Deformed Character Designs

August 25, 2007, 5:27 AM

okay this topic is about your thoughts on FF9's deformed or chibi style of characters. since this game is made to "go back to the roots" of the series after the futuristic settings of FF7 and 8, what do you think of the characters having big heads and shrinked bodies? (not about being non-humans) did it work well to you on bringing back the old school feel aside from the medieval setting and scenarios? or it only ruined them? and who says it could have been a lot better if they continued the normal size trend of FF8?

August 25, 2007, 5:48 AM

Normal size. They acted like kids enough, they didnt have to look like them too. If you think about how beatify, and badass the characters would have looked if they were full size, youd agree.

My Character Profiles · August 25, 2007, 6:04 AM

It's not about the physical makeup of the game. In fact, even though the more current video games are even more realistic than FFVII and FFVIII are today, I would still prefer to play a more classic and intriguing game rather than an advanced, proportional one. In fact...I haven't bought any games for my PS2 since I purchased it, other than FFX and XII.

If you're playing a game for physical proportion and realism, then you shouldn't be playing FFIX. You shouldn't play a game and then complain that it isn't what you wanted it to be. XD

August 25, 2007, 6:18 AM

The sad fact is that plenty of people play games for realism and graphics. Xbox is banking off that right now. I would play FF whether or not they had good graphics, or looked like dwarfs however.

August 25, 2007, 7:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tetra Master

okay this topic is about your thoughts on FF9's deformed or chibi style of characters. since this game is made to "go back to the roots" of the series after the futuristic settings of FF7 and 8, what do you think of the characters having big heads and shrinked bodies? (not about being non-humans) did it work well to you on bringing back the old school feel aside from the medieval setting and scenarios? or it only ruined them? and who says it could have been a lot better if they continued the normal size trend of FF8?

Feh, people always whine about this all the time. "ZOMG THEY R BOBBLE HEADS ITZ NOT REALZ OH NOES!"

For one thing, it's a game. It doesn't have to be realist. It's also a fantasy game, meaning it also doesn't have to be realistic. And Zidane is the only one whose head looks large anyway, and that's partially due to his hair. And Zidane looks pretty proportional to his environment:

I mean, there are dwarves in the game, and they make it pretty obvious that the dwarves are the short ones. And honestly, i don't think the taller style would have worked well in this game anyway. And which do you prefer, IX or III on the DS?

Now see, that is what we call chibi.

August 25, 2007, 5:27 PM

If I'm being honest, I don't really notice it. Even when I first played the game 6 years ago. I only noticed it when I heard complains about the "childish" design or whatever. Unfortunately for this game, it is often judged by how it looks rather than how it plays out. It's a shame really since this is an amazing game.

August 25, 2007, 5:33 PM

to be honest i don't think how some people can overlook a great game like this because of the character design. its just silly.

if everyone was this naive and picky, then hell, no one would like FFVII beacuse all of the characters have no fingers or mouths.

August 25, 2007, 6:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orichalcon

to be honest i don't think how some people can overlook a great game like this because of the character design. its just silly.

if everyone was this naive and picky, then hell, no one would like FFVII beacuse all of the characters have no fingers or mouths.

It really doesn't make any sense...especially since i never hear people complain about VII's graphics. Oh sure, in battles and cutscenes the characters were more detailed, but running around on the world map or in town...it's just colored blocks stacked on top of each other. At least in IX the character models are consistent.

And in one post Aztec made in another thread, he pointed out how IX looks so grainy and VII doesn't, then posted a pic of each to show the difference. And yes, while VII is less detailed the characters don't look grainy. But guess what? That's because they didn't try to fit in as much detail. And look, it's just as grainy in VIII as it is in IX:

And christ, Rinoa's joints are like spears. I never hear anyone complain about VIII though, but to me, the people just seem too elongated.

See? It looks like 2/3 of their body is just legs.

August 25, 2007, 7:04 PM

I kinda agree with Vengeful Ronin.
2/3 of their bodies are legs lol, thats sooooo true....

I didn't notice that the characters in FF IX are small and child like, they are just all unique, unlike in VIII, it adds character, Squaresoft wanted to make a new FF with a retro style, big castles, knights and dragons, if they made everyone look the same, like in FF VIII, it would all seem too generic, can you imagine Vivi and Zidane with the long body of Squall? Zidane would look like a 60's mod tranny and Vivi like a clown....VIII characters were a bit generic and boring IMO, i liked practically everything else in FF VIII, except the characters and their styles....