A horribly impractical costume design... for a male character
I've written before about the controversy over costume designs for female comic book characters - designs that, even in this day and age, are often more about sex appeal than any practical considerations. It is possible to balance the two, but it's tricky.
The issue is not limited to comics. It crops up in certain genre novels, tabletop games and, in the subject of tonight's post - video games.
I don't really know that much about the Final Fantasy series. I've seen Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and know the basic plot/characters of the Final Fantasy video game through sheer cultural osmosis. And there was that time tweelore tried to speed-play through Final Fantasy VIII just to show me that dance scene that has been used in so many AMVs that I knew exactly what it was long before Lore actually got to it. But you don't really need to know much about the franchise to appreciate what happened here.
A few weeks earlier, CC tweeted a link to a discussion of the newest installment of the Final Fantasy franchise - Mevius Final Fantasy. Specifically, the discussion of the design of its main character.
At first, you might not quite get why this is a big deal.
But the next few images give a bit more detail
A lot of times, when people complain about gratuitous character designs that show lots of skin, you can usually count on a few people (usually, but not always, male) to try to defend it. "It's part of the character." "It's not that bad." "You are just being a prude." "[Something about too much political correctness]," And, my personal unfavorite "they are just catering to their primary demographic - male gamers."
This time, the reactions were a bit different.
The character design...yikes
- Vitanimus
ewww..no ..why
- EhoaVash
My new name for his costume is Super Thighs Armor. Seriously, why does the armor make his thighs look HUGE, disproportionate to the rest of him.
I'm fine with him being skimpy, I'm all for equal representation, but the way the armor makes his thighs look is bothering me.
- Dusk Golem
To be fair, other posters were more level-headed.
Dude looks like a lady. But impressive from a technical standpoint.
- lethial
The game looks good for a mobile project.. the the art direction, no.
- The Praiseworthy
There was even a bit of self-awareness
is this what girls feel when they see games with girls wearing skimpy armor?
- ZiZ
Me... I'm of the opinion that two wrongs don't make it right. This costume/armor thing is horribly impractical no matter what the wearer's gender is. This character is supposed to be fighting monsters.
And here's a thing. Elsewhere on the forum thread, one user suggested that this character was designed to appeal to girls. And he kind of is. But not because of the armor. No, it's because of his pretty-boy looks, the nice abs and the nice ass. The armor doesn't really add to his sex appeal.
(At least I don't think it does. Ladies - if you disagree, please feel free to chime in in the comments)
Still... Things like this help to show just how ridiculous the gratuitous fanservice character designs really are. And if it gets people thinking... I guess I can live with the silly back-bearing, thigh-exposing armor.
At least a little bit.
---
The issue is not limited to comics. It crops up in certain genre novels, tabletop games and, in the subject of tonight's post - video games.
I don't really know that much about the Final Fantasy series. I've seen Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and know the basic plot/characters of the Final Fantasy video game through sheer cultural osmosis. And there was that time tweelore tried to speed-play through Final Fantasy VIII just to show me that dance scene that has been used in so many AMVs that I knew exactly what it was long before Lore actually got to it. But you don't really need to know much about the franchise to appreciate what happened here.
A few weeks earlier, CC tweeted a link to a discussion of the newest installment of the Final Fantasy franchise - Mevius Final Fantasy. Specifically, the discussion of the design of its main character.
At first, you might not quite get why this is a big deal.
But the next few images give a bit more detail
A lot of times, when people complain about gratuitous character designs that show lots of skin, you can usually count on a few people (usually, but not always, male) to try to defend it. "It's part of the character." "It's not that bad." "You are just being a prude." "[Something about too much political correctness]," And, my personal unfavorite "they are just catering to their primary demographic - male gamers."
This time, the reactions were a bit different.
The character design...yikes
- Vitanimus
ewww..no ..why
- EhoaVash
My new name for his costume is Super Thighs Armor. Seriously, why does the armor make his thighs look HUGE, disproportionate to the rest of him.
I'm fine with him being skimpy, I'm all for equal representation, but the way the armor makes his thighs look is bothering me.
- Dusk Golem
To be fair, other posters were more level-headed.
Dude looks like a lady. But impressive from a technical standpoint.
- lethial
The game looks good for a mobile project.. the the art direction, no.
- The Praiseworthy
There was even a bit of self-awareness
is this what girls feel when they see games with girls wearing skimpy armor?
- ZiZ
Me... I'm of the opinion that two wrongs don't make it right. This costume/armor thing is horribly impractical no matter what the wearer's gender is. This character is supposed to be fighting monsters.
And here's a thing. Elsewhere on the forum thread, one user suggested that this character was designed to appeal to girls. And he kind of is. But not because of the armor. No, it's because of his pretty-boy looks, the nice abs and the nice ass. The armor doesn't really add to his sex appeal.
(At least I don't think it does. Ladies - if you disagree, please feel free to chime in in the comments)
Still... Things like this help to show just how ridiculous the gratuitous fanservice character designs really are. And if it gets people thinking... I guess I can live with the silly back-bearing, thigh-exposing armor.
At least a little bit.
---