Why do the characters look like crap?

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

In all honesty I didn't think they looked crap. Yeah, you had the odd character design like Vaan but apart from that the others at least had a uniqueness, and that in itself made a refreshing change from Nomura's clone character designs he uses every time.
But again, at least their designs showed some uniqueness even if it didn't appeal to everyone.

 

[Roy Mustang]

They looked normal...But i guess there outfits were more...normal? Then the outfits on FFX .

Vaan looked ok i guess. But then again he was trying to show off that damn 6-pack...


SHOW OFF

 

[Rockman X]

am i the only one who thought that the character models in FF XII look really mis-shapen? like Vaan has some kindof weird excuse for a six-pack where his abs should be... they all have mutated faces too. did anyone else notice or am i going insane @__@

If you hadn't mentioned Vaan I would think you were talking about FF8. I'll admit, Vaan's in-game character model looks disgusting. His abs look painted on, and I don't know wtf is up with that shiny spot on his nose. I'm guessing it's because it's a spot of light reflecting, but since it's static it looks retarded.

All the other character models look fine though, and nobody is misshapen in the least. The detail is splendid really, you can see clothes and hair and pendants bounce when you run or if it's windy, bodies move in a natural fashion when you run, you can see the change in weapons when you re-equip people, etc. I don't know what the hell you're on about, all of FF12 (minus Vaan) looks great.

 

[eisprinz]

It's really a shame that Vaan had to be their worst-received design considering that he's the starting character. Like everyone agrees, he had weird abs and did others feel weirded out by the muscles(?)/tanlines(?) on his back?

As for the shinespots on his nose... it's all fine and peachy to have those on concept drawings, but there's no argument to have a shiny spot in a dungeon. Can't see why they thought it was necessary to put that little detail in. And also, why is he so…GREASY in all the concept art? It's excessive.

This just stirs up the main reason why I found XII to be less enjoyable than other Final Fantasies: too much effort on peripherals and not enough effort on the central game. Boo.

Can't give a main character decent abs, but they'll flawlessly render a random jar in the back of a shop in Bujherba that you'll likely never visit more than twice.

On the other hand, all the other characters I quite liked. Though it was pretty ridiculous for Fran and Ashe to be dressed so skimpily. Unfortunately, I'm sure most other male gamers don't mind being patronized and would rather get a bouncy-jug option than a better script.

 

[Rockman X]

And also, why is he so…GREASY in all the concept art? It's excessive.

I didn't notice the greasiness, but let's not forget that in the CG promo art (or whatever you call it) of him he's sorely lacking in nipples. I found that to be just a tad creepy.

This just stirs up the main reason why I found XII to be less enjoyable than other Final Fantasies: too much effort on peripherals and not enough effort on the central game. Boo.

Can't give a main character decent abs, but they'll flawlessly render a random jar in the back of a shop in Bujherba that you'll likely never visit more than twice.

Somewhat agree with you there. I like how they payed so much detail to environments, it made things more immersive. But at the same time, I wish they'd spent equal amounts of attention on the story aspect of the game.

On the other hand, all the other characters I quite liked. Though it was pretty ridiculous for Fran and Ashe to be dressed so skimpily. Unfortunately, I'm sure most other male gamers don't mind being patronized and would rather get a bouncy-jug option than a better script.

Normally when a girl is given skimpy clothes in a game, it's simply to make it more appealing to male gamers (ala Dead or Alive or Tomb Raider). However, think about the climates encountered in XII. Where is Ashe from? Rabanastre, right in the middle of a desert. Obviously people are going to wear less clothing there (although that leather piece around her stomach makes no sense). And I would assume that Eruyt village is quite warm too since all the Viera dress scant (developers probably fashioned them after the Amazons, although it could just be fanservive).

It's the same reason why most people in X don't wear alot of clothes either, much of the climate is tropical. It would be nice to see a game where a scantily clad female put on a coat in the mountains though. It's kind of silly for Riku or Fran to be able to run through a snowy mountain and not keel over from hypothermia.

 

[aerocrystal]

Actually...I think part of the reason why they all look the same (brown eyes, tan skin, blonde hair) was because they wanted all the characters to look French or Italian European. The whole game is supposed to have a kind of meddeterianian flair and I guess because unlike in FFX, where the characters were from varied parts of the world, all of these characters come from similar countries, so I guess the game makers figured they should have similar features. That's actually one of my issues with FFX's world is that it feels a little all over the place like "OH WOULDNT IT BE COOL IF IT WAS LIKE THIS" and "OMG LETS PUT THAT HERE" like there is some cohesion of design and i guess you cold argue that the world is big and they were representing different countries, but I still think the set up and design was a little too random at points.

I do agree that I wish FFXII had a little more diversity, but it makes sense with the background to the story.

Anyway, the early concept drawings of Ashe had her with a much different looking face that was then changed to look more European. Vaan and Tidus do look a like, but Tidus looks a lot more Asian. Both the shiny spot on Ashe's and Vaan's nose I think can be explained by the developers attempting to give their characters european noses. Asians tend to have the flatter and wider noses than Europeans. The "button" or "up-turned" nose that Vaan seems to have is more of a European trend. A sharp, thin nose would also be more common amongst a European.

 

[Bones]

Yeah I think they should make the characters attire a bit more realistic for the weather conditions, like on the Paramina Rift, even the blokes should be wearing coats there because of how cold it looks :S.

And I don't think the characters look like crap they look more realistic than some other games in my opinion.

 

[Laro]

I didn't really care about the clothes design, although now that you mention it...

On every FF, clothes are very much different than what we wear. If their clothes weren't weird, we wouldn't undestand if it was a different planet or a far-off city on our Earth. These designs are to show that it's Ivalice.

I can't say wether those clothes are crap or not because I'm not from Ivalice =)

 

[Rockman X]

Actually...I think part of the reason why they all look the same (brown eyes, tan skin, blonde hair) was because they wanted all the characters to look French or Italian European. The whole game is supposed to have a kind of meddeterianian flair and I guess because unlike in FFX, where the characters were from varied parts of the world, all of these characters come from similar countries, so I guess the game makers figured they should have similar features. That's actually one of my issues with FFX's world is that it feels a little all over the place like "OH WOULDNT IT BE COOL IF IT WAS LIKE THIS" and "OMG LETS PUT THAT HERE" like there is some cohesion of design and i guess you cold argue that the world is big and they were representing different countries, but I still think the set up and design was a little too random at points.

I hadn't thought of that before, but now that you mention it you're right. The people are definitely more Aryan/European, the accents attesting to it (such as Al Cid's and Ondore's).

And yes, X was meant to represent different cultures. The different architectural styles are influenced by different Asian and Pacific cultures mainly, if I recall correctly. I rather like the Arabic flair XII has to it though.

I didn't really care about the clothes design, although now that you mention it...

On every FF, clothes are very much different than what we wear. If their clothes weren't weird, we wouldn't undestand if it was a different planet or a far-off city on our Earth. These designs are to show that it's Ivalice.

I can't say wether those clothes are crap or not because I'm not from Ivalice =)

Well I'm sure in Ivalice their clothes are pretty normal, and most of them have fairly looking normal clothes that would be wearable in some of our cultures. But I can't say the same for Vaan's weird vest and armor-lined pants, or Penelo's god-awful banana suit. Balthier's outfit I can totally see being worn during Victorian times, it's certainly gaudy enough. Fran's ass probably chafes alot from her dominatrix suit though, so I can't imagine anyone wearing that on a normal basis. Maybe Balthier makes her wear it

 

[Tsuna]

I did think Vaan's six-pack looked a bit odd, but other than that I really enjoyed the character designs. They were..."refreshing", I guess is the right word for it.

 

[Finicella]

There were only a few things about the looks of the characters that seemed strange to me:
Vaan - his six-pack. I think it was mentioned often enough in this thread ^^"
Basch - anyone noticed that he was really, reeeeally thin in the beginning (when you got him out of Nalbina) and then suddenly was normal again? And his scar got better in a short time, too. Perhaps I just forgot there was a long time, but I thought it were only a few days that passed...
Ashe - how the heck is someone able to walk in skirts like that without anyone seeing her underwear?!

 

[Rockman X]

Ashe - how the heck is someone able to walk in skirts like that without anyone seeing her underwear?!

Actually she's just wearing red boxers that blend with her skirt...uh, not that I would know...uh, someone told me...

The outfits in the game were pretty horrid though. Why was Ashe wearing a giant leather belt around her gut? And why did Penelo have little wings on the back of her banana suit? But Reddas by far takes the cake for absolute worse outfit:

Mutton chops are bad enough, but the pants took it too far. His design practically screams HI I'M ABE LINCOLN'S COUSIN AND MAH WIFE STITCHED ME THESE PANTS OUT OF AN OLD QUILT!

....and I just now noticed this, but wtf, his toes are gray. He's either rotting or someone completely forgot to add color to his sandals and feet. What massive fail.

 

[Lirael]

I actually think they were nicely designed. Ok, they didn't have many clothes on, but generally they were well done.
I liked Ashe's costume, even though her skirt was v short... Fran could have done with a little more on! And Vaan was a more extreme version of Tidus really...

Penelo's costume was a bit meh though. It reminded me of baby clothing... :/

 

[Morrigan]

I think this is one of the main reasons why FXII didn't become as popular as other FFs.I didn't mind though to tell you the truth.With the technology today we have today they could easily make it look better,but the fact that this was an FF game reassured them that it was gonna sell many copies.They didn't put much effort in the story either because of that.

 

[Rockman X]

Penelo's costume was a bit meh though. It reminded me of baby clothing... :/

Congrats, that made me lawl

With the technology today we have today they could easily make it look better,but the fact that this was an FF game reassured them that it was gonna sell many copies.They didn't put much effort in the story either because of that.

That was certainly the case of X-2, but the reason the story blows in XII is because the original director or whoever it was got sick. SE, being the idiots they are, quickly found a new person and rushed it out into stores instead of delaying it. That's mainly why it feels like an unfinished product. Any real gamer isn't going to give a shit if a game is delayed, so long as the final product is worth it.

I'm not sure how much of the game's faults (aside from story and pacing) can be attributed to rushed development though, since I don't know how much they had completed before that. I'll stop now else I'll go into one of my rants about how all the faults of XII and totally derail this topic.

 

[Dionysos]

I liked the designs of Fran, all of the Judges and Balthier, but felt the rest of the characters were very bland and forgetable.

 

[Kweh!]

Judges were awesome.

I really liked Ashe's and Penelo's outfits tho, idk why you all seem so mad about them.

 

[SeekerOfDeath]

Yeh the first time i played ffxii i throught vaan looked really gay with his vest and dey wierd 6 pack dat really disturbes me, but with the others they just look like normal people

 

[axelthe pyro]

i was bothered a little by fran shes a walking playboy refferance and balthiers monkiness was a little creepy... appart from that the character design was alright.

 

[Angelic Colette]

vaan truly did creep me out with his nose his face and the abs were all deformed like i was like why cant switch to another character so i wont have to look at this