You'll have to forgive us for revisiting this project for a third time, but God of War Art Director, Raf Grassetti, is still working on his collection of realistic Super Smash Bros. Ultimate designs and we can't help but share them for you to see.
Last time, we shared Grassetti's takes on the likes of Diddy Kong, King K. Rool and Mewtwo amongst others, with the original batch featuring favourites like Link, Samus and Sonic. We'd urge you to go back and check out all of those pieces if you haven't seen them already, but here are the latest efforts that have been uploaded since then.
If you scroll through each image you'll also be treated to older designs and variants of certain characters. If you want to see more of Grassetti's work, which unsurprisingly features some amazing God of War pieces, make sure to check out his Instagram account.
What do you think? Any favourites from this latest set? Let us know which ones you like in the comments below.
[source instagram.com]
Comments 82
I love these so much!
Yoshi, Peach, and DK look too realistic and a bit scary. The rest look really good!
Peach is a bit of a misfire. Something about her face (and hair) doesn't seem quite right.
So much awesome fan art out there... But it isn't attached to the "God of War" name, so it doesn't generate clicks. When the artists are "nobodies" it just isn't worth the time, right?
I dont think i was ready for this..
@Heavyarms55 Well proven artists generate more clicks yes.
If someone want other not so famous art they can just use Google.
Some of these are amazing some are kinda unsettling very strange do Sony not mind him having such a love for a series that’s not on the PS4
Yikes, I really respect the effort and change of vision, but realism isn’t always a good thing (Yoshi, DK). 😅
Some guy does something for free, off his own back purely to entertain.
The internet still finds something to complain about...
I like the Yoshi picture. Too cute 😊
They are sooo good, Ganondorf looks proper evil and Yoshi is sooo cute
Anyone think Dark Samus would make a good skin in Warframe?
They're amazing and his other stuff from previous posts are great too but Peach just does not work. Drag Queen Peach.
@ottospooky Purely to entertain? You don't understand how Instagram works, do you? It's all about the clicks. If he truly wanted to impress, he'd create OC. But no, he'd rather play into people's nostalgia like so many others. Because that's what generates clicks. Not OC.
Me personally, I think Dave Greco has more style and flavor to his art than "the GoW guy".
Ganondorf looks cool, and Yoshi reminds me of the SMB movie.
@Gs69 I don’t think Sony own him in that way haha
Yoshi’s face looks like Yooka from Yooka-Laylee. Well, to me anyways.
I know I was only joking I meant in the sense of him having such an affection for a rival series on a rival console
@nessisonett that was a reply to you forgot to tag you in
@GeminiSaint Princess Peach looks like Tom Brady in drag.
Ganon looks good, the rest are abominations
They look awesome
Most of those are pretty neat. I'm digging that Ganondorf design.
@Taffy
I do!!
I love the different interpretations of the classic Nintendo characters. Art is amazing and proof that Nintendo Characters are timeless.
I love the texture on kirby! Peach is holdling an adorable plushie toad.
Ganon and Dark Samus are okay but the other images seem...well, cursed 😱
Sorry but no thanks. I prefer the original non god of war designs.
Still dont like it
The Peach one is great! DK too. Those of you saying he misses the mark or doesn't catch the soul kind of misses the point. He's trying to do something new and add his own soul, not just draw realistic versions of video game characters.
No no no no no and f**k no. I love God of War and this artist has a huge amount of talent.
But a big part of the job of an artist is to get the mood whatever he's drawing should have.
And it's a total mistep (except maybe for Kirby).
Result is too scary and nightmares material.
Take that far from the kids !!
Yoshi looks like a turtle which outgrew its shell.
And Peach... Just don't change peach, she's perfect as she is and this realistic-ish version lacks her usual cuteness overload.
I hope he won't mess with Rosalina
I love GOW and their collective work won big at DICE this month
https://www.polygon.com/2019/2/14/18224190/dice-awards-2019-winners-god-of-war-ps4
But, not a fan of this - except maybe for Ganon ⚔️ Link. Art style equivalent of a Round peg in a square hole.
nightmare fuel...
That’s awesome!
Is that suppose to be Peach as played by Anna Faris?
Maybe a bit too relistic, it's kinda scary.
Most of them range from okay to good, except for lady boy Peach, and
I don't like the organic look of Samus either. Retro Studios' interpretation of how a Metroid Prime suit should look, was already perfect, so that just shouldn't be messed with, even if it's supposed to be dark Samus, which is only a negative mirror image of the real Samus after all.
I would be jealous.....they are trash!
everyone who dislikes this Peach is wrong
Peach and Dedede are my two Smash Bros. mains, so this has been one of my favorite NL thumbnails in a while!
@EasyDaRon Yep, and that's great.
Eh, it's nice to see a Peach that doesn't look like a crossplayer doing Animegao/Kigurumi, like the "official" Nintendo art does.
I like this Peach, she has more personality than every official Peach artwork combined.
Oh god, it just keeps getting worse, someone make him stop. His Twilight Ganondorf is the only one that looks even remotely good.
It isn't impossible to say "I don't like these drawings because I don't like the art style" and also to say "perhaps there is a different audience that I am not a part of that likes this art." It doesn't have to be that the artist ought to be doing things differently. And the audience reaction isn't necessary what justifies art either.
That Ganondorf does look like he walked out of God of War.
A friendly artist reminder that it isn't a talent, it is a skill.
I am also in awe of his ability, just have to remember everyone is capable of it but it takes decades and decades of hard, miserable practice. Most of us just don't want to put in that level of commitment to get there, ha ha. Myself, sadly, included. But onward and upward anyway! We do what we can. Anyway, thanks for sharing these! Cool stuff.
...Still no Mr. Game & Watch...
These are amazing.
is it me or is ganondorf the most normal looking one of them all
@GeminiSaint kinda looks like she was just in the rain with her hair.
Ganondorf and Dark Samus look awesome neat!!
@edgedino Probably because he hasn't changed much.
I know, I know, opinions and all that. But a lot of people seem to think this guy shouldn't have done his take on the characters, because it doesn't fit what they think suits the characters. Isn't that kind of the point though? Here's an imagining of what a cute nintendo character might look like in the style of another type of game?
Anyway, if you scroll on the yoshi pic there is a time lapse video showing how it was done. Knowing nothing about this sort of art, i found it really interesting.
I’m pleased with these illustrations. He’s certainly talented.
Still kinda creepy but kinda cool.
These are most definitely proof that art is in the eye of the beholder. Overall I don't like the depictions at all but the art side of it he is talented.
Smash Bros movie here we go.
Aww, love the Peach with the stuffed Toad!
Just slap a picture of Doug on that bowser and it will be perfect.
I don't know... His portrait of Peach looks like she's the princess of the Trailer Park Kingdom.
@TheFox Sounds correct. After all, Rosalina is best and classiest.
Man, Falco really let himself go....
No, but really. I can't say I'm a fan of most of his versions. Not that they're objectively bad, they just feel like... Grimy versions of these characters, and it doesn't really fit most of them. That being said, this Ganon us perfect.
@rjejr
Tom Brady, he's handsome.
@Heavyarms55
When someone worked on the masterpiece that is God of War they deserve to get the credit for it. Also you are missing the point that it is cool that someone who works for Sony is seemingly quite obsessed with a lot of Nintendo characters.
The Peach one is bad. The others are okay-ish. None of these stand out or are actually good.
@SBandy Yeah, God of War was a stellar game, I get that. That doesn't mean all of his art is SO MUCH BETTER than the countless talented artists that HE ALONE deserves to be featured.
There are amazing artists out there, producing relatively better fan art of Nintendo characters than this guy. But this guy's name is attached to God of War, so he gets featured, while "nobodies" whose names aren't attached to some big AAA product will never get that spotlight despite the legit quality of their work.
It's lame. This guy doesn't need the extra notoriety, he's already made it big. But there are artists out there, pouring their heart and soul into their work, who would practically kill to get featured on a site like this, or Kotaku, or some other gaming site where that boost could get them many more opportunities.
@Heavyarms55
You imply he isn't also pouring his heart and soul into his work.
I am all for supporting the "little guy" but it isn't up to Nintendo Life to search the internet for random drawings of Nintendo characters and report on it here, I for one would be asking where the real stories are. There are no doubt many websites dedicated to that.
Bottom line is Grassetti has a tie to another videogame which makes this story more relevant for Nintendo life than other artists drawings of Nintendo characters. Also Grassetti has already made it as you said so it isn't like he is getting a one up over anyone else.
@SBandy I don't think I could possibly disagree with you more if I tried. So I am just gonna leave it at that.
@Heavyarms55
I honestly don't see how but fair enough.
The more cartoon the character the more they always suffer from this treatment. Except for Kirby because what realistic thing do you do besides make him out of soft stuff? DK's alright but I want to nitpick on Peach.
@Spoony_Tech Did you see Bowser? I like all of them, but Bowser is the one that freaks me out.
@amrole Yeah he was pretty creepy looking last I remember.
@AlexSora89 Thanks for the singing news link, highlight of my day so far, yes I saw the Pokemon Direct, and probably will continue to be so.
Turns out I was subscribed to them but can't recall ever watching them, probably saw 1 I liked and subscribed and never went back.
Ahh, as it turns out I was subscribed to schomoyoho for his "auto-tune" news which may have been a pre-cursor to "song-i-fy" the news. This is the first vid I ever watched.
Edit: Sorry for the broken link, ti wasn't that good anyway.
@rjejr
Don't worry, if it was a Schmoyoho video, chances are I already saw it anyway.
@AlexSora89 That's b/c you have good taste.
@rjejr
"Get money
get cash
get money
get a whole damn stash"
<3
@AlexSora89
@rjejr
Haha, that was brilliant!
Kind of reminds me of when they used to repackage Japanese games for the west - a certain something gets lost in the process. These are very well executed but they lack a little charm. I quite like the Dark Samus and Ganon though.
@Jriibz Then you haven't looked. Because there is loads of fanart out there in every style imaginable. And much more interesting art than these simple static portraits.
That ganondorf looks scary powerful on that picture.
im also digging that dinosaur yoshi.
Kratos for smash
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