Impractical Character Designs

[Jiggabyte]

Inspired by this thread [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.176414-Most-impractical-JRPG-weapon].
I was just looking over the character design for Lulu from FFX, and realised just how goddamn impractical her outfit is for anything.

Spoiler: Just a reminder of Tetsuya Nomura's love of style over substance. Also belts.

I mean, seriously, how many belts is she wearing? And she's battle-ready, right? She's wearing heels and a fur coat, and little else. Not most protective thing for someone who is going up against the embodiment of evil itself. It's not even really ablative (heavy fur and, you know, the skirt made of belts), which should be priority for a spellcaster who's ditching protection.
In fact, a lot of games suffer from this problem. Yahtzee wrote an article on it not long ago with some good examples [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/7071-Extra-Punctuation-Darksiders], War being the main one. Nobody needs that much armour, especially when none of it really goes together more than being a random assortment of scrap metal.

So, what do you (yes, you) consider bad character design? Examples? Any particular games or designers? Or maybe I should shut up and let you post already.

(inb4 JRPG hate)

 

[Pimppeter2]

Because somebody had to do it.

 

[Souplex]

I think they were trying to use the "sex sells" approach to marketing.

What is so sexy aboot a belt skirt?

 

[GBlair88]

I think they were trying to use the "sex sells" approach to marketing.

What is so sexy aboot a belt skirt?

With more than six billion people in the world there must be a belt fetishist.

 

[Jiggabyte]

I think they were trying to use the "sex sells" approach to marketing.

What is so sexy aboot a belt skirt?

I didn't even start on wholly-exposed chest thing, but whatever. That's obviously just to get the fanboys reaching inside their trousers during cutscenes, so I'll overlook it.
I mean, if there's another reason behind how a character is designed (like, say, Sora in Kingdom Hearts, who isn't really meant to look like a warrior), that's fine... but I still see utterly no reason for Miss Beltskirt.

 

[Kajt]

Because somebody had to do it.

I believe we have a winner.

 

[Souplex]

I think they were trying to use the "sex sells" approach to marketing.

What is so sexy aboot a belt skirt?

What's so sexy about leather?
Also you can see her lingerie and her thigh as well.
I would imagine guys would find her fur coat attractive too.

I don't get it; clothing isn't attractive, it is an obstacle that the goal is to remove.

 

[Souplex]

Because somebody had to do it.

Spoiler

From what I know about the laws of weight, mass, and motion, there is no way that top could stay on unless it was super elastic and already being stretched close to the limit. There are few tropes more impractical than battling in something cleavage exposing.

 

[Paperplanes79]

I always wondered how a human form could fit into a Big Daddy suit like the ones with all the portholes. You know the one on the cover of the first one.

Also the button up shirt on the blonde girl in Uncharted is completely unflattering.

 

[mesoforte]

You know, you don't really notice all the buckles while playing FFX.

Most characters need a definite limit to their design though. Once you get past one or two extraneous pieces of clothing, it's usually too much.

Spoiler

That's a good character design. There's only two layers to the outfit (the black vest and pants) and the red cloak thing.

Spoiler

Good character design. There are three layers to the costume (black shirt, black vest and pants, and black jacket) but they fit together nicely.

Spoiler

Not good character design. There are way too many belts that aren't necessary. The shoulder armor and vest also don't really make sense. Also, red cloak for no reason.

Spoiler

Bad character design. The extra ornaments don't really make sense. The entire thing looks gaudy.

 

[Souplex]

Spoiler: Snip

I think they were trying to use the "sex sells" approach to marketing.

What is so sexy aboot a belt skirt?

What's so sexy about leather?
Also you can see her lingerie and her thigh as well.
I would imagine guys would find her fur coat attractive too.

I don't get it; clothing isn't attractive, it is an obstacle that the goal is to remove.

People find certian articles of clothing attractive.

I don't get it.

Spoiler: It is basically like finding this hot

 

[Danglybits]

Conceal and reveal, too much skin is trying too hard and is uninteresting. There is joy in anticipation. And yes, the FF guys really have a thing for belts, and costumes that make no sense. The design suits Lulu, but makes no sense, even less so when you remember she lives on a tropical island.

Tifa makes a little sense since she needs to have full range of leg motion, but that could be achieved with pants. And the F cups (I think they're bigger than that actually) make no sense on anyone, much less someone who wants to be active and not carry her chest around in a shopping cart. I hate AC but I love what they did with her design, more practical, but still very much Tifa.

What about the thing from X-Blades? I don't know if any of you have ever tried to run in a bikini top or a thong, but I assure you that you won't get far. She must have really resilient skin to go running, jumping, exploring, and fighting and not have a scar on her.

 

[Jiggabyte]

Conceal and reveal, too much skin is trying too hard and is uninteresting. There is joy in anticipation. And yes, the FF guys really have a thing for belts, and costumes that make no sense. The design suits Lulu, but makes no sense, even less so when you remember she lives on a tropical island.

Tifa makes a little sense since she needs to have full range of leg motion, but that could be achieved with pants. And the F cups (I think they're bigger than that actually) make no sense on anyone, much less someone who wants to be active and not carry her chest around in a shopping cart. I hate AC but I love what they did with her design, more practical, but still very much Tifa.

Most of the designs in Final Fantasy VII actually work. I mean, giant swords and silly hair aside, they all look the part. They're not lugging around much in the way of armour, but they're wearing clothes that suit their personality, their rolese and more. It works. Hell, even Buster Blade wasn't that bad (later representations made it worse, e.g. the multi-sword thing.)
It was around X when things got a bit crazy, I think. I mean, FFIX had Quina Quen (the Jar-Jar Binks of the game) among other monstrosities, but nothing too bad. If you look at the Nomura redesign of Zidane it's pretty decent (just two belts, I think...)

I don't know if any of you have ever tried to run in a bikini top or a thong

Being a 16-year-old male, I can safely say I haven't. I can't imagine it being practical, though.

 

[ultrachicken]

I always wondered how a human form could fit into a Big Daddy suit like the ones with all the portholes. You know the one on the cover of the first one.

Actually the big daddies are deformed because of so much adam usage, so the suit fits quite nicely.

I'd say the raiders from Fallout 3. With all the radiation around and super mutants, does it make sense to cover roughly half your body?

 

[Woodsey]

Because somebody had to do it.

Jesus f*ck!

Look at the size of those things!

 

[Jiggabyte]

Because somebody had to do it.
[snippity snip]

Jesus f*ck!
Look at the size of those things!

I'd class them as a form of protection.
Hey, it's better on the eyes than most shields of that size.

 

[Woodsey]

Because somebody had to do it.
[snippity snip]

Jesus f*ck!
Look at the size of those things!

I'd class them as a form of protection.
Hey, it's better on the eyes than most shields of that size.

Better than "most" shields?

I'm intrigued; tell me, exactly what types of shields are more pleasing to the eye than a giant pair of finely crafted tits?

 

[Jiggabyte]

Better than "most" shields?

I'm intrigued; tell me, exactly what types of shields are more pleasing to the eye than a giant pair of finely crafted tits?

You never know.
When oversized they both cause back pain, though.

 

[Twad]

im more or less repeating myself but..

Games = rule of cool is king. Common sense and physics be damned. The more ridiculous the better, and on females "less is more" because gamers are expected to play the game with one hand.

 

[ShakesZX]

The main sense that i'm getting from this thread is that form needs to follow function. What i mean is that I'm hearing a lot of people complain about clothing being unrealistic to suit the character. Apparently Final Fantasy characters are the biggest fodder.

Let me just say that in video games, form following function can be thrown out the window. The world that these characters live in has magic. MAGIC. That means if somebody wants to wear something very revealing, (or even nothing at all) then they could probably put some enchantments on it.

The clothing and stylizations of these characters are purely done by ascetic choice. Sure, in the real world going into a fight in knee high platform boots would be stupid, but these people don't live in the real world. I personally like watching a guy run around in enough metal to create a tank. I find it funny. I get ENJOYMENT out of it. and isn't that the main reason for video games?

Honestly, trying to nit-pick at a game because someone was wearing something you didn't like...
Well, that just sounds like there's something else going on in your head.