Dragon's Crown Designer Apologizes for Exaggerated Characters

[LiquidGrape]

You know gamer community[footnote]Not necessarily The Escapist community[/footnote], you guys make me mad. This guy did nothing wrong, and yet everyone needed to stomp on his artistic vision. I'm sure there are people that defended the ME3 ending because changing it would damage the medium's artistic integrity, yet forced the guy to apologize for drawing pictures the way he wants them.

"Artistic vision" doesn't really exempt anyone from criticism, though. For example, Mass Effect 3 had a very distinct aesthetic, but that doesn't excuse why EDI was sexualised to the point that she had a protruding robot cameltoe.
But speaking as someone who takes umbrage with the incessant recycling of these needlessly and childishly hypersexual (not to mention one-sided; the knight, mage and dwarf may also be exaggerated but to compare them would be disingenuous) designs, I would blame gaming culture at large rather than a single artist.

 

[deathzero021]

He shouldn't have to apologize. it's his art, he can make it anyway he wants. If people don't like it, so what? They don't have to buy the game.

Personally i do think the art is a little... odd looking. that guy is a bit too muscular for my taste but i've seen worse. I'm more interested to see the gameplay, if the game plays well i would still consider getting it. i like good art in games just like anyone else but i don't think this type of art is going to destroy the game imo. (although i can see how it would put off some other people and that's okay)

 

[spartandude]

i bet if they had an art style which depicted all black people as half human, ugly, twisted and demonic then almost everyone here would be demanding the artist's head and rightly bloody so.

 

[Megalodon]

Comparing the Fighter to Rob Liefeld drawings in the article really provokes me as an artist, though. Is it because he has a huge chest, like that Captain America drawing? Styles are different. You can't just draw a regular american superhero comic looking character like normal and then expand his chest, you have to change everything around, and this artist certainly does that. I can understand if this kind of style isn't your thing, but comparing him to Liefeld is unreasonable. Not as much as calling him a 14-year old kid for designing one character with colossal breasts and a nonexistant waist, but still, low blow.

My first thought when I saw most of those character designs was that they looked like Liefeld drawings. The fighter has fists the size of his head and shoulders five times wider than his hips. The dwarf looks similarly proportioned to a character like Cable (from a Cable & Deadpool cover), the Sorceress is in the generic "woman on a comic cover" pose you can see in Godyssey. The amazon looks about as deformed as something like that Captain America pick (serious;y ehat the hell, each of her thighs are the size of her torso). Now obviously there are some stylisitc differences, and I doubt I would mistake them for actual Liefeld drawings, but the look in the same league to me. Why is the comparison unreasonable? Both styles are deformed and out of proportion.

 

[Zefar]

All I see when I see almost naked character models or giant breast ladies is "Is that the best you can do?" :/

Too many games have done this instead of giving the female character an impressive but light armor while not giving her melon sized tits.

The game just looks like another one of those 2D brawlers. Not gonna bother with it.

 

[TallanKhan]

I don't believe that anyone should have to apologise for their artistic or creative choices. Yes some people may have found this offensive but that has always been the case with art.

People need to learn to just be offended and get on with it, you choose to take offence at something and making that choice doesn't entitle you to an apology.

 

[Parakeettheprawn]

You can shout 'STYLIZED' as loud as you like but it does nothing to address the real issue, that the men are designed to look powerful while the women are designed to be wanked over. I'd probably give this game a pass on the basis that all those images (with the exception of the sorceress) look too grotesque to be titillating for anyone, but I've heard the same bullshit used to defend too much actual sexism and the designer guy is acting like a child besides so I'm not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Who the hell is wanking to that? I'm not.

 

[Jennacide]

As a woman I'm starting to get frustrated with all the abuse Dragon's Crown is having to take. The designs are hyper stylized, and the Sorceress is pretty sexualized, but why does this game get so much flak when Dead or Alive is a worse in every way and gets a free pass? I'm not saying anyone should be upset by the designs by Ninja Team, just that some consistancy would be nice.

There are plenty of issues of sexism in games that should be addressed, and character designs are bottom of that list. Be mad about shitty characterization most women get. Be mad about how many awful tropes still get hammered into the ground. But being mad about the art of a character without having played the game to see how she acts or fights? That's just stupid. For all we know, the story could do an amazing job of painting the Sorceress to be a powerful, smart female that does my gender a favor. I have faith in Vanillaware, Muramasa and Odin Sphere were fair about how they did characters, and this looks to be no different.

 

[Parakeettheprawn]

I honestly don't have that much issue with the game. I'm the type of person who will get into arguments with an artist on DA for creating skeevy art, but in this game's case, it just seems to be a matter of art style, nothing more. Plus as Jennacide posted above -- for all we know, it'll be another Bayonetta-esque character instead. We can't know until it's been played.

 

[cikame]

I don't think he needs to apologize for the design, humans are capable of creating many things, some things certain societies arn't going to like but that doesn't mean those things arn't without merit.
He managed to design basic fantasy stereotypes, but in a way which non of us are going to forget, whether that's a good or a bad thing is up to the individual consumer but at least he took a chance instead mulling around in the neutral zone.

On the homo joke thing i know that the japanese have different tastes when it comes to jokes, just watch some of the older less western aimed Jackie Chan films for some grade c maturity. I'm willing to overlook it, it's not like he went on an anti gay tirade.

 

[darksakul]

An artist should never apologize for his or her works. The Public should apologize for giving the artist greif.
Keep in mind there is a thinline where a works stop being art and start being garbage.

If I was the artist, I will tell the world this is

"My work, like it or leave it. If it offends you, fine be offended but under no circumstances I change my artistic expression to appease those whose taste does not align with my own."

The art is reminiscent of the old Conan the Barbarian illustrations with some anime influences.

We live in a magical world every everyone gets offended for the slightest thing.
For those who get offended then start getting self-riguous my words to them is as such.

"No one is forcing you to look at this media, you have the right to choose what media you partake in.
If you do not like it do not buy it, do not look at it, simple as that."

If then if that does not work I simply tell them "Fuck Off".

 

[Scott Rothman]

Jesus christ this thread is infuriating to read. It started out well, but derailed so quickly just like they always do.

Everyone just go watch Jim Sterling's latest video. He is 100% correct in everything he says ever.

 

[Darken12]

Well, I'm glad he apologised for the disgusting homophobic joke, at least.

Also, he didn't apologise for the designs. He explained how he got to them and then apologised if YOU didn't see what he originally saw. He's not admitting that there was anything wrong with what he did whatsoever (though I'm not surprised by that), except, perhaps, that he should have tried harder to bring forth that "light-hearted fantasy tone" he talks about.

Either way, it's progress, I guess.

 

[chinangel]

I've played vanillaware games before so I kinda know what i'm getting into...but even I kinda find some of these character designs hard to defend.

 

[EstrogenicMuscle]

Eh, apologizing is pretty common in Japanese culture anyway from all I have been told who are experts on the subject. Or at least self proclaimed experts. I'd rather him think about the art direction and the possible meaning it has for others rather that be "sorry".

Also, this isn't an "Oh my God I'm so sorry I feel terrible" response. So I'm not to worried about his feelings.

Dungeons & Dragons and the work of J.R.R. Tolkien
Eh, a lot more Dungeons & Dragons than J.R.R. Tolkien. Also The Elder Scrolls: Arena did this sort of junk in their games. And it was pretty obnoxious there, too.

People keep defending art choices like this as "hey it isn't sexist because the guys are so muscular". Not the same, those dudes aren't there to look sexy to women at all. They're chiseled to look "manly" and capable. Having a figure like that would make you a hard as iron warrior. And the design is like that for players who want to feel like a hard as iron warrior. That Sorceress class, on the other hand, would have trouble even walking with breasts that large.

Also, for those saying people only complain about females with proportions like that, this is a problem, too. The fact that so many dudes in video games are these hard-boiled macho stereotypes with gigantic muscles is possibly as stupid as the fact that so many female video game characters are Ms. Fanservice with too large of breasts to even carry. Just for radically different reasons.

Radically different reasons for why people say "but but men are stereotypically formed for sex appeal too!" think. The problem with the male characters is how they force an unhealthy image of masculinity which is obsessed with hyper-empowered, dominance. The idea of this gigantic man with gigantic muscles and a huge beard falls right into the idea of many men thinking manliness is an achievement and the top of the human totem poll. And very much reinforces sexism just like these ridiculously buxom women. Just not in the way many defensive men would like to admit to.

 

[DanDanikov]

I'm going to straddle the fence on this one.

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with the image/character as designed, but rather the context in which it is used. Was it a deliberate attempt to promote a sexist or homophobic agenda? Highly dubious. Is there subconscious or cultural sexism/homophobia occurring here? Possibly, but the guy eventually apologised when it was pointed out and hopefully learned to be more considerate of that perspective.

Such things are somewhat subjective and, even in the case of actual sexism and homophobia in any art or media, that doesn't always equate to condoning (else that would be propaganda). An artist's sexism may be reflected in their art, but you cannot assume they are sexist because their art suggests it.

 

[Headsprouter]

Funny, in the world of Dragon's Crown, the Sorceress might be petite considering the elf's legs and the Amazon's...saggy muscles.

The early adolescent character design makes the whole game a bit of a turn off. His apology doesn't really justify it when you go ahead and stick a staff between her butt cheeks and press a skull to her boobs. It's not even like "this is my art style" it's "This is for SEX APPEAL!!!", the guys are exaggerated, too, but they aren't in particularly sexualised poses.

I'm not saying I like realism, either, it just..all seems a bit shallow. The enemy design is boss, though.