Honestly, I wish Oni's design philosophy for these characters was a bit more consistent. Even with the girls we already have the quality of designs varies too much. If you compare Jean and Rogue it looks like Jean's design looks so low effort. Don't get me wrong, I like the art and the body designs but just comparing faces the difference is stark. I'll swipe notabumblebee's image to illustrate my point.
Going beyond the hair looking at the line thickness and shadows on the face make it seem like Jean is a low effort design that doesn't quite fit in with the esthetic. The reality is Rogues design is the most consistent with the thickness of her body and face lines matching whereas Jean's head doesn't look like it matches her body perfectly.
This problem isn't limited to Jean because Emma and the other girls also have this problem if you compare them to each other. Line up the wrong pair and you can get a uncanny valley feeling because the designs don't look consistent when put side by side.
Out of the possible options for a new girl I'm hoping for Jubilee since the sketch of her seemed the best looking. It's not as if I'm not game for the other options but I have more issues with them. I like Jubilee because she adds a new flashy esthetic and in terms of character interactions she's a good choice to add when you already have Kitty and Laura. I also like that her powers could factor into gameplay if Oni decides to. She can literally use fireworks to distract and escape or be a fireworks exhibitionist who really attracts attention. I'd love to be having sex with Jubilee and Emma walks in so Jubilee spark blinds Emma and we run away, Or that Jubilee decides to put on a show for the audience.
What about the other girl who aren't winning the pole? Well...
I'm not a fan of Doreen's design, her face it a bit too wide and her cheekbone is a bit too pronounced It feels too much like the modern design for Squirrel Girl who isn't cute. I like the strong thick thighs, but I'd like her a bit more slim. Ideally it she'd look like the kind of girl who's really physically active but eats a few more calories than she burns. Oni's current design or at least the only one I've seen doesn't do anything for me, I don't need a body positive squirrel girl.
As a character to be added, I'm all for Lorna Dane. She'd be a really unique character to romance compared to the other girls, but Oni's design is the issue. I'd rather see 90's era X-men look with big hair since it would really stand out against her normal-ish personality. Storm and Emma might have a big hair but I'm a sucker for a giant mass of green curls. The pose she's in suggests she's going to be shy sad girl and you'll need to break out of her shell which just seems like a drag. I'd rather a quiet normal-ish girl who's got some deep seated issues that you only discover as you build the relationship. If you're going to put one of Magneto's daughters in this game you have to sell it otherwise you might as well not put them in the game.
Similarly, Oni's drawing of Wanda just feels off. I love goth Wanda, so it's not bad, but I'd want to see the final version, the ketch I've seen doesn't inspire confidence, as far as character goes it's a troublemaker version of rogue with even more issues, which I'm oddly okay with. I would like to see a the possible future long haired look form the series too.
As for Gwen... I don't want Gwen Stacy in an X-men game. There's plenty of good mutants/X-characters I'd rather see than waste time on Gwenpool, SpiderGwen or any variation of the character. Give me Betsy Braddock, Raven Darkholme, Tabitha Smith, Alison Blaire, Illyana Rasuptin, Cessilly Kincaid Rita Wayword... Okay I was totally just throwing names out there but now I'd totally want Rita (aka Spiral) The sex scenes would be hell of a trip and we don't have a unique looking mutant yet.
This post turned out way longer than expected, it's not 'War and Peace' long, but it's getting there as far as forum posts go. Still, at least with this and my other recent posts in this thread I'm covered on voicing my opinion on this game for at least a year maybe even two. That is unless Oni somehow discovers a fantastic work ethic and starts throwing out massive high quality updates ... Yeah, not holding my breath. I love the game, I hate the wait.
Compare the the lighter colour highlights in Rogue's hair, see how it softly blends, notice how the contrast isn't too much compared to the rest of her hair and how the edges are soft so that your eyes aren't drawn to any sharp edges. Also the shadowing on the white part of her hair is even and reflects plausible lighting. Then look at Jean the hair contrast is too high from the highlights to the lowlights which creates sharp edges and weird shadows. The patches of darker hair makes the lighting and shadows on her body feel in-congruent.
Going beyond the hair looking at the line thickness and shadows on the face make it seem like Jean is a low effort design that doesn't quite fit in with the esthetic. The reality is Rogues design is the most consistent with the thickness of her body and face lines matching whereas Jean's head doesn't look like it matches her body perfectly.
This problem isn't limited to Jean because Emma and the other girls also have this problem if you compare them to each other. Line up the wrong pair and you can get a uncanny valley feeling because the designs don't look consistent when put side by side.
Out of the possible options for a new girl I'm hoping for Jubilee since the sketch of her seemed the best looking. It's not as if I'm not game for the other options but I have more issues with them. I like Jubilee because she adds a new flashy esthetic and in terms of character interactions she's a good choice to add when you already have Kitty and Laura. I also like that her powers could factor into gameplay if Oni decides to. She can literally use fireworks to distract and escape or be a fireworks exhibitionist who really attracts attention. I'd love to be having sex with Jubilee and Emma walks in so Jubilee spark blinds Emma and we run away, Or that Jubilee decides to put on a show for the audience.
What about the other girl who aren't winning the pole? Well...
I'm not a fan of Doreen's design, her face it a bit too wide and her cheekbone is a bit too pronounced It feels too much like the modern design for Squirrel Girl who isn't cute. I like the strong thick thighs, but I'd like her a bit more slim. Ideally it she'd look like the kind of girl who's really physically active but eats a few more calories than she burns. Oni's current design or at least the only one I've seen doesn't do anything for me, I don't need a body positive squirrel girl.
As a character to be added, I'm all for Lorna Dane. She'd be a really unique character to romance compared to the other girls, but Oni's design is the issue. I'd rather see 90's era X-men look with big hair since it would really stand out against her normal-ish personality. Storm and Emma might have a big hair but I'm a sucker for a giant mass of green curls. The pose she's in suggests she's going to be shy sad girl and you'll need to break out of her shell which just seems like a drag. I'd rather a quiet normal-ish girl who's got some deep seated issues that you only discover as you build the relationship. If you're going to put one of Magneto's daughters in this game you have to sell it otherwise you might as well not put them in the game.
Similarly, Oni's drawing of Wanda just feels off. I love goth Wanda, so it's not bad, but I'd want to see the final version, the ketch I've seen doesn't inspire confidence, as far as character goes it's a troublemaker version of rogue with even more issues, which I'm oddly okay with. I would like to see a the possible future long haired look form the series too.
As for Gwen... I don't want Gwen Stacy in an X-men game. There's plenty of good mutants/X-characters I'd rather see than waste time on Gwenpool, SpiderGwen or any variation of the character. Give me Betsy Braddock, Raven Darkholme, Tabitha Smith, Alison Blaire, Illyana Rasuptin, Cessilly Kincaid Rita Wayword... Okay I was totally just throwing names out there but now I'd totally want Rita (aka Spiral) The sex scenes would be hell of a trip and we don't have a unique looking mutant yet.
This post turned out way longer than expected, it's not 'War and Peace' long, but it's getting there as far as forum posts go. Still, at least with this and my other recent posts in this thread I'm covered on voicing my opinion on this game for at least a year maybe even two. That is unless Oni somehow discovers a fantastic work ethic and starts throwing out massive high quality updates ... Yeah, not holding my breath. I love the game, I hate the wait.
