That looks really awkward, but stuff like Okami looks great and is probably what should be aimed for, because the realistic stuff looks just as awkward.
I don't think they need an "anime" aesthetic, but they need an actual aesthetic and that's what Final Fantasy games have been sorely lacking. Sprites smoothed a lot of those rough edges in 2D over but when rendering 3D, you need a strong visual definition to not end up with awkward visuals.
Sorry, I didn't see your post before I replied, but I think the same response applies.
Not exactly...their previous efforts as you note, are getting closer and closer to a stylized reality, but they are still based on fantastical anime based illustrations by nomura or otherwise that would never possibly exist in reality.
Kingsglaive is taking a different step, of literally placing reality into these works, which is something separate.
Stella looks like a visual works anime styled CG character here.
And here she is based on an actual human being.
Huge difference no?
I looked up what that is and I would argue that yes that would desensitize someone. I'm saying it looks awful how the motion was translated onto the model, it looks incredibly awkward despite how much that actress is doing her damndest to imitate the mannerisms of anime. And you can't glean any of her performance at all.
That's entirely keyframed. Works really well due to the style. KH is also something that works most of the time despite being entirely keyframed.
It'd be a really slow process but I feel like things like Kingsglaive could have a tangible effect after awhile, especially if one of their biggest games ended up looking like Agni at some point.I think if a product or several products were successful enough it could have a knock on effect. Like the way Tabata reorganized the development pipeline of FFXV to one that's a bit more western focused, guarantee that will be the standard for that company going forward.
SO4 also was a pretty good example of bad mocap implementation.
Most of the keyframed stuff in ND games are things that would be really difficult to do via mocap. The vast majority of animations they do are done using mocap. Including faces going forward.
Disney doesn't use any mocap but use a shit ton of video reference, (and ofc the most talented 3d animators ever), to achieve their results. I wasn't referring to keyframed animation when I said that they need to modernize things like motion capture. Instead of just motion they could go for full performance. Look how believable that is and imagine that it's possible to get similar results in gaming nowadays. Or if they scanned in asian actors and actresses. I'm super down for that.
They literally scanned the face of a real person to achieve Luna in Kingsglaive. It's a digital double. While the one in game is vaguely asian at best and very doll-like because she's based on 2d anime artwork instead of a real person.
Warcraft? League? Overwatch?
XI, XII, and XIV all have stellar art directions imo. Really magnificent stuff.
Not exactly...their previous efforts as you note, are getting closer and closer to a stylized reality, but they are still based on fantastical anime based illustrations by nomura or otherwise that would never possibly exist in reality.
Kingsglaive is taking a different step, of literally placing reality into these works, which is something separate.
Stella looks like a visual works anime styled CG character here.
And here she is based on an actual human being.
Huge difference no?
Sure, all of the designs would work, not with that face though. That is the main point of contention. In Kingsglaive, the faces are all completely separate from the game design wise, even for the characters who show up in both.
Even back when the game was FFVersus, Regis still had a face that was western based. But not literally a western person's face.
(still salty about old man regis change)
Yeah, pretty much. If there's one thing XIV gets right, it's a consistent visual style.
I think it's fairly obvious that Nomura's art is very heavily influenced by anime and manga. It's not moe blob anime ofc, but definitely influenced by that medium.
I don't think they're making it on purpose more so that they feel that's all the market wants.
I'd say the fanbase is definitely part of the issue because in a lot of ways, even here in the west a lot of fans of the east are just as conservative as Japan can be. Hence why we get backlash due to "too much westernization" or when things get modernized or the implication that no one place is supposed to be solely defined by one style, including Japan.
Remember that the ones in the game aren't actually based on real people. It's actually pretty interesting to see how much the perception of what asian women is skewed thanks to their media.
I frankly remember some gaffers who live in Japan stating the opposite is true. Luna is not what Japanese people typically look like.
I feel like the various studios that worked on this film, (49), would be really proud that you're confusing the film with live action when it's CGI.
Are you talking about the day they decide to use scans of actual people? Because aside from that I'm not sure what you're implying. The film characters have a lot of unnecessary(imho) accessories that you wouldn't see on a character in a Ubi game. A lot of asymmetry as well.
I don't think you can judge a game's visual direction based on screenshots players could potentially take of the game.
You'd be surprised that a lot of Asian people really do look like Luna lol. Unless you're thinking that all Asians want to look European for some reason
Not exactly...their previous efforts as you note, are getting closer and closer to a stylized reality, but they are still based on fantastical anime based illustrations by nomura or otherwise that would never possibly exist in reality.
Kingsglaive is taking a different step, of literally placing reality into these works, which is something separate.
Stella looks like a visual works anime styled CG character here.
And here she is based on an actual human being.
Huge difference no?
You basically just described moe anime, there's more than just moe anime, his is basically a slightly more realistic take on it. In fact, when you enter "realistic anime" on google, several things from him come up. :| A lot of his FFVII artwork has exactly what you described btw
She's not based on Lena Headey.
No, but judging it by a heavily manipulated shot (gathering a bunch of players with gaudy skittles mounts) isn't any more fair. The average player experience is not going to be seeing gaudy skittles mounts all the time. Even among the kinds of pictures you're showing (group shots), these are far more common:
If a game's visual style is judged by the worst possible shot, then all games are ugly by default. I suppose that might be a valid argument from a film perspective, but videogames aren't films.
though this is probably what you'll typically see while playing:
