Forgot to respond to this part. Arkham Knight has a more realistic art style. More realistic bodies and faces, the huge muscles (that Unreal Engine may have made worse) largely dropped. But the costumes are just as overdesigned.
Another wall of text, about the Arkham City character designs:
CHARACTER DESIGNS
The character designs of the Arkham games are in this ugly middle between cartoon and busy realism. Comic book artists intentionally keep their designs simplistic, because they have to draw them over and over, while many video game artists clutter theirs with too much detail, not understanding that simplicity can make them more visually striking. They don't need to think about it because they only have to model and texture the character one time, aside from slight edits that make them appear more worn and beat up over time.
BATMAN
Batman's physique is so badly balanced. They put so much muscle on him that he looks malformed from certain angles [1]. He had pretty wide shoulders in the animated series, but here it looks strange because the art leans so much more towards realism [2]. I hate how metallic and angular the heavy gloves, boots and belt are. When you add all the punch holes and seams, the design becomes more about the suit than about the man.
[1] Batman_3.mkv
[2] Batman_shoulders.mkv
TALIA
Talia al Ghul looks like a biker [1]. I understand that those colorful flowing desert garbs she wore in other media might look out of place in Gotham City [2][3][4], but they could have gone with a more minimalist femme fatale appearance or something. There are so many lines, belts, hooks and buttons on the pebbled leather that you focus less on the woman, the character. Why do her assassins have all those ugly tattoos and not she, as a member of the same order?
[1] Talia_design.mp4
[2] talia_in_other_media_1.png
[3] talia_in_other_media_2.png
[4] talia_in_other_media_3.png
CATWOMAN
I don't understand what they were going for with Catwoman [1]. If the layer with the hexagonal patterns beneath is a bodysuit, then why the flat layers that are split all over on top? I guess it's all sewn together, with the top layer acting as stronger protection, but the straps resembling garters over her butt make it confusing. The way the top layer of the back of the legs makes those flat angles as it runs down makes no sense from a utility perspective, nor does it look sexy.
The zipper goes too low. If you go that low, you might as well continue over the whole pelvis, and then it will just look fetishistic. How low she has the puller and how the artists relied on rigid graphics to keep the open part of her suit always standing up like that bothers me too. The high collar doesn't work for me either, because of how open the chest area already is. If they wanted a prominent collar, then they should have started the zipper and collar at her cleavage.
I don't care for that thong 'n' stocking design in the back. Prior designs clearly had sex appeal, but they were less overt and more tasteful than THIS. [2][3][4][5][6]
The patterns and angles, how they're so intricately sewn together, imply that she has the same resources as Batman, that she can order expensive military or police grade equipment in sectionals (in bulk to reduce suspicion) and then finish putting them together herself, like in Batman Begins [7].
If you look at her neck, you will notice that the mask and choker are a single piece separated by two straps. Either have the mask cover her whole neck or separate the choker. THIS just looks needlessly complicated.
Why the belts on her sides? What are they supposed to do?
Because leather isn't fancy enough, the whip is made of metal [8].
Again, too much information in the design.
Also, why give her the protective goggles if she only pulls them over her eyes while using X-ray vision [9]? I think she only has them over her eyes in one cutscene [10]. Makes them look so useless on her head.
The Catwoman of Arkham Knight has a more human face. Her costume kept many of the problems and put a stupid cat brooch on her chest, but the patterns are at least simpler [11].
[1] play_in_corner_of_Catwoman_character_critique.mp4
[2] animated series scenes > Catwoman_(The_Cat_and_the_Claw).mkv
[3] catwoman_in_batman_returns_1.mkv
[4] catwoman_in_batman_returns_2.png
[5] catwoman_in_batman_returns_3.png
[6] catwoman_designs_through_the_years.png
[7] bulk-order.mkv
[8] catwoman_-_metal_whip.mkv
[9] catwoman_goggles_1.mp4
[10] catwoman_goggles_2.mkv
[11] Catwoman_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
IVY
Those glowing vines on Ivy's body, the green skin with green eyes, the way her floating hair moves by itself, the panties made of foliage... [1][2] Individually, some of those details would be fine, but together they are excessive. Her best designs are the more subtle ones, in my opinion. The ones who could seduce because they are still so human [3]. Who can blend into society with only glasses and a suit [4].
[1] Ivy_1.mp4
[2] Ivy_2.mp4
[3] animated series scenes > ivy_toon_(pretty_poison).mkv
[4] ivy_liar_(Eternal_Youth).mkv
BANE, CLAYFACE, KILLER CROC AND SOLOMON GRUNDY
The games may have been aimed most at fans of the DC animated universe, with the reprisals of Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamill as Joker and (at least in Arkham Asylum) Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn. But Clayface, Killer Croc, Bane and Solomon Grundy have none of the humanity and dignity of Bruce Timm's designs. They look so sinister and grotesque. Croc with those long, horrible teeth [X][2]. Clayface with a face resembling a skull [3][4]. Solomon Grundy, now an ugly giant with huge veins and bright glowing eyes [5][6]. Bane's hoses and neon-bright veins are ridiculous. His head is too low or his upper back is too high or both. It almost looks like the back of his head comes out of the neck. Like his brain goes into his neck [7][8][9][10].
[X]
[2] animated series scenes > Killer_Croc_(Sideshow).mkv
[3] Joker_is_Clayface.mkv
[4] animated series scenes > Clayface_(Feat_of_Clay,_Part_2).mkv
[5] Ice_gun_and_Solomon_Grundy.mkv
[6] Solomon_Grundy_(Justice_League_-_The_Terror_Beyond_Pt._II).mkv (10:02.601 to 10:22.985)
[7] Bane_1.mp4
[8] Bane_2.mp4
[9] *Bane character viewer*
[10] Bane_(Bane).mkv
Let us not forget Joker's disgusting appearance as the final boss in Arkham Asylum [1]. Why did he have a mohawk after becoming Titan Joker? I don't care for Joker's regular appearance either. The projecting chin and nose stand out on a model that's otherwise pretty normal in a world with mostly human protortions, barring of course the hulking muscle look that's, unfortunately, all over the trilogy.
[1] TItan_Joker.mp4
HARLEY QUINN
Harley Quinn's tattoos complete her trashy look. The original jester style was the only one that ever worked for me. [1][2] Also, Catwoman and Harley can't both have chokers in the same game. She is overused, by the way. We didn't need the Joker and her in every game in Rocksteady's trilogy.
[1] Harley_Quinn_1.mp4
[2] Harley_Quinn_3.mp4
BATGIRL
Batgirl is cute [1][2]. Putting Barbara Gordon in a wheel chair in the only video games that we'd have for however many years was a waste of a fun character. Robin and Batgirl should both have been playable in their own full stories starting with the second game, even if it meant shortening Batman's campaign. Arkham Knight finally made her playable in a short prequel DLC, but I do not care for her design [3]. At five feet and eleven inches, she is almost the same height as Robin and Nightwing and not that much shorter than Batman. You don't need to read her in-game bio to see that she is pretty tall. It's obvious when she stands next to the criminals [4]. Curiously, Tim Drake grew two inches between Arkham City and Arkham Knight. Another detail that would have helped to differentiate Batgirl from Batman and Robin is a shorter cape. Most of her other designs have shorter capes. Her suit also has too many distracting angles and lines [5]. I can't tell which parts are hard leather and which are plastic or steel.
[1] animated series scenes > Batgirl_1_(Batgirl_Returns).mkv
[2] animated series scenes > Batgirl_2_(Batgirl_Returns).mkv
[3] Batgirl_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
[4] Batgirl_fighting_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
[5] Batgirl_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
ARMOR
*Text saying, "Some of Arkham Knight's other designs..."* [1][2][3]
All the armor and padding take away from the theatricality of these characters and conceal the athletic physiques that are supposed to make them appear extraordinary. As animator Peter Chung said, it becomes more about the costume and less about the person [4]. Realistically, the armor would encumber Batman and his allies and make them more audible when they try to sneak. You would hear all the metal, plastic and stiff leather. Skintight outfits also make gunfire more visually threatening [5].
[1] Batman_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
[2] Robin_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
[3] Nightwing_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
[4] Audio from Aeon_Flux_commentary.mkv played over "Aeon_Flux_1" to "6" clips
[5] Animated series scenes > Batman_vulnerable_no_armor_(Robin's_Reckoning,_Part_1).mkv
The character designs of the Arkham games are in this ugly middle between cartoon and busy realism. Comic book artists intentionally keep their designs simplistic, because they have to draw them over and over, while many video game artists clutter theirs with too much detail, not understanding that simplicity can make them more visually striking. They don't need to think about it because they only have to model and texture the character one time, aside from slight edits that make them appear more worn and beat up over time.
BATMAN
Batman's physique is so badly balanced. They put so much muscle on him that he looks malformed from certain angles [1]. He had pretty wide shoulders in the animated series, but here it looks strange because the art leans so much more towards realism [2]. I hate how metallic and angular the heavy gloves, boots and belt are. When you add all the punch holes and seams, the design becomes more about the suit than about the man.
[1] Batman_3.mkv
[2] Batman_shoulders.mkv
TALIA
Talia al Ghul looks like a biker [1]. I understand that those colorful flowing desert garbs she wore in other media might look out of place in Gotham City [2][3][4], but they could have gone with a more minimalist femme fatale appearance or something. There are so many lines, belts, hooks and buttons on the pebbled leather that you focus less on the woman, the character. Why do her assassins have all those ugly tattoos and not she, as a member of the same order?
[1] Talia_design.mp4
[2] talia_in_other_media_1.png
[3] talia_in_other_media_2.png
[4] talia_in_other_media_3.png
CATWOMAN
I don't understand what they were going for with Catwoman [1]. If the layer with the hexagonal patterns beneath is a bodysuit, then why the flat layers that are split all over on top? I guess it's all sewn together, with the top layer acting as stronger protection, but the straps resembling garters over her butt make it confusing. The way the top layer of the back of the legs makes those flat angles as it runs down makes no sense from a utility perspective, nor does it look sexy.
The zipper goes too low. If you go that low, you might as well continue over the whole pelvis, and then it will just look fetishistic. How low she has the puller and how the artists relied on rigid graphics to keep the open part of her suit always standing up like that bothers me too. The high collar doesn't work for me either, because of how open the chest area already is. If they wanted a prominent collar, then they should have started the zipper and collar at her cleavage.
I don't care for that thong 'n' stocking design in the back. Prior designs clearly had sex appeal, but they were less overt and more tasteful than THIS. [2][3][4][5][6]
The patterns and angles, how they're so intricately sewn together, imply that she has the same resources as Batman, that she can order expensive military or police grade equipment in sectionals (in bulk to reduce suspicion) and then finish putting them together herself, like in Batman Begins [7].
If you look at her neck, you will notice that the mask and choker are a single piece separated by two straps. Either have the mask cover her whole neck or separate the choker. THIS just looks needlessly complicated.
Why the belts on her sides? What are they supposed to do?
Because leather isn't fancy enough, the whip is made of metal [8].
Again, too much information in the design.
Also, why give her the protective goggles if she only pulls them over her eyes while using X-ray vision [9]? I think she only has them over her eyes in one cutscene [10]. Makes them look so useless on her head.
The Catwoman of Arkham Knight has a more human face. Her costume kept many of the problems and put a stupid cat brooch on her chest, but the patterns are at least simpler [11].
[1] play_in_corner_of_Catwoman_character_critique.mp4
[2] animated series scenes > Catwoman_(The_Cat_and_the_Claw).mkv
[3] catwoman_in_batman_returns_1.mkv
[4] catwoman_in_batman_returns_2.png
[5] catwoman_in_batman_returns_3.png
[6] catwoman_designs_through_the_years.png
[7] bulk-order.mkv
[8] catwoman_-_metal_whip.mkv
[9] catwoman_goggles_1.mp4
[10] catwoman_goggles_2.mkv
[11] Catwoman_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
IVY
Those glowing vines on Ivy's body, the green skin with green eyes, the way her floating hair moves by itself, the panties made of foliage... [1][2] Individually, some of those details would be fine, but together they are excessive. Her best designs are the more subtle ones, in my opinion. The ones who could seduce because they are still so human [3]. Who can blend into society with only glasses and a suit [4].
[1] Ivy_1.mp4
[2] Ivy_2.mp4
[3] animated series scenes > ivy_toon_(pretty_poison).mkv
[4] ivy_liar_(Eternal_Youth).mkv
BANE, CLAYFACE, KILLER CROC AND SOLOMON GRUNDY
The games may have been aimed most at fans of the DC animated universe, with the reprisals of Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamill as Joker and (at least in Arkham Asylum) Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn. But Clayface, Killer Croc, Bane and Solomon Grundy have none of the humanity and dignity of Bruce Timm's designs. They look so sinister and grotesque. Croc with those long, horrible teeth [X][2]. Clayface with a face resembling a skull [3][4]. Solomon Grundy, now an ugly giant with huge veins and bright glowing eyes [5][6]. Bane's hoses and neon-bright veins are ridiculous. His head is too low or his upper back is too high or both. It almost looks like the back of his head comes out of the neck. Like his brain goes into his neck [7][8][9][10].
[X]
[2] animated series scenes > Killer_Croc_(Sideshow).mkv
[3] Joker_is_Clayface.mkv
[4] animated series scenes > Clayface_(Feat_of_Clay,_Part_2).mkv
[5] Ice_gun_and_Solomon_Grundy.mkv
[6] Solomon_Grundy_(Justice_League_-_The_Terror_Beyond_Pt._II).mkv (10:02.601 to 10:22.985)
[7] Bane_1.mp4
[8] Bane_2.mp4
[9] *Bane character viewer*
[10] Bane_(Bane).mkv
Let us not forget Joker's disgusting appearance as the final boss in Arkham Asylum [1]. Why did he have a mohawk after becoming Titan Joker? I don't care for Joker's regular appearance either. The projecting chin and nose stand out on a model that's otherwise pretty normal in a world with mostly human protortions, barring of course the hulking muscle look that's, unfortunately, all over the trilogy.
[1] TItan_Joker.mp4
HARLEY QUINN
Harley Quinn's tattoos complete her trashy look. The original jester style was the only one that ever worked for me. [1][2] Also, Catwoman and Harley can't both have chokers in the same game. She is overused, by the way. We didn't need the Joker and her in every game in Rocksteady's trilogy.
[1] Harley_Quinn_1.mp4
[2] Harley_Quinn_3.mp4
BATGIRL
Batgirl is cute [1][2]. Putting Barbara Gordon in a wheel chair in the only video games that we'd have for however many years was a waste of a fun character. Robin and Batgirl should both have been playable in their own full stories starting with the second game, even if it meant shortening Batman's campaign. Arkham Knight finally made her playable in a short prequel DLC, but I do not care for her design [3]. At five feet and eleven inches, she is almost the same height as Robin and Nightwing and not that much shorter than Batman. You don't need to read her in-game bio to see that she is pretty tall. It's obvious when she stands next to the criminals [4]. Curiously, Tim Drake grew two inches between Arkham City and Arkham Knight. Another detail that would have helped to differentiate Batgirl from Batman and Robin is a shorter cape. Most of her other designs have shorter capes. Her suit also has too many distracting angles and lines [5]. I can't tell which parts are hard leather and which are plastic or steel.
[1] animated series scenes > Batgirl_1_(Batgirl_Returns).mkv
[2] animated series scenes > Batgirl_2_(Batgirl_Returns).mkv
[3] Batgirl_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
[4] Batgirl_fighting_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
[5] Batgirl_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
ARMOR
*Text saying, "Some of Arkham Knight's other designs..."* [1][2][3]
All the armor and padding take away from the theatricality of these characters and conceal the athletic physiques that are supposed to make them appear extraordinary. As animator Peter Chung said, it becomes more about the costume and less about the person [4]. Realistically, the armor would encumber Batman and his allies and make them more audible when they try to sneak. You would hear all the metal, plastic and stiff leather. Skintight outfits also make gunfire more visually threatening [5].
[1] Batman_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
[2] Robin_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
[3] Nightwing_in_Arkham_Knight.mp4
[4] Audio from Aeon_Flux_commentary.mkv played over "Aeon_Flux_1" to "6" clips
[5] Animated series scenes > Batman_vulnerable_no_armor_(Robin's_Reckoning,_Part_1).mkv
