Kingdoms of Amalur is a game which is usually not too extreme on the female armor, sure there are very form fitting boobplates and boob windows here and there – but at least the  female characters are mostly covered and it at least attempts to look like armor.

Except for ONE of the major NPCs, Alyn Shir, who is apparently so into bondage lingerie that she wears it everywhere.  Now, given that you meet this character early in the main storyline and she stays with you more or less for the whole storyline… this seems to me like it sends the wrong message to the player.  Or at least leading them to question the sales pitch:

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an epic, open-world role-playing game set in Amalur, a mysterious and magical new fantasy world created by New York Times best-selling author R. A. Salvatore. Brought to life  visually through the trademark visceral style of renowned artist and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, Reckoningbrings a new level of intense action combat to the RPG genre.

The game is being developed under the leadership of Ken Rolston, lead designer of the critically acclaimed RPGs Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Now, we can’t even go with “sex sells” on this one – because much like Cia/Shia on Nintendo’s English language site – Alyn Shir doesn’t appear in their promotional images showcasing the game.

It’s like the developers decided that they just needed to have a super sexy female character, then when they got to the end realized that she’d be completely inconsistent with the tone of the game.

So I have a free hint for developers and art directors everywhere: If the concept for your female character is so sexualised it’s embarrassing and you can’t use it to showcase your game – maybe redesign them into something consistent with your product.

(in game screenshots courtesy of bhryn)

– wincenworks

To be honest, with Todd McFarlane’s involvement in the project’s visuals we shouldn’t really be expecting much in the female armor department. After all, he’s the guy who brought us Angela’s original design.

~Ozzie

edit:

artintheart replied:

I worked on this project and directly at the time when we made her. It was Todd mcfarlane who ruined her, she was full armored before he got hold of her. Hes sexist and promotes sexist imagery of characters. “executive” decisions suck.

CALLED IT! ~Ozzie