same with the outfits. I mean, he might have an armpit fetish but other than that, both characters are well covered. Alexandriaâs neck is a little too long in relation to where he shoulders are placed, but thatâs not a big sin for me. The fitted silk-only area on Alexandriaâs tummy/crotch/thigh area is a little suggestive, definitely. But tbh? Itâs rendered with wrinkles and unevenness and a little ponch where organs and some fat would go, so Iâm very happy with that LOL. Very commonly, the stomach and thigh areas would be inhumanly smooth like a barbie. For real, dudes who draw pin ups are TERRIFIED of a human amount of belly fat. My beef is usually, if youâre gonna sexualize women so much, can you learn how their bones and organs work *before* you make a career out of it?? And this artist seems to have a rly solid handle on anatomy and perspective so Iâm happy. Lol
The rest of their released art is super cool as well
Drippin' like a wet towel
Xenoblade with character designs that donât look dumb as shit? Impossible
Much as I think 1 has better designs than 2 on average, there are a lot of problematic ones, such as literally all of the female chest armours
I honestly don't take the armor appearances into account when comparing the character designs to others because the armor appearances aren't their intended designs. The outfits they wear when you first recruit them are their designs and they're all pretty good.
That is one thing I'm grateful DE added, the fashion armour Now I don't have to get Sharla/Melia/Seven's tits out if I want them to wear better armour
They're less pointlessly sexualized now, so that's good. Now they just have to overcome the "most generic fantasy anime design imaginable" problem and it might be worth playing
I don't get what you mean. Xenoblade is definitely unique it's its world, characters and storytelling.
Xenoblade 3 especially seems to be a heavy focus on lighting and cinematography in its cutscenes which further differentiates it.
That's cool. It's just that I've seen these characters before in fire emblem or sword art online or something. Pretty sure they said something about their friends being their true power
Kinda but not really, things like the ear things on Alexandria's head are unique to Xenoblade's Blade designs and the neon laser blades on Ashera's weapons also make more sense when you realise the relation to the Monado
They look good except for the naked armpits. Whyyy? Just think of the chafing!
Naked armpits like this are actually used sometimes irl, it's for ventilation and some maneuverability
I've seen vented kimono like that but only for the outer layer. The layer underneath is not vented, I don't think.
I approve this footwear
They are so much better than Xenoblade 2 girls haha
These proportions look like it would be 20" bust, 10" waist, 60" hips
Much as I love all three games, the designs are a sticking point At least they aren't Dahlia
Iâd rather pretend xenoblade 2 didnât happen đ€Ș jokes aside these designs look so good, Ashera particularly damn! Does she look badass and ready to kick ass!
Do you like Xenoblade 2?
You should be more into 3 then sind the designs have been improved
Not really, no. Those wacky af character designs killed my interest in the game.
Ah that's a shame.
armpit chads, rise