Seriously, who looked at this and went "yeah that's exactly how cloud should look"

>>11883330 (OP)
It fits the narrative but yeah, not his best design.

It's cool

>>11883330 (OP)
>Kingdhom Hearts RC

DS game, not retro

I like this design in a non-ironic way. I don't think it's 'edgekino' or anything, it just looks genuinely good to me

>>11883330 (OP)

I've always thought this looks like absolute trash

>>11883373
That's cool too.

>>11883330 (OP)
A mix between Vincent Valentine and Cloud Strife? I'm very happy not have fallen for the KH crapfest.

>>11883330 (OP)
Sakaguchi was out of the picture to rein in Nomura's gayness. Kingdom Hearts was the beginning of the end for all of the company's worst qualities to be placed out front.

>>11883383
>Kingdom Hearts was the beginning of the end for all of the company's worst qualities to be placed out front.
If that wasn't FF8, it was certainly FFX, where the male protag looked like an early 2000s lesbian

>>11883383
>>11883385
The truth is that Amano's designs were unironically even more gay. it's just that we never got to see them in 3D games like VIII or X

sovl vs sovless

>>11883398
It's not just a lack of 3D models, Sakaguchi naturally understood how to appeal to straight beer drinking men instead of sad gay boys like Nomura even with faggier source material.

>>11883403
I'm still not sure who's the artist behind the original ALttP Link, supposedly it's Yoichi Kotabe but compare it to pic related (this one is 100% by him), kinda looks off

>>11883408
>Sakaguchi naturally understood how to appeal to straight beer drinking men

>>11883398
>it's just that we never got to see them in 3D games
To be fair Amano's art is borderline unadaptable in 3D. Good artist but bad concept artist for the purposes of making a video game.

>>11883359
In all honesty if they just removed the gay wing and bandage over the sword I would probably not mind it as much.

>>11883427
Yeah it's the main reason I think he fell out of favor in the 3D era, from what I remember him and the lady who did the majority of the sprites worked very closely and as a result the sprites came out as some of the best in the industry. But to adapt those paintings to 3D would require you to change the entire look of the game.

>>11883373
I think it looks cool as rendered on the N64, but agree its somewhat ridiculous otherwise.

Cloud was turned into an emo by people who never finished FF7 and saw the true Cloud Strife as the heroic go-getter who took the fight straight to Sephiroth and won.

>>11883518
Nomura never finished FF7? He designed Cloud in the first place.

>>11883330 (OP)
The target audience.

>>11883330 (OP)
Kids who shopped at Hot Topic ATE THIS SHIT UP in the 2000s.

>>11883330 (OP)
Why is there a bandage wrapped haphazardly around the blade?

>>11883729
The same reason FF characters got draped in belts around this time, Nomura just thought it looked cool

>>11883364
That at least has a lore explanation, it allows Mickey and Riku (and the rest of OXIII) to use corridors of darkness safely.

>>11883518
Even if you didn't finish it, Cloud is sarcastic as fuck prior to overcoming his trauma.

>>11883729
a hoonter must hoont

>>11883373
Always liked the moon and triangle symbols on the chest.
Nah I think Oni Link is cool as fuck.

>>11883373
ow the edge

Better than the original

>>11883403
nah albw's art looks amazing, get off the drugs

Ayame's redesign in Tenchu: Fatal Shadows. She looks less like herself and more like one of the generic kunoichi mooks you have to kill in the previous games

>>11883330 (OP)
i like it.

>>11883373
Contrarian retard

>>11883869
Same

>>11883383
The irony when Sakaguchi just made a dogshit movie that lost the company hundreds of millions while Kingdom Hearts ended up making all that money back and more.

>>11883330 (OP)
HOLY FUCKING DIMES
>>11883364
DAMN, MICKEY GOT THAT DRIPPY DROP
>>11883373
BAAAAAAAAAAASED

>>11883330 (OP)
No pictures but off the top of my head.
>The tactics advance protags.
>Maxim in the DS barf reimagination of Lufia 2.
>Raiden in MGS2.
>BoG DQ Ryu design. The Ryu from the mobile BoF6 if it counts.

>>11883758
Her tits really do a good job of distracting you from how retarded her dress is

>>11884365
Hey, BoF6 Ryu is hot. Don't lump him in with the shitty Dairy Queen Ryu design.

>>11883330 (OP)
I looked at that and said "hell yea." I probably pogged. Definitely didn't squee tho.

>>11883758
Wasn't Lulu's design in part because the 3D modelers commented on how difficult it was to model all of the belts Nomura designed his characters with, so he gave Lulu a whole skirt full of belts as a sort of "fuck you"?

>>11884601
Yes, and he also did that with Squall's fur lining on his jacket. In the end, more detail leads to a higher perceived quality and sets the games apart. His characters are the most memorable and famous for a reason.

>>11883330 (OP)
mmmmmm.... now thats badass

>>11884608
It really went a long way back then when Square were doing a lot to lead the entire charge with realistic CGI. I mean you think back to what music videos or companies like Pixar were doing, it was heavily stylized. People clown on Spirits Within now but it really wasn't as big of a departure at the time with how much Square was already doing to lead in computer graphics focused on realism.

>>11884614
They were actually way ahead of the times with Spirits Within in that they catered to what they thought was required of a mainstream product, instead of doing what they actually think is the best. They worked together with Western crew to make a 'Western styled' Final Fantasy movie, and it didn't deliver. Square were the first ones to discover the problem with modern gaming where they cater to some supposed mainstream casual audiences expectations and the core does not like it. Sadly, the people in charge didn't seem to notice why Spirits actually flopped and stuff like Kingdom Hearts, which is the farthest from catering to some norm, wildly succeeded. They then made the same mistakes around the time of FFXIII. When FFVII came out, the commercials advertised Cloud as an ex-soldier. He looks the farthest thing away from that. When they made Advent Children, the crew said they had no idea how to make a movie and just made it the way they make game cutscenes. Ended up pleasing the fans way more. If you go back to even FF7, some of the shit they did with the camera work was actually way ahead of movies, like the camera going through a window from inside to outdoors, which later became popular in stuff like Fincher films, Asian films, etc. Creative people making what they think is cool and pushing each other to step up their game usually leads to good shit if the people in charge have a clue of what they should be doing. I hate that modern stuff is either cater to some norm or otaku shit with the same tired tropes and everything by the book with no idea of innovation or even being a little eccentric. In the age of 'cinematicc games the directing and cinematography also sucks ass compared to even PS1 stuff.

>>11884674
Please break up your text with some spacing.

why is the sword bandaged? what purpose does it serve?

>>11883380
Vincent was originally planned to be the character that cloud ended up as in KH1.

>>11885127
Softens the blow making what would be fatal hits into a simple KO

>>11883717
it was a better time

The sentiment that characters in a fictional fantastic setting should all look like some boring-ass literally (you) just baffles me.

You nigs are just mad that you can't look like that

>>11883330 (OP)
Whats the lore behind his gay wing? Why does he only have one of them?
t. never played final fantasy or kingdom hearts

>>11886246
"One-winged angel" is a popular design cue in Japanese media. Essentially it means "anti-hero."

>>11883364
ok you have to admit this is funny as fuck

>>11883330 (OP)
It was cool back in 2000

>>11883373
It's a very good thing you're not a character designer

>>11886246
sephiroth has one in his final battle, and it fits with his whole seraph motif. dunno how they explain this one though. maybe it's just the mako dna stuff still affecting cloud after his death even though the scene after that fight seems to indicate it's all gone what with him getting eviscerated

>>11885012
NTA but then retards call you out for Reddit spacing. It's retarded, but this is a site full of retards now, unfortunately.

>>11886392
It's funny that Japanese people unironically thought that was cool and made a game with that in it. Non-weeb Westerners find Kingdom Hearts to be just about the epitome of cringe.

>>11886635
>tips fedora

>>11886635
>ackshually, please allow me, a person crying about Kingdom Hearts on an anime site, explain to you what is cool! nevermind the fact Kingdom Hearts made hundreds of millions of dollars and i have never touched a vagina

>>11883330 (OP)
probably the same faggot that said squall was a good name and the art direction of ff9 was good

>>11886629
Who cares faggot? It's a fuckin Taiwanese Pill Pressing Forum, just do whatever you want.

Look at that I can type like this
Orlikethis
Or Even Like This

>>11883330 (OP)
I hate Kingdom Hearts so much it's unreal.

>>11886246
Sephiroth from FF7 is known as the "one-winged angel" so they gave Cloud a single devil wing to match

>>11883979
That’s not albw art; they redrew all the LttP key art for the gba port

>>11886483
It’s also worth noting the KH Sephiroth design that goes along with that Cloud design also has one wing, but on the opposite side

>>11883330 (OP)

>>11883403
i like both for different reasons

>>11887683
Is it a bad design if I fap to it?

>>11886629
this site has been dead since 2014.
I say that as someone that started browsing in 2018

>>11883518
He just knuckled down to overcome the issue right in front of him, which is also what he does in Advent Children. It doesn't mean he isn't harbouring emotional tumult.

>>11883469
Part of what makes Amano's art so good is very much tied to his medium of watercolors and pencils. In 3D video game terms this would translate to some crazy out-there shaders and effects, which I don't think could have been possible before 7th gen at least. Think of something similar to El Shaddai.

>>11883373
lol, he skipped left leg day.

>>11883373
As is the case with most of MM.

>>11890250
Actually heard SatAM's theme song play when reading the right LOL

>>11885451
Dante should be left

>>11887668
These are fine, it's not like the Yamamuro DBZ posters where the enshittification is clear on sight.

>>11883373
>it's okay when Nintendo do it

>>11883373
Reminder this exists because they scrapped the Adult Link Mask mechanic

I wish SEGA never left out Super Sonic in CD because of the different macguffins.

>>11883373
It looks like super saiyan 5 fanart.

>>11883373
You crazy man, Oni Link is awesome.

>>11883717
Vgh

>>11890250
if sonic released in the 80s would we still have this cringe permeating or would sega make a gritty reboot series for it and keep classic sonic firmly separate? or at least mostly separate like how mega man x does it where there's hints about a connection but you can ignore it if you don't like it

>>11883413
The art for ALttP was farmed out to an anime studio, don't know which one though.

>>11883330 (OP)
he really got off easy compared to the rest of KH characters
only like 5 belts?
couldve been a lot worse

also
whys cloud the only FF character who didnt get arbitrarily renamed?

>>11890864
Only Squall was renamed though, and with a story justifcation

>>11883330 (OP)
Beats his remake look

>>11883413
Man this image makes me want a 3D Link's Awakening.

>>11890864
Cloud draws too many dimes to be renamed. It would be like renaming Hulk Hogan or John Cena.

>>11890864
Yuffie, Wakka, Seplhie, TIdus, Cid and Aerith didn't get renamed.

>>11883373
nah man, this is dope. majora was a mask of total chaos, and fierce diety is a mask of total order. it's two edge ocs being pitted against eachother, and in all likelihood majora's mask made up fierce diety in response to young link's quiet resolve and asswhoopery.

>>11883330 (OP)
I never played KH but I like the cloak with cloud's ff7 design.

>>11891794
>and fierce diety is a mask of total order.
Where are you getting this from?

>>11891664
Sad but true.

>>11883330 (OP)
Tetsuya "this needs more belts" Nomura.

>>11891768
Setzer, vivi or seifer either

>the thirteen year-olds liked cloud
>lets remake him a year younger and edgier and retcon his backstory

>>11883345
That's exactly how he looked in the PS2 game