Tag: fantasy

Posted on

SarcasticMantisShrimp submitted:

This is Nu Wa from Smite. Look who got a bingo!

I love Smite to death, but their portrayals of females leave MUCH to be desired.

Oh SMITE, you neverending well of snore-inducing generic “sexyness” and casual cultural appropriation.

At this point the only thing worth pointing out about this is that for a figure from Chinese mythology, Nu Wa/Nüwa/Nügua here looks suspiciously white. And, traditionally for SMITE, any claim of this portrayal being “historically accurate” hinges on mass delusion (and probably a certain youtuber’s disproportionate popularity).

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PS: No need to claim precede a valid critique with “I really love this thing to death, but…”

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~Ozzie

Posted on

pixelcut:

WOOO I did a redesign of this hot monstrosity. The screen shots used in this post were provided by doctorsanity, who submitted them to bikiniarmorbattledamage

Look, I’ve been employed as a designer for two years now, and maybe that’s not that long; I’m at least sure I don’t have the same kind of industry experience that the designers in charge of this train wreck probably do, but I do know one thing: 

Design that fails to communicate its intended message is bad design. 

It is, in my opinion, the chore element that separates what we do from Fine Art – fine art is a personal expression. Someone can argue with the conclusions that you came to in fine art but ultimately, it’s your territory, your message, your composition, your voice, your story.

When you’re a hired designer, everything changes. It’s their story, their character, their message, their voice.

Putting aside the obvious pandering and intent to profit off of misogynistic ideals in female video game characters for just an instant, let’s talk about Charlotte.

Charlotte [evidently, from what I’ve admittedly heard through the grapevine; this game is not yet out in my country] uses a masquerade of charm and innocence to seduce men for their wealth. When I heard this, I was shocked, because from the moment I saw her outfit, she never looked like someone I could trust.

If she’s supposed to look demure, make her look demure, goddammit. You shouldn’t need a greenhorn like me to tell you these things. Learn to treat your female characters with more respect.

Awesome redesign accompanied by an awesome writeup, thank you, pixelcut!

One more thing I’d add about the difference between design (hired or not) and fine art, is that design is supposed to serve the same purpose for everyone who sees it. To communicate an intended message, as pixelcut puts it.

The problem with how Charlotte looks basically boils down to the whole issue our blog concerns: that a lot of female character designs, particularly female warrior costumes, do not tell us who we’re dealing with. Lingerie models, maybe, but not warriors, especially not if male characters of the same or similar class establish a completely different aesthetic.

~Ozzie

Posted on

DnD Modern Magic

SGG submitted:

I play the most recent Dungeon and Dragons edition (5th ed.) and they release supplemental material on occasion on their website. This is the most recent addition, along with a picture of some modern day/futuristic heroes:

Sadly, I think this poor woman in front might want to take a note from her allies. She seems to have been dealt a serious wound from that bare midriff. 🙁

An Asian girl with weird tattoos blue lipstick in a sexualized version of schoolgirl outfit (with bra poking out) armed with a faux katana… totally fits in with a generic dude and a catguy with a monocle both wearing power armor.  That’s not trite and painfully cliche at all…

In this case the “injury” that showcases she’s wires and… green goo inside seems to ramp up the objectification further since it suggests she’s not a person in the regular scene by a sci-fi thing.

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– wincenworks

Posted on

DnD Modern Magic

SGG submitted:

I play the most recent Dungeon and Dragons edition (5th ed.) and they release supplemental material on occasion on their website. This is the most recent addition, along with a picture of some modern day/futuristic heroes:

Sadly, I think this poor woman in front might want to take a note from her allies. She seems to have been dealt a serious wound from that bare midriff. 🙁

An Asian girl with weird tattoos blue lipstick in a sexualized version of schoolgirl outfit (with bra poking out) armed with a faux katana… totally fits in with a generic dude and a catguy with a monocle both wearing power armor.  That’s not trite and painfully cliche at all…

In this case the “injury” that showcases she’s wires and… green goo inside seems to ramp up the objectification further since it suggests she’s not a person in the regular scene by a sci-fi thing.

image

– wincenworks

Posted on

Kaguya-Hime

countaile submitted:

Can we talk about how the legendary Kaguya-Hime (a beautiful lunar princess from Japanese folklore) was transformed into this abomination?

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I’m not really sure how those garments even work, let alone how she’s supposed to swing that mallet around – I mean c’mon, it’s a beat’em’up game, not a dating sim…  Or is it?

Since I can already hear the furious typing of people rushing to assure us that we can’t judge this because it’s Japanese and things are magically different over there, let me just point out this studio not only put their games on Steam for international market, but they started marketing games to the USA and their biggest title on Steam is…. “Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle” 

Oddly the game site seems to make a big deal about her bunnies having to play games with her and protect her, but makes no mention of who glues that outfit to her every morning.  The bunnies, incidentally… look far more intimidating that the Princess herself:

– wincenworks

Posted on

Kaguya-Hime

countaile submitted:

Can we talk about how the legendary Kaguya-Hime (a beautiful lunar princess from Japanese folklore) was transformed into this abomination?

image

I’m not really sure how those garments even work, let alone how she’s supposed to swing that mallet around – I mean c’mon, it’s a beat’em’up game, not a dating sim…  Or is it?

Since I can already hear the furious typing of people rushing to assure us that we can’t judge this because it’s Japanese and things are magically different over there, let me just point out this studio not only put their games on Steam for international market, but they started marketing games to the USA and their biggest title on Steam is…. “Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle” 

Oddly the game site seems to make a big deal about her bunnies having to play games with her and protect her, but makes no mention of who glues that outfit to her every morning.  The bunnies, incidentally… look far more intimidating that the Princess herself:

– wincenworks