Is Nomura and co running out of ideas?

Sir Kenneth

Sir Kenneth

You're f**king out!
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First off I will like to say that I think the screens I have seen of FF XIII look very good. There is one thing that's nagging me though, and that's the uncanny similarity between this game and other Square Enix titles when it comes to the design. It seems to me that since Final Fantasy X, a lot of Square titles have looked very much alike. Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XII, Last Remnant, and Final Fantasy XIII all look stylistically a lot a like. I admit that there are differences, but they are rather marginal if you ask me.

Does anyone agree with me or am I going crazy?
 
Well Snow Villiers, Basch Von Rosenburger, Loz (Advent Children) and to a much lesser extent Zell and Irvine all have the same face. :monster: If that is one of the things you mean.

I think it comes with using the same sort of art style behind the games. If Amano were to do artwork for another FF game, just to try it out, and the graphic designers actually followed his designs then that could lead to an artistically spectacular, quirky and different feeling game, and could make quite a nice change.
 
Hmmm i dont really agree with you there i dont really think the last few titles have been similar at all to be honest. Really wer all gonna have to wait and see what FFXIII is like before making any complaints, its impossible to judge a game by screenshots.
 
lagunas dream said:
Hmmm i dont really agree with you there i dont really think the last few titles have been similar at all to be honest. Really wer all gonna have to wait and see what FFXIII is like before making any complaints, its impossible to judge a game by screenshots.
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I'm not judging the game, the similarities that I am pointing out are purely artistic. As in the character design for all of those games being very much in the same vein. Hell, Yuna in FF X-2, Ashe in FF XII, and Lightning in FF XIII are all wearing pretty much the same outfit and all have pretty much the same hair :P But it's also on a more general level than that. The character design since Final Fantasy X has generally leaned towards scantily clad characters with a little bit of armour here and there and a bit of a "One Thousand And One Nights" at times.
 
I don't see how FF's tendency towards skimpy outfits for females constitutes a lack of creativity; rather, an attempt to gather more fans. And what do you mean by the same hair?
 
I probably should have said some colour of hair. It's perhaps bit of a stretch with Yuna, but with Ashe and Lightning it's very much the case. As for the skimpy outfits (and it's not just the females, but also the males) it is not only that they are skimpy outfits, it's also that they are designed in very much the same manner.
 
Zitanier said:
I actually believe the opposing.FFXIII is going to be a very prototype FF game.
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With a main character that looks like Ashe from FF XII 2.0. How's that for prototype? All of the screens I've seen so far, looks like something we've seen from Square plenty of times before.
 
I can't say short skirts are anything new, really. When you have less material, you have fewer ways to design it. In the end it does have to look like something to cover yourself with after all.
And maybe it's just me, but I don't see the similarity between the color of Ashe's and Lightning's hair; they're both paleish?
 
I've not noticed simularities in hair so much as I have recycled faces...
It might just be me... but don't these guys look way too alike in the face department?

basch4.jpg
FF-XIII.jpg

loz.jpg


Not so much Loz, but you can sort of see they use the same face a lot of the time, and Basch and Snow's resemblance is uncanny.
 
For the record, Nomura wasn't even the character designer for Final Fantasy XII. It was Akihiko Yoshida. So I guess all you can do is complain that SE is hiring people when it comes to faces or just see it as coincedence.
 
And out of those 3 shown, Basch is clearly the sexiest. ANYWAY - I do kinda think theyre running out of ideas with characters. But then again, they've been going on for so long, there's only so many different character models one can really come up with these, without being too familiar with other characters from other games.
 
Sir Kenneth said:
With a main character that looks like Ashe from FF XII 2.0. How's that for prototype? All of the screens I've seen so far, looks like something we've seen from Square plenty of times before.
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Wtf?Lightning looks like Ashe?
They are quite different.Also Lightning's red cape is something very prototype in FF history.
 
Zitanier said:
Wtf?Lightning looks like Ashe?
They are quite different.Also Lightning's red cape is something very prototype in FF history.
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They are basically wearing the same outfit, apart from the colour of the mini skirt :P And Vincent Valentine has a cape in that hue if I am not completely mistaken.
 
Sir Kenneth said:
First off I will like to say that I think the screens I have seen of FF XIII look very good. There is one thing that's nagging me though, and that's the uncanny similarity between this game and other Square Enix titles when it comes to the design. It seems to me that since Final Fantasy X, a lot of Square titles have looked very much alike. Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XII, Last Remnant, and Final Fantasy XIII all look stylistically a lot a like. I admit that there are differences, but they are rather marginal if you ask me.

Does anyone agree with me or am I going crazy?
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You're ABSOLUTELY correct and it's partly the reason why if you don't like FFX, you wont like FFXII etc. They are all so similar now. I mean, look at FFVII, FFVIII and then FFIX. Each one LOOKED different. FFVII looked a little cartoony compared to FFVIII and FFIX looked old-world style. All 3 were excellent.

The new FFs do look and play alike and i PERSONALLY haven't enjoyed a game SINCE FFIX. I hated FFX, i hated FFXI and FFXII. I MIGHT give XIII a miss. Since Square became Square-Enix the series took a dive. Even Crisis Core wasn't THAT good
 
Well since the beginning I have thought that Snow looks freakishly like the KH2 Version of Seifer, but when i saw the pictures of Oerba today all i could think of was FFX-2 Yuna. I mean look at this. she has like the same type of skirt, and the same little pouch.

Wolba.jpg

yuna-cg-model.jpg



and Snow and Seifer

Mr33cm.jpg

kh2-seifer-a.jpg
FF8%20seifer-render.jpg
 
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You are absolutely right. It looks like very similar ideas were used in the design of those characters, and especially the images of Yuna and Oerba back to back, really shows it. I hope that when Square in a distant future rolls out Final Fantasy XIV, they will bring in someone else to do the design. One of the biggest draws of the Final Fantasy series as far as I am concerned, is that we used to get something new with every game.

It would be really cool to see Yoshitaka Amano do the character design again. Nomura is good, but I just think that Amano is so much more creative.
 
Think it's a good idea. To be able to relate from past characters.

Like Snow from FF13 VERY much, because of the fact he looks like Seifer from FF8. :tighthug:

But in the future if there is many ''Snow's '' and ''Seifer's '' then it would get old fast, and then it would be a clue that SE are running out of ideas.

But think that if SE do run of ideas, we will all know. SE games before the end won't be that flash, and then they will throw everything they've got on the very final and last game...

Which hopefully won't be untill Final Fantasy 24 or 25..
 
I too think that some character ideas and appearances are being recycled now. Another character with the same facial structure as Snow, Loz, Irvine and Zell is Wakka from X.
 
I don't really mind the recycled appearances,I just hope they don't also recycle their personalities or abilities.Since they are his creations I believe he can decide whatever he wants,maybe he just made that on purpose so we don't forget the characters of past FFs.
 
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