Which FEs have the best and worst character design, in your opinion?

[Azz]

For best, I have to give it to SoV. Each character just looks amazing and Hidari's artstyle just also happens to be my favourite in the series, Sachiko Wada being a very close second. Also, I really appreciate the amount of man cleavage we get with Saber, Atlas and Jesse.

For worst, I'm not sure since I do think each FE has its really strong designs and not so good designs. If I had to pick one, I'd probably say Awakening, solely because I hate some of the class costumes. I think their overall characters are designed well and I do like Kozaki's art, but oh my god some class designs are horrendous. Cavaliers and Knights? Rotten. Heroes??? Yeah exactly. Overall very bleh.

On the topic of Engage, I actually quite like Engage's designs, Hortensia included. I understand why people would be averse to it considering how different it is from other FEs, but I really enjoy the semi-medieval/semi-modern aesthetic its characters have going, especially in their casual attire in the Somniel. 

[ARMADS!!!]

12 hours ago, lenticular said:

For specific characters, I generally think it's better to have character designs that push the envelope and will be polarising. Like, I don't personally like Hortensia's design at all, but I'm sure that there are some people who absolutely latch onto it and think "yes! her! I want to use her!" the second they see it. And they get to use a character with a design that they love whereas I just get to bench her and use someone else instead. I'd much rather see more designs like that than very generic designs like, for instance, Beck that nobody is going to hate but nobody is going to love either.

I think that the GBA games were already good enough in doing that (and that Engage wss bad), there are characters that I think that are ugly fucks or look ridiculous so I don't use them (kept using Chad even if Astolfo was better than him! And that was before I actually gave a try on Altolfo's personality to see if he was cooler than Chad, he was ugly enough for the answe to not matter), but I'm sure other people like them. Again with the Astolfo example, I used to find him hella ugly BUT I can't say his design is baaaaaad (it just looked bad for my eyes), it's polarizing in relation to him being beautiful or ugly or in whether his style falls into your tastes, not polarizing in relation to whether his design is bad or not. If I have to explain to someone why I found Astolfo ugly, I'd just say "Idk, he's just an ugly fuck, his face looks stupid to me" but I wouldn't know how to justify that, Hortensia or Alear are way easier to justify for someone that hates her design.

 (I just checked Altolfo's portrait while writing this and found out that I find him a lot more handsome now for some reason, but back when I last played FE6, I found him DANM UGLY. Anyway, then people say that "pretty privilege" is not real, while we're here refusing to use better units if they're ugly or cling to horrible units if they look pretty)

[Fire Emblem Fan]

3 hours ago, Azz said:

considering how different it is from other FEs

Being different doesn't have anything to do with it for me, personally. I just think it's a trash design and would be in any other game as well, not just FE.

[Jotari]

54 minutes ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

Being different doesn't have anything to do with it for me, personally. I just think it's a trash design and would be in any other game as well, not just FE.

In your partial opinion of course.

[ARMADS!!!]

1 hour ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

Being different doesn't have anything to do with it for me, personally. I just think it's a trash design and would be in any other game as well, not just FE.

Doesn't matter even a bit? I mean, whether you think it already looks bad or not (I do too), doesn't it end up being even worse for being Fire Emblem? Because then they not ONLY made it ugly but also changed the style completely! (Not trying to force it, I just find it odd that someone that hated the design wouldn't be even more pissed because because they went into such an odd direction, in the context of the series).

 One of the things I'm the most worried about right now- in relation to Fire Emblem, of course- is that the next game retains this overly anime/Genshin Impact look, even if the designs turn out to be good and/or they hire a different artist.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

8 hours ago, Jotari said:

In your partial opinion of course.

I mean...

9 hours ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

I just think

 

[Imuabicus der Fertige]

No character design is good, until we get separate designs for between maps and in maps.

[Etrurian emperor]

Among the worst I'd actually say Binding Blade. I find it has an unfortunate mix of many characters looking pretty generic, others(Bors) looking downright weird and the color palette being a bit too bright. 

[Jotari]

40 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Among the worst I'd actually say Binding Blade. I find it has an unfortunate mix of many characters looking pretty generic, others(Bors) looking downright weird and the color palette being a bit too bright. 

Yeah but it also has Narcian.

[Etrurian emperor]

Just now, Jotari said:

Yeah but it also has Narcian.

Yeah but his beauty is on the inside so it doesn't count. 

[Jotari]

10 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Yeah but his beauty is on the inside so it doesn't count. 

Genuinely though I think the art does a really great job at capturing his character. More so than either his official art or Heroes artwork.

[Midnox]

I must say Tellius and Three Houses have the best art design. Not that the others aren’t good. Older Fire Emblems always have that their time’s anime medieval fantasy design, and they all fit, and relatively grounded. Only exception would be Fates, as they go for the over the top modern anime weeb appeal. Of course Fates WAS the bottom tier of bad design, as we all know which is the worst now

[ARMADS!!!]

4 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Among the worst I'd actually say Binding Blade. I find it has an unfortunate mix of many characters looking pretty generic, others(Bors) looking downright weird and the color palette being a bit too bright. 

Oh yeah, it has always be bothered me how bright it is. Lance's shiny toothpaste blue eyes give me nightamares sometimes.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Y'know for years I could never put my finger on why Binding's portraits felt notably worse than Blazing's to me even though the style is similar and it's the same artist iirc, but yeah, the palette has a lot to do with it. (Binding still definitely has some good ones, though.)

[Ruy]

For me, the best one is Radiant Dawn. The official artwork, the CGs and the portraits are all amazing, with elegance . Plus, some characters get updated portraits when changing classes (I think it's the only FE with this feature).

The worst desings. I don't like Shadow Dragon and Engage's art style, the first beacuse the characters have almost no expressions, and the latter because some of the character designs are too over-the-top.

 

[ARMADS!!!]

30 minutes ago, Ruy said:

For me, the best one is Radiant Dawn. The official artwork, the CGs and the portraits are all amazing, with elegance . Plus, some characters get updated portraits when changing classes (I think it's the only FE with this feature).

The worst desings. I don't like Shadow Dragon and Engage's art style, the first beacuse the characters have almost no expressions, and the latter because some of the character designs are too over-the-top.

 

Wait, they get NEW FUCKING PORTRAITS AFTER CHANGING CLASSES?! That's awesome! I'll look up some cause now I have to see it! Seems like a dream come true before I even knew ir was a dream...

 Yeah always thought that Shadow Dragon's characters look way too expressionless, they almost look dead, and the fact that everyone's face is very similar doesn't do it any favours.

[Jotari]

8 hours ago, ARMADS!!! said:

Wait, they get NEW FUCKING PORTRAITS AFTER CHANGING CLASSES?! That's awesome! I'll look up some cause now I have to see it! Seems like a dream come true before I even knew ir was a dream...

Only for Ike, Sothe and Micaiah's scripted promotions, I'm pretty sure. And well, not a promotion but Lucia's scripted haircut. Elincia also dons armour when becoming a playable character where previously she wore a dress.

Edited February 14 by Jotari

[Ruy]

12 hours ago, Jotari said:

Only for Ike, Sothe and Micaiah's scripted promotions, I'm pretty sure. And well, not a promotion but Lucia's scripted haircut. Elincia also dons armour when becoming a playable character where previously she wore a dress.

Really? I have memories of Edward and Leonardo changing portaits. But it's been like 9 years since I played Radiant Dawn from start to finish, so you're probably right.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

13 hours ago, Jotari said:

Elincia also dons armour when becoming a playable character where previously she wore a dress.

Worth noting that this portrait change only occurs in Path of Radiance. In Radiant Dawn, she's armored from start to finish.

Ike gets a glow-up in both games, while Micaiah and Sothe only get their glow-ups (glows-up?) in the sequel.

48 minutes ago, Ruy said:

Really? I have memories of Edward and Leonardo changing portaits. But it's been like 9 years since I played Radiant Dawn from start to finish, so you're probably right.

Their models change quite q bit if you get them promoted. But this change isn't reflected in their portraits.

Would be very cool for a Tellius remake or remaster to include portrait updates whenever a unit promotes. But it's not generally the case in the games as they exist.

[Nauriam]

My favorite is probably Radiant Dawn specifically. It's less the art style itself, but how intricate and memorable the designs are. I RD original characters like Nailah and Volug to be very well done and really memorable. Even looking at the character list, you can easily tell which characters got a touch-up in-between games and which didn't. Every royal laguz is so distinct and immediately recognizable (except for kurthnaga), and even Yune and Ashera have very distinct and memorable designs. I also want to mention that Micaiah's final promotion is probably one of my favorite character designs in the series. It just looks good. I don't even like Radiant Dawn that much, but I can't deny its good character designs.

For worst, everyone had been avoiding the NES games, which is understandable. For FE1, I'll forgive it, but for Gaiden? They very clearly had an artist involved, and they even had a decent pallet of colors and characters (for the most part) all had unique portraits, and they all still looked ugly. I know their tools were limited, but that doesn't hinder them from making good looking portraits. The official artwork is fine at best, but the in game art is just not that good.

[Jotari]

4 hours ago, Nauriam said:

My favorite is probably Radiant Dawn specifically. It's less the art style itself, but how intricate and memorable the designs are. I RD original characters like Nailah and Volug to be very well done and really memorable. Even looking at the character list, you can easily tell which characters got a touch-up in-between games and which didn't. Every royal laguz is so distinct and immediately recognizable (except for kurthnaga), and even Yune and Ashera have very distinct and memorable designs. I also want to mention that Micaiah's final promotion is probably one of my favorite character designs in the series. It just looks good. I don't even like Radiant Dawn that much, but I can't deny its good character designs.

For worst, everyone had been avoiding the NES games, which is understandable. For FE1, I'll forgive it, but for Gaiden? They very clearly had an artist involved, and they even had a decent pallet of colors and characters (for the most part) all had unique portraits, and they all still looked ugly. I know their tools were limited, but that doesn't hinder them from making good looking portraits. The official artwork is fine at best, but the in game art is just not that good.

I actually like Gaidens portraits quite a bit. A lot more than the first game.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

I think Brom has a slight change in Part 2 of Radiant Dawn. If I remember right, when you first see him, his portrat actually has him in farming clothes, and then after that it's his usual armored one.

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

I think Brom has a slight change in Part 2 of Radiant Dawn. If I remember right, when you first see him, his portrat actually has him in farming clothes, and then after that it's his usual armored one.

They kind of had to do that for the nature of that conversation, which is Nephenee informing him of the crisis and telling him to get his armour. Would be a bit weird to be farming in full armour. Then again you recruit him in a prison in the previous game where he apparently was kept with his armour on.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

10 minutes ago, Jotari said:

They kind of had to do that for the nature of that conversation, which is Nephenee informing him of the crisis and telling him to get his armour. Would be a bit weird to be farming in full armour. Then again you recruit him in a prison in the previous game where he apparently was kept with his armour on.

Still, though, it was a portrait change of some kind. And, like you said, there was the prison where he somehow was allowed to keep his armor, lol. It's cool they thought of the nature of the scene this time.

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

Still, though, it was a portrait change of some kind. And, like you said, there was the prison where he somehow was allowed to keep his armor, lol. It's cool they thought of the nature of the scene this time.

What's even weirder than Brom armoured in prison is both Macellan and Dolph in Shadow Dragon. Because New Mystery has a support Convo with one of them where it confirms that they used their body to shield their allies from enemy arrows. Which is exactly what the player ends up doing in gameplay, but it's weird to think of it in any realistic context.

Due to the nature of Gaiden and SOV's gameplay, Mathilda not only has a horse in her prison cell but a weapon too!