Topic: E3 2021 Discussion Thread

@TheJGG That was what's jarring to me. How the three guys were dressed in modern clothes, despite the world being high fantasy. It's possible that it could be reimagined, but it just makes no sense if this is a prequel to the original, unless the characters are from another world entirely.

@TheJGG I had to look up Cor since I've seen so many comparisons between him and Jack... Cor's at least got multiple layers on to keep a more interesting design, Jack's as boring as it gets! I think I honestly would have preferred Nomura just going all in on his ridiculous design style rather than making someone this bland. At least they'd be distinct. Anyone remember back when people said Clive from FFXVI had a plain design and name by FF standards? I think Jack's completely outdone him at this point.

On the bright side, at this point, I get the feeling that Nintendo dropping a BOTW2 trailer would pretty much make everyone forget about these last few E3 conferences if that does happen (And I really hope it does since they promised more information this year). I think most of us could use that mind wipe...

@VoidofLight I got it! They must be three prison escapees off the street, all junkies, who got done for causing bar punch-ups. They were teleported to this world and under their drug induced hallucinations began sucker punching monsters while swinging around seven foot swords.

Square, hire me, I'm better than Tetsuya Nomura. ;p

@Kezza64 You're completely right even though there's absolutely no evidence for either. But I'd be very surprised if we didn't get Smash. Hype train's leaving, all aboard.

@TheJGG I wouldn't be surprised honestly if it does end up being something like these three being completely out of their minds, believing that they're the heroes of light, when in reality they're just three normal guys in an alley tripping out on drugs and fighting some rats.

@VIIIAxel I agree. BotW 2 is really needed at this point just to make us forget these other horrid conferences. I feel like we might see it, seeing as, just like you said, Nintendo promised us more info this year.

@VoidofLight
Meanwhile, i don't even have any interest with games like BOTW2, AAA looking games with hyper realistic graphics and dark vibes.
By opposite, the cute cartoonish games from Wholesome Indie Direct and PC trailer are really interesting games for me. I have registered on my book some interesting upcoming indie games from the Direct / PC trailer, wishing for physical release on consoles in the future.

@VoidofLight I definitely think E3 would be the best time for at least a small peek at BOTW2 at this point. They know it's what everyone's waiting to see right now, and E3 is when they (usually) like to go all out with showing their biggest games. That and a big Smash reveal or two would be great ways to win over the audience after the pretty bad E3 season so far.

@VIIIAxel I feel like Nomura peaked with his FF7 and FFX designs and after that he just fell. His 3D designs have become more and more uninspiring, and as we get closer and closer to photorealism, most prominently beginning with Final Fantasy 12 and continuing throughout until now. FFXV's designs were alright but the protagonist designs were... bland compared to some of the stuff we got in the aforementioned games.

Makes me realise for all the rubbish core JRPGs are given their artstyles are timeless, and this allows for more expressive art design. The same year we got FFXV we got Persona 5, without a doubt the most expressive and stylish game I've ever played.

@VoidofLight That would be the true ending if you find all the secret messages and kill all the superbosses, not to mention completing every mediocre side quest under the sun. At least in Breath of the Wild you got to collect the memories and explore.

@TheJGG His FF designs have definitely been less distinct in more recent entries. I do really like his designs for both The World Ends With You games (I prefer TWEWY1's designs, but they've also had a lot more time to grow on me), I think the more stylized art helps a lot there though.

While Xenoblade 2 certainly has its share of... questionable designs, the Xenoblade series as a whole has a lot of pretty distinct characters as well (And I still think 2 has its fair share of strong designs despite the criticisms). Dragon Quest tends to get a lot of grief for having similar characters often, but I still really like its designs too (XI's cast overall was pretty distinct, even if the Luminary himself looks like Trunks or Android 17 with brown hair). Final Fantasy's kind of the one major JRPG that's going away from a more stylized art direction and character design style. I do like how XVI looks, but I'd love to see the series return to something more distinct and unique in XVII.

@TheJGG
Have you ever played World of Final Fantasy ?
That was one of the cringiest and very boring Final Fantasy spin off i have ever played. 😑
The character design (not the Chibi design) on WoFF was like copy paste of Kingdom Hearts style (same Emo looking hairstyle), the dialogues are very awkward and cringey, the world inside was pretty small and locked camera angle. Also, the god character Erna Cross who know everything didn't impress me at all as being a people I-Know-Everything-You-Know-Nothing, same arrogance as Organization XIII members.

@TheJGG I'm kind of glad the art director is different for XVI. I feel like XVI's protagonist is probably my favorite Final Fantasy protagonist design so far. His outfit is cool, and not to mention the face tattoo. His design proves you can do something unique and interesting despite the graphics being more realistic.

I'm really sad that Rare got Pirates of the Caribbean and I don't care btw. If I told myself as a teenager that the new Rare game was gonna have Pirates of the Caribbean content, I'd be beyond excited. But Xbox has spent a decade not being an interesting platform for me, and Rare eventually getting this one game right hasn't changed that much. And also Pirates 4 and 5 killed my interest in new things for that series too.

@kkslider5552000 I thought the announcement was cool, but I can't really say that the microsoft presentation really inspired me to get an Xbox. I had a bad experience with owning an Xbox One, and not having many games to really play on it, so I mostly just tend not to care about it in general. Doesn't really help that Playstation and Nintendo are the only two consoles that really get games I'm interested in.

@VoidofLight That is partly true but I can't lie to myself and say that they do not produce high quality hardware. I mean the Xbox One X and the Series X are better quality in terms or hardware opposed to the PS The only thing they are the worst is the software mainly the OS.

Well, it had it's reveal in Sony's show awhile ago, @VIIIAxel .... At least it's meant to be coming to PC the same time but it definitely isn't coming to other consoles for awhile! So that'll definitely be in their next show, which I'm sure won't be long after E3

@BruceCM That would be my guess at this point. I'm really hoping the hints that Sony has one coming up in a couple weeks lead to something, E3 season has felt a lot more quiet without them anyway. That being said, was XVI confirmed to be coming to PC alongside PS5? I remember they were kind of weird with the wording of it being console exclusive, but I don't remember any outright confirmation of a PC release alongside PS5. It would be cool if that was the case, but knowing how XV, VIIR, and the Kingdom Hearts games turned out, I wouldn't be surprised if PC has to wait a while for this one as well.

@VIIIAxel Xenoblade's character design has been all over the place. The first one had decent designs and some good motifs. I like Melia's design and her bird-like motif the most, her clothes, hairstyle, voice and behaviour are all very elegant and convey the perfect combo of royalty and humanity. Her shoulder length curls are to die for really. Xenoblade 2's designs are imaginative but at times in completely the wrong ways. The idea that Pyra and Mythra's clothes fill each other out to create their fully clothed ascended state is a nice detail. There's no other designs that strike me as "good" because three or four character designs are just elaborate ways of hiding Core Crystals.

Dragon Quest's art direction is consistent but character designs are not. Each character tends to represent a different colour, there's little symbolism involved otherwise. I hate the Luminary's original costume though and every time I start a new game I just change it to the Trodain Costume. Good thing we got options because he looks pretty darn good in it.

As @VoidofLight said, and as I didn't realise the art director wasn't Tetsuya Nomura, it is indeed Kazuya Takahashi. Some of his previous work looks awesome so I'm more excited than I was before.

Nah, I haven't. I'm not usually a fan of spinoffs... unless it's Persona in which case maybe... but my initial impressions of Organisation XIII were that they're trying to coerce Sora to the darkness by pretending to be guidance. It's weird and it doesn't have the impact it should.

@TheJGG Melia's design is fantastic (of course), I love the rest of the first game's designs as well. I do think 2 has some questionable designs, but there are characters like Zeke or Morag who I really like. X isn't quite as distinct as the other two (which makes sense in its world), but I think it has its share of really memorable designs as well.

I don't mind Luminary's default costume, but he does have some really great optional ones that come up later as well! I really liked that XI had alternate costumes, though it also would have been cool if it was like IX where each piece of equipment changed the characters' appearances. Just add an option to select cosmetic gear separately from functional gear like Xenoblade X and Definitive Edition did, that way you don't have everyone going around in completely mismatched armor...

As for XVI, I figured it was XIV's art director. I really love XIV's art style, I think it's a great way to go with a more realistic tone while still looking distinct like @VoidofLight said as well. I'm really excited to see more of XVI since it seems to have a lot of the key staff from XIV.

I'm here to kill Chaos. I don't know why, but it's something I have to do.