I had a few drinks with the designers and project managers from Arc Systems Works and I am assisting them sometimes with market analysis and localisation of their games outside of Japan.
As some of you might already know or figured out, I personally play exclusively girls in fighting games, and they found interesting the fact that for me the charadesign and concept is one of the most important aspects of a fighting game.
They were interested in knowing what kind of characters are appealing to the foreign fighting game comunity. I tried to explain to them that all foreigners don’t always share the same opinions (Japanese people thend to generalise foreigners a lot unfortunately, so they tend to take my own opinions for the general public ones) and I though I could just ask you guys about your thoughts.
Note that I am only talking about the design here, and not about the gameplay / move list of a character.
So I made a quick poll listing several concept of character design found in most fo fighting games, but it would be cool if you could post more details about your choices.
What kind of character design do you like the most usually? (poll)
Which game has for you the best female cast, and why?
Which game has for you the best male cast, and why?
Is the character design an important criteria for you when you decide to pick a game?
Please discuss, give props, request, complain, whine, give hate! :karate:
Some guy with a karate gi. That’s what SRK likes. I like anything that is unique and doesn’t make the character look like they just got done practicing in the dojo of whatever martial art they use (Abel).
I tend to like characters that look like they could beat my ass. Physically intimidating men, women, and animals are what make a fighting game believable to me.
Tekken is unrivaled in this category because ninety percent of the females are somewhat older and look very capable. There are a few misses, like Xiaoyu, but for the most part, the women look like they could beat the hell out of me, and that’s hot. Runner-up: Virtua Fighter, if only for Vanessa.
I’ll have to go with Tekken, again, because it has men who look like men rather than androgynous freak shows. The most feminine-looking man in Tekken is Lee Chaolan, and that motherfucker pulls ass like a beast. Runner-up: Street Fighter. Again, the men are men, rather than whatever the fuck you’d call Ash Crimson.
Very. If I can’t find an aesthetically pleasing character, it’s hard for me to get into the game.
Now that I think about it…I use the sluts in like every fighting game. Anna was one of my favorites in the old Tekken games. Just something about a girl being able to fight in high heels that I like.
1. What kind of character design do you like the most usually? (poll)
For some reson I tend to go for the Bitch type characters. (Karin, I-No, Kira)
2. Which game has for you the best female cast, and why?
That would have to be Sugoi! Arcana Heart 2. I know it’s cheap say that because it’s all females in that game but S!AH2 really showed some good character designs and personalities. It’s was so much better than the moe archetypes from the original Arcana Heart.
3. Which game has for you the best male cast, and why?
Guilty Gear no doubt. That game has some of the coolest/gayest male characters around.
4. Is the character design an important criteria for you when you decide to pick a game?
Yes it is. Usually before you know anything about how a character plays or their story, you see a picture of them. Whatever looks most appealing at first I pick them. Then later I pick other characters from most to least appealing. Then I decide on who’s play-style I like the best.
Voted “The big guy” on the poll. The ones that are usually grapplers.
Edit: Oops, as for the questions:
1. What kind of character design do you like the most usually? (poll)
The slow/powerful type. “The big guy” it is.
2. Which game has for you the best female cast, and why?
Soul Calibur I guess. Ivy for the win.
3. Which game has for you the best male cast, and why?
SF I guess, most men are actually cool/badass characters and even the effeminate ones (Vega, Remy, Eagle, etc.) are still pretty cool on their own right.
4. Is the character design an important criteria for you when you decide to pick a game?
I like characters that I think are visually appealing or look cool; characters that I won’t get tired of looking at. Hence, I chose sluts. :lovin:
I’d have to go with KOF mainly because most of my favorite female fighting game characters are from that series.
Jackie Chan in Fists of Fire. How can you go wrong with THREE Jackie’s to choose from?
Nah, I’m just kidding. I was gonna say Virtua Fighter but Lion pretty much kills that option. Guilty Gear would have to be my choice then. I just really like Daisuke Ishiwatari’s unique designs. I mean, where else are you going to find an assassin billiard player who’s practically playing the game while fighting?
Character design ranks at #2 for me in importance with gameplay being #1. It’s important but as long as a game has great gameplay, I’m willing to overlook it.
Also, you should have had a category for “odd one out” for really strange characters like PTX and Lightan in Tatsunoko vs Capcom, or Neko Arc in Melty Blood.