Loki Laufeyson Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Tellius is wonderful when it comes to being pleasing to the eye. All of those luscious character designs and backgrounds. Oh yes. FE8 also had some really nice artwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crixler Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 (edited) Favorites: Official Art (Style) - FE8 Character/armor designs - FE6-12 are all similar enough design-wise, though Elibean fashion is probably my least favorite of those. Face sprites - FE11/12 And I know this wasn't part of the question, but whatever: Least favorites: Official Art (Style) - FE2, obviously. Least favorite modern FE art style would be FE11, though. Character/armor designs - FE13 (except Myrmidons) Face sprites - FE4. The hair .-. I don't have any strong feelings regarding battle sprites/models or anything. Edited September 22, 2014 by Crixler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Geek Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 It isn't just the hair on FE4's face sprites that looks wrong. Something is seriously wrong with Leen and Tinny's faces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solrocknroll Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Radiant Dawn.The colors and art technique look amazing. The battle animations are incredibly pretty and fit the characters as they promote (whoever decided in FE9 that Sage!Ilyana would basically be Blue Callil should be fired). The maps themselves look nice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oshimos Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Definitely Radiant Dawn. While there are a few characters that look kind of... off (Astrid and Soren come to mind off the top of my head), most were done extremely well. The animations were nice, the locations were pretty, it was overall a very pleasing aesthetic. The only thing that really hurts it in my mind are the Wolf animations, which really bother me for some reason. Also, I seem to be the only one who didn't care for Sacred Stones' art style. I've always thought it was a major step down from 7. Everything feels too washed out compared to the vibrant games that came before it, and a lot of the new classes felt really bad to me. Like, Rangers run around for way longer than they need to, Rogues jank upward at the end of their dodge like they're missing an animation frame, Summoners look super awkward healing, and despite GKs having the whole cool 3D look to them, it feels out of place compared to every other class. None of the character designs really stuck out to me either, but I think that's more of a personal thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmmy Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Official artwork wise I find FE8's style very appealing; it may be because I have a more painterly style myself as opposed to clean lines, but I really like the drawing style and the earthy colours used for the shading. I do admire clean lines a lot though (because I cannot do them), so I really like the Tellius/Awakening art with their clean lines but painterly (?) shading which I think turned out great. Design-wise though I think the Tellius art (despite not having played the games) is really nice, the armour/outfit designs really feel like a polished version of the general outfit trend that's been around for the whole series I think. I personally reallyyy like a lot of the Awakening armours aside from the Knight armour (Great Knight/Heroes come to mind); I like mecha a lot and I personally like to add a lot of the lines, like those on the neck of the Great Knight horses, onto my own creature/mecha/etc designs. But my preferences aside I do think the design/outfit style they went with in Awakening doesn't feel very 'Fire Emblem' in general, at least when compared to the outfits of all the previous games... For in-game graphics my favourite is definitely the GBA games; I got into the series from FE7 and the first thing that impressed me about the game was the battle animations, they were very snappy and sharp (?) which I thought was really cool to look at, and I thought the crit animations look especially great in these games compared to the others with their over-the-topness. And since I used to be really into pixel art, the detailed face portraits never cease to amaze me (though I thought FE11/12 ha really awesome ingame portraits as well).The special effects (sparks/magic circles and etc) in Awakening were very nice though. sorry I talk too much.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etria Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Also, I seem to be the only one who didn't care for Sacred Stones' art style. I've always thought it was a major step down from 7. Everything feels too washed out compared to the vibrant games that came before it Really? I found FE7 really washed out in contrast to 8. (And 6 just has terrible colours. Lance's and Roy's hair... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Geek Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 If we're talking about official art, nothing beats FE Treasure IMO. It made the FE4 cast's crazy 90's anime designs look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ownagepuffs Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 If we're talking about official art, nothing beats FE Treasure IMO. It made the FE4 cast's crazy 90's anime designs look good. 110% this. When it comes to overall character design, the regal look of Jugdral in the Treasure book just can't beat. Tellius by far has the sexiest armor though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirie Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Overall, I think I would give FE8 my pick. It's not my #1 pick in any individual category except maybe battle sprites, but overall it has a good aesthetic flow and there are no elements that are displeasing. In general, I like the style of the GBA games the best as a whole (I'm a sucker for sprites) and the darkness of FE8 pulls it up over the brighter, cheerier look of Fe6 and FE7. For face sprites, FE10 gets my pick. I love the direction they went in with all of the characters and the details were great. Everyone looks unique and shown in a good light, and the quality is nice and high. I really dislike the 3D animation in the game, though. For 3D animation, the prize definitely goes to Awakening, which actually has decent looking 3D models that don't make me ill. FE13 also gets the music prize, because music counts towards aesthetics, right? While I generally like almost akll of the music in FE, I think FE13 has the most memorable music. For maps and scenery design, FE4 for sure. Those huge maps. <3 But the face sprites and animations look so derpy that I have a hard time awarding it points anywhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cymbalina's Revenge Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 110% this. When it comes to overall character design, the regal look of Jugdral in the Treasure book just can't beat. Tellius by far has the sexiest armor though. Some of the Treasure designs are just plain weird, though. Like Lester's head. Super Tactics has an, uh, interesting take on the Jugdral gang, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topazd Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 (edited) Some of the Treasure designs are just plain weird, though. Like Lester's head. Super Tactics has an, uh, interesting take on the Jugdral gang, though. Super Tactics Book certainly had some horrible interesting choices in terms of its artwork, but I really liked Sigurd's and Quan's artwork for example (not counting their faces). Edited October 1, 2014 by Topazd255 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cymbalina's Revenge Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Super Tactics Book certainly had some horrible interesting choices in terms of its artwork, but I really liked Sigurd's and Quan's artwork for example (not counting their faces). The Gen1 stuff has some real badass poses (Sigurd and Quan for sure) and I guess it's nice to have full-body artwork of some of the major antagonists like Reptor but man, those squashy faces and derpy hair. But then the Gen2 art is so off the wall and just so different from all the other FE4 OA. Half the boys look like 80s male models. Janne looks like a silent movie star. I didn't even recognize Gen2!Finn the first time I saw him because there's a LOT of OA featuring Finn and this one's just... different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roivann Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Super Tactics Book certainly had some horrible interesting choices in terms of its artwork, but I really liked Sigurd's and Quan's artwork for example (not counting their faces).Honestly, I like the Super Tactics Book artwork. Aside from its derpy faces, it's mostly pretty good IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DomesticHausCat Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Definitely FE4, I love the battle sprites and animations in that game. Plus the holy weapons are awesome, the character portraits are awesome and the fight backdrops are awesome. But the most awesome part of it is the sheer size of the maps when compared to the world map imo. Nearly all chapter maps are an entire country if you look at the world map closely enough. This gives the feeling that your units are not just fighting skirmishes but full out wars every chapter you play. The grandiose feeling you get from this and them traveling the world over really helps me love the game as much as I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaMonkey Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Radiant Dawn, because PoR's art is really ugly, and Awakening's art is too anime-ish for my liking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Geek Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Radiant Dawn, because PoR's art is really ugly, and Awakening's art is too anime-ish for my liking. And Radiant Dawn's... isn't? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Banzai Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 FESS has the most polish but I like Thracia's official art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ownagepuffs Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Is there really such an artistic distinction between 4 and 5/9 and 10 that they are separate options? I mean the mug shots in Thracia are waaaaay sexier than Genealogy but the overall aesthetic is the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor Odinson Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 They're separate games, for one, no matter how similar you think they are. Even small things can make or break the aesthetics, especially if one has a critical eye. The differences are certainly big enough to me, and even if they weren't, they are different games. By that logic the GBAs should get combined too, as the sprites are stylistically and structurally more similar to each other than FE4 and 5's are to each other and the interface did not change much either. However, FE6's is the first of the style and was immature technically. FE7's far refines the sprites in terms of quality, and FE8 goes for a brighter, more saturated palette shift. Although these are not big differences, they're still enough to warrant a difference in perception of aesthetic to the viewer. The same parallel can be said between 4/5 and 9/10, where the earlier, less technically refined version can appear far more jarring to a person despite not drastically major differences. Hell, many artists, myself included, hate our own work about a month after we make it even though it's probably not that dramatic of a difference after a month's of improvements, but it happens. Any difference is a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naglfar94 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 For me FE4 had the best visuals the FE series really took a huge leap in battle animations with that one I love how cool the sprites looked and the magic animations and such. The critical hit animations were also awesome especially for the sword master and sword fighter classes. Portraits were well done and the maps are great! everything fit so well I want to see another FE game in the future use that style. FE3 comes in as a close second the animations role over nicely there I miss the old message boxes in battles that tells you whats going on too :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ownagepuffs Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 They're separate games, for one, no matter how similar you think they are. Even small things can make or break the aesthetics, especially if one has a critical eye. The differences are certainly big enough to me, and even if they weren't, they are different games. By that logic the GBAs should get combined too, as the sprites are stylistically and structurally more similar to each other than FE4 and 5's are to each other and the interface did not change much either. However, FE6's is the first of the style and was immature technically. FE7's far refines the sprites in terms of quality, and FE8 goes for a brighter, more saturated palette shift. Although these are not big differences, they're still enough to warrant a difference in perception of aesthetic to the viewer. The same parallel can be said between 4/5 and 9/10, where the earlier, less technically refined version can appear far more jarring to a person despite not drastically major differences. Hell, many artists, myself included, hate our own work about a month after we make it even though it's probably not that dramatic of a difference after a month's of improvements, but it happens. Any difference is a difference. Well... Shit. That's what I get for having the eye of an engineering student. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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