Who has the "best art"?

[Lewyn]

There is a lot of great art in this game, and in general the consistency of quality has gotten better over time.   Just of the top of my head, Tana really stands out as maybe my favorite.  Summer version is also very good, cause similar.  The thing about her is the art has a lot of depth so it doesn't look flat or like a drawing but like you are seeing her as a real person in a mirror.  Her upbeat carefree attitude is captures so perfectly in her pose and smile, however she looks fierce when she does battle.  Through her main art, her battle art, when getting damaged you get different moods.  I remember how my jaw hit the floor when that trailer on Tana's initial banner came, just wow.

Other impressive works, Winter Lissa with its intricate detailed design of clothes/bell, and a beautifully drawn face.  Legendary Lyn and Legendary Hector look like they came straight out of FE7, the art style is so good and on point.  Also the animations, Hector copter, and Lyn teleport slash are among the best in the game.  

 

[thecrimsonflash]

I think my absolute favorite art in this game is Amelia by far, there are very few examples of the art for a character breaking away from the original design in any drastic way but I think that amelia is absolutely perfect, she maintains the general look of her original art, keeping her childish appearance, but they took several design cues from the gba general class, this is the best example of a an original class change design, this artwork is the sole reason why I want amelia in fire emblem warriors 2 if it happens.

I also like myrrh, but that was a given for me, myrrh would have been hard to screw up for me.

I love sakura miwabe's art in general, I know that it is a niche style and would never work for a mainline game, but I appreciate the inclusion. I give special mentions to delthia and mist being my favorites.

the black knight like myrrh would have been hard to screw up but I think this version rivals kita herself

same with zelgius, I appreciate the version they chose personally, a nice way to depict RD's version of the black knight.

I also really like legion.

[Erureido]

Pretty much any of the characters drawn by Tobi are most of my favorites when it comes to Heroes art. There's just something about the vibrant colors and the soft yet distinct outlines the artist uses that really make these characters stand out, not to mention the artist does a great job conveying their expressions that accentuate their personalities. Summer Takumi, NY!Takumi, Clive, Summer Leo, both Morgans, and Canas are among my favorites.

Lyon's and Soren's art are also among my favorites. Lyon's default Heroes art does a good job conveying his good-hearted side with his facial expression, and his attacking arts do a decent job showing his serious side. Soren's Heroes art is also good for similar reasons, in that each of his arts highlight his personality quite well. The use of colors and shading are also quite good. The two characters even share the same artist.

Exalt Chrom's is also a favorite of mine, though I think it comes close enough to what I consider to be the "best art" in the game. He looks really handsome in that art, probably the most handsome Chrom has ever looked out of all the artworks he has received from his game, Heroes, and Cipher. He's got the determined look nailed down with his default art, his attacking arts bring out his fierce and brave aspects, and his damaged art still makes him look cool while he has an expression that conveys his iconic "We're not done yet!" line. The armor also looks quite nice on him: yellow/gold, white, and blue make a nice combination!

[Vajra]

Eldigan: A very regal and imposing design, befitting his status as Nordion's main ruling figure and the leader of one of Jugdral's strongest cavalry brigades. The red, white, and gold color scheme that his design was known for translates rather nicely into Heroes. Both of his attacking and damaged art, especially the latter, do an incredible job of conveying his lionhearted fury; I thought Mystletainn looked beautifully designed here as well. Also true to his character, it makes sense he was designed to look handsome. Bonus points for the Castlevania-esque appearance, too. By far, my favorite art in Heroes done by PenekoR. Rika Suzuki's take on Eldigan in Fire Emblem Cipher looked amazing as well.

I don't know if this is an appropriate thread for discussing in-game sprites but I really like how Eldigan's sprite turned out, everything from his expression, the curtains on his horse, and, of course, Mystletainn. 

Sigurd: For me, Sata's version of Sigurd was definitely a pleasant surprise because I initially didn't think too much of Seliph's art when he was made available in Heroes. As already mentioned in this thread, his Heroes design draws a nice parallel with his official FE4 artwork, retaining just about every feature, except for the pose. Much like Eldigan, it is a very majestic design with the blue, white, and gold color scheme adding to the aesthetic. After seeing how Sigurd turned out in Heroes, I wouldn't mind seeing Sata draw Sigurd again in the future. 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Zhu Qiao

[Junkhead]

Katarina is so beautiful duuuude

[Usana]

When it comes to art improving I think Hector is a good one to bring up. All of his art is pretty good. Original Hector I hear doesn't appeal to many, but he appeals to my more traditional tastes and the fact that too sharp of colors make my eyes hurt. Plus, I always liked that traditional cell-shaded look. Vector is most definitely not flat and has much richer colors. However, at least for me, the colors tend to bleed a bit. So my eyes don't pick out all the details unless I really squint. Basically not as clean as the traditional Hector in my opinion. That said I would still put it above Original Hector by just a bit. And now we have Legendary Hector. He takes the best from Original Hector and Vector and then upgrades his appearance to what is his best showing yet. I can easily say that Legendary Hector gives both the boot. I mostly want him for his art, not because I want yet another Hector. If this trend continues CYL Hector is going to blow people's minds.

 

As for favorites outside of improving art of one chracter, I would have to say Nephenee has always had a strong appeal to me. And of course I do so like Myrrh. Amelia is. . . I do wish she had better designed armor. I so wish it more resembled Sheena's. Who, besides the heels and overstated armor skirt, has the best female Armored Design in my opinion. So Amelia's boot style extended upwards and a Sheena style top with a less pronounced skirt closer to Amelia's current size would probably better appeal to me. I would digress, but we just don't have a lot of good armor designs for the ladies.

And then there is Arthur. I love his portrait, but something feels off on the other poses to me. Still though it is quite fitting. So it gets an honorable mention for that alone.

[Scoot]

I have a soft spot for Sachiko Wada and Senri Kita because their work on the earlier FE games helped influence my own drawing style when I was younger.

HACCAN's is really nice, Effie and Nephenee are both gorgeous.

Kimihiko Fujisaki only has one character (Jakob) but it's fantastic. I adore his style.

Julia and Dierdre by Haimura Kiyotaka are elegant and beautiful.

Both meka (Cain, Linus) and Suekane Kumiko (Camus, Frederick) have a talent for drawing handsome men.

I like the shiny, colorful styles of Takagi Masafumi (Clair, Peri), HAKO (Shanna, Caeda, Felicia), Enkyo Yuichiro (Bride Ninian, Soleil) and Ito Misei (LA!Eliwood)

Maiponpon (M!Corrins, Lucina), Mikuro (Summer and NY Camillas), Konfuzi Kokon (L'Arachel, Nanna, Faye) and Shioemon's (Tailtu) works have this soft and gentle feel about them.

Others I like are PenokoR (Legault, Ares, Valter), Kozaki himself, Daisuke Izuka (Minerva, Michalis), Chiko (F!Grima, Kinshi Hinoka),  cuboon (Reinhardt, Olwen), and Yamada Kotaro (Lyn, Exalt Chrom)

[saisymbolic]

Personally,  Seliph's (and, by extension Sigurd's, I suppose) artwork always stood out to me. It's really one of the reasons, along with his VA, that I'm investing in him. It's hard to explain why, but I'm a huge fan of how the artist shaded the folds and wrinkles in his clothes, and that I could imagine the weight and feel of it. Kinda wierd, but I don't care.

[Mau]

My absolute favourites are Arvis (specifically his portrait art) and Innes (specifically his attack art). Their hair, their clothing, just everything is fabulous and beautiful. But there's a lot more I love, like NY!Takumi, Navarre, Winter Lissa, Nephenee, Klein, Soleil, Sanaki, and S!Young Tiki.

As for favourite artists:

• Teita (Arvis, Innes, Saias): only now found out both Arvis and Innes are actually done by the same artist, so that automatically makes them my fav artist.
• Enkyo Yuichiro (Bride Ninian, Halloween Nowi, Soleil): their art is simply beautiful, I just love how 'soft' it looks.
• Tobi (Canas, Clive, Klein, S!Leo, both Morgans, S!Takumi, NY!Takumi): their art has so much detail and beautiful colors. All their art just....works.
• Umio Geso: Winter Lissa looks fantastic, I hope they draw more units in the future.

Edited July 19, 2018 by Mau

[Ae†her]

My number one pick would have to be LEphraim's art followed by Leif's art for the best artwork. Tomoyo's work on regular Ephraim's armor was already by far the best thing ever, but Lephraim's armor takes it up to a new level. The amount of detail and choice of design and texture is too perfect. The only slight problem is that it makes Lephraim's face look too out of place, but that's kinda necessary to remind us that this godly armor is actually for this cartoonish lord.

Leif's art is a strong second place because the texture is by far one of the cleanest and nicest looking things I have ever seen. It's again mainly because of the armor and the design here is phenomenal, but not as extraordinary as Asatani Tomoyo's Lephraim. My only complaint about Leif's art is his facial expression, it should be a little more determined and angry looking like Leif is in Thracia.

Other notable artworks would be:

- Summer Corrin / Bridal Tharja - The glossy texture on their art makes them look unique and really cool in general.

- Celica / Fallen Celica - She always had such clean art with a bunch of cool textures. Her hair especially is really cool.

- Genny - Falls in the same boat as Celica. Her special art is especially amazing. She looks different than most of Amagaitaro's other works.

- Ares / Valter - They both have pitch perfect body proportions and their armor is casual but embraces the casualness with perfect lighting, shading and coloring.

- Innes - I know there's Arvis and Saias here too, but I think Innes design is the most spot on and little bit of everything such as a nice clothing texture and silky hair texture. Innes' clothing design in general is amazingly well done.

- Kita Senri - She always makes wholesome PoR/RD style artwork. My favoritr is Brave Ike, Karel and Karla.

Edited July 21, 2018 by Ae†her